Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16
EVE
M y fingers tightened around my phone as I tried to fight the tears building in my eyes. I had no right to feel this way, but I still did.
I hoped to cover it the best I could with a quick exit.
The image of Spencer and Louise, too close, their lips touching had burned itself into my brain.
I shook my head as Louise called after me, each word like a hammer against my frayed emotions. I was torn between the hurt of betrayal and the guilt of abandoning my friend.
Hurrying toward the French doors leading to the garden, I ignored her. I needed fresh air and to escape the feeling of being trapped in the sprawling Southern mansion.
She called after me again, but I ignored her, desperately trying to get my emotions under control.
Spencer and I were fake dating. He’d made that very clear, and now I knew why.
I knew why Louise had gushed about how adorable he was, why he had no interest in a relationship, I knew all the why’s except for one. Why had they played this game?
Had they not known their true feelings until they were each faced with the prospect of being with someone else?
No matter what the answer to that question was, I felt foolish. Foolish for trusting them, foolish for being sucked into this game, and foolish for letting my heart develop feelings for a man who was unavailable.
Louise called me again as I stepped outside. I had to face her. I glanced upward, blinking rapidly to hold back my tears as I twisted to face her and tell her it was fine. They were married, I didn’t need an explanation.
None of that was true by my standard, but I said it, and hoped she would leave me alone.
“You know that’s not true,” I answered. “Now, you stop with this right now. You have every right to ask questions, Eve. Spencer is your boyfriend.”
I couldn’t believe she’d said those words out loud. First of all, her mother had no idea from what I understood, so she risked her entire ruse by blurting it out. And on top of that, I’d just caught her lip-locked with the man. How could she call him my boyfriend?
After telling her I wish she’d been honest, she tried to tell me it was a misunderstanding.
I realized that it wasn’t just Spencer who had hurt me, but Louise, too. I didn’t have many friends. Louise had been one of the few people I let into my life. And I’d been burned already.
Tears formed again and one escaped my eye, falling to my cheek. I flicked it away. “It looked pretty clear to me. All this time, you’ve been telling me how cute he and how sweet he is. And I’ve been wondering if you have feelings for him. This just…confirms it.”
When she reached for me, protesting that I had it all wrong, I stumbled back a step, my defense mechanisms building a wall around me.
I twisted and raced down the garden path, wishing the bushes and trees would shield me with their leaves.
I’d felt foolish plenty of times before, but this one stung more than any other.
Even when my sister had turned up on my doorstep with Henry, I hadn’t felt this betrayed.
Stupid of me, I knew, but my heart had been shattered by both Louise and Spencer.
As I left the garden behind, the scent of roses halted me–a scent that brought back memories of Louise’s laughter as she sprayed a rose-inspired perfume on my pulse point, insisting it was my style.
I slipped through the creaky metal gate onto the sidewalk.
The humid night air clung to me like a heavy shroud as I wandered through the overgrown paths of the park, the twisted shadows of oaks stretching out like fingers trying to pull me back to the dark truths of the mansion.
For a second, I wondered if I could make it home on my own.
I kicked myself for not bringing my wallet with me. I could have gone straight to the airport and caught a flight home. Or rented a car and driven back.
I didn’t care how, as long as I got away.
My fight or flight instincts were screaming at me to run as fast as I could. Some of that may have been due to my extreme embarrassment.
My mind concocted horrible scenarios of Louise and Spencer laughing about my reaction to their game or placing bets.
It made me nauseous, and I sat down on a bench as I entered a park. Tears formed in my eyes again as my brain taunted me, and I doubled over, my fingers clutching the wooden slats as I sobbed.
How could I have been so stupid?
To stop the deluge, I turned on my phone’s display, staring at it through watery eyes as I navigated to a travel site and searched for a flight home. The pickings were slim and all of them were more than the balance in my bank account.
I pressed my lips together as my lower lip threatened to tremble. I wondered if my sister could help me pay for the flight?
A groan escaped my lips as I realized how embarrassing it would be to explain to Audrey that I’d caught the man who proudly proclaimed he was my boyfriend kissing the woman who’d just blurted that she was my best friend.
I could already hear Audrey’s cackle, uncontrollable as she told me what a moron I was.
“Oh, Eve, you have been so stupid,” I murmured as I hung my head, a few more tears escaping me.
With a deep, shaky breath, I tried to settle my nerves, but it took longer than I hoped. I sat in the warm Savannah evening air with my arms wrapped tightly around me.
My mind tried to come up with reasons to make anything Louise said true. It was all a misunderstanding. It wasn’t what I thought.
I scoffed. How could it not be? I’d clearly seen their lips pressed together, Spencer’s hand gently cupping Louise’s face.
I couldn’t shake the image, and I couldn’t figure out any reason that would explain it away. With a hollow feeling in my chest, I forced myself to my feet. I couldn’t get away right now. The only thing I could do was return to Louise’s childhood home.
The thought made me sick. And instead of retracing my steps to the house, I wandered through the streets until the wee hours of the morning.
I desperately wanted to avoid Louise and Spencer. I hoped to return after they’d given up on waiting for me.
When I could no longer hold my eyes open, I finally found my way back to the house, staring up at it and searching for lights. Most of it was dark, so I slipped through the gate and into the French doors, thankful they were still unlocked.
I crept up the stairs, wincing at every creak until I reached the next floor.
My steps slowed as I passed Louise’s room. I stared at the door, wondering if Louise and Spencer had fallen asleep laughing over my stupidity.
The thought tugged my lips into a frown as I forced myself down the hall to my room. I closed myself in the quiet solitude of the space and locked my door behind me.
My eyes filled with tears again being in this close proximity to those who had betrayed me. I had to get away.
As I changed into my nightclothes, I made the silent promise that I would take an independent step to solve my own problems.
I would leave Savannah the following day. I could rent a car, and I’d drive myself back. That was the only affordable solution, and it would stop me from struggling to avoid Louise and Spencer for the rest of the weekend.
After a quick search on my phone to ensure cars were available for rent at the airport, I finally settled into the pillows. But sleep wouldn’t come to me.
Instead, I laid awake despite the exhaustion I’d felt while roaming the streets, my mind still pouring over all the details, this time stretching back to those dates that had gone so well, and the laughs Louise and I had shared.
I cried myself to sleep, managing a few hours before the light filtered in through the curtains. I awoke with a start, the details of what had happened the night before flooding back into my mind.
With a sigh, I rolled over, my body craving sleep and avoidance of my situation. After a second, I snapped my eyes open. If I wanted to escape unscathed, I need to be up and gone before anyone else.
I leapt from my bed, and dressed in a frenzy before I tossed things in my suitcase and zipped it shut. I dragged it toward the door, I glanced down at it. Filled with clothes Louise had bought me, I realized I didn’t want or need it.
I let go of the handle, curling my fingers around my purse instead as I pulled my door open.
I peeked into the hall, finding it empty before I crept into it and tiptoed to the stairs. I glanced at Louise’s door as I slinked down the stairs, heading for the front door.
Voices floated from the private study down the hall. Creeping closer to the half-open door, I caught the tail end of a sinister conversation.
“…will soon have all the money we need.”
I recognized Louise’s mother’s voice. I knew I should have left, but I didn’t. Instead, I hovered on the last stair, listening in.
“Are you sure this will work, Connie?” a man’s voice asked in a thick Southern accent.
I quickly dug my phone from my purse, toggling on the video and pressing record.
Constance cackled. “Why, of course, sugar. Don’t you trust me?”
“It’s slipped through our fingers once before when Lou pulled that stunt, marrying that Yankee.”
“And I told you, I have that all taken care of. I’ve already started. I gave her a dose last night. And she’s getting another one this morning in her breakfast.”
The words chilled me. Dose of what? I eased myself onto the hardwood floor and inched closer.
“By the time we get to the attorney’s office, she will appear completely insane.”
“And how does that help? Spencer Whitaker is her keeper now.”
“Because, my dear, I am going to prove that Louise is completely crazy. And that she had no mental capacity to enter into that marriage. That will end that union entirely.”
“And put the control back into your hands.”
“Of course. And then I will make sure my little Lou-Lou is committed to the best psychiatric ward in the county…and we’ll throw away the key.”
The laughter that burst from their room sickened me as did the plan to steal Louise’s inheritance from her.
No wonder poor Louise struggled so much with a mother like this.
I backed away from the door, toggling off my video, my stomach in knots as I hurried back up the stairs. With a glance over my shoulder as my heart hammered against my ribs, I knocked quietly at Louise’s door.
“Louise?” I whispered.
I tried again, but she didn’t answer.
“Louise!” I called a little louder.
With a shake of my head, I twisted the knob, finding the door open. I slid it open a crack, scanning the space. Louise sat on her window seat, staring out at the front lawn.
I slipped inside and eased the door closed before I raced over to her.
“Louise,” I said, my voice rushed with panic, “we have to get out of here.”
When she twisted to look at me, I drew my chin back to my chest. Her dilated pupils made her look as crazy as her mother hoped to paint her.
“Louise,” I said as her eyebrows pinched, “we need to go. Where is Spencer?”
Her head tilted as the confusion continued to twist her features. “No.”
“Lou,” I said with a shake of my head, “I know we had an argument last night, but…we have to go, your mother–”
“No, you’re not here.”
I stopped, my brain trying to process her words. “I…”
Louise leapt from her seat, backing away from me. “No, you’re not here. Eve left. She left me. Everyone leaves me.”
“No,” I said with a shake of my head, reaching for her. “I’m right here. I–I left last night. I was upset, but I just needed some time. Louise, we need to find Spencer and get out of here.”
She shook her head, her eyes wide. “No. No, Eve…Eve was my friend. She liked me, but she left me. She left me because I’m crazy. I drive people away.”
My lips tugged into a frown at the words. “No, Lou. I’m sorry we fought, but–”
“No!” she shouted, her voice shrill. “No, you aren’t real. You’re just a figment of my imagination.”
Tears filled her eyes, one spilling onto her cheek.
As I tried to determine a way to reach her, a curt knock sounded at her door. “Lou-Lou?” her mother’s voice called.
My heart skipped a beat, and my knees wobbled. I couldn’t let her catch me in here or there would be no hope for Louise. I needed to hide if I would have any chance of helping her.
My chest constricted as my eyes darted around the room before spotting a closed door. I raced to it, diving into the closet as Louise’s mother opened the door.
“Lou-Lou? I hope you’re ready.”
I peered between the louvers in the door as the scene unfolded.
Louise wrapped her arms around her midriff. “Mama…”
“Yes, Lou-Lou?” Constance asked.
Her voice grated on me, so sickly sweet but a total mismatch to her deeds. The woman had drugged her daughter, making her appear crazy, and all so she could nullify her marriage and steal her money. I wanted to pop out and shout at the woman that she wouldn’t get away with it, but I forced myself to remain hidden.
“Mama, Eve visited me.”
“Did she? Well, how interesting.”
“She said she wasn’t mad anymore. She said she was sorry.”
“I’m sure she did. There’s only one problem here, pet.”
Louise lifted her tear-streaked face to her mother’s. “What?”
“That is all in your imagination. Eve isn’t even real.”
Louise’s features pinched as my fingers curled into fists. “Eve is real. Tell her, Louise,” I whispered.
“No. No, Mama, Eve was my friend.”
“In your mind, yes, she was. Eve was a good friend to you, but, sugar, you have to face reality that she isn’t real. Now, you come with Mama, and Mama will take care of everything for you.”
Constance held her hands out to her daughter.
“Wait,” Louise said.
My heart leapt as I hoped she realized her mother was lying.
“Where are we going?”
“To the attorney, pet. We have to stop Spencer from robbing you blind. Now, you made a mistake marrying that boy, but Mama’s going to fix it.”
I couldn’t believe the lies she was telling poor drugged Louise.
“Okay, Mama,” Louise said with a bob of her head. “Thank you.”
My heart broke as Louise stepped toward her mother, allowing the woman to wrap her arms around her and lead her from the room. I stayed in the closet, my pulse still racing as I waited to make sure they were gone.
My mind spun. What was I going to do? How could I help Louise?