Holidays In The Hamptons [COMPLETE]

Chapter Thirteen

She only caught her breath once inside her room and in sight of her suitcase.

Gabbie had unpacked the minute they had arrived, filling the dresser drawers and closets with her clothes as if she lived there. Stella had hung up a thing or two and placed the books she had brought with her on the nightstand. Everything Marley had brought with her still resided in her suitcase, or somewhere nearby. She had done nothing to move into her temporary home for the week.

She didn't realize that she had been holding onto the bed frame as if for dear life until Thea's figure appeared in the closet's tall mirrored doors.

"Last night didn't go well, did it?"

It was barely a question. From the sympathy Marley found in her grandmother's eyes, it was as if she had been there, at the dinner, sitting next to her.

Marley shook her head.

"No. It did not."

Thea sighed and slowly entered the room.

"I can't say I'm surprised. I had hoped for the best but...."

Marley tried smiling but let Thea's gaze hang unmet in the mirror.

"I don't get it," Marley said to the ground.

"What don't you get?"

"You get along with them."

Thea hesitated, choosing her words with care.

"I get along with Fiona but we are friendly at best. Even that relationship I have to work rather hard at."

"But Felix...."

Marley let her words fail as she could hear the hitch in her voice.

"Felix is bound by more familial pressure and expectations than I'll ever be able to understand. The life he wants to lead and the life he is expected to lead are two very different things. I feel for that boy. He does not have an easy journey ahead of him."

Marley's body collapsed against the corner of her four-poster bed.

"I think you're mother had it right the day she decided to run away and marry Christopher against my wishes."

Marley stood up straight again, shock forcing her to.

Thea smiled at the wide-eyed look Marley sent her way.

"Don't tell your mother I said that."

Marley almost felt like laughing. Had Thea made a joke?

"There's a... lightness to the three of you girls. A joy that I don't see in any of my other grandchildren. I think that's why I wanted you here with me for the holidays, to brighten up a season that was destined to be rather bleak without your grandfather. That's why I would like you to work with me at the family company. It's so strict that some new blood could do it some good."

Thea noticed Marley held her breath. Her smile was now sadder than it had been.

"But you won't. I know you won't. I wasn't lying when I said I saw your grandfather in you. I see your mother, too. And just like the two of them, you need to find your own way."

Thea moved in close and reached out for Marley's hand, taking it lightly in her own.

"I'm going to tell you what I should have told your mother, all those years ago."

She inhaled, squaring her shoulders, her head held high.

"You will always have a place here. No matter what you choose to do with your life, who you choose to love, my door is always open to you, Marley. Always."

Thea squeezed Marley's hand and Marley squeezed back. It was the closest thing to a hug Marley had ever experienced from her grandmother.

Marley said goodbye and a Happy New Year to Thea before descending the stairs. The foyer was empty. Nearly empty.

Gabbie and Stella must have already left for the party and when Marley's heels clicked against the tile, it was the only sound raising to the high ceilings above as she approached her date where he stood leaning against the front door.

"Thanks for waiting," Marley said. Her hand reached out to straightened his bow tie.

"Of course. Shall we?"

Christian bowed slightly to offer Marley his arm and led her outside to where a car was waiting for them.

Marley's stomach clenched as soon as the wheels beneath them started to roll forward. Her hand shot out to find Christian's and she could feel him hesitate before it wrapped around hers.

The scenery flew by, the white snow luminescent under the full moon. A fresh coat had fallen that morning and the Hamptons were showing off.

Marley watched it go by, her eyes absorbing every last detail as if this were the last time she would ever see such beauty.

"What am I missing, Christian? What am I not getting?"

She spoke her question to the car window. She didn't need to explain to Christian what she meant. She had a feeling he already knew how the night before had gone. There was a sympathy she saw in his eyes that matched Thea's.

"Nothing, Marley. It's not about you. None of this is. Your just an innocent bystander who got in the way of family dynamics that have been raging war for generations."

Marley turned at the sadness in his voice. She made sure her next words came out in love, soft and easy, not a trace of judgment or condemnation to be found.

"How can you love her?"

Christian sighed and his own eyes flew to the window.

"Winter has been fighting her whole life to be taken seriously. That takes a toll on a person. It's made her smarter, hard-working, ambitious, and determined. But also... She gets what it's like. She's the only person I know who does. This life. The pressure. Family expectations."

His last words were causing a wrinkle in Marley's brain, a new train of thought suddenly erupting, something she had never considered. Winter and Christian were in the same situation. How had she never seen that before?

"You're getting the nice Grandma Thea. She hasn't always so warm and inviting."

Marley would have laughed at the thought of Thea as warm and inviting if Christian's face wasn't covered in shadow.

"She wasn't always like this. I have responsibilities and expectations just because I was born a Clausen. Winter gets that."

"And I never will."

Christian shook his head.

"No. You won't. You got it easy, Marley."

Christian had to squeeze her hand to get her to meet his eye.

"But that's the best part about you. You're not like them. You're not like... me. And you never will be."

The car rolled to a stop just as Christian's words hit Marley square in the chest. She hadn't noticed that they had driven up a long driveway to stop in front of the biggest house Marley had ever seen.

From every window and through the front door, sounds and lights from the party poured out into the night. Inside was the last Hamptons holiday party Marley ever planned on attending.

She gave Christian's hand one last squeeze, squared her shoulders, and stepped out into the night.