But also, she knew she had no moral high ground, no room to make him grovel. She would forgive him quickly, because she had been very much in the wrong too. She only hoped he was ready to forgive her.
Elijah?She mouthed at Kaylie, already holding out her hand to take the phone.
But Kaylie shook her head.
Stephanie’s stomach dropped.
Kaylie lowered the phone from her ear and covered the mouthpiece with her hand. “It’s Oliver Norcross again,” she said, and Stephanie saw the agitation on her face. “He says he’s going to keep calling until he gets to talk to you. I don’t know what to do with him.”
“Ignore him,” Stephanie said firmly. “Don’t answer any more calls from that number.”
Kaylie looked nervous. “I know it’s my job to keep people away from you sometimes, but I really don’t think he’s going to go away.”
Stephanie sighed and held out a hand for the phone. Kaylie passed it to her, mouthing the wordsthank you.
She steeled herself and held it to her ear. “Oliver?”
“Stephanie. I need to talk with you.” His voice was brisk and businesslike. “When can you stop by my office?”
“Never.” There was no chance this situation was going to be improved by her spending time with Oliver Norcross. That was the one thing that had the potential to make matters worse. “You and I are finished, Oliver. I told you that. There’s no more reason for us ever to see or speak to one another.”
“Of course there is,” he countered. “Elijah knows about our agreement. Did you tell him?”
Her blood ran cold—she hadn’t realized he knew this. “Yes, I told him,” she said. “I was trying to be honest. I owed him that much, even if you didn’t feel like you did. I got tired of lying to him.”
“Well, you’ve left me in a world of trouble. I don’t even know what I can say to him—not that he’s taking my calls.”
“You’re going to have to figure it out on your own,” Stephanie said firmly. “Getting involved in your family’s affairs has meant nothing but trouble for me, and I’m not about to do it again. I only answered this call so I could tell you not to contact me ever again.”
“Stephanie, whatever is going on, you and I will be able to make the best of it,” Oliver insisted. “That’s the way things work in business.”
“Maybe,” Stephanie agreed. “But it isn’t the way I do business. Not anymore. Not ever again.”
She ended the call and handed the phone back to Kaylie with a small sense of triumph. At least she had done this right.
CHAPTER 22
ELIJAH
Elijah let out a long sigh at the sight of his father. “I suppose I should have known it would be you,” he said.
Oliver Norcross stood at the threshold, looking more windswept and less put-together than Elijah had ever seen him before. “Can I come in?” he asked.
“I’m surprised you’re asking my permission. Don’t you just do whatever you want anyway?”
“Elijah, come on. Don’t be like that.”
Elijah leaned against the doorframe. “All right, Dad,” he said. “Go ahead. Why don’t you tell me how you’d like me to be? Why don’t you spell it out for me once and for all, so we can at least make sure we understand each other? Because, I swear to you, if I have to find out secondhand from someone again that you were paying them to try to hem me into being the son you want, I’m going to give up on all of this and move to Fiji.”
“Don’t be dramatic,” his father said. “Let me come in and we’ll talk. You’ve been ignoring my calls and messages for days.”
“Because I haven’t wanted to talk to you. Was that unclear in some way?”
“Well, I came all the way over here, so you’re going to talk to me now, even if we have to do it standing in your doorway in full view of your neighbors,” Oliver said firmly. “But I think we’ll both be more comfortable if we go inside.”
He was right, of course. Elijah hated to admit it, but his father had a point. He stood back to let him in.
Oliver made his way straight through the kitchen and to the back of the house, where the living room was. Elijah had a moment of relief that he had chosen that room, that he wasn’t trying to go to the den, where Elijah and Stephanie had spent so many relaxed evenings together. He didn’t think he would have been able to stand sitting in there with his father after everything that had happened.
