Chapter 5: The Lunch That Was Never About Lunch
Selena suggested the restaurant.
Of course she did.
It was the kind of place with white tablecloths and a maître d' who knew her by name.
She arrived before us, already seated, already holding a menu, already performing the version of herself she wore in public.
"Darlings," she said, as if the wedding had been a perfectly lovely occasion with no complications whatsoever.
Ryan pulled out my chair.
I sat down.
"How was the rest of the honeymoon?" Selena asked.
"Short," I said.
She glanced at Ryan.
He said nothing.
"Well." She set down her menu.
"I thought it would be nice to have a proper meal together.
Just the three of us.
Now that things have settled."
"Have they?" I asked.
A small pause.
"I beg your pardon?"
"I'm asking if things have settled.
Because from where I'm sitting, there are still some things that haven't been said."
Selena's expression shifted — not much, just a degree, the way a door shifts when the wind changes direction.
"I think the wedding was emotional for everyone," she said carefully.
"Matthew's toast was very touching.
I may have said something thoughtless afterward.
If that upset you, I'm sorry."
"You said it didn't change what the day looked like."
"I was speaking privately—"
"You were speaking at a table of eight people."
She set her water glass down.
"I think you're being a little—"
"He gave up a full scholarship," I said.
"To raise me.
You knew that.
Carol told Ryan you laughed about it."
The maître d' passed the table.
None of us moved.
Selena's voice dropped.
"Carol had no business—"
"Did you laugh?"
"That is not—"
"Did you laugh when you found out what my brother gave up so I could have a childhood?"
Selena looked at Ryan.
Ryan looked back at her and did not rescue her.
Her chin lifted.
"I think you're being very unfair.
We gave you a beautiful wedding.
We welcomed you into this family.
And now you're sitting here, on the basis of something Carol said—"
"Carol filmed it," Ryan said.
The chin came down.
"The comment at the table," he continued.
"She has it."
Selena's hand moved toward her water glass and stopped halfway.
"She filmed—"
"All of it," I said.
"The toast.
Your reaction.
The comment.
She has been watching you for a long time, Selena.
Apparently this wasn't the first time."
The restaurant moved quietly around us.
Silverware clinked three tables away.
Someone laughed near the window.
Selena sat very still.
"What do you want?" she finally said.
And that was when I understood something.
She wasn't asking out of remorse.
She was asking because she had moved straight to negotiation.
I looked at her for a long moment.
"I want you to understand what you did," I said.
"Not apologize for getting caught.
Understand."
She opened her mouth.
Ryan's phone buzzed on the table.
He turned it over.
Looked at the screen.
May you like
His face changed.
"Matt's been in an accident," he said.
