Page 11 of Love and Other Champagne Problems

“I’m sure you did worse.”

“I diddoworse. It’s much more fun to flirt with men than with lung cancer.” She grumbled. “Today, it’s Yvette. Friday, it was Alice. The day before that, it was Brenda. When’s your mother coming to pay her fairy godmother a visit?”

“Don’t hold your breath.”

“Tell her if she wants to harass me into selling her the land that hotel of hers sits on, she’s running out of time.” Nancy began to wheeze with effort.

With heavy sarcasm, I said, “How sweet that they’re worried about you.”

She then attempted to tear the chocolate open with her teeth. “Worried aboutsomething. Funny that my ‘declining health’ and ‘making sure my affairs are in order’ comes up in every conversation with them. Piranhas, the lot of them.”

“I haven’t askedyet. Are your affairs in order?”

“I wish I could see the looks on their faces when they find out I left everything all to charity. Even the land your parents’ hotel is on. Waiting over my will only—stupid wrapper—only to see that they’re not getting a cent.”

I smiled a little already thinking about it. “I’ll enjoy the view for you.”

Nancy tried tearing the chocolate one last time before she let out an exasperated sound. “Are you just going to sit here and watch a poor old lady struggle?” Her tone was a snarl.

I took the candy from her and tore open the wrapper, ignoring how easy it’d been. I passed it back to her without looking, focusing on the pond. The water had grown murky over the years, with algae skimming the top. It looked more swampy than manmade. Beautiful in its prime, but aging poorly.

“You’ve been back for a week, and you’re only just coming to visit me,” Nancy grumbled as she chewed, not caring in the slightest about the politeness of it. “Too busy for me, huh?”

“I’ve been busy attending fundraisers. Ones thatyouskipped.”

“I heard about that. I also heard about your little tryst last night.” Nancy gave an almost witch-like laugh. “Macking on the waitstaff. Can’t say I haven’t done it myself a time or two, but never right out in the open. That sort of thing never did it for me.”

Of course it had gotten back to her. I wondered who spilled the beans about it, and when they would’ve had the time. Ms. Jennings, most likely. I couldn’t imagine Yvette in there recounting the tale with Nancy; she’d haveto have known that Nancy would’ve been on my side. Gossiping wasn't fun unless people could swap judgment back and forth.

“Was he handsome, at least?”

I pictured Sumner Pennington’s lopsided smile when we parted ways this morning. “Passably.”

“Passably, ha. Send him to me if you’re going to be so picky.”

Nowthatwas a mental image I smiled at, though I tried to tuck the corners of my mouth down as quickly as possible.

“Tell me about him,” she said, turning to squint up at me. Her eyes were rimmed with deep wrinkles, but her face lacked the fullness it once had. A perpetual tiredness clung to her features now, weighing down the brightness in her gaze. “Does he have a good tush?”

“I didn’t get a chance to look,” I said.

Nancy’s lips curled with disappointment. “You kissed a man and you didn’t grab the goods? Was he not your type?”

“You know I’ve never had a type.” Sumner, though, could’ve fallen into it if I’d had one, perhaps. He was pretty enough, in a way that didn’t brim with an arrogant elegance. He actually made eye contact. Actually looked at me as if I were more than a shadow.

“That Aaron fellow—he still interested in you after that spectacle?”

“As of right now, according to my parents, yes.”

Nancy nodded slowly, sagely, munching along on her chocolate. “Hubert and I had a marriage like that, youknow. Arranged. My mama and his mama really did most of the deciding. Worked out well enough.”

I peered at her from the corner of my eye. “He died early.”

“As I said, worked out well enough. He was at least handsome enough to look at while he was alive.” She balled the wrapper up in her fist and laid it on the blanket covering her lap. Her skin was so pale, the backs of her hands looking as if they were bruised. “He probably hoped I’d die first, that snake. But look at me now. Just turned ninety and still kicking.”

It was the sort of future that awaited me, my husband and I both hoping the other would pass first. “I’m not bothered by the idea of marrying Aaron.” I shifted my weight onto another foot, finding it hard to stand still. “At least I won’t be alone.”

I hated how pathetic the words were, but since it was just Nancy, I wasn’t too embarrassed. She always seemed to know what I was thinking before I spoke anyway, but in a more refreshing way than my mother. I felt clear minded even when we were like this, not facing each other, staring out at the pond that stretched before us. We only focused on our voices and the way the sun’s rays reflected off the faint ripple in the water.

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