Page 98 of Last Comes Fate

Both sisters glared at each other but then simultaneously relaxed in a silent truce.

“I’m going to get another mimosa.” Joni got up and practically danced out of the room—or at least as well as she could on her bum knee. “But don’t let her lie to you. It’s more than just a haircut.”

Marie watched her like she’d enjoy tripping her, but when she turned back to me, she didn’t meet my eye.

“Is it true?” I asked. “Is this whole transformation about your boss?”

I hadn’t been around that much since Marie started working for the Lyons family at sixteen. By that point, I’d already started college and wasn’t particularly interested in my baby sister’s part-time job. But I knew she worked for a prominent New York family who owned about half a dozen industries based out of New England and whose sons were regulars in thePost. Daniel Lyons’s name had been bandied about our house for years—all of us knew about Marie’s crush. I just hadn’t known it actually went this deep.

“No,” she said quickly. “Daniel’s not in Paris. He’s not even in New York right now—I think he’s in Los Angeles, chasing an actress or model or someone.”

She looked up and flushed when she caught both Kate and me watching her. As if she knew she had just betrayed her own infatuation.

“Anyway,” she continued, “if it had been to impress Daniel, I would have done it earlier, don’t you think? Back when I actually saw him every now and then.”

I decided not to press her too much on the matter. “Makes sense.”

“But I wouldn’t mind if he saw it,” she admitted a moment later. “And I wouldn’t mind if he liked it, too.”

And there it was. Well, at least she knew it.

“Can I ask you a question?” Marie said.

I smiled and patted her hand. “Shoot.”

She frowned and worked her lips in a circle while she measured her words. “Xavier’s…well, he’s kind of like Daniel. In the way he’s good-looking, but also kind of rich—”

“I think you mean stupid rich,” Kate put in sardonically from her craft table.

“And—and also a duke, so I’m guessing he could, um, well, I’m guessing lots of types of women would be interested in him, and…”

“Are you asking how someone like me ended up with someone like him?” I asked gently.

“Seriously, Mimi?” Kate wondered. “What kind of question is that on her wedding day?”

Marie sighed. “I don’t mean that you’re not pretty enough or worthy of him, Frankie—that’s not atallwhat I’m saying—”

“I get it,” I interrupted gently. “It’s just unlikely. I know. Because you’re right. Before me, Xavier definitely got around, usually with semi-famous, rich, very beautiful women and all of that. So why did he end up with me, someone who isn’t a superstar? Someone who is just normal. Right?”

Marie nodded weakly. Maybe a little gratefully as she avoided the daggers Kate was glaring her way.

I searched for that seed of doubt that always seemed to bloom whenever thoughts exactly like that struck. It was still there, but the truth was, it had been starved more and more over the past few weeks. I barely noticed it anymore.

Because I knew who Xavier was. I knew who I wanted to be. I knew what we were together. And at this point, I didn’t have reasons to doubt that anymore. Because, like he said, we were choosing each other, and we would do that every day.

So I just shook my head and decided to be honest.

“I don’t know,” I told her. “All of those differences should have gotten in the way. And they very nearly did, as you know. We probably shouldn’t have made it. But now that we’re here, all I can say is that when you find your person, the rest of the world kind of fades away. He chose me, and I chose him, and now, all that other stuff just…doesn’t matter.”

I shrugged. I didn’t know how else to explain it other than that.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to soothe Marie.

“Well, I know there’s no chance there,” Marie said. “Daniel’s a Lyons. He barely knows who I am, and I’ve worked for his family for almost a decade. I’m just a servant who makes the asparagus souffle he likes on Sundays. It’s all right. I’ll get over him sometime.” She offered a weak little smile that made my heart squeeze for her. “That’s what Paris is for, I think.”

“All right, I got it.” Lea burst in, holding a can of Aqua Net. “If this doesn’t hold, nothing will.”

“Well, it makes Nonna’s hair into a helmet every day, so I think she’ll be fine,” Kate said.

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