Page 14

Fourteen

Little did I know that while I’d been away at Penn’s field hockey camp the following week, Marco had pretty much made himself at home.

I slept in the day after getting back, and once I’d finally summoned the energy to drag my aching body downstairs, I spotted him through a window.

He was out on the front porch, working at his laptop and surrounded by books.

“She rises!” he said when I joined him at the table with a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast slathered in raspberry jam.

“Like a phoenix from the ashes!”

“Mmm,” was my muttered response.

Marco chuckled. “How was camp?”

“Completely and utterly— shit !” I spotted the time on my Apple Watch.

“I’ll be right back! Make sure the dogs don’t get my breakfast!”

(Because Arthur and Francine?

They couldn’t be trusted around unsupervised food.)

Even though my muscles screamed, I leapt out of my chair and ran back into the house.

“What’s wrong?” Da asked as I raced up the stairs, my pulse also pounding.

“I have a conference call!” I shouted.

“You sound like your father!” he shouted back.

I only exhaled when I’d grabbed my MacBook and rejoined Marco.

In all honesty, I probably should’ve taken the call in my room, but my stomach rumbled for food.

Plus, I hadn’t seen Marco in a while.

We’d texted a lot while I was away, but it wasn’t the same.

I hadn’t been able to see the expressions on his face.

I’m not a FaceTime guy , he’d said.

Why not? I’d asked. You were blessed with such a gorgeous face.

Stop making me blush , he responded.

And I admit, I really wanted to see if he was actually blushing.

Marco had called me flirty, and maybe if I strengthened my supposed skills now, I’d have more confidence putting myself out there if/when Ready-Set-Date resumed.

Now that Connor was taken, I was thinking about it.

“You don’t need to put in headphones,” he said now, as I started untangling an ancient pair (my AirPods were currently MIA).

“I’m not a big eavesdropper.”

“Hmm.” I gave him a skeptical look.

“I don’t totally believe you…”

I navigated to my Gmail and tapped on a Zoom link from Amanda Gallant, the subject line reading: Katie’s Bachelorette!

Hopefully no one minds watching me annihilate my breakfast , I thought as I hung out in the virtual waiting room.

Sorry not sorry .

Personally, I thought a Zoom was unnecessary.

This all could’ve been coordinated over email.

Text was apparently too tedious, because for the last few months, there had been two group chats.

One that included Katie, and another that was solely the bridesmaids.

Amanda had told us that all details of Katie’s bachelorette weekend were to stay in the latter thread, so the bride had no idea where we were off to party for three days.

But then Paige had accidentally sent a Charleston Airbnb link to the chat with Katie.

After that epic fail, Reese had proposed the Finger Lakes in upstate New York.

We can rent a house on the lake, follow a wine trail, maybe even rent a pontoon boat…

“Welcome, everyone,” Amanda said now, as if commencing a corporate America meeting.

“I hope you are all doing well!”

“I promise I’m listening,” Paige replied.

The screen switched to her; she was looking down at her tablet.

“But I have to finalize this romance cover. It’s due tomorrow.”

I had to swallow a giggle when I caught Amanda roll her eyes.

But she didn’t outright comment.

“We’re about a month out from the Finger Lakes, so I wanted to touch base on logistics.”

Logistics , I thought.

This definitely could’ve been an email.

“You’ll be getting an email,” Amanda said, “with all this information, but I thought it would be best to discuss it together…”

“Keep talking, Amanda,” a male voice said when she trailed off.

“I’m on the edge of my seat.”

“Stephen!” Meredith exclaimed as the bridesmaids broke into laughter.

“You said you were going food shopping.”

“You haven’t texted me the list,” her husband replied smoothly.

“You could’ve texted me to text you the list,” Meredith countered.

“Well, I wanted to say hello.” Wit appeared onscreen, impossibly turquoise eyes sparkling and sandy hair wind whipped.

“Hi, ladies.”

Across the table, Marco waved his arm to get my attention.

Should I say hello, too?

he mouthed as everyone warmly chorused, “Hi, Wit!”

I gave Marco the middle finger.

So much for not eavesdropping!

“Okay, I’ve secured the house,” Reese said once Meredith had kicked Wit out of the room.

“It’s right on Seneca Lake, and absolutely gorgeous.”

“How much is it going to be per person?” Yasmin asked.

“Six-fifty,” Reese answered.

It took everything in me not to balk.

Six-fifty? Six hundred and fifty dollars?

Who could freaking afford that?

Well, I guess my fellow bridesmaids could.

Except for Paige—who was frowning at her tablet—the others nodded like it was no big deal.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Marco quickly scribble something in his spiral notebook.

You okay? it read.

I wanted to shake my head, but the best I could do was gulp.

These women were adults with jobs; I was seventeen going on eighteen and had never had a job.

Austin had been our town’s go-to babysitter, but while I liked kids, I didn’t love spending hours with them.

And I was always too busy with field hockey to fold clothes at Lululemon or waitress.

I made money over the summer by following Da’s laughably long list of household chores or completing miscellaneous tasks for the Cheval Collective.

I needed that money for the school year, but thanks to the bridesmaid dress, shoes, and my cut of the Airbnb, I could forget it.

Not to mention whatever else I spent on the bachelorette trip.

Amanda was now talking about each person bringing food and making a meal?

“Breathe,” Marco said when the Zoom finally ended.

I slammed my laptop shut so hard that I worried I’d broken it for a second.

“You haven’t let out a breath in ten minutes.” He paused to recalculate.

“Actually, closer to fifteen.”

“Why do I have to pay for all this?!” I exhale-exclaimed.

“Katie asked me to be a bridesmaid! I didn’t ask her if I could be one. I didn’t realize that accepting meant offering up all the money I have to my name!”

Marco chuckled.

“Ah, Mads, there’s no shame in declaring bankruptcy.”

I groaned.

“Marco!”

“What?” he said, smiling.

“You’re being overdramatic.”

“But true!” I countered.

He didn’t argue. “Listen, this is the way it is these days,” he said calmly.

“My sister has been in four weddings, and they’ve all been an investment.”

“Are you sure you don’t mean a bill?” I grumbled, even though I’d caught his drift.

Carina álvarez was invested in her friendships; she didn’t consider them a cost.

But wasn’t asking people to spend over a thousand dollars kind of too much?

“I hate this!” I announced to the world.

“I hate this, I hate this, I hate—”

“Excuse me, what do we hate?” Dad pushed through the front door.

“Hopefully today’s list isn’t too long yet.”

I made an unintelligible noise.

“We just logged off a bridesmaid Zoom call,” Marco translated.

“They went over details for Katie’s bachelorette weekend. A follow-up email is imminent.”

“And how did that go?” Dad asked me.

“Do you think Nana will write me an early birthday check?” I answered.

“September isn’t that far away…”

“Ah.” He easily picked up what I was putting down, retracing his steps over to the doorway.

“Lee!”

Marco packed up his laptop and books.

“I’m going to do some reading in the Garden,” he said as Da joined the party on the porch.

“I suspect I know what this is about,” Dad said once Marco was gone.

He, Da, and I sat together at the table.

“But humor us.”

I did, and didn’t give my parents a chance to respond before adding, “Do I really need to go on the trip? I mean, I can’t drink and Amanda talked about this whole wine crawl.”

“Trail,” Dad corrected, amused.

“It’s wine trail .”

“And pub crawl ,” Da said, then cleared his throat.

“If you don’t want to go, Mads, we aren’t going to stop you from bowing out. This is your decision.”

Dad nodded.

“Conflicts happen.”

Guilt seeped into my skin.

Conflicts did happen, but for once, I didn’t have one.

Katie’s bachelorette was in mid-August, which was usually when we took our family vacation.

By that time, I was finished with camps, my club team training was way more relaxed, and high school preseason didn’t start until the week after we got home.

I’d be lying if I said I was unexpectedly busy.

My dads were going to visit my great-aunt Penny in Rhode Island, but Austin would see right through that if I asked to tag along.

Austin also will be disappointed , I thought.

He won’t be angry, but he’ll be really disappointed in me if I don’t go.

And my brother had been in the best mood lately.

He was now in his final year of dental school, determined to be a pediatric dentist, plus he and Katie had smoothed things over…

pretty much thanks to Da.

Since Austin’s lying days were far, far behind him, he had told our parents about the less-than-terrific tasting at Bedens Brook and the Gallants’ plan for outside caterers.

“Why don’t you do another one just to be sure?” Da had suggested.

“I’d love to come with you, if you want another opinion.”

(The second tasting had gone much better.)

Now, they gave me a look.

“Mads, it’s admirable—and adorable, truthfully—that you believe you need to cover your bridesmaid expenses,” Dad said.

“But there’s no way that’s happening.”

Thank god , I thought, my sigh of relief embarrassingly audible.

Thank god, thank god, thank god!

“We’ll take care of everything,” Da told me.

“It’ll be up to you when your field hockey friends inevitably ask you to be in their weddings someday, but your situation will be different then. You’ll have graduated college and be working.” He shook his head.

“You cleaning the grout in the bathrooms this summer is not the equivalent to earning a salary.”

“Helping stage houses and reviewing inspection reports is closer,” Dad said.

“Although still not the same.”

The corners of my eyes smarted with tears.

“I’ll go on the trip,” I said.

“I’ll go to the Finger Lakes.”

“Well, would you look at that!” Da exclaimed.

“Harry, the second she finds out she’s not paying her tab, she’s no longer such a hater.”

“No, no,” I said as Dad laughed.

“I’ll go, but that doesn’t mean I want to.” I folded my arms across my chest. “Haters gonna hate.”

***

“Do you think Austin’s best man has something like this for Montana?” I asked.

Marco and I were both on the Garden’s couch, sitting close enough that I could smell his sunscreen, its coconut scent now so familiar.

We were reading through the Google Doc that Amanda had shared.

It detailed everything from the Airbnb mansion to the scheduled vineyard visits to meal planning.

My cooking skills were so limited that I’d quickly signed up to make breakfast one day.

Coffee, muffins, yogurt, and fruit salad would work, right?

Marco shook his head in disbelief.

I giggled. Austin’s bachelor weekend wasn’t until September.

“We invited Wit,” Austin had said on the phone the other day.

“He’s not a groomsman, but who cares? The guy is a ton of fun…”

Marco scrolled past the decorations section, which had a bullet-pointed list but also an all-capitals comment: PAIGE, YOU ARE IN CHARGE OF THIS!

“Holy crap,” Marco said.

“There are games on here.”

“Games? What kind of games?”

I imagined playing truth or dare again and resolved that I had no problem being dared to dive into lake butt-naked.

If eleven-year-old Annie could do it in The Parent Trap , so could I!

“Mmm…” Marco scanned the list. “Something called Prosecco Pong. With a note that reads: Mer, bring your dad and uncle Brad’s beer pong table. Not the crappy one Wit made .”

I sighed.

“Meredith’s family sounds fascinating.”

“How Well Do You Know the Bride,” he continued.

“The Newlywed Game, some type of wedding-themed Mad Libs, and—”

“What?” I asked when he dropped off.

“What else?”

Marco’s only response was pressing his lips together, as if trying not to laugh.

Part of me wanted him to break; I loved seeing him burst into laughter—the sight was so palpable that sometimes I could feel the sound reverberate against my cheek.

With no such luck, I glanced back at the laptop screen and noticed the cursor hovering above three words: The Panty Game .

My spine straightened, and Marco took that as his cue.

“ For this game ,” he read, “ each bridesmaid should bring a pair of unwrapped panties that reflects their personality. All panties should be hung on a clothesline, and the bride must guess which bridesmaid gave her which pair . Reese suggests Katie should drink every time she gets one wrong. Amanda agreed.”

I disregarded that, too focused on the game itself.

“What the actual fuck?” I said.

“Panties”—I grimaced, for some reason always despising that word—“that show off my personality ?” My face was ablaze.

“That’s beyond humiliating!”

“Why?” he asked, totally deadpan.

“Are the contents of your top dresser drawer humiliating?”

“No! Lots of black and lace and various shades of blue. Maybe one pair of purple…” I trailed off, my body freezing but lungs fluttering frantically.

“Oh my god, why I am talking about this with you?!”

Marco smiled.

“Because I don’t think you think I’m such a dickhead anymore,” he said.

“I think you like me.” He tilted his head, bemused.

“I think you trust me.”

Something white-hot crackled in my core.

I think you like me.

I think you trust me.

“Stop smirking at me!” I snapped as someone called out, “Hey!”

Marco and I turned to see Connor and Lauren heading toward us, both with lacrosse sticks in hand.

As captains of our school boys’ and girls’ teams, they never went anywhere without them—or, for the last few weeks, each other.

“Hey!” I called back, grateful to Marco for hiding my computer under a couch cushion.

The last thing I needed was Connor or Lauren seeing the scandalous Google Doc.

“What’s up?” Connor asked once he’d unlatched the gate and gestured for Lauren to pass through first. Connor was a gentleman, but I resisted the urge to roll my eyes when Lauren settled on his lap instead of sitting in her own chair.

She used to mostly annoy me, but now I just didn’t like her; she was clingy and manipulative.

Whenever Connor had plans with me or his other friends, she laid a major guilt trip on him.

I’d gotten used to third-wheeling them so he could avoid her wrath.

“Not much,” Marco answered.

“Mads got home from camp yesterday, so we’re just hanging.”

“I know,” Connor said as his girlfriend wrapped his arms around her waist. “She, Lauren, and I grabbed pizza and water ice last night.” He caught my eye.

“It looks like you’re doing more than just hanging…”

My heart jolted.

Did Connor think Marco and I were—

“Something serious was definitely being discussed,” Lauren emphasized, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

Okay, no, they just think we’re keeping something hush-hush , I thought, relieved, but still inwardly groaning.

Connor was joking, but Lauren was nosy.

“Well, yes,” I caved.

“We were talking about a seriously serious subject.” I paused for dramatic effect.

“Katie’s bachelorette weekend.”

Lauren squealed.

“Everything’s finalized?!”

“You bet,” Marco said.

“Date, time, location—”

I elbowed him before he could add activities .

“Mads, I’m so jealous,” Lauren said.

“You must be psyched.”

I made a noncommittal mm-hmm noise.

“You are lying through your teeth.” Connor smiled.

“You aren’t excited, are you?”

“I guess.” I shrugged.

“I probably sound like a spoiled brat, but this isn’t really a vacation. It’s Katie’s vacation; for me, it’s a business trip.”

“You don’t sound like a brat,” Connor said.

“You sound like yourself .” He chuckled.

“I’ve known you forever, Mads, and knowing you forever means I know that you love going on vacation.” He turned to Lauren.

“She always has a hundred tabs open on her computer, and at least half of them are travel blogs. She has an impressive bucket list.”

“And I suspect Stone Harbor isn’t at the top,” Marco said, knocking his knuckles against my knee.

“But what do you think about it?”

I looked at him blankly.

I had no idea what he was talking about.

“Oh, you invited her to the house?” Connor asked Marco.

And one, two, three: it clicked .

The álvarezes owned a house on the Jersey Shore.

According to Dad, they usually rented it out for most of the summer, but…

“Yeah,” Marco said. “My parents have been down there for the last couple weeks, and I’m driving down on Friday. I was hoping Mads would come.” He paused.

“You too, McCallister.”

“That’s awesome!” Lauren replied, unaware that the invitation had not been extended to her.

“I love Stone Harbor. There’s this one ice cream place—”

“Don’t you have club practice?” Connor asked me.

“Yes…” I said slowly.

“I do.” I felt my lips twist in a smile.

Marco was a genius, helping me spend time with Connor sans Lauren.

“But if you want to go, Con, I’ll skip it.”