Free Cupcakes & Chardonnay by Julia Gabriel Page B

the weather is supposed to be glorious tomorrow. Meet me and Seth for a picnic in the Marin headlands?"
    Suzanne nodded. "I'd love to. Noon-ish? I'll bring the cupcakes?"
    Daryle just stood there and fumed. How he wanted to just haul off and punch that man's smug face. The nerve! Making plans with his wife like he wasn't even there. Granted, he and Suzanne had no plans for tomorrow—he was driving back to Napa tonight after the reception—and Brent wasn't romantic competition for Suzanne, but the presumptuousness still rankled. Brent was making it clear that he had a claim on Suzanne, a claim of friendship, that Daryle would never have.
    At least he had scared off Noelle for him. It hadn't occurred to Noelle that his wife might have a big bad protector lurking in the crowd. Of course, it hadn't occurred to Daryle either.
    "All right," Daryle said after Brent was gone. "Let's go find some food and somewhere to sit down. I've been on my feet all day."
    The museum's cafe was open for reception seating and they grabbed a table by the large windows overlooking the street, away from the other reception attendees.
    "Look, I'm sorry—" Daryle began.
    " Now you're sorry."
    A short, sputtering laugh came from Daryle. "Yes, according to Brent, I am sorry. Very sorry, indeed." He took a bite of crab puff pastry, to buy him some time while he gathered his thoughts. He'd already screwed up once tonight, he wanted to get back on the right footing. "I didn't know Noelle was going to be here."
    "And just who is Noelle? Your old girlfriend? The one your mother wouldn't let you marry? Hard to believe it was just a week ago that you were telling me that we needed to put up a convincing front here."
    "Yes, she is an old girlfriend. She was a little surprised by our wedding. You can maybe have some sympathy for her on that front?"
    Suzanne shrugged in half-hearted agreement. Noelle had gotten tossed out by Iris Catterton just as quickly as Suzanne had gotten roped in. "Are you ... are you still seeing her?"
    "No. No!" Daryle set down his fork, a little too forcefully. "Of course not. Actually, I'm glad the wedding ended all that. I was never in love with her."
    "Well, that's hardly a prerequisite, is it?"
    It was after eleven when they finally made their goodbyes to Alanna and left the reception. Inside Daryle's car, Suzanne closed her eyes and let her weight sink into the seat. How could something that should have been so simple—attending a reception for his sister—collapse into such a disaster? It had always been that way between them, she thought. Nothing had ever been simple. Maybe if she had made more of an effort to get to know his mother back then, Iris would have known that a marriage, even a fake one, was never going to work.
    The only way Suzanne could see the two of them—and their respective businesses—surviving this was if they just didn't see each other unless it was absolutely, unavoidably necessary. Take tonight, for example. No one would have noticed if she hadn't been there. Daryle could simply have said she was working or not feeling well—and Suzanne could always say the same about him.
    Oh well. That was not a conversation to be had tonight.
    The reception had been a rousing success for Alanna, though, and that was what was important about the evening. The museum had been packed and Suzanne had heard plenty of positive comments about her sister-in-law's paintings. She was glad, too, that Alanna had requested her cupcakes and that she had introduced Suzanne as the owner of The Cupcakery and not just her brother's wife. She didn't know Alanna well—probably never would, given the projected shelf life of her marriage—but she seemed like a genuinely nice person. Not one of those tortured, angst-ridden artists. Funny how two siblings could be raised together, in the same environment and by the same people and turn out like night and day.
    Suzanne let her own mind become a blank canvas for awhile, thinking about