The kitchen table had confirmed my suspicions, though—Carterhadbeen inside talking to Dad. A cup of half-drunk coffee sat in front of him, long enough for the steam to stop billowing off it. My stomach cramped.
Dad’s hair was longer than he normally let it grow. He’d shaved sometime between the night he’d gone down to the kitchen for a drink and now, but it was backto a subtle stubble against his pink skin. The circles under his eyes were dark. Nothing like the hotshot Superior Court judge I would’ve preferred to introduce Carter to.
Dad wasn’t even focused on Carter, though. “It’s good to see you, Beck,” he said in a gravelly voice, like he needed to clear his throat. He eyed Beck with a little frown of confusion on his face. “You weren’t… always blond, were you?”
Beck chuckled. “Nope. I’m honored you remember so well, Mr. Brighton, given how long it’s been.”
“How longhasit been?” Carter’s voice was a bit higher than normal. “I didn’t realize you and Eleanor knew each other well like this.”
Beck arched a brow. “‘Like this’?”
“For you to be driving her home from school.”
The jealousy in Carter’s voice should’ve pleased me. I knew that it should’ve. It would’ve pleased Lydia. Instead, it only left me feeling more like an anxious bird trapped in a cage.
“It’s been four years since I left Addison,” Beck said, leaning his elbow on the table and his head into his palm, eyeing Carter around me. “But we were friends for about six years before that. Weren’t we,Nellie?”
The nickname grated, mostly because he’d said it with such clear emphasis to contradict Carter using my full name a moment ago. A clear,See? I know her better.“We weren’t that close,” I told Carter honestly, turning to look into his blue eyes. “We only ever saw each other at club events.”
“We were close,” Beck argued to my turned back. “We’d sneak off every time together?—”
I whirled back around, cutting him off. “To playchess.”
Beck arched a brow. “Of course. To play chess. Where wasyourmind going?”
I needed to backtrackoffthat conversation before Carter asked the right questions—and Beck gave him the wrong answers. I stared at the doorway that led to the kitchen, wondering what the heck was taking Jamie so long to pour a glass of water.
“What are you doing here, anyway, Carter?” I asked in a light tone, more surprised than accusatory, still pretending the boy over my shoulder didn’t exist. Heck, I was content to imagine everyone else at the table didn’t exist. “I didn’t see your DM.”
“I figured I’d drop by and see what you were up to,” Carter said, eyes softening. “I—I had something to do today. I thought maybe you could join me. I forgot that you would be at school, or else I would’ve come later. But your father makes a great cup of coffee—almost rivals that shop you took me to.”
“You’ve been here a while?” I asked at the same time Dad said, “You took him to a coffee shop?”
Beck leaned back in his chair. “CanIhave a cup of coffee?” he asked at the same time Carter said, “You didn’t tell your dad about our date?”
For the first time in ages, there was a light in Dad’s eyes. The only problem was that it was something like outrage. “Date?”
O-U-T-R-A-G-E, I spelled in my head.L-O-V-E-L-Y.
But something flared a little inside me too, matching Dad’s spark. “Yes,date,” I told him, lifting my chin. “I turn eighteen in two weeks, Dad. You should be more surprised that it hasn’t happened sooner.”
“Aw, that was your first date?” Beck sat back in his seat and stretched his legs out underneath the table, rubbing a palm across his mouth to keep his smirk from widening. “Adorable.”
Kill me.
Jamie,finally, waltzed back into the dining room, carrying two glasses of ice water. He set one down in front of Beck, the other in front of me. Carter still had his coffee, though it was almost gone. For the first time since we’d sat down, Jamie deigned himself to help me out.
“It’s not that you went on a date, Eleanor,” Dad said, directing the dark gaze to me. “It’s that I didn’t know about it.”
I felt electric under his stare, his oxygen feeding my fire. “When would I have had the opportunity to tell you?”
Dad’s eyes narrowed.
“I—I met Ms. Fontaine when I picked Eleanor up,” Carter said, jumping in to try to ease the tension. “She was very?—”
“Your mother knew?” Dad asked me, and then turned to Jamie. He clearly knew which twin was the weaker link. “Did you know?”
Jamie hunched his shoulders a little under Dad’s attention. “Y-Yeah.” And then his eyes lifted to mine. I could practically read his mind.Do something. Apologize.
