I'm marching my way over to find an empty table when I feel someone's hand close around my arm, yanking me backward. My wide skirt has me stumbling, but I find Annabeth less than a foot from me. She snaps, "I'm not doing this anymore with you Sawyer. I'm not gonna let you treat me like shit anymore."
Stunned, I take a step away before replying, "I've been treating you like shit? How? I haven't seen you and you don't text me back! So who is the bad friend? Where the hell have you been during any of the traumatic events that have happened to me over that last few months, hell the last few days? You haven't been around since I got back from London and have been pissed since I married Ryan."
"Exactly! Since you met Ryan, you've been a shit friend. It's finally time I told you," she says with a pop of her chin. Even though we both look like gorgeous southern belles in the middle of Town Hall, I know we're both raging inside. The corset is restricting my breathing but I can see the lace that covers her chest flutter with every heavy breath she takes.
"Ha! Wow Annabeth. Really? Just gonna skim past that you've been AWOL for weeks. Fine then. Well...you've been a shit friend since you got with Gus. I honestly thought putting you two together would be some epic love story, I had no idea it was going to be my nightmare!"
"Oh, so I have you to thank for putting us together now?" Annabeth says with an eye roll and I realize we are at the point of no return. Anything said will forever be out there. No more half-truths, no more secrets. It's all about to come out. In the middle of the dance floor, on Founder's day.
"I did! At the Samuel's garden party! I dropped a line in your ear about Gus and gave Gus a little shove towards you. You only ever wanted a man from a wealthy family and I thought it was a great match, especially with how amazing Gus is!"
"Oh that's not why you pushed him towards me," She says, her face pink with anger. "Nuh-uh, you shoved him away from you! I'm not an idiot Sawyer, I know the father of my child has been in love with you since elementary school and you've never wanted him back. Don't act like you did some selfless act when it was the most selfish thing you've done! You're the reason Gus and I will never work!"
My eyes are wide as I snap, "That's bullshit Annabeth! You ruined your own relationship by never being satisfied! You treat Gus like a wallet and nothin' more. You only ever go to him when you need money. Planning your wedding was an eye-opening experience. I got to see you for the money-grubbing, power-hungry, social climber that you really are!" I know our raised voices have fellow dancers craning their heads toward us, but the spectacle we're making is hardly over. I didn't want to be talked about today but here I am and I don't think either of us cares that we're airing our dirty laundry for all of the town to see. I am more surprised that Ryan or Gus hasn't hauled us off the floor yet.
Annabeth suddenly throws her head back and laughs, "Social climber! You almost married Lord Sebastian! And the only reason you didn't is because your hick-ass couldn't fit into their real high society! You might be Sawyer Sweeney, Hollis-Mississippi-southern-fucking-belle but nowhere else in the world do you matter! There is a reason you haven't left here and a reason you settled down here. You are nothing without your family's name and we both know your father has tarnished that!"
I want to hit her, I really want to punch her in the face but I keep my hands to my sides. I know she said that last part a bit louder so the nosey listeners could hear. We must have suddenly gotten the boys' attention because I catch Gus running across the hall toward us.
"The only reason you know about my father is because you were so desperate for friendship that you had to reach out to Whitney. Which you should know, couldn't stand you! She tried to get me to ditch you for years. So no, our friendship didn't end when I met Ryan, it did when y'alls started."
Gus is finally behind her, but before he can say anything she puts her chin back up and snaps, "Good. Fine. I'm glad we are done. It was so damn hard being your friend Sawyer. You have no idea how small you could make me feel. Being Sawyer Sweeney's sidekick is lonely and I'm over being in your shadow."
"You only became my friend because you were obsessed with my brother and you wanted to rise through the ranks so he'd finally notice you. He never did. So you were never in my shadow, you were riding my coattails." I flippantly say with a shake of my head. At that, she snaps. I stayed in control but she unleashes her fury with her fists. She barrels toward me but just manages to get a fist full of my lace sleeve before Gus tugs her back. I had no idea Ryan was behind me, but suddenly his chest is against my back and he's spinning me away from Annabeth.
Gus hauls Annabeth across the dance floor and Ryan leads me out the back door. We are behind the hall and now away from an audience. I push away from him as he says, "I thought we were behaving today!"
"That bitch. She has no idea! No idea of all the things I have done for her and this is how she treats me!"
"Sawyer Mae!" My mother's voice has me spinning back toward the doorway, "What in God's green earth was that?!" She's raging as she grips my arm to lead me away from the dancehall like a child. I rip my arm out from her iron grip as we cross into the street. Ryan stays steps behind her, unsure of his role against my mother.
"It was Annabeth being a bitch is what it was!" I snap but my mother looks horrified.
"We are at a town event where we are guests of honor and you think it's appropriate to have a cat fight in Town Hall? You are a married woman now, you should be embarrassed!" She seethes, her voice is loud but her lips are hardly moving. I rarely talk back to my mother, especially in public, but Annabeth got me to a whole other level of pissed off.
"And you dragging me off the curb is any better? You nearly pummeled through everyone at the Blackwood's, but I am the one embarrassing the Sweeney's?" I snap.
Her slap across my face stuns me into silence. My mother, in all her rage and fury over the years has never hit me. Never. I hear Ryan's "Woah now." in the distance but otherwise, it's silent.
I think she's also appalled by her action because she looks at her hand like it betrayed her. The shocking display of anger has Ryan crossing the street now but I don't think either of us knows how to react. I cradle my cheek in my gloved hand but I still don't know what to say. Tears are dangerously close to spilling onto my cheeks when I finally manage to say, "That car triggered something hateful inside you this morning and I don't know why you're taking it out on me." She shakes her head, she's still fuming but I think the slap brought some sense back into her.
"You're right. You don't know anything Sawyer," She says while sliding her hands down her silk skirt.
"Then why don't you enlighten me? I can handle more than you think," I tell her while gripping Ryan's hand as he stands next to me. He's already pulled me away from one fight, I think he's worried he'll have to drag me away from another. She's shaking her head, fighting back something. She won't look at me and I want to bring up our father's second life to her. I want to know if she knows, I want to know what she knows. I decide to nudge her along, see if I can get anything from this woman of steel.
"Does the car have to do with Dad? Something... to do with Dallas?" I ask, a stab in the dark. There might be zero correlation but I have to try.
"Sawyer..." Ryan warns and my mother snaps her head to us. She lets out a startling laugh as she looks to Ryan. She drops her hands to her hips and starts pacing in a circle. She shakes her head as she thinks of something humorous. She finally stops and asks, "Where's Austin?"
The question confuses me and I shake my head, "Probably with Margot inside, why?"
She glares at Ryan before saying, "Y'all are detectives right? Knowing people's business is y'alls business."
"Mrs. Sweeney...I didn't," Ryan starts but she cuts him off.
"This has been quiet for forty years and within a month of you being here that car and my business are suddenly out in the open," She tells him. "Did you do this to punish me? Did you need to know what you were getting into when marrying my daughter? I thought you weren't good enough, so you had to find something on me?"
"Mrs. Sweeney, this was the Carmichaels doing. Austin and I never once investigated Mr. Sweeney. I wouldn't do that," he tells her and she stops pacing.
"Kennedy Carmichael?"
Ryan nods, "This all just recently came to our attention."
"And Sawyer and Austin know?" She asks as if I weren't standing right next to him. Ryan nods again but she still won't look at me. Suddenly she spins around and stalks off across the street and enters the dance hall. We stand in silence as we watch her and her anger disappear.
I look to Ryan, "I can't believe my mother hit me and almost admitted to my father's affair." He finally turns my face toward him and rubs a thumb down my pink, stinging cheek.
"Has she ever slapped you before?" He asks me and I slowly shake my head. I still can't believe she did that.
"I've said and done so much worse than I did tonight and she's never slapped me. Something snapped inside her today and we're finding out what it was," I tell Ryan. Determined to get to the bottom of this.
"Sawyer, this is your parents. They haven't told you for a reason," he starts but I take a step away from him.
"No, this clearly affects me and Austin. That's bullshit. I was slapped in the middle of the street by a woman who is decorum personified. Now you're a detective, my brother is F.B.I I want this case solved. Starting with the car. We're leaving here and going to Austin's."
"We're set up at our place now," he tells me, confused by my train of thought.
"No, we're going to Austin's to get the license plate and registration for that car. My mother said it's not my grandfather's and you and Austin have connections to get me my answers."
"Sawyer, your mother just got physical with you over this. Is this a good idea? Do you really think digging into your parent's private life is a good idea?" I look around and we're still alone, hidden by the wall that blocks the dumpsters.
"I just made an enemy out of Annabeth Matthews. Do you really think she's going to keep my business private now? That girl is out for blood and she's going to start with my dirty little secrets. Now, I need to know what the hell my parents are hiding before the whole town knows."