“If someone is blackmailing you, they won’t stop just because you sent them a bit of money,” Hilary said gently. “Trust us, some of us have been through this before.”
Arietta tried to laugh it off. “I didn’t mean blackmail. I meant, you know. Like, someone thinks they know something about Fred and me, but they don’t, obviously. There’s nothing to know.”
“If there’s nothing to know, why did you send them twenty grand?” Stella asked.
The back of Arietta’s neck was slick with sweat. She needed to get out of there. She needed to escape these prying questions and these women who pretended to care so much. These women weren’t like Arietta. They’d probably all come from wealth, so they didn’t question their enormous houses and their expensive bottles of wine and their connections. But Arietta had neverstopped questioning any of it, not from the first day she’d entered Fred’s home and met his parents.
“I have to go.” She stood on shaking legs.
“Please, Arietta. Stay,” Hilary urged.
But Arietta couldn’t be persuaded. Rather, she let Stella call her a cab and waited on the front stoop till it arrived, embarrassment making her stomach swirl. She couldn’t believe she’d made such a fool of herself. She couldn’t see those women ever again.
11
Summer 1999: Nantucket Island
Fred’s mother suggested Nantucket Island for the wedding. That paradise was where the two lovebirds had met in the first place and where so many of their wealthy and elite friends would be spending the summer anyway. Arietta knew excitement for the wedding was on everyone’s lips. She knew that Fred’s family friends were just as puzzled as they were joyous. They wondered who this Arietta girl was.
The night of the rehearsal dinner, Arietta found herself smiling out at a table of family members, bridesmaids, and groomsmen, as she and Fred thanked everyone who didn’t spend their summers here for making the trip to the island. Most of them—the people on Fred’s side of the family, as well as his friends from college—were eager to show their confusion about the bride. They made this clear with little asides, seemingly “normal” commentary meant to make Arietta feel bad about who she was and where she came from.
“That’s an interesting choice of bracelet,” they said.
“What a daring lipstick shade!”
“Where was it you went to university again, dear?”
It should have boiled Arietta’s blood. But Arietta had made her peace with this world. Three summers ago, when Arietta was nineteen and Fred was twenty-six, they’d fallen head over heels in love. And now, months after Arietta’s graduation and a few months before Fred’s thirtieth birthday, they were tying the knot. Nobody could stop them.
After the rehearsal dinner, Arietta and Fred said goodbye to their loved ones, then went for a long walk along the beach before parting ways for the night. Fred looked terribly handsome, like a movie star from the 1950s, and Arietta felt prettier than ever, especially after all the face and body treatments Fred’s mother had insisted she do before the wedding. She could see that Fred looked at her differently, with more love in his eyes than ever before.
“I can’t believe I get to marry you tomorrow,” he said, kissing her on the tip of the nose.
Arietta couldn’t believe it, either.
When Arietta returned to her hotel room, she found her mother sitting on her bed. Arietta’s mother, Regina, looked regal and beautiful in her silk nightgown. Seeing her there, waiting for Arietta, reminded Arietta of being a child, when her mother had read books to her at night. Regina tapped the mattress beside her and told Arietta to climb in.
“One second,” Arietta said, hurrying to wash her face and get ready for bed. When Arietta finally joined her mother on the bed, Regina’s expression was worn and drawn. She needed to sleep soon. She’d join Arietta’s father in the bedroom next door before the hour was through.
“How was your evening, my beautiful girl?” Regina asked.
Arietta laughed. “It was a fairy tale, wasn’t it?”
“It was certainly decadent.” Regina narrowed her eyes. “I talked with Fred’s mother for a little while. She’s a character, isn’t she?”
“She is.” Arietta knew that her mother called people she didn’t like “characters.”
“Is she kind to you?” Regina asked.
“Mostly,” Arietta said, although Fred’s mother had never made her feel a part of the family. She’d more or less bossed her around since Arietta and Fred had gotten engaged. “She asked me why I took that job.”
Regina laughed. “She really questioned it?The Boston Globe? It’s only one of the best newspapers in human history.”
“I know. I don’t think she reads much,” Arietta said.
“She doesn’t have to, I suppose,” Regina said darkly. “And Fred? Does he read?”
Arietta was taken aback. “He’s literate, Mom.”