Daughters Of The Bride(78)

Joyce moved to her side and put her arm around her. “There’s more. She just got invited into a special class. That’s how much her instructors think of her. She’s a straight-A student, and most of her college has been paid for by academic scholarships.”

Maggie took a couple of steps back, reached behind herself and felt for a chair, then sank into it. Her face was white, her eyes wide.

Rachel stared at her. “You never said a word.” She sounded breathless and hurt. “All this time, all the things we did together. You never hinted.”

Courtney’s stomach twisted and guilt filled her. “I’m sorry. I know you don’t understand. I didn’t plan this. It just kind of happened. I wanted to get my GED and surprise everyone. Then I kind of signed up for community college and decided to wait and see if I could really get my AA. When that happened, I wanted to be able to show you all what I’d done. I wanted to be able to hand you my degree.”

Not hand it to them, she thought to herself. Throw it at them. She’d wanted proof that she wasn’t what they thought.

“But you’ve been doing this for years,” her mother breathed. “You’ve kept this from us for years. We’re your family and you didn’t tell us any of it.”

She covered her face with her hands and started to cry. Neil rose and hurried to her. He crouched down and put his arms around her.

“I’m sure you had your reasons,” he told Courtney. “But you’ve hurt your mother.”

“You’ve hurt all of us,” Rachel said. She stood. “I’m going to call Greg to come get us.”

Sienna stood up. “What’s wrong with all of you? So she didn’t tell us. Look at what she’s done. Courtney, good for you. You did the work and you have a lot to show for it. Mom, you have to see, this is a good thing. Courtney’s not the loser you thought. She’s going to be fine. I’m proud of her, and you should be, too.”

No one said anything. Courtney knew she had to figure out something to explain or make the situation better, but she couldn’t think of what. She wasn’t going to apologize. She hadn’t done anything wrong. But her mother was in tears, Rachel was upset and the tasting dinner had turned into a disaster.

“You should be proud of yourself,” Joyce told her.

“I wish you hadn’t said anything.”

“It was time for them to know.”

“That wasn’t your decision to make. This was between me and my family. I wasn’t ready.”

Her boss didn’t look the least bit contrite. “Based on how things were going, you were never going to be ready, dear. I just gave you a little push.”

“You didn’t have the right.” She walked toward Rachel.

Her sister glared at her. “Whatever you have to say, I don’t want to hear it. My God, Courtney, I’ve tried so hard to help you. All these years. I thought we were close. I thought we were the kind of sisters who could depend on each other. I can’t believe how wrong I was about you.”

She walked out. Maggie and Neil followed. Sienna and David stood, as well. Sienna paused.

“They’ll get over it. You’ll see.” Sienna hugged her. “You go, girl.”

Courtney nodded because she couldn’t speak. Shock and guilt and a sick feeling combined into an impossible emotional stew. Joyce left with Sienna and David, leaving Courtney standing alone in the center of the room. Two seconds later one of the servers walked in with a tray of desserts.

“Where is everyone?” he asked. “Are we still tasting these?”

Courtney shook her head. “Not tonight.”





18

QUINN WAS SURPRISED to find his grandmother and her dogs at his front door so early in the morning. He was just back from the gym and was about to start coffee.

For once, Joyce wasn’t perfectly groomed. She looked tired and wasn’t wearing makeup. Based on the dark circles under her eyes, she hadn’t slept well. He stepped back to let her into the bungalow. Her two dogs followed.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Are you all right?”

She twisted her hands together. “The tasting dinner didn’t go well.”

He knew that Courtney had worked hard to get the menu right. He’d helped her with the wines, and they’d talked about how she wanted the evening to go. He’d thought she might stop by afterward, but he hadn’t heard from her. He’d assumed she’d been tired and had gone to bed.

“What happened?” He took her arm and led her to the sofa. “Tell me.”

She perched on the edge of the cushion. Sarge and Pearl sniffed around the room before Pearl jumped onto one of the club chairs. Sarge joined her and they curled up together.