AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Please let me know what you think.
Chapter 3
Rory Edison finished hanging the last ornament on the Christmas tree. She stood back and looked at it with a smile on her face.
They had several trees in their house for the holidays. The maid put most of them up. This one was different, though. This tree was in their family room. The only people that ever went in the family room were family and close friends.
This tree was the one that had all the children's ornaments on it, along with the special couples ornament Rory and Seth would pick out each Christmas. It also had ornaments for their Ben, (their cat), and Jerry, (their St. Bernard.)
Seth walked in the room and wrapped his arms around his wife. "You did a wonderful job, as always." He told her, kissing her hair.
She smiled up at him. "You still have to do your part."
He nodded. "Of course." He walked over to the star, and placed it on the top of the tree. He then plugged the tree in, lighting it up.
"Beautiful." He said.
"I agree."
"I'm not talking about the tree." Seth grinned mischievously, sweeping his wife into a passionate kiss.
-GG-
A few miles away Katy Huntzberger was also decorating for Christmas.
"Martha! Martha! Those candle sticks go six inches apart, not five and a half, you insufferable invalid!" She screeched at Mary, one of her maids.
"Yes ma'am, sorry ma'am." Mary said, quickly fixing the candlesticks.
Katy huffed and turned on her heel, storming out of the room. "If I want things done correctly I may as well become a servant myself and do them! I swear, when one pays a person a salary, one expects things done correctly the first time, not the tenth!"
She stormed over to the bar and poured a healthy dose of brandy. She had a DAR luncheon to host in two days time, and no one was doing anything to prepare the house correctly.
Katy had been born and raised a Colton. The Colton family came from old money, and she was raised to become a pretty trophy wife. The first time Katy ever landed the biggest anything was when she married Logan Huntzberger.
In high school she never won prom queen or homecoming queen. She never made captain of the cheerleading squad, and never was the most popular. She had always tried, though. Oh, how she tried.
Now, many years after high school, she was married to one of the most powerful men in the country. While that automatically gave her a social standing many were envious of, it still wasn't enough for her. She wasn't president of the DAR. She wasn't at the head of charities. They always picked someone better than her, and she was sick of it. She wanted to be treated the way the wife of a Huntzberger deserved. She wanted the kind of respect her sister in law, Honor, had.
-GG-
Logan Huntzberger quickly fixed his tie before his meeting. He just finished his daily rendezvous with his secretary, and was now running late.
Ever since his son, Michael, was born, things in his life had been much, much better. His father, as per their agreement, stayed out of his life. He let Logan run the company as he saw fit.
Logan wasn't happy. Then again, Logan no longer felt emotions. He had hardened himself over the four years since Michael was born. In a few years, he would be shipping Michael off to boarding school. Then, Michael would go on to Yale. The cycle would continue.
-GG-
Seth looked over and watched as Rory bit her lip, typing quickly. He smiled. His wife played the part of the Hartford society wife to a tee. Yet, she wasn't one. Her grandparents and his family were thrilled with the life they led.
Seth ran his families company, Edison Tech. They came from a long line of famous scientists. Edison Tech was currently leading the market in new and innovative inventions. He had over a thousand patents. Being such a famous inventor had its perks. He was one of the richest men in Connecticut, but he never let that go to his head.
He enjoyed spoiling his wife and two children, Scott Declan, and Lorelai Colleen. Scott was five, and Lola was three. He chuckled softly, remembering how his children got their middle names.
When Scott was born, Seth and Rory asked Finn to be his Godfather. They told him he could pick out the middle name. Lola's Godfather was Colin, and to be fair they allowed Colin to pick out her middle name.
As he broke out of his thoughts, he noticed his wife was still typing. He was glad. She still wrote books in her free time. She had eight books published. Five of those books made the NYT bestseller list. Of course, very few people new that.
The world still knew her as Christina Haden, author and former reporter. Her family and most of her friends still know her only as Rory Edison, society wife and mother of two.
-GG-
It was Wednesday, the day of the DAR luncheon at the Huntzberger's. In just a few hours, the guests would begin to arrive. Katy was nervous. She needed this to go well if she ever wanted to take over as president of the DAR.
-GG-
"Grandma!" Rory said, smiling and giving Emily a hug.
"How are you dear?" Emily asked her, kissing her cheek.
"Wonderful."
"You look it. I love your outfit."
"Thank you. You look wonderful yourself. Are you ready to go?" Rory asked, picking up her handbag as her grandmother led her out to the car.
-GG-
Katy smiled and greeted her guests.
"Welcome! Come in, come in. Martha, take their coats." She smiled, ushering Stephanie VonVortu and Rosemary Calida inside.
Stephanie and Rosemary went on a trip to France in spring of last year. They came back with husbands. Within the month they were both getting divorces and laying claim to chunks of their husband's inheritances. They felt it was only fair since the men had gotten them drunk to agree to marry them.
"Hello Kathy, how are you?" Stephanie smiled falsely, walking inside.
Katy cringed inwardly. She never really liked Stephanie or Rosemary. They were simply rude to her. They always thought they were better than she was, even though she was the one married to a Huntzberger.
As Katy led the women to the sitting room, the doorbell rang again. She excused herself, hurrying to greet her guests at the entrance.
-GG-
Rory took a deep breath as her grandmother- the current president of the DAR- rang the bell.
"Emily, Rory, how wonderful for you to come!" Katy said, a plastic smile plastered to her face.
"Well, yes, it is a DAR luncheon. I have not missed a single one in many years. Where else would I be?" Emily questioned as she raised an eyebrow. She didn't much care for Katy simply because the girl was a social climber. She did come from old money, but her family was not as prestigious as the Gilmore's or the Huntzberger's. She lacked natural grace, and overcompensated by trying too hard.
Rory smiled kindly at Katy. "It's nice to see you again. Thank you for hosting the luncheon in your home."
Rory had nothing against Katy. She and Logan were long over. While she and the girl would certainly never be the best of friends, she was always nice to her.
"It's my pleasure. Please, come in." Katy replied, ushering the two women inside.
-GG-
The luncheon was beginning to die off, and there were only nine women left. Emily and Rory were still there, as were Stephanie and Rosemary. Lisa Randers, Shannon Dyle, Juliet Marin, Tweeny Halpburn, and of course, Katy were all there.
The women were in the sitting room with tea cups, making polite chit chat. Rory looked over at her watch wondering how much longer her grandmother was going to be busy talking to Tweeny.
Rory was currently in a discussion with Stephanie, Rosemary, and Juliet about Colin's latest ex wife. This one left him with a child. Rory and Seth were little Adam McCrae's God parents. She had him stay over at least one night a week, even though he was just a baby, simply so he would be used to having a mother figure in his life.
The door opened, and all the women looked up.
Logan blinked. "Sorry ladies, I just came back for a file I forgot this morning. Don't mind me." He said, moving swiftly into the room, grabbing the file from a stand in the corner. He had to get out of there.
He had long ago stopped pining for Rory. He knew there was not a snow ball's chance in hell for them at this point in their lives. It was just that being in a room with her filled him with regret. He hated feeling anything, especially regret. He shook his head ruefully as he stepped out of the room, with a parting, "Good bye ladies."
She was the only person who could ever make him feel, even after all this time.