“I don’t have an invite,” Dixie says, rubbing a velvet teddy bear on the thigh of her pajama pants.
“I’m your invite,” says Dolly, who is wearing a pink satin nightdress with a fuzzy white belt. “Both of you.”
“Thanks,” I say. “But my brothers would do what Royal is doing now. They’d follow me wherever I went, and when they realized it was a Darling party…”
“I’ll go,” Dixie says, shoving a pecan sandy into her mouth and glancing nervously between us, like she thinks one of us is going to say she can’t go.
“Cool,” Dolly says to Dixie before turning to me. “Let me know if you change your mind. You have my messenger handle, if they haven’t taken your laptop.”
“Thanks,” I say. “But I’ll probably just stay in and have a glass of champagne with my brothers.”
“If you’re sure,” Dolly says, sounding doubtful.
“This is more my kind of party than a big, drunken orgy,” I say, gesturing around Dixie’s bedroom. “And speaking of, what’s up with you and the twins, Dolly? Are they still treating you right?”
She shrugs. “I haven’t talked to them since break started. Baron was talking to another girl, anyway. He didn’t say who, but it’s not like we were ever official. And Duke… I mean, he’s fun, and I needed that. But he’s a freshman, and I’m a senior. I’m graduating, and even if I didn’t leave town, I’d be off at college next year.”
“Yeah, that makes sense,” I say. I’m glad she’s not coming to me asking why he didn’t call, which I had to deal with enough at my old school.
“What about you and Devlin?” Dixie asks. “He’s graduating, too, and you’ll be in school two more years.”
I can’t help but smile when I remember his promise to me. “He’s going to school here,” I say.
“Awww,” she says, covering her heart and looking at me with puppy dog eyes. “That’s sweet.”
There are two colleges in Faulkner—a small university and a tiny liberal arts college. I’m sure Devlin could get a football scholarship to the state university, but he said he wanted to be near me. I might feel bad about him staying if his family weren’t already insistent that he stay in Faulkner, anyway. I feel worse about the fact that he spent half his final season on the bench because of my brothers. He played in the last game, but I know it hurt his chances of getting a scholarship to a bigger school. Faulkner might look the other way about a scandal, but the whole world won’t.
“He’s a rich man in his own right now,” Dolly says. “He could go anywhere, even if he didn’t play football.”
“Wasn’t he already rich?” I ask, picking up the remote to scroll through the streaming options on Dixie’s TV.
“Well, sure,” Dolly says. “But he had a really big Christmas gift. You haven’t talked to him?”
“No,” I say, turning to her. “What happened?”
“He’s eighteen, so Grampa Darling made him a full trustee of his trust fund. He basically just inherited four million dollars.”
“Holy shit,” Dixie squeals. “How do you know that?”
Dolly shifts, glancing guiltily at me. “I was there. Our families do a Christmas Eve dinner together.”
“I saw that on the news,” Dixie moans. “It looks so glamorous.”
“Let me guess,” I say. “He’s supposed to use the money for your wedding?”
“No,” Dolly says. “To buy a home for us. I’m sorry, Crystal. You know I don’t want that, and neither does he. He’s crazy about you.”
“I know.” I trust Devlin completely, and I know that he loves me, but it’s hard not to be a little jealous of the way his family treats her. She’s a part of his world in a way I will never be. Even if we got married, I’d always be the Italian chick from New York who stole his heart, not a real lady, not a tried and true southerner who belongs in the Darling family.
“So, what movie?” Dixie asks, clearing her throat to break the silence.
“I vote Hallmark,” Dolly says, and we all agree. It’s nice to sink into something so cute and perfect, something utterly predictable but where I know everything will work out in the end without a single trouble remaining. If only life were that simple.
If only I could see a way for any of this to work out so that we’re all happy. Hell, at this point I’d settle for half of us being happy. Right now, I’m not sure any of us will end up with what we want. How can I even begin to make a choice between the boy I love and my entire family? Or maybe the choice is simple. Maybe it’s a choice between my family or myself.
Maybe the decision is not so hard after all.
twenty-four