Chapter Eight
CHAPTER EIGHT
NOW
IT’S BEEN A WEEK since Halloween, and it’s been radio silence from my sister since I left New York on Sunday morning. Normally, we talk a few times a week—whether by text, phone call, or the occasional FaceTime because she just has to show me something—and I would never admit it to anyone else, but I’ve missed our conversations. At least the group chat between Finn, Nick, Alex, and myself has been moving at a pretty normal pace. Finn and I had a conversation two days ago about the fantasy football league we’re in. Things seem fine on that front, but I don’t want to ask him. I know what the problem is…Michaela is still trying to digest everything, and I get it. I’ve had ten years to process all this information, but they’re just figuring it out.
Falling back into my desk chair, I stretch and pull my glasses down onto my nose. I begin digging into the presentation my team sent over earlier. We’ve been trying to acquire a new client with quite a reputation, a client that the firm has been trying to acquire since I started working here nine years ago. This presentation has to be perfect.
I flip through the slides and make note of small things here and there, but overall it looks fine—though, I can’t be too sure because I can’t stop thinking back to Halloween. Finding Elizabeth in my room. Being so close to her after all this time. The smell of her perfume mixed with a twinge of red wine…It was intoxicating. Had the girls not knocked over those letters, I can only imagine what might have happened.
Checking the clock, I see I have three hours until the end of the work week, and then I’m supposed to meet Nick and Alex at the house for a guys’ night. Nina is kicking Nick out of their house for the night so she can get some peace and quiet. I’m not sure how much peace and quiet she’s getting with a newborn around the house, but Nick said not to question it when I asked.
As much as I could use a night with the guys, the only thing I can think of is the amount of time it takes to get from here to Jupiter Beach, a small town on the coast about thirty minutes outside of Charleston. The small town Elizabeth moved to after she officially moved out of our shared home in Winchester. And if I leave now, I’ll be there just after five o’clock. Surely, she’d be home by then, right?
“Fuck it,” I whisper and log off. I haphazardly throw my stuff into my bag and close the office door behind me. My assistant, Sienna, sits at her desk, and her bright blue eyes meet mine when I walk out. “Cece, I’m leaving a little early. Anyone needs anything, just forward it to my email, but you can leave if you want.”
“You got it, boss.” She offers me a small salute before I leave without a second glance.
As I pull into the brick driveway, the robotic voice of my GPS notifies me that I have arrived at my destination. The house sits a few hundred feet off the street, with giant magnolia trees planted along the front of the property for added privacy. It’s a three-story house with a large front porch extending the length of the front. A semi-circle segmented window is nestled inside of a gable that extends off the roof—possibly a window looking into the attic or maybe a loft.
I park in front of the detached three-car garage but don’t turn the car off. She hasn’t seen me yet. I still have time to back out of this if I want to. Do I want to? Kind of.
No, I need to do this. We need to talk this out. We owe it to ourselves. We shouldn’t leave things the way they have been for the past sixteen months.
Turning off the car, I pull the keys from the ignition and climb out before I can talk myself out of it. The last time I was here, the house was decorated for the fall season, but now her white house has been thoroughly decorated for Christmas. It’s Elizabeth’s favorite holiday, and she does not play around when it comes to décor. Evergreen garlands with white lights outline both the house and garage. Oversized wreaths hang from the light fixtures on the front of the garage with red bows. White lights have been wrapped around the trees that line the driveway and front yard. Two poinsettias sit on each step leading up to the front porch, one on each side.
The front porch is wide, bigger than it looks from the road. More evergreen garland hangs from the rafters of the roof, and another large, pre-lit garland drapes over the door frame. Two wreaths with red bows hang on each mahogany door, the stain matching the color of the wood beneath my feet. Different-sized evergreens with artificial snow in rattan baskets and wrought iron lanterns with a candle inside sit on either side of the threshold. A wooden sign leaning against the wall spells out NOEL with a golden Christmas star above it. The plain doormat reads Merry Christmas in ruby red letters, resting on top of a red plaid accent rug. Another evergreen sits next to the bench at the far end of the porch. A string of unlit garland runs along the top of the backrest, waterfalling down the ends to the floor. The olive-green pillows from before have been swapped with pillows specific to the holiday.
There are paneled windows on either side, and I know I shouldn’t, but I look through them. I don’t see much, just a straight shot off the staircase, stained to match the color of the dark brown wood floors, and down the hallway to the living room. There’s no movement inside, and it makes me wonder if she’s even home.
Fuck it.
When I knock, it’s quiet for a moment, and then I hear it. A voice from deep in the house, but it’s not the voice I was expecting. The door swings open a moment later to reveal Nina. Her eyes widen when she realizes it’s me, and she steps outside, closing the door behind her. “Josh, what are you doing here?”
“I came to talk to Elizabeth. What are you doing here?”
“Elizabeth needed help with…something.”
That’s not suspicious. Wait, I thought she was kicking Nick out of the house tonight.
“Where’s the baby?”
“Not that it’s any of your business,” she says, slightly offended. “But, if you must know, she’s with her father.” Well, that would explain the lack of response from Nick when I texted him, canceling our plans. Nina glances inside before repeating, “Why are you here, Josh?”
The door swings open again, and this time, it’s the woman I was expecting moments earlier. She’s dressed in what can only be described as a date night outfit: high-waisted denim jeans, a black belt with the signature double-G’s, and a long-sleeve corset-type top with a deep V-neck.
She looks good, damn good.
When I meet her brown eyes, she looks annoyed—more than annoyed. She looks on edge. Before Elizabeth can ask me what I’m doing here, the sound of someone pulling into the driveway catches our attention.
“Shit,” Nina says under her breath.
The truck pulls to a stop next to the steps leading up to the front porch. A blond-haired man steps out, straightens his outfit, and reaches inside the cab before walking around the front carrying a bouquet of roses. What an idiot! Elizabeth hates roses—she prefers carnations.
“Oh, am I interrupting something?” he asks, reaching the steps and finally looking up to see the three of us.
Yes.
“No, Ryan,” Elizabeth answers. “I’m about finished. Give me two minutes.” Elizabeth steps forward to take the bouquet from him. She rushes back inside, leaving the door open in the process.
“Nina, good to see you.” Ryan nods towards her, but she doesn’t respond—her gaze remains locked on me. Ryan turns to me, extending his hand. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Ryan Dickson.”
I glance down at his hand before meeting his big green eyes, swallowing the lump growing in my throat. I extend my hand to him. “Josh.”
“Nice to meet you, Josh. You a friend of Lizzie’s?”
Lizzie? You’ve got to be kidding me. Does this guy know nothing ? Elizabeth cannot stand to be called Lizzie, not after what happened with her brother. She isn’t even a big fan of Liz, but she always let me get away with it, though she preferred Sugar. She rarely accepted new nicknames and much preferred to be called Elizabeth. The only other one she would allow was Ellie, and only Finn could call her that. In the beginning, I didn’t get it. I thought she was just being pretentious and stubborn, and then I learned the reason why.
“Josh is my husband’s cousin,” Nina says before I can introduce myself. She meets Ryan’s gaze and loops her arm through mine with a small pat on my forearm. A warning not to say anything. “He was just coming to take me to dinner since we both happened to be in town.”
Elizabeth steps out of the house and throws me a glance before walking straight into Ryan’s arms. Even in heels, she still has to stand on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek.
“Have fun, but not too much fun,” Nina says, ushering them down the stairs. She waves as the truck begins to back out of the driveway, and her smile doesn’t fall until we are hidden behind the magnolia wall. When she turns to me, she shakes her head with a small sigh. “I’ll be right back; I meant it when I said you’re taking me to dinner. I’m starving.”
When we get back to Elizabeth’s after dinner, the house is dark. She is still on her date, and from the way Nina doesn’t seem phased by it, this was to be expected. I can’t help but wonder how long Elizabeth has been seeing this guy.
“Can I ask you something?” I ask, following Nina up the steps to the front porch.
I shove my hands into the pockets of my dress pants and lean back against the railing. I hadn’t brought this up the entire evening; I didn’t want to make it any more awkward than it already was. We danced around the topic in an attempt to make a normal conversation, but not bringing it up only made the elephant in the room grow bigger. It was strange. I’m used to a more upfront Nina. She’s never been one to hold back, and I wish that’s who I went to dinner with instead of this reserved version.
Nina pulls her cardigan tighter against the November breeze. A few loose pieces of her hair blow in the wind, but she doesn’t even seem to notice. “Josh—“
“I’m not trying to make this worse, Nin. I just want to—”
“Just stop.” Nina closes her eyes, chewing on her bottom lip. She’s doing her best to remain neutral, but I know it’s getting harder to stay that way. With a final sigh, her burning green eyes meet my own, and her gaze is sad, knowing. “What did you think was going to happen?”
Before I can get a word in, she continues, “What am I saying? You didn’t. You didn’t think, neither of you did!”
“I’m sorry, Nin.”
“I believe that, but that doesn’t change what’s happened.”
My stomach flips when a set of headlights pulls into the driveway. Fuck, I didn’t want to be here when they got back. When they retreat and drive away, I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding. I have to get out of here. Next time I won’t be so lucky. “I should go.”
“Yeah, you probably should.” Nina’s voice returns to its neutral tone as she wrangles back in her emotions from moments ago.