Holidays In The Hamptons [COMPLETE]

Chapter Four

The Hampstead Country Club glowed bright in the dark winter night. The snow lightly layered around its perimeter glowed gold in its presence. It sent a beam of merry and cheer into the night sky, beckoning the residents of Hampstead Heath to come, join them, celebrate together, as a town.

Marley watched the white mansion as the car slowly approached, slowly rolling up the inclined driveway that led to the entrance.

Thea and her parents were in the car in front of them. Gabbie sat in the middle with Stella on the other side of the car. The Harkin family was dressed to the nines and they had Thea Clausen to thank for that.

A team of stylists was waiting for them when they returned from the senior center and Thea had exactly one minute to explain what was going on before the beauticians pounced. Marley just barely made it clear that no, she did not want her make-up done and had to compromise on her hair in return.

While her scalp was being pulled and tightened by forceful hands, Marley had a wandering thought as to where these women had come from. It was an off-handed comment from her mother to Thea that cleared up the matter.

The team had a standing appointment to ready Thea and her two daughters and their families every Christmas afternoon for the country club dinner. They were paid extra to bring along gowns for Avery and her daughters.

Grandma Thea made good on her promise. When the three sisters entered the country club, they blended right in.

They were welcomed into the establishment by two men dressed in matching red wool coats lined with gold braid. The gold of the door frame could be seen in the reflection of their shoes.

The cold night was kept out and immediately the beautiful wool coats that had come with their gowns became a burden as the heat from over two hundred bodies kept the temperature in the large ballroom high.

Marley and Stella didn't need Gabbie's chattering stream of consciousness anymore as the ambient noise of a hundred different conversations filled the air, mingling with the jazz band set up in front of the wall of windows that looked out onto the sloping lawns of the golf course below. It was a sea of neat white snow, untouched, perfect.

Marley was thankful that Thea's stylists had brought flats as an option as she watched Gabbie stagger off like a baby giraffe in her sparkling heels that matched her glittering ball gown. Marley had never had the occasion to wear heels and didn't think to start now.

Her dress was simple, not floor-length like most of the ones currently swishing around her ankles. Just above her knees, green velvet with a white lace collar, the closest thing the stylists had to something she would have picked out herself.

She had to steal off to the bathroom right before their car left to redo her hair in a low bun with half the amount of bobby-pins and half the amount of scalp pain. Marley now saw why those extra bobby-pins might have come in handy. If she was to do any dancing, her hair was running the risk of falling out altogether.

She looked around for mother and father, moving out of the entranceway, out of the way of people streaming in through the entrance. Marley almost didn't recognize Avery where she stood in the middle of a crowd all about her same age, laughing, smiling, chatting. Her father looked barely comfortable, his hand fidgeting at his sides, begging to loosen his bow-tie. Avery kept a firm grip on Christoper and made sure to smile up at him every few minutes to help calm his nerves.

This wasn't his scene but Avery looked as though she had never left.

Stella had wandered away at some point and Marley found herself alone, taking in the strange setting she found herself in, all by herself. Another party where she felt trapped in the corner, her only option to observe, not participate.