Page 75 of My Secret Snowflake
How did Iris know what I was thinking?
“You really looked pregnant,” Mrs. Potik says.
“You pretended you were pregnant?” Melody asks, her voice rising.
“It made sense to add that into our fake marriage charade,” Iris says.
And now my mom joins this awkward conversation.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t get a chance to meet you earlier. Hosting duties. But I’ve been wanting to get to know you.” My mom smiles at Iris.
“Sebastian told me you insisted I come,” Iris says.
“Did I insist?” my mom asks.As if she didn’t. “But I’m not the one who kept checking the entrance to see if you’d arrived yet.”
Thanks, Mom. Way to out your son.My mom is definitely fanning the fire here. Of course, she’s never forgiven Melody for dumping me.
“I did want you to come,” I say evenly.
“Do you waltz?” my mom asks Iris.
“I love to waltz. My dad taught me. He thinks it’s the best dance ever. I heard from Sebastian that you forced him to learn to dance.”
“He certainly didn’t go willingly, but I think he’s happy he learned now.”
“It has its uses,” I say.
“Does your fiancé now waltz?” my mom asks Melody.
“I don’t think he’s had time to learn since last year,” Melody says. A server offers glasses of wine from a tray. We all take one. The lights in the sconces flicker against the deep-green wallpapered background.
“Where is Wim?” I ask, realizing I have yet to see him.
“He asked if he could use the study for a call,” Mom says. “And then I saw him hanging out in the library talking to your dad.”
“He’s closing a deal in Asia,” Melody says. “Work has been hectic for him lately.”
Wim is in finance—what my father wishes I were doing. When Melody first told me what he did, it hurt. It felt like a betrayal. Would she have fallen for me if I’d been a private equity manager? Was that what she was looking for? Was it because I decided not to join my father at his firm? Was Rowena right about that? Wim definitely radiates that high-powered, high-stress, “time is money” attitude. But Melody wasn’t about all that. Or so I’d thought.
“Mrs. Potik, you mentioned you have a green thumb. I want your advice on my orchid.” My mom winks at me as she walks away with Mrs. Potik, guiding her towards a bare orchid on the windowsill that someone gave her as a gift. She’s never been able to get it to flower again.
“There you are.” Rupert claps me on the back. “Melody. Haven’t seen you in ages. All good?”
One of the reasons Rupert and I are such good friends is because we like each other for the person underneath.
“All good,” Melody says.
“This is Lily. I don’t think you’ve met.” Rupert puts his arm around Lily and pulls her close. “Melody went to college with Sebastian and me. She also loves reading and Wilhemina Chrissy.”
“Nice to meet you,” Lily says. “Have you read her latest?”
“The minute it came out,” Melody says. “That twist at the end—mind-blowing.”
“I never see the twist coming,” Lily says. “And this time, I really thought I’d guessed it. And Rupert and I were reading it at the same time, so we were discussing it. We both thought we had it figured out.”
“Melody,” a deep voice says.
Wim.
