Page 61 of The Painter and His Poet

“I know that Dalton has a reputation, but he might surprise all of us and do right by Daisy.”

Drix releases a bitter laugh. “Theonlything that will surprise me at this stage is if Dalton calls off the wedding, and we both know that’s never going to happen.”

SIXTEEN

HARLOW

The incessant trill of my phone alarm penetrates my sleep-addled brain and I jerk upright as though I’ve just had a twenty volt cattle prod stuck up my ass.

“What the hell?!” I mumble, blinking, as I try to find the source of my discomfort. It’s pitch black and very clearly still the middle of the damn night, so either I’ve accidentally programmed in the wrong alarm time, or it’s not actually my alarm but someone calling me.

Throwing myself towards the faint light peeking out from beneath my phone's wraparound cover, I grab my phone, flipping it open. It’s my mother calling. I let out a groan.Of courseit is.

“Mom, this better be an emergency,” I say, switching on my bedside lamp.

“An emergency? What are you talkingscha-bout?” she replies, slurring her words.

Great, she’s drunk.

“It’s the middle of the night!” I exclaim, unable to hide my annoyance as I flip back my duvet and stand. I’ve spent another day alone, which makes it four days since my conversation with Sterling in the swimming pool. Four lonely days of watchingmovies alone. Eating alone. Reading alone. And now is the time my mother chooses to grace me with her attention?

“Not where I am, it’s not.”

Give. Me. Strength.

“So what did you want?” I ask, pacing back and forth. Any patience I might’ve had if she’d called during the day like a reasonable human being has now been eaten up entirely by her selfishness.

I’m positive most people would hang up, and I’m considering doing just that when she says, “Robert tells me that there’s going to be a wedding soon,” she hiccups, and then giggles. If I could roll my eyes any harder they’d fall out of my head.

“Mom, couldn’t this have waited until–”

“Apparently Carl’s son,Dalton, is getting hitched and as Carl and Robert are best friends we’ve been invited to the wedding!” she interrupts.

“Dalton’s getting married?” That comes as a surprise given everything Daisy said about him.

“Yes, and bywe, I mean Robert and I have been invited to the wedding. It’s going to be such a grand affair…”

My footsteps still as I let that tidbit of information sink in. I shouldn’t be bothered given I barely know Dalton, but I am more than a little upset that my mother chose to call me in the middle of the night to essentially say I haven’t been invited to his wedding. Feeling more than a little agitated, I stride over to the other side of the room, rip open the curtains before unlatching the lock and pushing open the window. A cold breeze flutters over my skin and I drag in a deep breath, trying in vain to calm myself down.

“This could’ve waited until the morning,” I remind her, peering out of the window, but unable to see much other than my reflection in the glass.

“Oh stop being such a bore! Dalton is a very wealthy young man, and his family are extremely influential–”

“And I should care because?”

“Because these people are my friends, and this is going to be quite the event,” she trills.

“Robert’sfriends, you mean?”

“My friends too now that we’re married,” she responds sharply, suddenly sobering up.

“Hmm,” I murmur, perching the edge of my bottom on the windowsill and pressing my cheek against the cool glass.

“Carl is throwing Dalton an engagement party next weekend in fact,” she rattles on. “Of course he invited us both, and whilst I do love a party as much as anyone, we’re not cutting our wonderful honeymoon short just to attend. It really wouldn’t be fair for either of us. Besides, we’re having such a wonderful time together. Robert is so attentive, so loving, so generous, Harlow, and I am soverymuch in love.”

“I’m sure they’ll understand,” I say. “So, is there anything else you wanted…?”

“Aren’t you going to ask me who Dalton’s marrying?”

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