“You’re mum seems really upset,” I said.
“She got a bit overcome when she was talking about Parker’s charity,” Stella added.
Tristan nodded as if he wasn’t surprised.
“She raced off to the loo. Shall I go and check she’s okay?” I asked
Tristan pulled me closer to him. “She’ll be fine. She won’t want a fuss made. She’ll be embarrassed.”
“It’s totally understandable,” Beck said. “Big family occasions are bound to bring up memories.”
What sort of memories? Was Tristan’s mother upset about Sunrise, or was there a traumatic family party in the past no one had yet filled me in about?
Tristan cleared his throat. “Absolutely. You look like you need a drink, Parker. And you, Stella.” He craned his neck to locate a waiter before releasing me and grabbing two glasses of champagne as someone came by with a tray full.
Tristan’s eyes crinkled from his smile. He bent and placed a reassuring kiss on my head, as if to tell me that I didn’t need to worry about a thing. But it wasn’t me I was worried about.
Being with Tristan’s friends was more relaxing that it should have been, considering I was lying to everyone I loved and cared about apart from Sutton. Lucky for me, after being introducing to Hartford, she seemed to be getting on like a house on fire with all Tristan’s friends. Being with the group felt borderline enjoyable, probably because I wasn’t lying to any of them.
But it didn’t last long as I heard Lauren shouting my name. I turned to find her burrowing through the crowd toward us.
“She’s coming for us again. Let’s escape,” I said, pulling on Tristan’s hand. I wasn’t quite sure where I was going; I was just heading the opposite direction of Lauren’s voice.
“Where are we going?”
“Anywhere. The loo! We can lock ourselves in! I was just starting to relax. God only knows what Lauren has in store for us now.” I fixed a smile on my face at the people we passed without stopping to chat. I caught Katie’s eye as I passed her. “Sorry, Katie. Just off to the loo! Tristan’s helping me with the buttons on my dress.” I didn’t stop until we were upstairs and in the family bathroom. I ushered Tristan in and shut and locked the door.
“We’re safe in here, I think.”
Tristan was chuckling.
“I have no idea why you’re laughing. We just escaped Lauren Flowers. Do you know how difficult that is to do? I might sign up for the SAS or something. I’ve clearly got skills I didn’t know I had.”
“You’re funny,” Tristan said, smiling at me and taking a seat on the side of the bath. Now we were here, what were we going to do?
“Sorry, I just couldn’t take anything else.”
“I’ve actually had more fun than expected,” he said. “I think the sweetheart table was a blessing in disguise. Took the pressure off a little.”
“I’m not sure about that. All those people staring at us? I feel like we disappointed them because we didn’t recite any Shakespearian soliloquies or break into song or something.”
“Singing is not a skill of mine. I think I would have driven everyone from the marquee. The food had them distracted mostly. I’m not sure they needed entertaining.”
I nodded. “Yeah, the food was great. Did your mum enjoy it? How is your mum? Did you catch up with her?”
“She’s fine.” He stood from the bath and pushed his hands into his pockets.
“She seemed pretty upset.”
He paused and then said finally. “We had a family member die of congenital heart disease. Mum still gets very upset . . . You know.”
“I’m sorry.” I reached for his arm and he froze.
“It’s fine.” He pulled his hands out of his pockets. “You’ve had your time-out. I think we should get back to the party. Lauren has probably found something else to focus on by now.”
I didn’t know Tristan that well but I could tell he was trying to change the subject away from one he clearly didn’t want to talk about. Maybe it wasn’t just his mother who was upset at the thought of the death of his family member.
I certainly didn’t want to upset him.
“Sure,” I said. “You’re right. Let’s go back. But if you spot Lauren, promise we’ll duck or find another hiding spot?”
He shook his head. “I never pictured my engagement party. But if I had, it absolutely wouldn’t have been anything like this.”
“I’m taking that as a compliment,” I said, unlocking the bathroom door.
“Go ahead and do that.”
Sixteen
Parker
I swept my finger down the screen of my phone to read his message again. It was cute that Tristan had texted to let me know he’d arrived in New York, but still more than a little weird that we barely knew each other and were acting like a married couple. I stuffed my phone back in my pocket as Sutton headed back from the loo. We’d come to Tate Britain to see the Turner. We always did this before Sutton sat her exams or went for a job interview or did anything that was going to cause her stress-o-meter to go to one hundred. She said it was like smoking a joint, but the buzz lasted longer and was better for her IQ and criminal record. To be honest, I needed to de-stress too. I had to go wedding dress shopping this afternoon, and my mum had insisted she and Lauren come with me.