Elena reached the corridor before her knees began to shake.
She stopped beside a window overlooking the dark lawn and pressed her palm against the cool glass.
She was furious.
She was also humiliated.
Those feelings could exist together, however proudly she had left the table.
Adrian followed her.
“Elena, please.”
She turned.
“What?”
“She shouldn’t have done that.”
“No.”
“I’ll talk to her.”
“You were sitting beside me.”
He looked toward the dining room door.
“She gets defensive when she thinks people are judging the family.”
“She was judging mine.”
“I know.”
“Then why did I have to stand alone?”
Adrian rubbed his forehead.
“Because you escalated it.”
Elena felt the last of her uncertainty drain away.
“She offered me money to end our engagement.”
“I didn’t approve that.”
“But you discussed me leaving.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“What was it like?”
He did not answer.
From inside the dining room came a brief burst of laughter.
Someone had restarted the evening.
Elena stepped away from the window.
“I’m going home.”
“I’ll drive you.”
“No.”
“You don’t have to punish me too.”
She looked at him.
For nearly two years, she had imagined that beneath his hesitation lived the man who would eventually stand beside her.
Now she understood that she had been supplying that courage in her own imagination.
“I’m not deciding how you feel tonight,” she said. “I’m deciding where I go.”
She called her friend Maren.
While she waited outside, a young server approached carrying her coat.
“I thought you might need this.”
Elena took it.
“Thank you.”
The server hesitated.
“My name’s Tessa.”
Elena nodded.
Tessa lowered her voice.
“She talks to us like that too.”
