ONE
“I orderedmy ticket to the bachelor auction this morning. You should come with me this time. It'll be fun. We can turn it into a girls-only weekend. Attend the auction Saturday night and then head to New York City on Sunday and do some shopping or maybe catch a show.”
Victoria Sherbrooke, better known as Tory to her friends and family, picked up her laptop and typedwhat shows are in NYCinto her favorite search engine, even though Ivy hadn't agreed yet.
“We haven't had one in ages, and this might be the last time we can do it,” Tory continued before Ivy could respond.
“Tory, I'm engaged. So why would I go to a bachelor auction?”
“Because it's for a great cause, and you don't have to bid on anyone. I didn't at the last one. And it was a lot of fun watching women try to outbid each other. I told you the story about Tasha Marshall, right?”
Actually, she’d found some of the women’s behavior downright hilarious, and she wasn’t lying, it was for a good cause.
All the money raised at the auction would go to the Helping Hands Foundation, an organization founded during the Great Depression by Tory's great-grandmother Margaret Sherbrooke to help provide for homeless families. Today, the foundation, whose headquarters were still located in Providence, Rhode Island, supported a wide range of programs around the country. About three years ago, it had held its first bachelor auction. The event had been such a tremendous success the foundation decided to hold another one this fall.
“Yes. And I wish I'd been there that night. Tasha has never been my favorite person, and you know it.”
Ivy and Tasha had attended the same high school. Tory hadn't known Ivy at the time, but Ivy had shared with her that at the beginning of her sophomore year, she'd started dating Tasha's ex-boyfriend. Unfortunately, Tasha hadn't been ready to see the guy move on, and she'd spent the rest of the year trying to come between them while at the same time making Ivy's life hell. Even though it had happened years ago, the two women still didn't like each other. Unfortunately, both often found themselves at many of the same social events, so they occasionally had to not only interact but be civil to each other.
“You never know. She might embarrass herself again. You don't want to miss that, do you?”
Usually, Tory wouldn't enjoy seeing someone embarrass themselves or hope they did it again. Neither would Ivy. But Tasha wasn't like most people, and she usually brought it on herself. Not only that, but if the possibility of Tasha making a fool out of herself got Ivy to agree to come, Tory wasn't above using it, especially since Ivy might say now that they could continue going on their girls-only trips, but it might change once she was married.
“I'll even order the ticket for you.” Ivy didn’t need Tory purchasing her a ticket, but every little bit helped when it came to convincing a person.
Tory scrolled through the list of shows either currently in New York or that would be there soon. She loved going to the theater, and since she hadn't seen a show in at least nine months, she expected to see at least one that interested her. But, surprisingly, today, that wasn't the case. In fact, the only performance that mildly appealed to her wasThe Nutcracker. But it wasn't opening until the end of November, and the fundraiser was on November 1, making it not even an option.
“It's a tempting thought, but I can't go with you. The wedding is in about a month, and I still have a lot to do. But don't worry, we'll still be able to do our girls' weekends away. We've been doing them longer than I've known Preston, and he knows it. He also knows if he asks me to stop going, I'll say the same about his golfing trips with his friends, and you know how much he enjoys those.”
You had to bring that up. “Please don't remind me about the wedding,” Tory said, leaning her head against the sofa and closing her eyes.
It wasn't that she had anything against marriage or weddings, which was a good thing since, thanks to her numerous cousins, she'd been to more weddings than the average person in the past five years. And honestly, unlike many people who attended one and counted the minutes until they could leave, she enjoyed them. Often, they gave her a chance to catch up with people she hadn't seen in a while. And it wasn't that she didn't want to see Ivy get married or that she disliked Ivy's fiancé, Preston Turner. Preston was perfect for her former college roommate. Nope, Grant Castillo, Preston's best man and cousin, was the problem.
Tory had known Grant, the only son of her dad’s close friend, her entire life. However, they'd only gotten romantically involved earlier in the year. Much to Grant's disappointment, as well as that of both families, she'd broken things off in August. Ever since then, Grant had been trying to get back together. And when he wasn't reaching out to her, one of her parents brought up the topic. Her parents simply refused to accept that she and Grant wouldn't someday be married.
If Ivy were having a wedding like the one her cousin Brett had this summer, Grant’s presence wouldn’t be as much of an issue, even though they were both in the wedding party, because she could tolerate anyone for a few hours—a helpful quality considering how often she found herself at either fundraisers or her parents' various dinner parties. But her friend's wedding wouldn't be anything like Brett and Jennifer's. Or any other wedding she'd ever attended, for that matter.
Ivy and Preston had planned a beach wedding in Puerto Rico; not only that, they had an itinerary of events lined up for the week leading up to the big day. As the maid of honor, Tory couldn't just fly in the night before the wedding and then leave right after the reception. Nope, Ivy expected her on hand with the rest of the wedding party for all the fun—or, in Tory's case, all the torture.
“Is Grant bugging you again?” Ivy asked.
Opening her eyes, Tory stared at the ceiling and, for at least the hundredth time, wished she'd never agreed to join Grant for dinner in the first place. “‘Again’ gives the impression he stopped.”
“Last time we talked, it'd been over a week since he contacted you. I thought maybe he'd given up and moved on.”
“I wish. He came to the dinner party my parents held last week. I assumed his parents would be there. Mom and Dad always invite them to those things, and I can't remember them ever not going. But if I'd known Grant would be there too, I would've skipped it. He stayed glued to my side all night. He left me alone only when I went to the bathroom. When I walked out, I expected him to be waiting by the door for me.” She'd escaped to the bathroom as often as she could too.
“Your parents had to know he was coming. They should've given you a heads-up when they invited you,” Ivy said with annoyance.
Ever since she'd learned Tory's parents were pressuring her to give Grant another chance, Ivy hadn't been the biggest fan of Benjamin and Shannon Sherbrooke. Her former roommate wasn't shy about letting Tory know it, either. And if the tables were reversed, Tory would feel the same way about Ivy's parents. But, of course, Ivy's parents would never be able to agree on a man for their only daughter. Tory had never met two people who disagreed more than Christian and Amber Nelson. How they remained married should be considered a modern mystery of the world.
“We both know why they didn't. But I should've asked when Mom called me. It's not uncommon for her to invite him. Next time I'll remember to ask who else will be there before I agree or not go at all.” As much as the lack of information bothered her, Tory couldn't put all the blame on her parents.
“I don't know why you always go anyway.”
“Funny. Neither do I.”
She loved her parents, but watching a race between two snails would be more exciting than one of their dinner parties. For some reason, though, she usually went, unlike her two siblings. Even before her older brother, Adam, moved back to the East Coast, the only party their parents held that he attended was their annual holiday party in December. Tyler, her younger brother, didn't even always go to that, and he lived nearly as close to their parents as she did.