The Guests on South Battery (Tradd Street #5)(100)
“And, Jayne, how lovely you look,” Rebecca exclaimed, giving air kisses everywhere as the men shook hands and Thomas was introduced. “Who would have thought a nanny could clean up so nicely—am I right, Jack?”
“So glad you all could make it.” Marc’s expression was what I pictured a palmetto bug’s must look like upon the discovery of an uncovered sugar bowl.
“Matt, so good to see you,” Jack said, deliberately confusing Marc’s name. He’d been doing it ever since they first met, and enjoyed it too much to stop now.
Marc’s eyes narrowed, but his smile never dimmed. “Please help yourselves to the open bar and to the food being passed around. The chef has prepared a special menu just for tonight, so enjoy. The champagne toast is at eight, so make sure you grab a flute so you can join us in a toast after our grand announcement.”
I felt Jack’s muscles tighten under my hand and I gave him a reassuring squeeze. He sent an undecipherable look at Marc that almost looked like a warning. “Wouldn’t miss it,” Jack said. “Since we’re practically family,” he added. I wondered if anybody else could detect the poison beneath the dripping sarcasm.
Marc indicated a large table by the fountain piled high with books. “Buxton Books has graciously agreed to sell books tonight, so don’t forget to pick up a copy—these are first editions, so grab one now because I know they’re already on the third reprint with all the orders coming in. I’ll even autograph it for free.” He laughed at his own joke while Thomas and Jayne smiled politely and Jack and I just stared back at him.
Thomas recognized someone and excused himself and Jayne. Marc and Jack seemed to be involved in a staring match, each daring the other one to look away first.
Rebecca took my elbow and drew me aside. “I can’t believe you let Jayne wear that dress.”
“She’s my nanny, not my slave. She’s free to do what she wants. Besides, my mother helped her pick out the dress and I thought she did a great job.” The words stuck in my throat like chalk, but I couldn’t let Rebecca know. “And don’t forget that she wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t invited her.”
“Well, you’re a better woman than I am. If I ever have a nanny, I’ll make sure she looks more like Shrek than Cinderella.”
I wasn’t sure what was more alarming—the idea of Marc and Rebecca having children, or a nanny who looked like a large green troll. A server with a tray of wineglasses appeared and I eagerly grabbed one. I saw Jack eyeing it wistfully and I knew how badly he must be needing a drink right now. I stopped the waiter. “Can you please bring me a glass of seltzer water with lime?”
When I turned back to Rebecca, she was watching me carefully. “I’ve been having more dreams. Remember the one I told your mother that I was having about the girl in the white nightgown, knocking on the inside of a wall and calling your name?”
I tried to keep my expression neutral. “Vaguely.”
“I’m seeing her again, but now she’s pointing toward the bottom of a set of wooden steps, as if there’s something there she wants me to see.” She looked at me closely. “Sounds like a good story, doesn’t it? I sure hope you figure out what it’s all about before I do and tell Marc. From what Marc’s told me, Jack really needs a great book idea. The early buzz from Marc’s agent on the book Jack just turned in says it’s not bestseller material. You know how incestuous the whole publishing world is—there aren’t many secrets. Marc says the inside scoop is predicting a print run about half that of his last book.”
I drained my wineglass, then smiled softly, pretending none of this was news to me. “Yes, well, we’re both proud of it and know his fans won’t be disappointed.”
She took a sip of her own wine, and it was all I could do not to hit the bottom of it and make it spill down the front of her pink dress.
“I never realized how much this ‘gift’ of ours could help our husbands in their writing careers.” She lifted her glass in a mock toast. “May the best man win.”
I didn’t raise my empty glass, and didn’t care if she noticed.
“Well, not to worry,” she said. “After tonight’s announcement, Marc’s book and movie are going to put us all on the map.”
I recalled the conversation I’d had with Jack over the newspaper article about the film deal Marc had made, and how it was speculated that the movie would be filmed in Charleston using our house as the setting. The conversation hadn’t continued because we hadn’t been officially approached, and I’d simply assumed that Jack and I were on the same side of the fence. Which was a very good thing, since it would have to be a very cold day in hell before I would ever agree to it.
I turned toward Jack, needing confirmation, and discovered he was no longer standing nearby. The waitress appeared with his seltzer water and lime and I took it, replacing it with my empty wineglass, thanking her while looking over her shoulder to find out where Jack had gone. I spotted Thomas, talking with a group of people, but Jayne wasn’t with him.
The quartet stopped playing and Marc stepped up to a microphone and I noticed all the servers were now passing out flutes of champagne. “Excuse me, please—now’s the big moment,” Rebecca said as she walked past me to where Marc was standing. Camera flashes popped all around them like paparazzi, and I was left wondering if they were plants paid for by Marc and Rebecca. I certainly wouldn’t put it past them.