After sending Tyler to get it together in the en suite, Vicky turned toward her cousin, who was still sobbing on the bed. “Did you come here in your car?” she asked. “Can you go home right away?”
“I drove here, but I came with my roommate.”
“Your roommate?” Vicky seemed surprised. “What’s her name? How come she was invited?”
“Alice. You met her,” the girl said.
Is it possible the roommate is Ethan’s Alice? Small world, Rose thought. A furtive glance at Ethan confirmed that, yes, it was the same Alice.
“Alice is Georgiana’s friend, too,” the disgraced bridesmaid continued. “She came to our house for Christmas the year before last, and she was at the baby shower. We were talking about her on Martha’s Vineyard, remember?”
“I was getting married I don’t remember anything anyone said to me that week, but I remember her from Christmas…” Vicky stared at the ceiling pensively. “A cute blonde, right? I didn’t see her in the crowd today or at the shower.”
“She’s a brunette now.”
“That explains it, then,” Vicky said matter-of-factly. “It doesn’t matter, anyway. You can’t tell her about what happened here.”
“Alice is my best friend,” the girl protested. “She won’t tell Georgiana.”
“Madison, listen to me.” Vicky closed the distance to the bed. “I’m not kidding. You can’t tell anyone about this. Promise me.”
The girl looked scared again. “Okay, I promise. I won’t tell anyone.”
“Can you ask your roommate if she can get a ride with someone else?”
On impulse, Rose said, “We can give her a lift.”
Ethan arched his brows. “Are you sure?”
Rose nodded.
Noticing the underlying tension in Ethan’s question, Vicky asked, “Why the face? You know her, too?”
“Alice and I dated a while ago,” he explained.
“Seriously?”
Ethan shrugged.
“Ah well, that’s taken care of. Madison, are you sure you’re okay to drive? Did you drink?”
“No, not much.”
That’s a lie, Rose thought. From the state of her, Madison wasn’t wasted, but she wasn’t anywhere close to sober either.
“Are you sure?” Vicky echoed Rose’s worries. “We can call a car if you’re not okay.”
“I’m good,” the girl insisted. “I can drive.”
“Okay.”
Rose wasn’t convinced, but Vicky was calling the shots and Rose didn’t want to contradict her.
“Here.” Ethan’s sister handed their cousin a wet wipe. “Clean your face,” she instructed.
Madison’s mascara was running in rivulets down her flushed cheeks. She scrubbed her face with the tissue, making her skin even blotchier. Under all that melted makeup, the girl was stunning. Blue eyes, high cheekbones covered in cute freckles, and otherwise regular features that made her a classic beauty. Madison freed her hair from the half-undone, elaborate chignon all the bridesmaids had, letting loose a cascade of golden looks. Even more beautiful. Yet her face, for all its beauty, was twisted ugly with remorse, shame, and a mix of other complicated emotions Rose couldn’t discern.
Vicky waited for her to be finished cleaning herself before she spoke again. “Do you know how to get out of the house from the back?”
“Yes.” Madison nodded.
“Okay. I’ll call you tonight and we’ll talk this through. But not a word to anyone else.”
Madison grabbed her clutch from the bedside table and fled the room. Watching her run, Rose couldn’t help the gush of pity in her chest.
“Ethan.” Vicky turned her attention on him next. Solving one problem at a time, snap-snap-snap. “Can you please go grab an aspirin and some water?”
“Yeah.” Ethan threw a murderous stare at the bathroom where Tyler was still holed up. “It’s better if I get out of here.” He exited the bedroom.
“Will Madison be all right?” Rose asked.
“What makes you ask that?”
“She seemed really…” Rose paused to find the right word. “Broken.”
Vicky hugged herself. “Madison has always harbored a major inferiority complex toward me, and toward Georgiana especially. And everyone else, really: her friends, the girls in her sorority, you name it. My sister didn’t help cure any of her insecurities either. You know how she can be.”
Rose was surprised to hear Vicky hint again that Georgiana was far from perfect. She knew the two sisters were close, and she’d assumed it meant they were alike. In reality, they couldn’t have been more different.
Vicky kept going. “And my whole family is so damn competitive that growing up a shy, reserved kid… Madison hasn’t had an easy time of it. Don’t worry, I’ll call her later and talk with her. Really talk. I’m not going to point the finger. Ethan has never understood the female pecking order of this family, but I do, and I’m sorry to say Madison has been at the bottom her entire life.”
The more Vicky talked, the more Rose liked her. “At least she can count on you,” she said.
“Madison is like another younger sister.” Vicky braced her hands on the bed’s footboard. “I can at least try to understand the perverse train of thought that brought her to behave like she has today. After years of being bullied by Georgiana, she probably saw this as retribution.”
“Bullied?”
“Bullied is too strong a word.” Ethan’s sister waved a hand. “Outshined, teased. Let’s say Georgiana usually wins the competition to get the most attention at the dinner table. Madison is fragile. She doesn’t know how to stand up for herself. So she probably decided to backstab Georgiana, get the other end of the stick for once. It makes me sick to my stomach that my family is so messed up.”
“It’s not,” Rose said.
Vicky raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“Well, maybe a little,” Rose conceded. “But the important thing is that you stick together no matter what.”
“I hope you’re right. What about your friend in there?” Vicky pointed to the still-closed bathroom door. “Do you think Tyler will be capable of keeping his word, or do I have to send home all the bridesmaids?”
Rose considered the question for a few seconds. “Usually, he’s on his best behavior for a while after he’s messed up. Especially with something as big as this. I know he wants to try, but he probably feels trapped by so many responsibilities he didn’t ask for.” Rose shrugged. “I’m sure he will be a great father and he will try to be a good husband.”
“It’s more than I would’ve done in his place.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I love my sister,” Vicky said fiercely, “in the same way you love your cat after he’s peed on your favorite rug. The way she tricked Tyler into becoming a father is inexcusable. No matter how you look at it.”
“Still, Georgiana doesn’t deserve this.” Rose stared at the crumpled bed sheets.
Vicky gave her a long stare. “That’s kind of you. I know you two have your own history and don’t like each other much.”
“Yeah… we… uh…” Rose didn’t know what to say.
“But I do like you,” Vicky added. “I want you to know that. I’ve never seen my brother this happy.”
Rose was taken aback. Vicky was proving to be one of the coolest people she’d ever met. Rose smiled and nodded. “I like you too.”
Ethan came back into the room with a bottle of spring water and a plastic vial of aspirin tablets. “What are you two smiling about?” he asked gloomily.
“Nothing,” they both answered.
Ethan passed the water and tablets to his sister.
“Thanks,” she said. “You two go. I’ll stay with the groom until he’s good enough to come back out.”
Ethan gave his sister a stiff nod and moved outside the room. Rose smiled at Vicky one last time and then followed him. He was already headed for the stairs.
“Hey, come here.” Rose grabbed his hand to stop him and hugged him.
“Please.” Ethan tried to push her back, but she wouldn’t let him. “Don’t even try to defend him.”
“I wasn’t going to.” She took Ethan’s face in her hands. “I want to know how you feel.”
Ethan’s jaw relaxed, and he stopped struggling to get away. “I can handle it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I have you.” He finally placed his arms around her waist. “I’m good.”
Rose kissed him. “I love you.”
“I love you, too. Now, let’s go before people start wondering where everyone went.”
“Right.” Rose smirked. “And we have to tell Alice she just earned herself an awkward ride home.”