Free Beautiful Day by Elin Hilderbrand Page A

fifty-nine who had been
     married and divorced three times, who had seen it all, survived it all, and could
     barely conceal his impatience that Margot was still in the life stage where she cared
     what other people thought.
    Margot eyed Jenna and Finn with envy. Then she worried that the fact that she had
     never had a best friend was another indicator—like the fact that she didn’t garden—that
     there was something wrong with her. And her marriage had failed! Was that due to some
     inability to connect in a meaningful and permanent way with others?
Was
she a coldhearted bitch? Jenna would, no doubt, be just as devoted to Stuart as she
     was to Finn. Margot wondered if all family wedding weekends were doomed to be exercises
     in painful self-examination.
    She turned her attention to Autumn.
    Autumn had ordered the chowder, which was the least expensive thing on the menu, and
     Margot wondered if
that
was why she had ordered it. Maybe Autumn really
was
financially strapped.Of course, she wasn’t rich; she was waiting tables and living in a rented bungalow.
     At that moment, Margot decided that she would pay for dinner. She had a great job,
     she could afford it, she was the maid of honor: she would pay.
    She took a bite of her crab cake. It was drizzled with a lemony sauce. More wine.
     She was starting to feel a little drunk, but this came as no surprise. Anytime she
     had thought about the wedding in the past twelve months, she had thought,
When I don’t know what else to do, I’ll get drunk. I’ll just stay drunk all weekend,
     if need be.
And here she was.
    Finn got up to use the bathroom. She hadn’t even touched her foie gras, and Margot
     eyed it covetously. Margot loved foie gras, but she hadn’t ordered it because it was
     bad for you, and it was a travesty the way they force-fed the poor French geese. But
     it looked so yummy—plump and seared golden brown, topped with ruby red pomegranate
     seeds.
    Margot noticed Jenna watching her with a concerned expression on her face. She realized
     that she had to tell Jenna about Alfie’s tree branch; she had to tell Jenna that the
     second tent wasn’t coming tomorrow. The second tent wasn’t coming at all.
    Forty percent chance of showers.
    Margot lifted the bottle of white wine out of the ice and found it empty. She flagged
     the waiter.
    “Another?” she said.
    Jenna bit her bottom lip, and Margot didn’t like the way that looked. She wanted to
     ask Jenna if she was having fun. She wanted to ask Jenna if this night was memorable.
     It was too early to tell, they had barely started, but Margot feared it wasn’t memorable
     enough. What could she do? Should she suggest a game? Some kind of bachelorette game?
     In general, Margot found bachelorette parties distasteful—the penis lollipops, theludicrous sashes the bride-to-be was forced to wear, the hot pink T-shirts with lewd
     sayings. And at that moment, Margot realized she had forgotten to bring the hideous
     bow-and-paper-plate “hat” that Jenna was supposed to wear. Jenna would most definitely
     be thrilled that Margot had forgotten the hat, but Margot still felt like she was
     failing at her maid-of-honor duties. Finn would have remembered to bring the hat.
    Forty percent chance of showers. Griffin Wheatley, Homecoming King. He had taken the
     job at Blankstar; he was happy there. Margot could relax. No harm, no foul.
    The restaurant was loud. The other tables were talking and laughing, and under all
     that, Bobby Darin sang “Beyond the Sea,” and champagne corks popped, and knives and
     forks scraped plates. Margot thought of her mother, wearing the blue paisley patio
     dress. She had seemed like the most beautiful woman in all the world, and Jenna looked
     just like her.
    Margot said, “Is it me, or has Finn been gone a long time?”
    Jenna said, “I’m sure she’s texting Scott.”
    “Oh,” Margot said, collapsing back in her seat. She wondered if she should take her
     phone to the