Page 55 of Not So Very Sensible

“Goodbye.”

He turned and stalked away and was all set to call for an Uber when he realised he didn’t have his phone. Shoot. How could he get away now? The night, which already felt way too long, was only going to take longer while he tried to find a taxi and flagged it down—or at least found a willing passerby who might let him use their phone. But who’d do that at this time of night? Ugh. He should never have come. What kind of idiot was he to drop everything and come at Lucinda’s bidding?

At least he’d had the sense to walk away before getting further caught up in her sticky web of obligations.

He hurried down the street, under the jacaranda trees with their overspreading branches of purple blooms. But he had no time for noticing this pocket of beauty, not when he felt like he’d just received a sledgehammer to the chest.

Seriously? Marrying Lucinda to keep her dying mother happy? Call him callous, but he’d want to make sure Christine was definitely dying before he even contemplated something like that. Not that he would contemplate that. Okay, so once upon a time, the thought had crossed his mind, but that was before he met someone who he actually thought could make him happy. Someone whom, he dared to believe, he could make happy too.

Ellie.

Chapter 10

It was funny how one could simultaneously hope but also live in dread. Hope that Ethan would still come on Saturday as he’d promised, while the practical, sensible side of her said if he was going to visit, surely he’d have contacted her by now to set up a time. She’d messaged him on Instagram again, all the time wishing she had found the guts to give him her phone number back at the Hydro Grand. To be bold, like Katie had been with Jason. Then she could know for sure, rather than be in this purgatory of anxious waiting.

Ethan didn’t strike her as the kind of guy who did spontaneous. Would he even know where to come? Had that ever actually been mentioned? She couldn’t remember. And showing up unannounced didn’t seem to be his style.

But what would she know? Here she’d been warning Katie about Jason, that she’d be wise to brace herself for his rejection, when Jason had messaged or called every day. Meanwhile, Ethan had sent nothing.

Her heart squirmed. Why had he not even bothered to reply to her last messages? A girl didn’t want to appear desperate, and maybe sending a couple of messages had been too much. But still, why hadn’t he gotten in touch? Ethan was supposed to be the reliable one. Yet his actions had proved anything but. Which left her foolishly hoping that he’d show up and surprise them all on Saturday and prove Katie and her smug superiority wrong.

“So, how was your day?” Mum asked Ellie that night at dinner. “Anything to report?”

“No.”

“Nothing interesting?”

She shook her head. Why hadn’t Ethan contacted her?

“Did Ethan contact you?” Katie asked.

How it grated to have to admit, “No.”

“Aw, I’m sorry.” The delight dancing in Katie’s eyes suggested that was a lie. “I’m sure he will.”

She shrugged. It’d be good to change the subject about now.

“Jason wants to take me to a gothic movie festival this weekend,” Katie announced.

“I thought you’d already arranged something.”

“Well, yes, but this is playing in the Northern Beaches, so it’s really far away, so he suggested I could avoid a long trip home and go stay with him.”

“I hope you told him no,” Dad said sternly.

“Of course I did. But he’s always hoping I’ll say yes.”

“And you seriously think this man might be the one?” Ellie snapped. “Can you even hear yourself?”

“Hey, he’s a nice guy who gets misunderstood.”

Right, Ellie mouthed, catching Dad’s frown.

“I don’t think I like the sound of this,” Mum said worriedly.

“Oh, come on. There’s nothing to be worried about, I promise.”

That was not true. But to continue to listen to Katie assert her conviction in “my own truth” was more than she could cope with. Especially when she refused to be reasoned with.