Page 87 of Everything We Left Unsaid

“I do trust you,” I argue. “I let you make the decision of where to send her to daycare.”

“Yeah, but not before you raised hell about it.”

Shit, he has a point.

“I let you decide where we were gonna stay when you came back to town a couple weeks ago.” I’m grasping here and I know it.

He pinches his brow between his fingers before scrubbing a hand over his face. “Look, I asked Nell here to give you a break. As a mom, you are on all the time. Twenty-four seven,” he elaborates, driving his point home. “I wanted you to be able to relax and have fun, to be able to enjoy this party without having to hold her or chase her down. Because, let’s face it, if she’s not in your arms, she’s getting into something,” he adds with a wry smile. “It’s only for a few hours. There are people I’d like for you to meet. I want you by my side, on my arm, so that everyone knows you’re mine. Let me show you off.” He snakes his arm around my back and pulls me in close.

Everything he just said is spot-on. I’m trying so hard not to be like his mother that I can’t even appreciate his amazing, thoughtful gesture.

“Okay,” I concede. “You turned out all right, so I guess it’s safe to let Nell watch Chloe for a while.” When his lips quirk up in a lopsided grin, I’m relieved he found the humor in my joke.

We send Chloe up to the nursery to play with Nell and head back out to the party. Jacob introduces me to several of his parents’ friends and multiple members of Congress. It’s surreal and intimidating, knowing I’m surrounded by some of the most powerful people in the country.

Arthur finds us and whisks me away, making more introductions. We converge with Evelyn and a group of her friends and their spouses. The men talk about golf and stocks while the women discuss social events and vacations. The men slowly migrate away from us and though I desperately want to cling to Arthur, I’m afraid it will look weird. And this is not a group in which you want to do anything out of the ordinary. My eyes search for Jacob, scanning the crowd for his familiar silhouette, but I come up empty-handed.

“Margaret, Diane, so glad you could make it,” Evelyn coos, her greeting sounding genuine for once. I turn my attention to the two ladies who just joined our group and do a double take.

“Evelyn, it’s nice to see you again.” As the statuesque beauty standing across from Jacob’s mother speaks, I realize that her voice is just as ethereal as she is.

“You too, dear.” Evelyn smiles as she shakes the young lady’s hand warmly. “This is Jacob’s friend, Abby,” she introduces me to the two women.

It doesn’t escape my notice that she called me Jacob’s friend. Not his girlfriend or lover or baby mama, or anything that signifies what I am to him, and it infuriates me. She’s trying to diminish what we are and what we mean to each other. I try to clamp down my anger so these introductions don’t become even more awkward.

“Abby,” the older of the two newcomers says as she steps in front of me. “Evelyn has told me so much about you.” Though she announces it as if Evelyn has been singing my praises, I get the feeling that’s not the case. “I’m Diane Greyson and this is my daughter, Margaret.”

“Please, call me Maggie,” the daughter requests, offering her hand for a shake.

“It’s nice to meet you, Maggie,” I manage to squeak out, taking her hand in mine. She looks like a supermodel. Tall, slender body, light blonde hair styled into big, soft waves flowing just past her shoulders, and eyes the color of the clear blue sky. For some reason, she makes me feel insecure, threatened, even, as if she could steal Jacob right out from under me. And she belongs in his world, a small voice crackles to life in the back of my mind.

After several minutes of polite conversation, the rest of the group disperses and I’m left with just Evelyn and the Greysons. I nurse a glass of champagne, my stomach too tied in knots to eat anything substantial. I still haven’t found Jacob and I’m getting a little worried. I really don’t want to spend the entire party with his mother, although in her defense, she’s been much more pleasant toward me. I suspect Jacob had a talk with her and now she’s on her best behavior.

The ladies continue to make small talk, ensuring that I’m included in their conversation, but I still feel like an outsider. I’m surrounded by polished, blue-eyed, blonde-haired perfection wrapped in wealth and Harry Winston jewels. My bronzed complexion and dark tresses set me apart in this group in which one certainly doesn’t want to stand out.

After a while, Maggie excuses herself to go to the lady’s room. At least the rich still have to piss like the rest of us. I stand awkwardly between Evelyn and Diane as they discuss plans for the Veteran’s Day Fundraiser they co-host each year.

“Excuse me, ladies,” Evelyn begins, “but I need to check on something. I’ll be right back,” she promises.

I didn’t think it was possible, but I feel even more uneasy with her gone.

“Will you be in town long, dear?” Diane inquires, surprising me with her interest.

“Uh, just until Monday. I have to return to work Tuesday.”

“What do you do?”

“I’m a naturalist for the National Park Service.”

Her brows lift in surprise. “Well, that’s quite a unique occupation,” she declares with a smile in a pleasant-enough voice that still manages to sound like an insult. Perhaps I’m being paranoid and should take everything at face-value instead of reading too much into it.

I nod my agreement, ready to be done with this conversation, wishing Jacob would swoop in and save me. Lifting my glass for a sip, I freeze before the liquid hits my lips. I spot Jacob standing on the other side of the gardens with a huge grin splitting his face, his arms open wide. Maggie, in all her angelic perfection, steps into his embrace. I swallow past a ball of dread and jealousy, unable to tear my eyes away from them.

“They’ve been friends since grade school.” Diane’s voice startles me. I glance over as she steps up beside me, watching the two catch up as they smile and talk animatedly with their hands. It’s obvious they’re great friends and have been for a long time. “They’re going to be married one day.” Her words are like a punch in the gut, knocking the breath out of me. I curl my free arm around my waist, trying to soothe the blow. “It’s been in the works for years. Sure, they’ve had their ups and downs and have been separated here and there, but in the end, they’re meant to be together. They’re part of the same world and understand each other. It’s only natural that they gravitate toward one another.”

I don’t even look at her. I can’t. I want to throw my drink in her face and call her a liar, but judging by what I see, I’d say there’s a least some truth to it. I bolt, keeping my eyes downcast, and head toward the opposite end of the party away from Jacob. I slip inside undetected and rush upstairs, slamming my door shut behind me. The tears I’d managed to hold in fall freely now. Seeing him with her and witnessing their connection makes me doubt everything I thought I knew about us, about our relationship.

There’s only one way to find out if Diane Greyson was telling the truth. I Google Jacob and Maggie’s names together. If they’ve ever been a couple, the gossip rags will have something on them.

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