There Can Only Be Secrets by Andrea Levesque

Author:Andrea Levesque [Levesque, Andrea]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, adventure, LGBT, Gay, Lesbian, greek life, pirates, debutante ball
Publisher: White Willow Press INC.
Published: 2022-10-30T04:00:00+00:00

THIRTEEN

“Excuse me?” Mrs. P’s voice boomed through the open doorway to the ballroom and reached Nina and I down the hall of the hotel. I smoothed down my hair and tried to collect myself before facing the woman’s wrath, knowing I’d probably look better if I’d gotten more than a few hours of sleep.

Last night was unbearably lonely without Valentina, whose simple “I’m sorry” texts did little to make me feel better, knowing she was probably suffering with the news of her father, and that there was very little I could do about it. When the texts became shorter and less frequent I decided to give her some space, knowing V probably had to work through this alone. I was way too wrapped up in the whole thing and my guess was, she needed her family.

I was grateful to have Nina, at least. She was kind enough to sleep over at my place instead of at her hotel last night. Maybe the jeweler thing freaked her out, or maybe she knew she only had a few more days here before her parents returned from their trip, but either way, I was glad she decided to come with me to rehearsal today.

I snorted and whispered to Nina, who was walking next to me. “Boy am I glad that’s not me. When you meet Mrs. P, you’ll understand why it’s better to just drift into the background. Years of directing events has somehow made her vocal cords even louder. I feel bad for the fool who—” And then I stepped inside and saw who Mrs. P was directing her outrage at. “Shit,” I added, noticing Jack standing confidently in front of her.

“Uh, you mean that fool?” Nina joked, pointing at Jack, and I ignored her, hustling over to Jack’s side.

Mrs. P barely acknowledged my presence, keeping her focus on Cunningham. “You expect me to replace you a week before the ball, after I graciously accepted you as such a late entry? You must be joking.” Her eyes were narrowed into slits.

I panicked, grabbing Jack’s elbow and pulling him out of earshot. “I’m sorry Mrs. P, give us a minute, okay?”

“Harper Fontaine, you’ve certainly gotten comfortable getting handsy with me these days, haven't you,” Jack said, not bothering to explain what Mrs. P was talking about.

“Jack, do you wanna tell me what happened back there?” I asked quietly through gritted teeth. “What the hell is she talking about, replacement?”

Jack pointed to a tall, sophisticated young man around our age, maybe a little older, standing a few feet from Mrs. P with his hands in his pockets. In all the chaos I hadn’t noticed him. “Edward Belkin. He’s one of my fraternity brothers. He’s from a good family in Connecticut. Of course, not as notable as mine or yours, but he’ll do.”

I shook my head as Nina shuffled up to us. “No, Jack, I mean, you can’t just quit. I thought we were in this together?”

Jack crossed his arms. “No, we’re in the treasure hunt together,” he whispered, leaning in.

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