Chapter 16 - The New Year's Eve Invitation
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The week before Christmas, Claire received a thick, cream-colored envelope in the mail.
It was an invitation to Eleanor’s annual New Year’s Eve gala.
Claire stared at the heavy cardstock. It was beautifully embossed, exactly like the invitations she used to address by hand for Eleanor.
At the bottom, in Eleanor’s sharp handwriting, was a note:
You are not required. You are welcome.
Claire placed the invitation on the kitchen counter.
It sat there for three days, gathering dust and silent questions.
She called Nora.
"Eleanor invited me to the New Year’s Eve gala."
"Are you going?" Nora asked immediately, the sound of typing echoing over the line.
"I don't know."
"Why would you want to go?"
"I don't know if I do. But she wrote that I'm not required, just welcome."
Nora stopped typing.
"That’s a very Eleanor way of saying she misses you without actually saying it."
"Yes."
"It's a trap, Claire. A velvet-lined trap with excellent champagne."
"I don't think it is," Claire said softly. "I think it’s just an invitation."
"If you go, Daniel will be there."
"I know."
"If you go, people will talk."
"Let them."
May you like
"Are you actually considering this?" Nora sounded incredulous.
"I think," Claire said, looking at the embossed lettering, "I might want to see what that room looks like when I'm not responsible for making sure the caterers arrive on time."
