24
Lourde
I’d already cried enough tears over Barrett Black by the time my driver had dropped me back home. Pepper and Grace had helped me get through the painful journey home from the Hamptons and listened to me on the phone talking about the man who had somehow stolen my heart in the space of a week. But as Pepper had said, it wasn’t a week at all. I’d known Barrett for way longer, and what started as an innocent one-sided crush years ago had developed into something I don’t think either of us expected.
But it was over.
He couldn’t give me what I wanted. It seemed he wasn’t capable of love.
I said a quick hello to Mom, then escaped to my bedroom, pulling the covers over my head like the emptiness I felt was a bad dream. But when I awoke, that feeling was there. Worse still, I had a throbbing headache and an insatiable hunger from not eating since last night.
I pulled myself together, patted some concealer on my puffy eyes, and went downstairs to meet Mom for lunch.
“Here she is.” She lifted her head and took me in. “Lourde, you look terrible, darling.”
“I have a headache, Mom, that’s all.”
“And a terrible sunburn. You should really let our doctor look at that. You don’t want that beautiful skin of yours to peel, although…” she laughed, “… that’s what we want when we get to my age… the skin underneath, the new, peeled layers.” She pulled her cheeks toward her ears.
I shook my head at the taut expression on Mom’s face. “Barrett called the concierge doctor in the Hamptons. I have this cream, he... I mean, I apply daily.” I blushed, remembering the feel of his large hands rubbing the cream into my neck, then circling my breasts.
“Is that so?” She ran her eyes over me as I slid onto the chair beside her.
“Yes.” I dug into the Waldorf salad, my favorite.
“How was it at Barrett’s?” Mom asked, picking at the lettuce in her Greek salad.
“His house is beautiful, Mom, so full of character, detail, and the view… just stunning.”
That’s it, stick to the house.
“I remember when he bought that house. We were so perplexed by it. It was so rundown and old. And Barrett?”
“Barrett was working a lot on a deal in East Hampton.”
“Always working, Barrett. So you didn’t see him much?”
“Not really.” I couldn't help but lie.
“Hmm. He’s very good-looking.”
I turned to Mom. A grin spread onto her mouth as she regarded me.
I laughed. “I guess he is.”
“You guess?”
“Can we change the topic?” I shoveled more chicken in my mouth so that I couldn’t engage in conversation anymore.
“Tomorrow night. How are you feeling about meeting Finigan?”
Eventually, I swallowed. “To be honest, Mom, I don’t want to date so soon.”
“Nonsense. We’ve been through this before. You’re not getting any younger, Lourde, and Finigan is quite the catch.”
I shook my head. “Like Hunter was?” I glared at her. “I saw him with his dick in another woman on the beach, Mom.”
“Lourde! Language, please.”
I rolled my eyes. I’ll always be the debutante in her eyes.
“Men are a different species. They think with their…” she looked down. Could she not say cock?
“Cocks?”
“Lourde, what has gotten into you?”
When I didn’t respond, she continued, “They think with their appendages sometimes. I believe Hunter really cared for you. He just had a lapse in judgment.”
“You can’t be serious, Mom.”
“Men have them, dear, especially powerful men.” She held my gaze, and something behind her normally calm exterior wavered. Was she referring to her and Dad? They had always been in a solid, loving relationship.
“All I’m saying is to be open tomorrow night. Finigan is a sweet boy, and he comes from an excellent family, Lourde. They’re scarce these days.”
I picked at the feta Mom had left in her salad bowl. “Maybe, Mom.”
* * *