Chapter 37
Victoria lingered in the bright breakfast nook, pretending to listen to her mother’s wedding chatter. The sun in the garden just outside the windows could almost convince her she was already in a warmer climate, one she would enjoy all year round instead of for a couple of brief months.
All she had to do was hold her hand closer to the rippled glass for the chill to break the delicate illusion.
She picked at her cold porridge instead, trying to nod when her mother expected it, smile when the time seemed right.
The mind-numbing litany of invitations and colors and attendants was preferable to the harsh shouting and icy silence between them the night before. Victoria wasn’t quite sure how it was possible, but her father didn’t seem to know about her long day and late night awa
