Read Online When We Fall by Emily Liebert - Free Book Online

wanted to be with Billy. She hadn’t particularly wanted to be with him in college. Still, he looked happy, and even though she didn’t begrudge him that, something about his flawless existence was a jagged pill to swallow.
    â€œI here, Mrs. Charlotte,” Janna, her devoted Filipino housekeeper, whispered, startling Charlotte. Janna had an untrained talent for sneaking up on people, which Charlotte had once told her would make her an excellent spy. Janna had giggled nervously at the suggestion, probably because she had no idea what that meant.
    â€œOh, thank God.” Charlotte motioned to the platter and then secured the two large Velcro rollers in her hair. “I’m hopeless.”
    â€œI fix it for you.” Janna set to work shuffling cheeses and crackers while alternating skewered slices of strawberry and pineapple from the refrigerator with a flourish of fresh flowers, until the presentation was Martha Stewart–worthy.
    â€œThank you.” Charlotte smiled gratefully, marveling at the way domesticity came so naturally to Janna. “I have to run upstairs and take these out.” She pointed to the rollers. “Please set everything up on the table in the great room.”
    â€œYes, Mrs. Charlotte. I make everything lovely for you.”
    â€¢Â Â Â â€¢Â Â Â â€¢
    And lovely it was when Charlotte came downstairs twenty minutes later with her naturally wavy hair wrestled into a long, straight bob, just the right amount of volume at the roots, thanks to the rollers. She’d taken extra time on hermakeup and selected an outfit that conveyed casual chic—dark-washed blue jeans, black Gucci ballet flats, and a powder blue Ralph Lauren cable-knit sweater layered over a white T-shirt. She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to impress Allison. Maybe it was that Allison and Charlie were old friends. Or that she was new to Wincourt and Charlotte wanted to stake her claim before Allison had a chance to meet the other moms at school. Either way, there was something different about Allison that appealed to her, and more than anything, Charlotte wanted Allison to like her. And for Charlie to notice.
    The bell chimed and Charlotte rushed to answer it. She’d actually considered whether or not to have Janna greet her guests, but Sabrina and Missy—who practically let themselves in these days—would have balked at the pomp and circumstance. Even though they both let their housekeepers and nannies deal with everything.
    â€œHellllloooo!” Sabrina and Missy chorused, standing in the doorway proffering matching bottles of prosecco.
    â€œCan you believe we brought the exact same thing?” Sabrina rolled her eyes. She’d confided in Charlotte years earlier that she was convinced Missy wanted to be her and had pointed out every circumstance since that time that evidenced her claim.
    Like when Missy had shown up to Parker Gresham’s Fabulous Fifth birthday party wearing the same Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses that Sabrina was
certain
Missy had seen her sporting in a Facebook photo from their trip to Turks and Caicos three weeks earlier. Or, nine months later, when Missy had hosted a fund-raiser to benefit the WincourtMuseum, decked out in a sleeveless gold Carolina Herrera cocktail dress, which Sabrina was
certain
she’d earmarked in the most recent copy of
InStyle
magazine. Which she’d lent to Missy. “Obviously, imitation is the highest form of flattery. But at some point, get your own identity, girl!” Sabrina had remarked time and time again. And time and time again, Charlotte had nodded in agreement, well aware that if this was the way Sabrina talked about “one of her two best friends in the whole wide world,” then she ought to be at least a little wary. Not that Missy was an innocent. Charlotte had spent entire lunches listening to her bad-mouth Sabrina. But when the three of them were together, the only targets of