you, and you don’t know me or anything about my relationship with them.”
“You’re right,” Addie said with a shrug. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Thanks. I guess.”
Addie pushed open the restroom door ahead of me, as if her work here was done. But then she stopped and glanced back at me. “Just…do your own digging. Do you even know who Katherine’s father is?” My blank expression must have said as much. “Ask around. Their closets are lined with skeletons.”
She breezed out of the restroom in a swirl of yellow chiffon.
Well, I hadn’t expected that. I felt strangely uneasy about Addie’s revelations. I didn’t know if she was telling the truth or if she had some ulterior motive. Nor did I know how much of it was true. If any of it was true.
I’d wanted a breezy fall, stuck on a beach in the Hamptons to finish my book. No distractions. No boys. Nothing but me, my computer, and lots and lots of words.
Suddenly, that seemed like such a distant illusion. And this felt like a dream I needed to wake up from.
My night hadn’t been like Cinderella. I hadn’t kissed my prince at midnight. I wasn’t about to lose one of these shoes. I couldn’t even imagine the price tag on the red-bottomed heels. But I was still going to turn into a pumpkin when all of this fake grandeur fell away and left me as the help once more.
I needed to leave.
That much was certain. I was out of place here. This wasn’t me. It had never been me. Amy had forced me into a tight dress for that party in Paris six years ago. I was bohemian by nature. I liked my hair down in disarray from the sea salt or up in a messy bun on the top of my head. I liked flowy, oversized dresses in crazy prints with bell sleeves and lace. I wore wide-brimmed hats and no makeup. And in my world, there were no galas or diamond necklaces or sexy men in tuxedos, but there also wasn’t any backstabbing or arranged marriages or skeletons in the closet.
So, it was time to go.
As much as I hated to admit it, I needed to tell someone. Someone who wasn’t going to try to talk me out of it or argue with me. Someone like…
“Lewis!” I called, hurrying as fast as I could in these heels over to where he stood with another guy.
He said something to said guy and then met me halfway.
“What’s wrong?” he asked immediately.
“Nothing. I’m just going to…head out. Could you tell Penn for me?”
“Wait, wait, wait, what?” His dark brown eyes widened with concern.
“I’m leaving.”
“I got that much, but where are you going to go?”
I shrugged. I hadn’t gotten that far. I just thought I would figure it out as I went. “I don’t know. Back to the beach house?”
“In the middle of the night? How are you even going to get there? Any way you look at it, it’s dangerous.”
“Okay, fine. You’re right. I know. I’ll get a hotel or something. But I don’t think I want to be here any longer.”
It would be smarter to stay and figure out what I was doing with the rest of the night. But Katherine was probably planning to stay, and I hadn’t exactly made plans for a slumber party. Penn, I didn’t even know if I wanted to face him right now. I didn’t know if I could keep all the questions running through my mind from bursting forth from my lips. It was better to stay on my own and take the bus back to the beach house in the morning.
“What is this about? Camden?” Lewis asked intuitively. “He’s a dick. I wouldn’t let anything he said upset you.”
“I’m not upset by him. I could tell he was a dick.”
“Then, why are you upset?”
“I just…don’t belong here,” I finally finished.
“Says who?”
“Well, Penn did that first night. And maybe he’s right.”
“The Upper East Side, admittedly, isn’t an easy crowd. But leaving now will prove that they can walk all over you.”
“It’s not going to prove anything,” I said, raising my chin, “because I’m not part of this crowd, and I never will be.”
I turned to leave, but Lewis reached out and grasped my arm.
“Don’t go running off into the night. You can stay at my place if you need to.”
“I couldn’t…”
“I’m offering.”
“What are you offering exactly?” Penn asked, appearing before us.
Lewis hastily dropped my arm. “I was just convincing Natalie not