Astrid’s shoulders loosened, just a fraction, before looking around at the garden party. “Jesus, it’s truly heinous.”
“I think I dreamed I was getting strangled by a tulip all night long.”
“Oh, these are peonies,” Astrid said, running a hand over the pillow on a rattan rocking chair by the window.
Delilah flipped her off. “I guess it’s better than the Everwood. That place is like something out of a horror movie.”
The Everwood Inn—the only other inn within a fifty-mile radius of Bright Falls was just on the edge of town—was nationally famous for the Blue Lady, the purported ghost of a scorned early twentieth-century woman who haunted one of the Victorian house’s bedrooms, searching for her long-lost lover with a glowing blue lapis lazuli stone around her neck. It was also creepy as hell, with dark wood furnishings, ancient carpets that probably dated back to the Blue Lady herself, and cobwebs in every corner. Pru Everwood, the owner, still ran it as an inn, as far as Delilah knew, but it was little more than a tourist trap these days.
“I’d love to get my hands on that place,” Astrid said, swiping her hand over the dresser, then rubbing her fingers together, as though checking for dust. “It could be really beautiful if Pru would ever consider renovating.”
“Pru was a hundred years old when we were kids. I doubt she’s up for a big project,” Delilah said, pushing back the covers and swinging her legs off the bed.
“Whoa, hey, oh my god.” Astrid shielded her eyes like the sun was attacking her.
“What?”
“You’re naked.”
“I have on underwear.”
“And no top.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t expect company wielding a fucking key.”
“Okay, fine, just get dressed or we’re going to be late.”
“I thought I’d go like this.”
Astrid’s arm dropped and she glared.
“All right, all right,” Delilah said, grabbing her black bralette off the floor and slipping it on. Then she struck a pose. “How’s this?”
“I will sneak in here at two in the morning and staple all your underwear to the walls.”
“Sounds noisy. I’d probably wake up.”
Astrid’s nostrils flared. Delilah grinned, her plan unfolding perfectly. If she was going to photograph this wedding—particularly now that she had a ton of work to do for the Whitney show—then, dammit, she was going to have fun, and she could think of nothing more entertaining than getting under Astrid’s skin. And Isabel’s, if at all possible, though the woman was like a highly polished granite wall. Astrid, on the other hand, was easily ruffled.
“Is that for me?” she asked, motioning toward one of the coffee cups.
Astrid picked up a cup and held it to her chest. “You only get it if you put on pants.”
“It better be my favorite drink.”
“Pants. Or a dress. If you own one, that is.”
“God, I hope that’s my favorite drink. If it’s not, I might have to go back to New York.”
“Like I know your favorite drink.”
“Americano with two inches of steamed soy milk, obviously.”
“You’re such a coffee snob.”
Delilah shrugged. It was true. Her Brooklyn flat was full of sloppily-put-together IKEA furniture, but damn if she was going to drink shitty coffee. She’d rather go without.
“What are you doing?” Astrid all but screeched as Delilah pulled her bralette over her head and tossed it back on the floor.
“This shirt doesn’t work with a bra.” Delilah slipped on her favorite black silk tank she’d planned to wear today, specifically for its modest neckline and bordering-on-inappropriate low armholes that revealed half her rib cage. She turned to grab her high-waisted linen pants out of her suitcase and nearly smiled as Astrid’s horror grew. She must’ve seen the side boob.
“We’re going to Vivian’s,” she said.
“I know.” Delilah pulled on the cream-colored pants, tucking in the tank and smoothing down the pleats before slipping on a pair of black heeled sandals and draping a few thin gold chains around her neck. The final look was sleek as hell. And by Astrid’s resigned sigh, she agreed.
“Just don’t turn to the side when Mom’s around, okay?” she said.
“I wouldn’t dare.” Oh, she would though. She would totally dare.
“And do something with your hair.”
Delilah smiled with all her teeth. “You’re a delight.”
Astrid winced. “I’m a little on edge, okay?”
Delilah decided to ignore this, heading into the bathroom and brushing her teeth for the full dentist-prescribed two minutes. Then she added a touch of mascara and some cherry-red lipstick—god, Isabel would love that—before checking out her hair in the mirror.
It was huge, curls and corkscrews frizzing out all over the place. Usually, she slept with it all piled on top of her head or wrapped in a silk scarf to avoid waking up in such a way, but last night, well, she’d been jet-lagged and half drunk, not to mention a little amped-up from Claire-freaking-Sutherland.
“So who’s going to be there today?” she asked Astrid as she took out a bottle of her favorite blueberry hair gel, squeezed out a penny-size blob, and mixed it with some water before smoothing it over each section of her hair.
“Well, Mom, of course,” Astrid called. “And Spencer’s mother, grandmother, and sister. The girls.”
The girls.
“Ah, the coven.”
“Don’t call them that,” Astrid said, appearing in the doorway. She was wearing an ivory bandage dress, simple pearls around her neck, a single diamond solitaire sparkling on her finger.
“What? Covens are powerful, feminist, badass groups of women.”
“Somehow, I don’t think you meant it like that.”
Delilah grinned at her in the mirror. “So . . . Claire’s looking well.”
Astrid’s posture went rigid, her eyes narrowing on Delilah’s reflection.
God, she made it too easy. Delilah tilted her head innocently, widening her eyes like an ingenue. “Very well.”
“Don’t,” Astrid said.
“Don’t what?”
“Claire is not your type.”
Delilah turned around and folded her arms over her chest. “Oh, I think she is.”