Page 31 of Modern Persuasion

I took the pad from her. "I don't know. If he wasn't so angry, it would all be different. Maybe I should use the job offer to change my situation here?"

Penny frowned. "That's not going to fix this, Emma. You have to make a big change. This is your car accident."

Chapter Twenty

My father dragged me to a beach concert that night. I agreed to avoid a fight. We sat on the beach alone in silence for a little while before Elizabeth found us. As Penny had warned, Dave seemed attached to Elizabeth at first. When he abandoned her to talk to me, I remembered more of what had happened that summer after leaving Chicago. Elizabeth had always been Dave's preferred sister when we were children because they were the same age. I was too bookish for his taste, and Mary was too needy. He seemed different when I came home after graduation.

Now I understand my behavior that summer better. I was trying to ignore the building depression by keeping busy because I couldn't be depressed if I was active and cheerful. I didn't act like myself because of this. I forced myself to be more outgoing and sociable than I naturally was. Elizabeth had once been bubbly and popular but always a mean girl. When I got back from college, she was mostly just mean. The more time Dave and I spent together, the meaner Elizabeth got. I wasn't in any frame of mind to want a new boyfriend. I didn't think, at the time, Dave was looking for more than someone nice to hang out with. Elizabeth had clearly felt otherwise.

I had never thought about Dave much during the following eight years, but here we all were again. I was trying to recover from my feelings about Fredrick while Dave and Elizabeth were flirting without any sense of commitment. I hoped Penny was wrong about him looking for someone with money. He was looking in the wrong direction if he was.

"It's been years since the last time we saw each other," Dave said as he sat down next to me on the blanket.

I closed the book I had been reading. It was something I had picked up at PubCon. "It has been about eight years. Are you back for good or just for part of the summer?" I asked.

"I'm trying to decide what to do about the house. My parents aren't going to come back. They've moved to Florida, so they don't need Cape Cod vacations."

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you tired of having a house you don't spend time in?"

Dave smiled. "Something like that. The rent isn't enough to cover the expenses. It would be smarter to sell."

We sat in silence for a moment.

"Elizabeth has been helping me catch up on all the things I missed. Things certainly have changed for all of you."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Oh, that she and your father moved to Westchester. She said you were just on a book tour. Was it fun?" he asked, trying to pull more information out of me.

I decided to give him some details. "I was doing a book tour for Fredrick Wentworth's new book."

He didn't look at me. "Oh, isn't it on the bestsellers list already?"

I smiled. "I'm good at my job."

Dave and I talked through most of the night. I ended up telling him some of the things that happened on the tour, including Louisa's accident. I tried to press him on his intentions with my sister, his financial situation, and other important issues, but he kept changing the subject to talk about me. I was equally evasive with some of his more personal questions. He had always been very pushy and invasive on personal issues. It felt like he was gathering information to use to his advantage.

"Are you going to the Musgroves' BBQ tomorrow?" Dave asked before we left the beach.

"It's a tradition. They are coming back from Chicago tonight."

"Louisa must be fine if they let her leave the city and come home."

"Knowing Louisa, it will be like nothing ever happened. If she wants something, the world tends to bend to her will."

I was right; Louisa had made a fast and complete recovery. I was happy to see Seth when I got to the house the next night. He had been invited to spend July with the Musgroves on Cape Cod.

"We're getting married!" Louisa said to me in private.

She pulled out a Tiffany blue ring box and showed off a huge, pretty diamond engagement ring.

My eyes got wide. "That was fast."

She put her finger over her lips. "Shhhh, he's officially proposing tonight. He said when I got hurt, he just knew he didn't want to live without me. It will take at least a year to plan the wedding, but I knew it when I met him. I knew I would marry him someday."

I tried to hide my smile. "I'm sure you let Fredrick down easily."

"Oh, silly, I was just flirting with him. He knows that," she said with a wink.