I push my plate away, having entertained them enough. I look toward the adults, and Olivia gives me a you-tried shrug while Niall focuses on his plate, shaking his head, probably to conceal an eye roll.
“You’ve lived a sheltered life, haven’t you, Lana?” Cassandra interjects. “Too bad your mother kept you hidden away and didn’t allow you to experience the life that was meant for you. But she did a wonderful job teaching you how to be deceitful and conniving.”
I blink. She really just said that … out loud?
“Excuse me?!” I snap back just as Olivia scolds, “Cassandra!”
“What can I say? Like mother, like daughter.” Cassandra raises a brow and nods toward Grant.
Wait. She thinks I seduced Grant away from Lily like my mother did Nick?
I laugh dramatically—way over-the-top laughter. “You’re kidding, right?”
Isaac has a hand over his eyes, like he wishes he could be anywhere else. The rest of the boys, other than Grant, lean back in their chairs like they’re utterly amused and are waiting for popcorn to take in the show. Lily refuses to look up from her plate, as does my mother, although she hasn’t eaten a thing.
“Are you sure that’s how it is? Because last I heard, your husband didn’t want you, so he left. And Lily and Grant decided to call it quits, oh, probably around the time you started bathing in martinis.”
Lily gasps.
“Lana,” Grant says firm but low. “Don’t.”
Cassandra cackles and raises her martini glass in a toast. “Touché.”
Niall stands and declares, “Enough. If you’re compelled to insult each other, then leave. It’s not happening at this table.”
Everyone is silent, except for Lily, who’s crying. She pushes back from the table and rushes inside.
Half the chairs scrape back to follow, but I stand first. “It’s my fault. Let me fix it.”
There’s a sense of relief among most of the guys. Grant rises with me.
I set my hand on his arm when he rounds the table. “Me first. You can talk to her after. Okay?”
He nods but doesn’t sit again until I’m inside.
I find Lily in her room, sprawled on her bed, weeping. I don’t bother knocking because if I were her, I’d tell me to go to hell. So I enter and lean against the cream-colored wall, prepared to duck if she throws anything at me.
The room is elegant with white and blush-pink accents. But it doesn’t look much different from the guest rooms, like she chose not to personalize it. And considering how much effort she made to decorate my room, I wonder why. Maybe this isn’t where she wants to be.
“I didn’t know Nick was your father,” I offer in apology. “Not until I saw his picture today.” After I saw the one, I couldn’t stop seeing him everywhere. There are so many pictures of him in the house that weren’t here before. Cassandra must have pulled them out of boxes to set on every surface when she heard my mother would be here. “I know it won’t make you feel better, but I hate what he did, not telling us he was still married. So I didn’t know like you thought I did.”
Lily stops crying and rolls over. “What?”
“You thought I knew; that’s why you left that message on my wall. You were warning me that you knew exactly who I was and what we did to your family. But that’s not true. My mother didn’t lure him away. She was devastated when she found out that he’d kept that from her. I was tempted to murder him when his ring fell out of his suit pocket. And I sure as fuck didn’t know he was your father. I’m really sorry this happened to you, Lily.”
Lily’s cheeks are crimson. Not sure if it’s because she doesn’t believe me or she knows her father is really to blame.
“And just so we’re clear, I didn’t set out to be with Grant. Honestly, I’m still confused by it. I’m the exact opposite of you. But actually … that’s what it comes down to … honesty. He wanted you to confide in him when your whole world was falling apart, and you wouldn’t.”
Lily opens her mouth to argue, but I cut her off, “I’m not judging. And it has nothing to do with me, so I’ll let you two work that out. But when you saw us together for the first time at the Fourth of July party, that’s when you realized you’d really lost him, so you needed to blame someone. And undeniably, I can be a bitch, but I wish you hadn’t destroyed the room. Especially after all the work you’d put into it.”
Lily sits up and plucks a tissue from her bedside table to blot her eyes.
“And I know Grant’s been ignoring you lately, so of course, you think it was because of me. I mean, that’s usually what happens, right? The new girl forces the guy to choose, cutting off exes and girl friendships because she’s insecure. Well, I’m not that girl. He can be friends with whoever he wants. He cares about you. Although the way he’s handled the past week has sucked. Again, that’s between you and Grant.
“But what really sucks is that I thought we were friends.”
Lily looks down. “I wanted to be. But … my mother kept going on about this other woman destroying our family. That my father would never have left if not for her. Then she told me who it was, that her daughter would be attending Blackwood and I’d better watch my back.
“I was so angry. How could you flaunt his ring right in front of me and never even acknowledge me? And then go after the guy I love like it’s so easy for you.” She practically spits the words at me while shredding the tissue in her hands. “I made it my mission to make you feel like you belonged while reminding you that you didn’t. That you were a trashy whore just like your mother.”
I raise my brows at the vehemence laced in her tone. She’s definitely not over being angry.
“I’m sorry.” Lily takes a breath to collect herself. “I’m really sorry. I got it wrong. I got you wrong. And I should’ve come to you instead of leaving the messages and destroying your room. But according to my mother, I was supposed to be above that. That to acknowledge you had a side in this would be like giving you power. And I believed her. But what I did … was beneath me.”
Lily wipes at the tears that have begun to flow again with a fresh tissue, setting the mangled one on the table. “It’s been so hard watching her self-destruct. I thought that if I could be on her side, support her, she’d get better. But it’s only made her bitterness worse. She and I used to be so close. I don’t know what to do.” Her chin trembles as she bows her head in attempt to conceal her shame. “I miss my dad.”
“You can talk to me. I mean, not about your dad. But I get it. I have an emotionally unstable mother too. Oh, and talking about Grant will never happen. But maybe I can introduce you to a punching bag instead of you taking your anger out on defenseless stuffed zebras.”
Lily releases a broken laugh. “I know; it’s weird, being in love with the same guy. But maybe … we can try this again. Being friends?”
“Maybe,” I answer reluctantly, not sure I can be friends with her now that I know she hopes she and Grant will get back together.
There’s a reason I have my rule about not touching guys my friends have been with. People do the craziest things in the misuse of love.