“Have you been to see Dr. Brenner recently?” she asked lightly, referring to our on-call plastic surgeon.
“No. Why?”
Her eyes lingered on my bare midriff, then returned to mine with a tight smile. “Maybe make an appointment when we get back.”
I rubbed my eyes as I left my mother’s wing. I wouldn’t cry, but they still stung. I could handle Ned. I’d been handling him. What I couldn’t handle? Being yet another disappointment to my mother and losing Theo in the process.
Twenty-One
ABIGAIL
Uneasy is the girl who wears the name Crowne.
My grandma told me that on my seventh birthday. Everyone said she was losing her mind and not to pay attention to her words.
I’m not so sure.
Since Spain, things with Theo have been off. On the surface, things are okay, but it feels wrong, a strong current beneath still waters. Our time in Italy flew by, and now we’re heading to Switzerland.
I haven’t told him the truth about my fiancé.
He hasn’t apologized for the key chain. Not really.
I want to tell Theo everything, but we’re hours away from Switzerland.
Switzerland.
Where I might see Ned and have no choice but to act like everything is fine, like he hasn’t been tormenting me.
Theo would rip Ned apart, and if Theo did that, Mom would rip Theo apart.
I glanced at Theo, sitting stoically beside me on the plane.
It feels like fate in a way. I haven’t seen my grandpa since the Swan Swell, since the day Theo ripped us apart. It prods something inside me, opens up the parts of me I’ve been pretending didn’t exist. The odd distance between Theo and me, the lies I’m telling, the secrets I’m worried he might be keeping.
We’re ignoring a chasm between us, and my grandfather might be the thing to shove us inside.
“Something’s bothering you, Abigail,” Theo said the moment we landed. Cool summer air whipped at our skin, the jet still powering down. “Something more than what I did.”
“I’m nervous to see my grandpa,” I lied. Guilt ripped apart his face, and he went quiet. Shame settled in my stomach.
A black town car pulled up, one of four, and I was seated alone with Theo in one as my mother and siblings took their own.
It wasn’t a short drive to the house, but it’s worth it. Switzerland was my favorite as a child. It’s our very own fairy-tale castle, with steepled roofs, turrets, and crenellations. Built into the top of the mountain and rising high into the blue sky, we took a winding road into verdant snow-capped mountains. A shimmering clear lake was below us, and evergreen spruce surrounded us on all sides.
Inside the castle, I looked around, as if Ned was going to pop up any minute, but it was just us and the servant staff.
“He’ll be here tomorrow. Remember what you promised.” My mother smiled and walked away, up the winding staircase toward her room. Servants followed, carrying her luggage.
I was jumpy in my skin. Itchy. Emotions were eating me alive. I couldn’t think about them.
So I did what I did best. I reacted.
Gemma was leaning against the wall, on her phone.
No more classic Abigail scenes.
My mom’s words were fresh in my mind. I opened and closed my fist.