Chapter 7: The Engagement Brunch

The Merrimans held the engagement brunch under a white tent on the back lawn in Buckhead.

There were eighty guests, a string quartet, and a champagne tower taller than Maybelle.

I walked in through the side gate at eleven-fifteen in a black hoodie and my cracked men's watch.

Nobody stopped me.

A woman in a sun hat took one look at my hair and handed me a glass of champagne.

"Thank you," I said, and kept walking.

Raylan stood near the head table in a charcoal suit with a tie he'd already loosened.

He saw me and the corner of his mouth twitched, just once.

Lucinda stood beside him in cream silk and pearls with her hand on his arm.

Marlena was on his other side in a pale pink dress.

Her ring was so large it caught the light every time she moved her hand.

"Darling," Lucinda said, tapping a spoon against her glass. "Friends. If I may."

The quartet stopped.

Eighty heads turned.

"We are so happy today," Lucinda said.

She let her gaze rest on the guests, one at a time.

"My daughter has found a man worthy of her, and the Merriman family could not be prouder to announce..."

"Pardon me," I said.

I said it loudly enough to carry to the last row.

Eighty heads turned again, and this time they landed on me.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt," I said, and lifted my champagne glass. "I'm told this is an engagement party."

Lucinda's smile didn't move.

"Waverly. You are not invited."

"I'm family," I said. "I'm just not welcome. It's a small difference."

A ripple of nervous laughter went through the tent.

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