21. Ellis
Chapter twenty-one
Ellis
I’d spent five days in agony, pacing around my hotel room. I’d tried to get some work done several times but shut my laptop after a few unproductive minutes every time. I’d visited Cedar Creek Ranch under the pretense of talking to the Spencers about the offer again, but I was really hoping to run into Cara or Riley there. That plan had led nowhere either. The Spencers just told me they weren’t ready to talk again yet and sent me away, so I returned to my hotel room. I was completely frustrated. I wasn’t making any progress with the Spencer property, which meant I would very soon run out of excuses for staying in Brightwater, and I’d completely messed up the situation with Cara.
I knew she was angry with me, very angry, but I still checked my phone every five minutes, hoping for a message from her.
On Friday evening, I was in the shower when my phone rang. Hastily wrapping a towel around my waist, I stumbled out of the bathroom and launched myself at my phone. To my disappointment, the display showed Harper’s name. She was probably getting bored again, all alone in her hospital room.
“Harper, how are you?” I said, trying to not sound too upset.
“I’ve been kidnapped, Ellis!”
“Excuse me?”
My sister sounded beside herself. “I was discharged today, and our father sent a driver to pick me up, but he didn’t bring me home. He dropped me off in this… prison.”
Alerted, I stood up and started pacing around the room. “Prison? Harper, where are you?”
“The place calls itself Pineview Rehabilitation Center, and I’m telling you they are taking the name seriously. You sure as hell can view a lot of pines and absolutely nothing else. I’m in the middle of nowhere. There’s no Wi-Fi, and we’re only allowed to have our phone for thirty minutes after dinner.”
I stopped my pacing. “So you are in rehab?”
“Did you not listen to me? Only thirty minutes of phone time. It’s a prison of the worst kind. You need to come and pick me up.”
I hesitated. Springing this on her without talking it through wasn’t a great move from my father, but I couldn’t say I disagreed with sending her to rehab. We, both my father and I, had ignored her issues for too long. Harper needed help, professional help, even if she refused to see it.
“To be honest,” I said slowly, prepared for an unpleasant reaction, “I think this might be a good idea.”
“No! No, it’s not! I’m not an addict or something. I don’t need to be in a freaking rehab center. Come pick me up right now.”
“Harper, I—”
“Come pick me up, or I will hitchhike. Might get me murdered. Who knows? Anything can happen to a young woman out alone these days, but it’s a chance I’m willing to take.”
I let out a sigh, wishing I could write her threat off as theatrics. But I knew my sister well enough to understand she was perfectly capable and willing to pull a stunt like that. “Fine, I’ll come, and we will talk about this. But you’ll have to wait until tomorrow. I had a tough day.”
“Oh, no, Ellis. Don’t do this to me. I don’t want to sleep here. It’s not even one of those fancy rehabs. I have a roommate!”
“You’ll survive,” I said. “See you tomorrow.”
“You better be here with the first rays of the sun.”
I was still annoyed because I’d had enough on my plate already besides talking Harper out of quitting rehab, but I’d promised her. And I was her big brother, after all. If I hadn’t failed to step in earlier, she probably wouldn’t even need rehab, so I had to put my own problems on the back burner for a day.
I arrived at the Pineview Rehab center shortly after nine in the morning. It wasn’t a long drive from Brightwater, and it really was in the middle of nowhere.
A large two-story building, light stone and siding with large windows, a big wraparound balcony, and an A-shaped roof, surrounded by several smaller one-story buildings. Paved paths cut through the manicured lawn, connecting the buildings. I wasn’t an expert on rehabilitation centers, but this one looked pretty nice to me, despite Harper’s complaints.
I headed straight for the large building in the middle, assuming I would find someone I could talk to about Harper there, and I was right.
Right behind the glass doors was a large lobby and a receptionist desk with a tired-looking gray-haired woman reading a glossy magazine with a beautiful blonde woman on the cover.
“Welcome to Pinewood Rehabilitation Center,” she said, sounding extremely bored. “Checking in or picking up?”
“Um… I’m just here for a visit.”
“Are you a family member?”
“Yes.”
“Visits by family members are only allowed on every other Thursday. Please come back then.”
She returned her attention to her magazine, but I wasn’t giving up that easily.
“Listen, I’m here for my sister. She wants to go home, but I think I can talk her out of it.”
The receptionist looked at me with squinted eyes. “You think that, hmm?”
“Yes.”
“What’s her name?”
“Harper Benton.”
“Ah, the rich girl. Well, that changes things. She pestered me all night. Wanted me to call her a cab. A cab! Can you believe it? We’re in the middle of nowhere. There’s isn’t a single cab in a fifty-mile radius.”
“Where is she?”
“She’s over there, outside on the balcony. Just walk through the doors behind me.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” she said, eyes already glued to the magazine again. “She’s in a sour mood. I doubt you’re going to get anywhere with her.”
I found Harper standing at the balcony railing, shivering while staring into the vast pine forest that started right behind the last building, holding a cigarette.
She blew out a puff of blue smoke when she saw me coming. “What took you so long?”
“Since when do you smoke?”
“Since last night. My roommate, Frankie, gave me one. She’s pretty cool.”
“Ah, so you already made a friend.”
Harper rolled her eyes. “Are you really getting excited about me making friends with heroin addicts? I need to get out of here, ASAP. I’ll just finish this one, and then we can go get my things. Don’t worry—I haven’t unpacked.”
I hesitated for a long moment. The receptionist was right. Harper was in a sour mood, which was unusual for her. Despite her snarky humor, she had a very cheerful personality, and seeing her like that, pale, with dark rings under her eyes, full of pent-up anger and pain, made me uncomfortable. Clearly, being here was the last thing she wanted. Of course, that didn’t mean this place was wrong for her. Lots of addicts fought tooth and nail against going to rehab. I inhaled deeply, bracing myself for the unpleasant conversation ahead. “Maybe you should.”
“Should what?” she asked sharply.
“Unpack.”
“Are you joking? I’m not staying, Ellis. I told you.”
“Why not?”
She looked at me like I’d said something completely stupid. “ Why not ? Why would I?”
I contemplated putting my arm around her shoulder, but she was in such a bad mood I was afraid she would rip my arm off and throw it into the pines, so I kept my distance. “Because I think you could need some time away from alcohol. And everything else. Clear your mind, get back on track.”
“Nope, thanks, I’m perfectly fine with being off track. In fact, I think that’s the perfect place for me.”
“Harper…”
“What?”
This was hard, harder than I’d expected. “Harper, you have an alcohol addiction, and you need to do something about it.”
“Bullshit. I’m twenty-one years old. I’m supposed to party and have fun and do stupid shit. That’s normal for my age.”
“Being blackout drunk in the middle of the day isn’t normal. For any age.”
She let out an exasperated sigh. “I wasn’t blackout drunk.”
“The police report says something different.”
“I just enjoy life to the fullest. I don’t have an addiction. To booze or anything else.”
“Then why are you shaking like this?”
“Because it’s freezing-ass cold out here.”
“And why are you sweaty?”
“Just piss off, Ellis.” She blew a puff of cigarette smoke in my direction.
“I think it is best if you stay.”
“And what if I don’t? I’m an adult. I can leave whenever I want.”
“What do you think father will do if you leave?”
With a defiant look on her face, she turned away from me. “He will probably let the guy sue me.”
“You could go to prison.”
“Stop the bullshit. That’s not going to happen, and you know it. I’m a first-time offender. I’ll get a slap on the wrist and some community service.”
“And is that really better than staying here for a few weeks?”
She shrugged. “Maybe not. I don’t know. It just bothers me that he didn’t even ask for my opinion, you know.”
“So you hate it on principle? Because Dad came up with the idea?”
“Pretty much, yeah. That policy has worked well for me so far.”
That was typical for Harper. She made opposing our father her life’s mission. Sometimes, more often than I liked to admit, she had a point, but this time, I was siding with Dad. Bringing her from the hospital straight to rehab might’ve been a drastic measure, but it was probably for the best. I had a hunch Harper would have a cocktail glass in hand again the moment she met her friends again. I only knew Camilla, her best friend, personally, but I knew the rest by name. All were rich kids with too much money and too little grounding.
“I know you two don’t get along, but I think he’s had the right idea this time. And this place isn’t so bad. Look around. It’s beautiful. Treat it as some kind of soul-searching retreat. Those are trendy right now on Instagram, aren’t they?”
She gave me an annoyed side-eye. “Don’t fellow kids me, Ellis. But I have to admit the view is pretty nice,” Harper said. “And they have a high-ropes course. That’s cool.”
“And remember, a few weeks here also means a few weeks away from Dad.”
Harper raised her eyebrows. “I could definitely use a break from him.”
“So you will give it a try?”
“Will it make you happy?”
“Yes.”
“Will you come to the family therapies? Because they do that here.”
“Sure.”
She put out the cigarette, burned down to a stump, and stared into the distance, lips pressed together tightly.
“Fine. I’ll give it a go,” she said and pulled out another cigarette straightaway.
I smiled with relief. “Just do me a favor, and don’t pick up more bad habits than you checked in with.”
“Sorry, can’t promise you that.”