Page 55 of She Used to Be Nice
Avery peered at the long picnic table next to the buffet, where Morgan was happily chewing on a piece of her exceptionally sturdy, virus-free avocado toast. Avery flashed Blair a joyless smile as she loaded her plate with food and hustled away to sit next to Morgan, who was in the middle of talking to her Grandma Peggy. Avery had met Morgan’s grandmother Margaret, affectionately called Peggy, a couple of times, once in college and again during a visit to Morgan’s house in Rhode Island, but Avery wasn’t sure if she remembered who she was. Anyone, though, would be better conversation than Blair.
“Oh, Grandma Peggy!” Morgan said when she spotted Avery. “You remember Avery, right? You haven’t seen her since before your knee surgery.”
Avery took Grandma Peggy’s wrinkled hand. “So nice to see you again. We’re glad the doctor cleared you for travel.”
Grandma Peggy smiled, revealing an impressive set of bright white dentures. Her pearl earrings gleamed under the overhead lighting. “Ohdarling, nothing that bonehead doctor said was going to stop me today. I was watching my granddaughter get married whether he liked it or not.”
Grandma Peggy lifted her half-empty glass of champagne in salute and snapped her fingers to the beat of the music playing from the speakers, the sleeves of her houndstooth lady jacket falling to expose her bony wrists. Avery leaned in close to Morgan’s ear.
“She knows this is just the shower, right?”
“I … think? My dad did tell her,” Morgan whispered. “By the way, you’re doing a great job today. Everything looks gorgeous, and you picked a great restaurant. How are you doing right now, being around Blair and Emma?”
No doubt Morgan was thinking about the engagement party, fearing a repeat. But Avery refused to let that happen. “I’m doing great,” Avery said. “Blair had some shit to say about the buffet but whatever, I’m ignoring it.”
“Good, good.” Morgan gave an encouraging smile. “I know this has been tough on you, but I’m really proud of you.” Shepaused, fixed her gaze right onto Avery and leaned forward a little. “But you’d tell me if there was something else going on, right?”
Avery’s heart nearly screeched to a stop. “What do you mean?”
Morgan bit into a piece of her roasted chicken, taking her time chewing and swallowing it, like she was thinking. “Well, I know you’re still upset about the breakup. And that you feel guilty about what you did. But after our conversation at Ofrenda, I just … want to make sure nothing else happened.”
Avery glanced over her shoulder, for some reason. As though Noah had materialized and prompted Morgan’s questions. “What else would have happened?”
Morgan put up her hands. “I don’t know, Avery. I’m just putting it out there. Because sometimes you seemreallyupset. Like it’s particularly difficult for you to move on. Or something.”
“Yeah, because my whole life changed. I lost everything. And everyone. You were there.”
Morgan held Avery’s stare for a few curious beats. Avery didn’t mean to sound so defensive. She just wasn’t sure why Morgan was doing this right now, or what gave Morgan the impression that Avery was hiding something. Avery thought she’d been doing a decent job hiding her feelings about Noah lately, actually. Did her face give something away at Ofrenda when Morgan showed her those Instagram pictures of Noah and Blair?
“You’re right,” Morgan finally said with a sigh. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what I’m thinking. I’m just checking in, that’s all.”
Avery softened. “Don’t worry about me. Let’s focus on you today.”
And then—thankfully—they did.
As the party wound down and guests began to leave, Avery helped Morgan load her gifts into large shopping bags to make them easier to travel home with. She’d just started dismounting the poster board when Blair stormed out from the bathroom, making Avery jump in surprise. She’d thought Blair had left.
“I haveincrediblenews,” Blair said to Morgan. “I just got off the phone with Noah. He said we can use his new mountain house!”
Morgan’s jaw dropped. A disbelieving smile slowly made its way across her face. “Are you joking?”
“Nope! We’re going to Colorado, baby!”
Morgan jumped up and down and grabbed Blair in a tight hug. Blair usually did her best to stay composed but this news must have been big, because even she started yelping with reckless abandon along with Morgan.
Avery narrowed her eyes. “What are you guys talking about?”
Morgan grabbed Avery’s shoulders. “Noah’s letting us use hisstunningnew mountain house in Colorado for a joint bachelor and bachelorette party!” Morgan inhaled deeply through her nose and exhaled dramatically out her mouth. “I can smell the fresh, unpolluted oxygen already.”
A layer of sweat coated Avery’s entire body. She had to spend a wholeweekendwith Noah? In hishouse?
“Wait, we’re not doing separate parties?” she asked. “We’re doing them together?”
“Yes!” Morgan squealed. “Sorry, I thought I’d told you. I like the idea of combining. It’ll be fun!”
Blair swiped through photos on her phone, showing Morgan and Avery a massive stone mansion set high on a mountain and overlooking a twinkling lake. Thick stone beams stood in front of the house, and underneath the beams was a long, winding entryway that led to mahogany stained glass double doors. It was the exact kind of relaxing, scenic getaway in the middle of nature that Morgan would love. Gallow Green was a dumpster in comparison.
“Isn’t it gorgeous?” Blair swooned. “Noah bought it after Meow Monthly hit two million monthly subscribers. The company really took off after they added dog and hamster care packages. Gosh, if I’d known Randall guys were capable of this, I wouldn’t have dropped out of my Business of Econ class freshman year …”
