Friend Zone

  Rose

  After sending Tyler to get it together in the en suite, Vicky turned toward her cousin, who was still sobbing on the bed. “Did you come here in your car?” she asked. “Can you go home right away?”

  “I drove here, but I came with my roommate.”

  “Your roommate?” Vicky seemed surprised. “What’s her name? How come she was invited?”

  “Alice. You met her,” the girl said.

  Is it possible the roommate is Ethan’s Alice? Small world, Rose thought. A furtive glance at Ethan confirmed that, yes, it was the same Alice.

  “Alice is Georgiana’s friend, too,” the disgraced bridesmaid continued. “She came to our house for Christmas the year before last, and she was at the baby shower. We were talking about her on Martha’s Vineyard, remember?”

  “I was getting married I don’t remember anything anyone said to me that week, but I remember her from Christmas…” Vicky stared at the ceiling pensively. “A cute blonde, right? I didn’t see her in the crowd today or at the shower.”

  “She’s a brunette now.”

  “That explains it, then,” Vicky said matter-of-factly. “It doesn’t matter, anyway. You can’t tell her about what happened here.”

  “Alice is my best friend,” the girl protested. “She won’t tell Georgiana.”

  “Madison, listen to me.” Vicky closed the distance to the bed. “I’m not kidding. You can’t tell anyone about this. Promise me.”

  The girl looked scared again. “Okay, I promise. I won’t tell anyone.”

  “Can you ask your roommate if she can get a ride with someone else?”

  On impulse, Rose said, “We can give her a lift.”

  Ethan arched his brows. “Are you sure?”

  Rose nodded.

  Noticing the underlying tension in Ethan’s question, Vicky asked, “Why the face? You know her, too?”

  “Alice and I dated a while ago,” he explained.

  “Seriously?”

  Ethan shrugged.

  “Ah well, that’s taken care of. Madison, are you sure you’re okay to drive? Did you drink?”

  “No, not much.”

  That’s a lie, Rose thought. From the state of her, Madison wasn’t wasted, but she wasn’t anywhere close to sober either.

  “Are you sure?” Vicky echoed Rose’s worries. “We can call a car if you’re not okay.”

  “I’m good,” the girl insisted. “I can drive.”

  “Okay.”

  Rose wasn’t convinced, but Vicky was calling the shots and Rose didn’t want to contradict her.

  “Here.” Ethan’s sister handed their cousin a wet wipe. “Clean your face,” she instructed.

  Madison’s mascara was running in rivulets down her flushed cheeks. She scrubbed her face with the tissue, making her skin even blotchier. Under all that melted makeup, the girl was stunning. Blue eyes, high cheekbones covered in cute freckles, and otherwise regular features that made her a classic beauty. Madison freed her hair from the half-undone, elaborate chignon all the bridesmaids had, letting loose a cascade of golden looks. Even more beautiful. Yet her face, for all its beauty, was twisted ugly with remorse, shame, and a mix of other complicated emotions Rose couldn’t discern.

  Vicky waited for her to be finished cleaning herself before she spoke again. “Do you know how to get out of the house from the back?”

  “Yes.” Madison nodded.

  “Okay. I’ll call you tonight and we’ll talk this through. But not a word to anyone else.”

  Madison grabbed her clutch from the bedside table and fled the room. Watching her run, Rose couldn’t help the gush of pity in her chest.

  “Ethan.” Vicky turned her attention on him next. Solving one problem at a time, snap-snap-snap. “Can you please go grab an aspirin and some water?”

  “Yeah.” Ethan threw a murderous stare at the bathroom where Tyler was still holed up. “It’s better if I get out of here.” He exited the bedroom.

  “Will Madison be all right?” Rose asked.

  “What makes you ask that?”

  “She seemed really…” Rose paused to find the right word. “Broken.”

  Vicky hugged herself. “Madison has always harbored a major inferiority complex toward me, and toward Georgiana especially. And everyone else, really: her friends, the girls in her sorority, you name it. My sister didn’t help cure any of her insecurities either. You know how she can be.”

  Rose was surprised to hear Vicky hint again that Georgiana was far from perfect. She knew the two sisters were close, and she’d assumed it meant they were alike. In reality, they couldn’t have been more different.

  Vicky kept going. “And my whole family is so damn competitive that growing up a shy, reserved kid… Madison hasn’t had an easy time of it. Don’t worry, I’ll call her later and talk with her. Really talk. I’m not going to point the finger. Ethan has never understood the female pecking order of this family, but I do, and I’m sorry to say Madison has been at the bottom her entire life.”

  The more Vicky talked, the more Rose liked her. “At least she can count on you,” she said.

  “Madison is like another younger sister.” Vicky braced her hands on the bed’s footboard. “I can at least try to understand the perverse train of thought that brought her to behave like she has today. After years of being bullied by Georgiana, she probably saw this as retribution.”

  “Bullied?”

  “Bullied is too strong a word.” Ethan’s sister waved a hand. “Outshined, teased. Let’s say Georgiana usually wins the competition to get the most attention at the dinner table. Madison is fragile. She doesn’t know how to stand up for herself. So she probably decided to backstab Georgiana, get the other end of the stick for once. It makes me sick to my stomach that my family is so messed up.”

  “It’s not,” Rose said.

  Vicky raised a skeptical eyebrow.

  “Well, maybe a little,” Rose conceded. “But the important thing is that you stick together no matter what.”

  “I hope you’re right. What about your friend in there?” Vicky pointed to the still-closed bathroom door. “Do you think Tyler will be capable of keeping his word, or do I have to send home all the bridesmaids?”

  Rose considered the question for a few seconds. “Usually, he’s on his best behavior for a while after he’s messed up. Especially with something as big as this. I know he wants to try, but he probably feels trapped by so many responsibilities he didn’t ask for.” Rose shrugged. “I’m sure he will be a great father and he will try to be a good husband.”

  “It’s more than I would’ve done in his place.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. I love my sister,” Vicky said fiercely, “in the same way you love your cat after he’s peed on your favorite rug. The way she tricked Tyler into becoming a father is inexcusable. No matter how you look at it.”

  “Still, Georgiana doesn’t deserve this.” Rose stared at the crumpled bed sheets.

  Vicky gave her a long stare. “That’s kind of you. I know you two have your own history and don’t like each other much.”

  “Yeah… we… uh…” Rose didn’t know what to say.

  “But I do like you,” Vicky added. “I want you to know that. I’ve never seen my brother this happy.”

  Rose was taken aback. Vicky was proving to be one of the coolest people she’d ever met. Rose smiled and nodded. “I like you too.”

  Ethan came back into the room with a bottle of spring water and a plastic vial of aspirin tablets. “What are you two smiling about?” he asked gloomily.

  “Nothing,” they both answered.

  Ethan passed the water and tablets to his sister.

  “Thanks,” she said. “You two go. I’ll stay with the groom until he’s good enough to come back out.”

  Ethan gave his sister a stiff nod and moved outside the room. Rose smiled at Vicky one last time and then followed him. He
was already headed for the stairs.

  “Hey, come here.” Rose grabbed his hand to stop him and hugged him.

  “Please.” Ethan tried to push her back, but she wouldn’t let him. “Don’t even try to defend him.”

  “I wasn’t going to.” She took Ethan’s face in her hands. “I want to know how you feel.”

  Ethan’s jaw relaxed, and he stopped struggling to get away. “I can handle it.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, I have you.” He finally placed his arms around her waist. “I’m good.”

  Rose kissed him. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too. Now, let’s go before people start wondering where everyone went.”

  “Right.” Rose smirked. “And we have to tell Alice she just earned herself an awkward ride home.”

  Forty

  Alice

  Alice spotted Rose and Ethan coming out of the house. She had to admit they were a beautiful couple. After everything that had happened with Jack and Peter in the past year, Ethan was ancient history. But still, seeing your ex and his new perfect girlfriend so in love wasn’t exactly ideal.

  They seemed to be walking in her direction, so Alice turned her back to them and grabbed a flute of champagne from a passing waiter. Surely they would try to avoid her just as much as she was trying to avoid them. The last thing Alice expected when she turned back was to find them standing right behind her as if they wanted to speak to her. She almost choked on her drink and recovered just in time to avoid making a complete fool of herself.

  “Hi, Alice,” Ethan said. Rose smiled apologetically.

  “Hi,” Alice replied warily.

  “Madison wasn’t feeling well,” Ethan said. “She had to go home and asked me to tell you.”

  Alice had seen Madison drink more than one glass of wine. Should she even be driving? “Is she sick?” Alice asked, the embarrassment of facing her ex replaced by worry for her friend. “What did she have?”

  “Nothing serious. She was just a bit lightheaded.”

  Ethan’s jaw kept twitching as he spoke. That added to the way Rose was shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other, and Alice was positive they weren’t telling her the whole story.

  Alice dropped her glass on a nearby table and reached into her clutch for her phone. She had one new text from Madison.

  Not feeling well, heading home

  Alice scrolled through the chat, but there were no other messages. Things didn’t add up. She lifted her head and asked, “Is Madison gone already?”

  “Should be.” Ethan shrugged.

  His hostile attitude was pushing Alice’s buttons. Was he mad at Madison? Because she wasn’t feeling well? “So you let her drive home alone when she was feeling lightheaded?” Alice pressed him. That didn’t sound much like Ethan; it didn’t sound like any of the Smithson clan.

  “It wasn’t that serious.”

  “But serious enough she had to go home.”

  Alice wasn’t sure why she was trying to pick a fight, especially with her ex. But she wanted to find out what it was that they weren’t telling her.

  “Anyway, Madison should have texted you to tell you,” Ethan said, ignoring her question point blank. “Since she was your ride, we can give you a lift home.”

  A lift home with her ex and the girl he’d dumped her for? Hell no!

  “Err.” Alice put the phone back in her purse to gain a couple of seconds. She had to wiggle her way out of this situation. “Yeah, she did text me. Don’t you worry, guys. I can call an Uber to get home.”

  “I live just off campus,” Rose said. “It’s not a problem for us to drop you off. It’d cost you a fortune to get a car to come all the way here and back to Cambridge.”

  Ethan’s girlfriend was being so genuinely kind and warm, it was impossible to say no. And Alice wasn’t good at thinking on her feet. Madison had better be seriously ill.

  “Okay, then,” Alice sighed. “When do you guys want to go?”

  “After they cut the cake?” Ethan looked at Rose who nodded.

  “All right, that’s settled,” Alice said. “I’ll see you later, guys.” She walked away as quickly as she could without appearing to be running.

  Not long afterward, the band stopped playing and the wedding planner took the stage to ask all the guests to group on the lawn for the cutting of the cake. They formed a big semicircle around a small round table covered with a white cloth. On top of it stood the wedding cake—a five-layer tower decorated with a waterfall of pale pink-and-white sugar flowers.

  Alice waited to see where Ethan and Rose would go, and positioned herself on the opposite side, at the back of the crowd. When all the guests were settled, soft music started in the background and Georgiana and Tyler made their appearance from inside the house. The bride and groom crossed the garden holding hands, Georgiana looking positively radiant in her amazing high-low hem gown and Tyler appearing too pale for his own good. He was smiling, but something was off. His smile looked forced. Was he nervous?

  As the bride and groom took their place behind the small table, Georgiana’s older sister discretely emerged from the house. Victoria scanned the crowd, then joined Ethan and Rose. They all started whispering furiously to one another, heads bent in a close circle. The argument seemed to become heated, so much so that Vicky made a “be quiet” gesture, peering over her shoulder. Alice’s suspicions flared up again. It looked like the three of them were discussing some big secret the guests shouldn’t overhear.

  Ethan went quiet and fixed his gaze ahead. Rose was studying his face apprehensively. Why? Alice followed Ethan’s stare: he was glaring at the groom with murder written all over his features. Alice had never seen him so livid. Vicky’s mouth, too, was set in a thin line, and she sported a deep frown. Georgiana appeared to be the only unabashedly happy Smithson sibling. What was all the drama about?

  A cheer erupted from the crowd as Georgiana and Tyler joined hands and sunk a knife into the cake’s top layer. Alice drained her glass and walked back to her table to wait for a slice of the wedding cake as did most of the guests. She wasn’t hungry; she’d had enough of the wedding banquet, and her stomach was knotting tighter and tighter at the prospect of her awkward ride home. But, apparently, it was bad luck to leave a wedding without having a bite of the cake. And she could use some good fortune.

  The cake was too sweet, so after the first perfunctory bite, Alice left the rest. She was about to go search for Ethan and Rose when Georgiana appeared by her side.

  “I’m throwing the bouquet,” the bride announced, taking Alice’s hand. “You have to come.”

  Alice followed her and joined the crowd of eager-looking—to say the least, belligerent to be more accurate—single girls ready to catch the prize. Around her, crazed women started pushing and shoving, so Alice decided to move to the edge of the swaying crowd.

  “All right, ladies,” Georgiana yelled, and winked at Alice. “Here it goes. One… two… three…”

  The bouquet soared high in the air and almost hit Alice in the face before she caught it. A disappointed groan resounded around her. The bouquet felt heavier than she’d imagined. Fat chance I’m getting married within the year, she thought.

  Georgiana barreled into her, yelling, “I knew you’d catch it!” The bride pulled her into a hug, the beading on her dress scraping Alice’s skin at multiple points. “Thanks so much for coming. I’m sorry we didn’t get to talk much today, but everyone wanted a piece of me.”

  “Of course.” Alice smiled. “You’re the most beautiful bride in the world.”

  “I have to go now.” Georgiana was more hyper than a hamster on a wheel. “Tyler and I have to say our goodbyes before going.”

  “Are you leaving for the honeymoon tonight?” Alice asked.

  “Yeah.” Georgiana nodded. “We’d better hurry. I’ll call you when I get back, all right?”

  “Sure, have a great time.”

&n
bsp; They hugged again, and Georgiana waltzed away in a whirl of white organza. With no excuses left to delay the inevitable, Alice sighed and started searching for Ethan and Rose. It was Rose who found her instead.

  “Alice, here,” she called, pushing her way through the crowd to reach her. “We’re ready to go if you are.”

  “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather I took a cab?”

  “This far out of the city? It’d be expensive,” Rose said. “Listen, I understand this might be awkward for you…”

  “Well, a bit,” Alice admitted. “Isn’t it for you, too?”

  “Honestly, I’m cool if you’re cool. Ethan, too.” Rose smiled. “But if you don’t want to go with us, I understand; that’s why I came looking for you alone. I thought maybe you didn’t want to say anything in front of him.”

  The more Rose talked, the harder it was not to like her. Plus, Ethan’s annoyingly kind girlfriend was right: paying for a cab would be a pain. And Alice wasn’t exactly swimming in money at the moment. As for Uber, one tiny, money-forgetting-ATM-detouring incident last year had made her passenger score drop and now drivers ducked her requests.

  Alice made up her mind. “I’m cool.”

  Ethan was waiting for them at the front of the house, now transformed into an unofficial parking lot. Luckily, they’d come in the pickup, so Alice wouldn’t have to squeeze in the back of his sports car.

  “You’re still at the Botanic Gardens?” Ethan asked, catching her eye in the rearview mirror.

  Alice blushed, thinking she’d had sex with him there, in her room. “Yeah, still there.”

  The awkward trio spent the ride in silence; each of them busy with their own thoughts. Alice didn’t pay attention to the road, so when Ethan pulled up in front of her building, she was startled they’d already arrived. She was about to get out of the car when she froze, her hand on the door handle, her pulse out of control.

  Jack was sitting on the steps of her building.

  Forty-one

  Alice

  Spotting her, Jack sprang to his feet. “Hey,” he said, jogging toward her. “Whose truck was that?” He frowned at the leaving car.