Page 74 of Sincerely, Mr. Braden

“Hi, Taylor,” Victory says with too much interest. “How do you know Seth?”

Ellie puts her tea on the coffee table and says, “I’m his assistant.”

Victory blinks hard, like she’s trying to put the pieces together. “Wait. What? You’re Taylor Mitchell? As in his buddy T?”

“Yes, that’s me,” Ellie says.

“You’re the guy who basically runs his life?” Wells asks as he shrugs out of his parka.

“Yes, she is.” I push to my feet and put a hand on Ellie’s back. “She uses a guy’s persona in business for safety reasons. I had no idea she was a woman until we met on the island.”

“Okay, wow.” Victory crosses her arms, grinning. “I knew I felt a bromance between you two! I was beginning to think my brother might start batting for the other team, which would’ve been fine, of course, but this makes so much sense!” She waves her hand at us.

“Batting for the other team? Really, Vic?” I say.

Ellie laughs. “I’m glad you think we make sense.”

“Wait a second.” Victory’s expression turns serious. “Seth, you said you met Taylor’s sister on the island. If you met Taylor, why were you so pissy when you came home, and why did you say she was her sister?”

Why does she have to have a memory like an elephant? “It’s a long story.”

“And his bad mood was my fault,” Ellie says. “I freaked out about being with a client and left the island without an explanation.”

“Oh, man,” Wells says.

“Ah, now we’re making sense,” Victory says. “My brother got his ego stepped on.”

“Can we not do this right now?” I snap. “I feel like hell, and I really need to be better by next weekend, when Taylor and her dad start training for caving.”

“First of all, that’s cool that you’re going to do that together, and second, you’ll be fine in a day or two,” Victory says.

“I hope you’re right.” I move toward the couch and hold a hand out. “Come here, Ellie—”

Wells and Victory whip around and say “Ellie?” in unison.

“Fuck.”

Ellie blushes a red streak. “Seth calls me by my first name.”

Wells smirks. “No wonder the speakerphone performance was so inspired.”

“Ohmygod.” Ellie sinks down to the couch, covering her face.

Glowering at Wells, I say, “If you want to survive this visit, stop talking,” and put my arm around Ellie.

“Seriously, Wells,” Victory chides, then turns a softer expression on Ellie. “Sorry, Taylor. When Wells told me what happened, I died a little inside for you and made him swear never to tell a soul. I’m still recovering from hearing more than I needed to about my brother.”

“Hey, your brother deserves a medal,” Wells says. “He’s an overachiever in every department.”

“Wells,” I warn.

“He’s not wrong,” Ellie says softly.

The room goes quiet, but in the next breath, we all laugh.

“I’ve been on some really bad conference calls,” Victory says. “At least yours had a happy ending.”

More laughter ensues, and as we joke, I pull Ellie closer and say, “Sorry about all this.”