Page 33 of Love and Other Champagne Problems

“Maybe I will,” Nancy replied in her crotchety tone, and without waiting for Sumner to make up his mind, she pushed to her feet. She swayed enough that he reached out and caught at her arms, holding her steady. “There’ll be a conspiracy theory after that, you know.Margot drowned Nancy. Maybe I’ll do it just to spite you, so no one talks to you again.”

Sumner looked back and forth between us with an increasingly worried expression. I felt a bit bad for him, caught in the crossfire of yet another pissing match of mine. However, it was clear that this one was different from the one with Yvette, and he picked up on it. “Ms. Nancy,” he said in a gentle voice, giving a sheepish smile. “No offense, but I’m actually trying to work on this with her.” He tipped his head at me.

“What’s that?”

“Trying to help her be a little bit happier. Looking at life a bit more positively. Not worrying about people accusing her of murder.”

Nancy squinted at him closer before turning to me. “Is this the waiter you macked on?”

I didn’t even blink. “Yes.”

“You said he waspassablyhandsome. Margot, get your eyes checked, this is more than justpassably!”

“Passably?” Sumner asked me with mild offense.

I ignored him. “You heard him. He’s trying to make my life more positive. Stop being such a batty old lady.”

“I will as soon as you stop being such a brat,” she replied, but she sat back down on the lounger. Her breathing had worsened in the brief moments standing, though it was clear she struggled to hide it. “Summer, was it?

He sat on the end of her lounger and allowed her to continue to hold his hand, offering her a smile. “Sum-ner, ma’am. It’s okay, though, everyone mishears it at first.”

“Sumner. Is there a story behind it?”

I tried to not look at him with interest, though my curiosity over the same question piqued. Sumner noddedwith affection. “My mom thought she was having a girl her entire pregnancy. When she had me, and found out I was a boy, she changed it to Sumner.” He looked at me. “I’m glad she didn’t decide to try and make Summer a boy’s name.”

“We can still try,” I insisted. “Summer.”

He rolled his eyes.

Nancy patted Sumner’s hand to draw his attention back, clearly bothered by sharing it with me. “You do know she’s engaged, right?”

He hesitated before answering. “Yes, I know.”

I picked up the other drink Sumner had brought off the tray, the grapefruit and lemon taste causing my tongue to wither. Non-alcoholic. Boring.

Nancy leaned into Sumner and lowered her voice. “Do you have any plans to steal her away from her fiancé?”

He jerked back, eyes going wide at the same time that the apples of his cheeks reddened. “No! Definitely not. No plans at all—none. You don’t have to worry about that, truly.”

Such a quick and fierce denial, I wanted to say. I might’ve, if his response hadn’t knocked a quivering blow to my already teetering ego. He could’ve denied it, but did he need to deny it so vehemently?

Nancy still gave him a knowing smile. “I’m rooting for you over that stuffy boy. I’ve always told Margot she needs to get out of this toxic circle. A working-class boy as yourself would do just the trick!”

I raised my eyebrow at her. “Did you just tell me to marry him because he’s poor?”

“I didn’t say poor, I saidworking-class.”

“It’s still rude.”

She copied me in raising her eyebrow. “Since when have you ever cared about being rude?”

“I take it you two know each other well?” Sumner asked, cutting between our bickering once more, clearly amused as he glanced back and forth. He leaned closer to Nancy. “Got any good gossip about Margot?”

Nancy, never one to pass up gossip, sat up a bit straighter. “She used to smoke.”

“Smoke? Like cigarettes?”

Nancy waved her hand. “A teenager’s desperation for her parents’ attention, that’s all.”

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