Chapter 2

Lisa's POV 

When Selena sent me an invite to her wedding, I jumped at the opportunity to leave Oakenville, even if it's for a few days, away from the pity and scrutiny of townspeople. I could use the break too, after an aggressive devotion to the affairs of my business, to burying myself in work and leaving no room for intrusive thoughts. 

          Willow yawns, and from the crook of my arm she observes the environs where we stand in front of the airport, like a king surveying his land from the top of his castle. Her blond short twin tails bob along with her head, and I dig my teeth down my lower lip at this momento of her father. I did not know what to feel when I gazed down at his unrecognizable body that day in the morgue, an hour after he had been fished out from the wreck that used to be his prized Porsche. Yet after his funeral, I was an automaton whose very first sensation was relief. 

          I shake my head in an attempt to banish the thoughts before I fish through my handbag for my phone. Part of my mission here is to forget Keith Reed, the adorable creation of ours currently nestling on my arm notwithstanding. 

          A silver Mustang rolls into view and halts before us, and I witness a familiar redhead pop out from behind the driver's wheel. Selena flashes a mega-watt smile that has graced magazine covers back in the day, as she slams the car door and sashays towards us, reminiscent of a long stemmed rose with a two piece glitzy jade-coloured ensemble clinging to her long-legged physique like a second skin, the body that almost made her a supermodel. Golden hoops swing at her earlobes as she walks. She stands out like a sore thumb, a lion in the midst of cats. Several glances are darted her way, but Selena is used to all that attention. I give in to the urge to return that smile.  

          " Hey Cupcake," She engulfs me and Willow in a sandalwood-scented embrace. Her signature scent. I burrow my nose against her neck and grin. 

          " Stop sniffing, you-" She cut herself off with a chuckle. I laugh, and pull away to look at her radiant face. Her eyes match the hue of the cloudless summer sky above, both even more brilliant awash in sun rays. Rosebud pink lips stretch in a sweet smile. My heart swells with emotion. " Good to see you again, Aunt." 

          " You too, Niece." 

          " Niece?" I did not notice the brunette standing by a startled Selena. " I was expecting a cute little thing." She has her eyes on Willow.

          " Don't go sneaking up on me that way, Yvette. And yes, she's my sister's child." 

          Yvette whirls rounded eyes on me.

         " She was born sixteen years after my mom existed." I explain. Yvette reacts the same way everyone else does when I reveal my aunt and I splurged on cheeseburgers and ice cream everytime on our way back from school, played princess with mom's clothes sagging off our bodies and binge watched Disney animated movies together when we were kids. She has the look of one that happened upon a unicorn. 

          " Yup. We are apart by only half a dozen years." Selena slides Yvette a sly gaze. " Do the math." 

          " Congratulations on getting hitched, Selena." 

          She beams her thanks. Willow, who was silent this whole time, suddenly gurgles. 

          " Hello there, Buttercup." Trust Selena to instantly dub my thirteen month old a nickname. " Alright everyone, let's bounce." 

          It is when Selena swerves her car into traffic that I ask. " We can stay with you, right? Willow and I." I envision the homey condo I once spent my twentieth summer in. 

          " No, Cupcake." Diamond winks at me from the palm resting on her steering wheel. I think of the ring Keith gifted me on our engagement night, the dainty ruby and diamond jewelry stashed away in a drawer back at Oakenville. " I moved in with Wade last month. The condo's no longer mine." 

          " Oh." I remember the hunky, good-looking, brownskinned male Selena said was an executive in a gaming company. 

          " Don't be a sad cupcake. I made hotel reservations for guests. Though you're seven days early I can wrangle you a room." 

          " Thanks, Aunt." I produce cookies from my handbag and offer it to Willow, making a mental note to feed her properly once we get to the hotel. Then I lean back in my seat to watch colorful lights and buildings whizz past as we ride through the south Florida city, briefly wondering if Mom would take a break from flying all over the world as an international lawyer to attend her sister's wedding. She didn't show up at my own wedding afterall, so that might be unlikely. I toy with the idea of asking Selena, but I drop the thought almost immediately. Selena and Mom haven't been in the best terms since I've been in college, and I shouldn't bring that up with Yvette in the car with us. 

          Minutes later, after Selena found a parking spot for her Mustang, we make our way past a stone lion spurting a shimmery waterfall to the receptionist's desk. While Selena speaks with the endowed beauty with lips as red as fresh blood, I take a moment to scan the enclosure. Marble floors, cream walls and high ceilings with a glittering crystal-and-glass chandelier. It looks like a space right out of a magazine, not to my surprise. Selena always had exquisite tastes. 

          " Go ahead and settle in," Selena hands me a key card. " Hope you packed a bathing suit in that trunk of yours." She gestures to my burgundy suitcase and winks.  

          I didn't factor in a trip to the beach at all. " I… no." 

          " Why not?" Selena shoots me an incredulous stare. " Aren't you here to cool off?"

          " We can always buy one," Yvette suggests. 

          " Well yeah," Selena agrees. " I'll come pick you up by six for dinner with the girls. I'll find a babysitter for Buttercup. She can't tag along." 

          " But…" I raise a confused brow. Seconds tick by before it dawns on me she's actually referring to my Willow.

          " Not to worry, the good lady is not a stranger." She wiggles diamond-adorned fingers. " See ya." 

          Selena waves and marches off with Yvette in tow, heeled boots clacking in their wake. 

          " She's something, isn't she?" The receptionist remarks. Her huge chest has a name tag that reads 'Julie' on it. "She kind of looks familiar too." 

          "Yeah right," I assert. "She used to be a model." 

          "Ah." Julie links her fingers under her chin, showcasing jewel-encrausted talons. "What happened? Are you two related? I detect a resemblance." 

          "Yes." As expected, she's fishing for gossip. "I'm gonna go. My baby needs to feed. Bye." I abandon the receptionist at the front desk and trace my way to the elevator. 

          On the third floor, I head over to my designated door, with ' thirty-six ' engraved in gilded figures above it. Just as I'm about to swipe my key card, the next door swings open, and I am face to face with Damien.