to handle it was to just avoid making a decision at all.
Noah and I were friends. No lines had been crossed.
Everything was fine.
“He’s just my friend, Annie,” I told my best friend, and myself, keeping my voice low. Mama and Daddy were gone, but Anthony was downstairs, working in Daddy’s home office.
Not that I was talking about anything he couldn’t hear.
At least, that’s what I told myself as I lowered my voice even more.
“We haven’t done anything wrong.”
“The fact that you have to say that…”
“I know,” I said, sighing again. “I know. But, he makes me feel… like me. This summer has been so stressful with all the wedding planning, and when I’m with him, everything feels easier, lighter, more manageable. We have fun, even if we’re just making stupid chalkboard signs.”
“Do you feel that way when you’re with Anthony?”
I didn’t answer.
A long exhale came from the other end of the phone. “Alright. Just get over here so we can talk about this, okay?”
“I really would rather not talk about it and just make centerpieces.”
“Well, you’re going to have to do both. Text me when you’re on your way.”
I groaned. “Fine.”
“I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
“Ruby Grace?”
“Yeah?”
Annie paused. “Everything is going to be okay. Okay?”
I nodded, ignoring the way my throat tightened at her words. “Okay,” I whispered back.
When we ended the call, I finished packing up the last of the centerpiece ingredients, heaving the first box into my arms and carefully walking it downstairs. It was heavy, and I stumbled on a step, nearly crashing to the floor and taking the fragile contents of the box along with me.
“Shit,” I murmured, balancing the box on the railing.
I was on the middle plateau between the two flights, and I didn’t want to chance a tumble.
“Anthony?” I called out, still balancing the box on the railing. “Can you help me with these boxes for a second?”
No answer.
I frowned, looking around at my options. I didn’t want to go back up the stairs, either, so I deposited the box on the floor of the square landing, trotting down the second flight of stairs and making my way back to Daddy’s office.
“Anthony?” I called again.
No answer.
I heard his voice when I rounded the corner past the kitchen, making my way down the hall.
Of course, he’s on the phone.
I hung my hands on my hips, pausing in the hallway to debate my options. I decided to just get a glass of sweet tea and wait for him to get off the phone so he could help me load up the car. I was in no hurry, anyway.
But before I could turn back toward the kitchen, I heard my name.
“Yes, it’s been hectic being out here, but Ruby Grace has been great about it all. The crew filmed our dinner earlier this week, and she looked ravishing. She’s everything I could have ever asked for in a wife.”
I smiled, a mixture of guilt and love swirling in my stomach as I leaned my back against the wall, folding my hands over my heart. It was rude to listen in, and I knew it, but truth be told, I needed to hear that kind of thing from Anthony.
I needed to hear what I meant to him.
“I know, Dad. Yeah. Right. Ha! I know, you should have seen us at the barrel tasting event. I swear, this town lives and dies by that distillery.”
I smiled. That was Stratford, alright.
“Oh, trust me, I can handle her father. With what we’re doing for him, I don’t think he could even pretend to not love me — even if that were the case,” Anthony said, lowering his voice.
My stomach somersaulted, and I slid my back quietly along the wall, getting closer.
“It’s not the only reason, Dad,” he said after a long pause. “No. I know. I understand. Listen, being a politician is all I needed to do in his eyes. We golf, shoot the shit, gamble at the casino, talk about how the extremists are taking the country to hell in a hand basket. He dragged me to the casino last week.” A pause. “I know. You think he would have learned after that, but… anyway. Her mom is a little tougher, but I play the perfect gentleman and she eats it up. Just have to open a few doors and call her ma’am and she lights up like a Christmas tree.”
A pause.
An exaggerated sigh from Anthony.
“Dad, trust me, I get it. I know they’re not exactly what we had in