Page 78 of Love and Other Champagne Problems

It was all very interesting. While I never relished in the idea of marrying someone I didn’t love, I, too, had never been sure I’d ever felt it before. What I thought had been budding with Sumner hadn’t been that at all.You don’t like me. You just like the way I make you feel.

Perhaps Aaron Astor could make me feel that way, given time.

Spending just an hour or two with Aaron as he talked, and my lack of sleep the previous night, left me eager to go back to my hotel room. I wasn’t one for midday naps, but I wanted to take a long one now, to just fall down and sleep and sleep and sleep.

The second we walked into the country club’s lobby, I spotted Nancy with Ms. Jennings waiting in the same seating area I’d been earlier that day. Ms. Jennings spotted me first, and nudged Nancy, who’d been dozing off in her wheelchair. Ms. Jennings had to shake her shoulder, and the elderly woman startled awake, looking as if she’d forgotten where she was.

And then her gaze settled on me. “There you are!” she complained, drawing her knitted blanket further up her lap. “Making an old lady wait all this time. Theworld revolves around you, does it? And no one in this godforsaken place could find Hot Stuff, either. What’d you do, convince him to quit?”

Aaron looked between her and me with alarm. “Do—do you know this woman?”

He no doubt thought Nancy was a dementia patient with the way she was rambling, and a part of me wanted to allow him to continue assuming. “Nancy Du Ponte,” I said in a withering tone, gesturing toward her. “Owner of the Alderton-Du Ponte Country Club.”

Nancy regarded him with a twist to her lips, one that wasn’t happy. “And who might you be,

Ms. Jennings, though, had locked onto Aaron the moment she’d risen to her feet, and everything finally clicked into place for her. “Oh my!” she exclaimed loudly enough for her words to echo in the broad lobby. Her eyes sparkled with the swell of gossip, one she was the first to hear. “Is this handsome thingtheAaron Astor?”

I sighed, and the sound was most definitely a death rattle. It seemed my day wasn’t over yet after all.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Despite the fact that Aaron and I ate not even ten minutes ago, Ms. Jennings had grabbed Nancy’s wheelchair and set us on a course to the restaurant, not waiting for anyone to argue. “You can at least have a drink,” she’d insisted. “Nancy would love your company.”

Nancy had one condition, though—only if Sumner came along too.

He’d been out caddying on the golf course, which was why no one could find him earlier, but they tracked him down fast when I’d inquired. Sumner sat to my right on, with Aaron on my left, and it was a suffocating position. Ms. Jennings, seated on Aaron’s other side, talked animatedly, and had been the entire walk from the hotel to the club. We sat at a round table in the restaurant at the country club, waiting for our late lunch to be served.

And I would’ve rather been anywhere in the entire world than here.

“Your life just sounds so fascinating,” Ms. Jennings said as Aaron finished the same resume-like details he’d given me. She batted her mascara-coated lashes at him,tucking her hands underneath her chin like a schoolgirl. “So much accomplished at just twenty-five! I find it admirable… and very impressive.”

Ms. Jennings truly had no shame, given that Aaron, at half her age, could’ve been her son. Then again,shameandMs. Jenningsdidn’t really fit in the same sentence.

Aaron lapped up all the attention, though his nervousness seeped through ever so slightly. “Yes, well, it’s been quite an adventurous one, bouncing around from city to city. Experiencing it all while I’m young has been something to remember.” He picked up his water glass, casting a glance to me. “I still can’t believe you haven’t traveled much, darling.”

“Margot’s parents don’t like her traveling without them,” Ms. Jennings cut in, giving her head a small shake. “I agree with your philosophy, Aaron. You should travel when you’re young.”

“Perhaps I can take you somewhere and impress you,” Aaron said to me. His expression was so simple and kind. “Fashion week, perhaps? Milan? You should really see more that the world has to offer.”

I regarded him curiously. “How did you know I was into fashion?”

“My mother mentioned it to me. She said you talked about it on the way to the airport.” His lips quirked. “Besides, judging by your clothing, I thought it was clear. A woman who wears sophisticated clothing can’t beuninterestedin fashion, at the very least.”

“We have always loved Margot’s affinity for her suits,” Ms. Jennings enthused, giving a dramatic nod, as if to convince herself. “She’s just so unique.”

I wasn’t sure who the “we” she was referring to was, but given the fact that she’d told me I dressed like a man at the last fundraiser, I doubted that “we” included herself.

“Can you believe the wedding is this weekend?” Ms. Jennings asked, pressing her palms together. She looked at Nancy. “I can just remember when Annalise was a young little thing, toddling around, and now she’s getting married.”

Nancy didn’t reply. In fact, since her greeting Sumner when he joined us for lunch, she hadn’t spoken once.

With my attention on Nancy now, it was clear she didn’t look well in the slightest. She wasn’t strong enough to transfer from her wheelchair to a dining chair, even though Sumner offered to help, and she somewhat slumped in her seat. Her skin was paler than usual, almost gray-looking, but I tried to tell myself it was just the lighting. I wanted to ask if she was feeling okay, but I didn’t want to draw attention to it, knowing she wouldn’t have been honest, anyway. Instead, I took a sip of my water, swallowing hard.

“And yours and Margot’s wedding is following soon after!” Ms. Jennings said, her segue not smooth in the slightest. She leaned toward Aaron with a bright look in her eye, laying her hand on his forearm. “That is… if you’ve proposed yet.”

Her interest charmed Aaron—then again, he seemed the type to be charmed by anyone’s slightest interest in him. Perhaps it was because he was the youngest of five. “Things are still a bit up in the air.” He glanced over at me. “Margot seems to enjoy playinghard to get.”

“And here I thought I was being subtle,” I replied before sipping my water. I didn’t look at Sumner, who had also been silent the entire time.

---