A Wedding in Provence by Sussman Ellen

Author:Sussman, Ellen [Sussman, Ellen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: dpgroup.org, Fluffer Nutter
ISBN: 9780345548962
Amazon: B00I1ZG5HI
Publisher: Random House Digital
Published: 2014-07-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Olivia needed to shower and change—her damp bathing suit clung to her skin. But Emily and Paolo were at work in the kitchen, conjuring up dishes that smelled like summer. She wanted to help; she wanted to make sure that Emily was weathering the marital storm.

“Take this to the outdoor table,” Emily ordered, pushing a tray of wineglasses into Olivia’s hands and ushering her out the door. “Nell—you grab the dishes. Out with you both.”

So mother and daughter walked around the wooden trestle table under the arbor, setting the table for lunch. Emily had already laid out pale blue place mats and yellow cloth napkins. A row of shot glasses filled with sprays of wildflowers lined the center of the table.

“Imagine living like this every day,” Olivia said.

“You’d go nuts,” Nell told her. “You need chaos in your life.”

“I do not,” she argued. “My life isn’t chaos.”

“There’s a blowup at the theater every day,” Nell said. “You feast on that.”

“Wrong,” Olivia said. “I smooth out the ruffles. I want my life to look like this.” She spread out her arms. The arbor sat at the edge of the meadow, with the pool and the field of wildflowers stretching beyond them. Terraced vineyards encircled the property and off to one side was a forest of pine trees.

“Well, it does feel good,” Nell said. “This place settles the soul.”

Olivia eyed her daughter. She was showered, her hair tousled. She wore cut-off jean shorts and a black tank top and looked as if she could be eighteen rather than twenty-eight. But even without makeup, this freshly scrubbed version of Nell looked vaguely dangerous. As if trouble would find her even if she didn’t start it herself.

“What’s that on your wrist?” Olivia asked as Nell set a bowl on the table. A purple oval bruise, the size of a thumbprint, colored the underside of her wrist.

Nell glanced at it and then shoved her hand in her pocket. “It’s nothing,” she said.

“Did Gavin do that?” Olivia asked.

“Of course not.”

Olivia remembered the sounds coming from the bedroom in the middle of the night. Maybe they weren’t sounds of rapture. Maybe he beat up her daughter and fled in the morning. “Nell, what did he do?”

Nell dropped into a chair at the table, sighing. “It’s not a big deal.”

“What’s not a big deal?” Olivia could hear her heart pounding in her temples.

“He likes rough sex.”

“What?”

“It doesn’t mean anything,” Nell said. “A lot of guys like that sort of thing.”

“Nell,” Olivia said, lowering her voice.

Nell looked away and her mouth dropped open. Olivia followed her glance and saw Jake standing at the opposite end of the table.

“Please go away,” Olivia said, trying to keep her voice even.

“I’d like to help if I can,” Jake said. Was he smiling? Olivia felt her stomach clench with anger.

“The table is set.” She glared at him until he walked away, heading around the side of the house.

“Mom,” Nell said quietly. “Drop it. Please.”

“I can’t drop it.”

“Guys think girls like that sort of thing,” Nell said.

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