Contessa (32 page)

“
I guess maybe they were,
”
she says.
“
Just not the one I wanted.
”

“
And it never crossed your mind when you were my age?
”

“
Livvy, you have to remember where I come from,
”
she says as she sits down at a table, patting the seat next to her.
“
My mom had me when she was seventeen. She had a difficult time bringing me up. She wasn
’
t ready for motherhood, and I think that drove her to do a lot of things she regretted later in life. I love my mom, but I didn
’
t want to follow in her footsteps.
”

“
Yeah, I guess.
”

“
Are you thinking about having sex with him?
”

“
No,
”
I tell her confidently, but feel the insecurity that lies beneath my response.
What if he wants to?

“
I don
’
t envy you, Livvy.
”

“
Why?
”

“
I mean, it
’
s one thing to be a teenager and have those pressures. It
’
s another thing to be the only daughter of Jack Holland who
’
s having to make these decisions.
”

“
Why does that matter?
”

“
Because everyone
’
s watching you, Liv. People love a train wreck. They
’
d love to see the darling daughter of a billionaire mess up.
”

“
I
’
m not gonna mess up,
”
I tell her.
“
I
’
d be careful.
”

“
No one ever plans on messing up, though. Just keep that in mind. You
’
re not always in control of your destiny.
”

“
I hate being me sometimes.
”

“
No, you don
’
t.
”
She rolls her eyes.
“
And if you do, you
’
re an ungrateful little brat.
”
She nudges me with her shoulder to show me she
’
s kidding.
“
You know, I love being a part of this family. I am so lucky that Steven met my mom all those years ago, and accepted me as his daughter. And I couldn
’
t be happier that we moved here to be closer to the family. I
’
m proud to preserve the Holland name. You know,
I
don
’
t want to be the one to go and screw that up. Oh, speaking of which, did you hear about Brandon?
”

“
No. What about him?
”
We
don
’
t
see much of my twenty-eight-year-old cousin anymore, but I was never really close to him.

“
Some girl is suing him for paternity of her two-year-old child. Kelly and Thomas are apparently grandparents.
”

“
No way.
”
Kelly and my dad are twins. The thought of my father being a grandfather is unthinkable.

“
Yeah. She
’
s only twenty-two. It was a brief relationship, apparently. But he says the kid looks like him.
”

“
Wow. Are they going to get married?
”

“
No,
”
she tells me as if the suggestion is preposterous.
“
At this point, he
’
s still seeing that Sylvie girl we met last spring. But she
’
s pretty upset.
”

My Aunt Kelly is a grandmother?!
The idea continues to seep in. My dad
’
s only forty-eight. I try to imagine telling him that he
’
s going to be a grandfather. It
’
s a frightening thought. No, he
’
s definitely too young to be a grandfather. Grandpas are sixty, minimum. I
’
d have to be really careful if Jon and I made the decision to have sex. I couldn
’
t tell my father that.

“
Wonder why my dad didn
’
t tell me.
”

“
I
’
m sure your dad
’
s trying to keep it out of the press. This girl only recently found out that Brandon was Jack
’
s nephew. She
’
s suing for back child support and a monthly stipend of five-thousand dollars until the kid
’
s eighteen.
”

“
That
’
s sixty-thousand a year.
”

“
Yep.
”

I do the calculation in my head.
“
She
’
d collect nearly a million dollars from him.
”

“
Uh-huh.
”

“
Does she realize he doesn
’
t
have
a million dollars?
”

“
She heard
‘
Holland.
’
She
’
s gonna try. She won
’
t win. Especially with your dad
’
s lawyers.
”

“
Yeah,
”
I agree, knowing my father has the best lawyers anyone can afford.

“
He
’
s trying to work out an arrangement, though, where Kelly and Thomas will get to have some visitation rights if the paternity test proves he
’
s the father. At this point, Brandon doesn
’
t want to have anything to do with her, though.

“
I think your dad is pretty upset about that part of it,
”
she adds.
“
He wants Brandon to take responsibility for his actions. And he should,
”
she states her own opinion.

“
Yeah, he should.
”

“
Your dad has to deal with a lot of stuff, Livvy. Don
’
t make it harder on him, okay?
”

“
No, I know.
”

“
Don
’
t make him worry about you on top of everything else. You
’
re a good kid. Make good decisions.
”

“
I know,
”
I tell her, growing frustrated.
“
I do.
”

“
I know you do,
”
she whispers as she puts her arm around me.
“
But you can come to me, okay?
”

“
Thanks.
”

I
’
m across the room talking to Granna when Jon finally shows up just before six. He looks frazzled as he scans the room looking for me. He barely smiles when he catches sight of me, but heads in my direction.

“
Good evening, Donna,
”
he says first, shaking her hand politely.
“
Hope you don
’
t mind a party crasher.
”

“
Not if it
’
s you. You
’
re welcome any time as long as you bring out Livvy
’
s pretty little smile. Doesn
’
t she look beautiful tonight?
”

“
Granna,
”
I sigh as she walks away from us to greet some parents that had made their way inside.

“
She does,
”
Jon says as he makes an obvious mental note of my skirt. My mom had bought it for me earlier in the week when I had told her the dress wasn
’
t so bad. She
’
d always tried to get me to dress
“
prettier,
”
so this was a happy development in her world. I
’
d paired the skirt with a red, short-sleeved, ruffled, button-down shirt.
“
Beguiling, even. That color looks amazing on you.
”

“
Thanks.
”

As soon as we
’
re alone, Jon sighs and his confident expression is replaced with one of worry.

“
What
’
s the matter?
”

He shakes his head and holds my hand in his.
“
Nothing you need to worry about.
”

“
You
’
re sure?
”

“
Definitely. I
’
m much better now that I
’
m here. Let
’
s go check out some of this artwork.
”
The Art Room is set up in different sectors to show the parents our processes. While the parents and students wander around, grazing on snacks and talking to one another and to Granna, Lexi and a few of her students rehearse quietly in the next room. They
’
ll be performing up in the gallery at seven, where we have a special surprise for the artists.

This month, we
’
re featuring selected paintings, drawings and performance videos upstairs. There
’
s a massive media campaign for it, and all the proceeds will go toward a special day trip that Granna
’
s been planning.

“
I thought your parents were coming,
”
Jon says to me.

“
They
’
ll be here. I think they had to take Trey to my aunt
’
s house first. I
’
m sure he
’
s throwing a fit right about now. He thought my uncle, Matty, was going to stay with him.
”

“
Well? How about a few minutes in the courtyard?
”
he asks.
“
Do you think Donna will miss you right now?
”

I glance over at her, deep in conversation with Amanda
’
s mom.
“
Nope.
”
I take his hand and lead him out the back door to the picnic table under a large oak tree. We have to clear the benches of mounds of leaves that have fallen from the surrounding trees the past week as fall has really made its presence known.

“
Are you chilly?
”
he asks me as he sits down.

“
I
’
m good.
”

“
Okay.
”
As I wait for him to kiss me, as I assumed that was his motive to get me away from the crowd, Jon leans over and messes with his watchband as his attention stays focused to some leaves on the ground.
“
I got my scores today,
”
he finally says.

“
And?
”
I immediately realize he
’
s just messing with me with his sullen demeanor, and grab onto his arm excitedly.
“
How
’
d you do?
”

When he looks up into my wide eyes, he smiles and pushes some hair off my forehead. He shakes his head, but his motions are subtle.
“
Probably barely high enough to get me accepted. I
’
m sure I
’
ll be teetering a line somewhere.
”

“
I
’
m sure you did better than that. You
’
re the smartest guy I know.
”