AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She turned quickly to find Anna, the bride from the previous week, standing beside her.
It was a funny sensation. On the one hand, Elise was grateful to see someone she recognized. On the other hand, she hated to be caught.
“What are you doing here?” Elise asked, sniffling.
“Oh. I actually own this little wine bar,” Anna said with a little smile. “We’re closing up shop in about a week so that Roger and I can head off to our honeymoon. To be honest with you, I’ve never been so ready to see this island in my rearview.”
Elise’s smile waned. “I think I might feel the same.”
Anna gestured to a server behind her and said, “I’ll have the same as her.” The server arrived a moment later with a glass of wine and placed it delicately in front of Anna.
“Cheers,” Anna said.
Elise clinked her glass and took a sip.
“To be honest with you, I’m pretty surprised that you’re still here at all,” Anna said contemplatively.
“Me too, I guess,” Elise said. “I had only planned to be here a week. Things got a little complicated.”
“That’s the word on the street,” Anna said.
Elise scrunched her nose. “I’m sorry about all that drama at your reception. I didn’t know that Tracey was involved, and I... Well, I didn’t know Alex would show up like that.”
Anna waved her hand around. “Don’t worry about it.”
The women blinked at one another. Elise sipped her wine, feeling anxious. Maybe she would have rather been in her room alone, after all.
“Has he done something to you?” Anna asked.
Elise arched her brow. “Alex?”
“No.” Anna gave a light shrug. “I mean, Wayne.”
Anna and Wayne had had a brief relationship two years before. Wayne had alluded to the fact that he hadn’t been ready for it back then. He was grateful he had ended it, as it had allowed Anna to get together with Roger and find happiness in marriage.
Still, Elise knew women well enough to know that bad blood wasn’t cured so easily.
“Oh, I don’t know...” Elise finally replied.
She had always found it really difficult to lie. Tears sprung to her eyes.
Anna stretched her hand over Elise’s on the counter. “You shouldn’t worry yourself about him, you know.”
Elise turned her eyes toward the ground. “I don’t know. He’s...”
“He’s special. Yes, he is,” Anna said, finishing her thought. “But he’s also so complicated. He’s been through a lot. Maybe he hasn’t told you everything?”
Elise gave a lackluster shrug. “I haven’t known him that long. I don’t hold it against him that he hasn’t revealed everything...”
Anna nodded. “Sure. But I also think you should know that Wayne doesn’t have the capacity for honesty all the time. He doesn’t have the ability to see beyond himself and his mourning.”
Elise’s smile smeared totally off her face. She arched her brow with sudden annoyance. “I see.”
“I don’t want you to think that I’m talking bad about him,” Anna said hurriedly. “It’s just that, I see women like you with Wayne all the time, and I think... if only they knew? I don’t want anyone to waste their time the way I did.”
Elise’s heart felt conflicted. She sipped more of her wine and looked out across the water. “I’m not really from here, anyway,” she said, as though that was enough of a thing to say. “It’s not like we have a budding relationship or anything. Maybe I was just hopeful.”
“Oh! Good. So it was just a fling for you,” Anna said.
