the front vestibule of her sister’s apartment, then greeted her siblings: Mad, J.C., and—just back from their honeymoon—Étienne and Kate.
“Where’s Gard?” asked Mad. “Wasn’t he coming with you?”
Jax accepted a glass of wine from her brother as she sat down next to Kate on the couch in Mad’s living room.
“Still in New Orleans,” she said.
“I thought he was supposed to be home by today,” said Mad, sitting on Jax’s other side.
“Me too,” said Jax, feeling forlorn.
They’d spoken every day since he’d been gone, and he always told her he loved her when they hung up, but he’d been very mysterious about the purpose of his visit, and she couldn’t help but worry that this time apart was badly timed with them being evicted from their love nest.
“What about Thatcher?” asked Jax. “Another conference?”
Mad’s face froze for a moment before recovering. “That’s right.”
“You pressed charges, Jax?” asked Étienne. “Over the pictures?”
Was something going on with Mad? She gave her sister a curious look before turning to Étienne and nodding. “I did. I have my lawyer looking into it. I’m pressing charges for trespassing, and I want the pictures removed from the website.”
“Good for you,” said her brother, who was a lawyer. “If you run into any snags, let me know.”
“Your boyfriend…Gard. Will we meet him tomorrow night at Skye Winslow’s party?” asked Kate with a hopeful smile.
Jax nodded. “As far as I know, he’s supposed to be back by then.” She turned to J.C. “Another appraiser came by today to look at Le Chateau. Did you speak to maman?”
J.C. nodded, but Jax could tell from his expression that the news wasn’t good. “She won’t sell to me either. Or Ten or Mad. She said she’s selling to a stranger and that you need to get your ass back to LA.”
“She’s crazy,” said Jax with a sniff. “I have no plans to go back to Hollywood. Ever.”
“Thatagirl, Jax,” said Étienne, raising his glass to her. “So what’s your plan?”
She shrugged. “I have to find a realtor, make time to look at houses, find one I want, put a bid on it, move…it’s exhausting even to think about. For the meantime, I’ll stay here.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask,” said J.C. “Who else is going to the Winslow thing?”
“I saw Skye yesterday,” said Jax. “Looks like Barrett and Emily English, Fitz and Daisy, Stratton and his girlfriend…”
“Valeria,” supplied Kate.
“Fucking Stratton,” muttered Étienne, earning a disapproving look from his wife, who was Stratton’s cousin.
“Weston and his fiancée…um…”
“Molly,” said J.C., looking slightly pissed for no good reason.
“Right. Molly. Um, let’s see. Brooks and Skye, of course. Cameron and Margaret Winslow. Elise Winslow is in a show on Broadway, so she and Preston can’t come, and Christopher can’t get away from Washington right now.”
“Two Winslows down,” said Étienne, winking at J.C.
“The less, the merrier,” said Étienne, saluting his brother.
“The Storys?” asked Kate.
Jax nodded. “All four are coming, in addition to Margaret. That was a shocker. I didn’t even know Alice lived around here anymore.”
Étienne gave J.C. a look. “Oh, Alice is coming. Did you hear that, Jean-Christian? Alice!”
“Shut the fuck up, Ten.”
“What about the Amblers?” asked Mad.
“Bree, yes. Sloane yes.”
Mad groaned. “Sloane? Ugh.”
J.C. perked up. “Sloane was always hot.”
“And easy,” added Étienne.
Kate gave her husband a dirty look.
“Not that I ever sampled the goods, chaton.”
“What’s Sloane up to these days?” asked J.C.
“She owns an antique store,” said Mad.
Jax turned to her sister. “You keep in touch with her?”
“N-not really,” said Mad, standing up quickly. “J.C. needs a refill.”
“What about Cort, Jax?” asked Étienne with a shit-eating grin.
“As far as I know, he’s coming.”
“New boyfriend and old boyfriend all in one place, huh?”
“Shut up, Ten,” said Mad, coming back into the living room with a bottle of wine to refresh everyone’s glass.
“Oh my God!” exclaimed Kate. “That’s right! I almost forgot you two used to date.”
“Ancient history,” said Mad, giving Jax an anxious smile.
Jax nodded in agreement. “Dark Ages-ancient.”
“And Dash?” asked J.C.
Jax shrugged. “No idea. He never got back to Skye.”
“That’s because he’s in Calcutta,” said Mad. When everyone in the room turned to her to find out how the hell she knew that, she shrugged, then bustled back toward the kitchen. “I need to check on dinner.”
“I’m sorry about Le Chateau,” said Kate, slipping closer to Jax on the couch as J.C. and Étienne started a conversation about European soccer.
Jax sighed. “I should have seen it coming.”
“Your mother is…challenging.”
“She wasn’t very nice to you, was she? The month before the wedding when she was visiting, I could