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“You told me—”
“Not now.” Rachel shook her head, but her voice stayed steady. The low whisper barely registered.
“Okay, but the engagement.”
Rachel held out her hand and studied her finger. “He did a good job with the ring.”
“Rachel.” Elisa knocked Rachel’s hand away and stepped in closer. “You said the two of you weren’t serious.”
“Hi!” Nathan popped up next to them. “Could I have another doughnut half?”
No, no, no. Elisa needed a few minutes of peace. Even a second to catch her breath and work through all the conflicting feelings bombarding her.
Biting hard on the inside of her cheek, Elisa floundered, trying to find some control. She didn’t want to yell at Nathan, but she was so close. “Honey, give us a few minutes.”
He stopped bouncing around. “But they’re leaving.”
“Yes, we are.” Josh zoomed in and picked up Nathan. The squeals of laughter were loud enough to send one of the cats out of her hiding place and streaking up the stairs. “We have a plane to catch.”
Josh carried Nathan on his shoulder as he walked past them and headed for the front door. Elisa stood there, trying to process what this all meant.
“A plane?” Surely she heard that wrong. Josh couldn’t be that spontaneous... right?
Rachel touched Elisa’s arm. “It’s okay.”
This was anything but okay. Words screamed through Elisa’s head and she fought to stay focused over the drumming in her ears. “I need to talk with—”
“There will be plenty of time for that later.” Rachel gave Elisa’s arm a final squeeze then let go. “We’ll talk soon.”
The room started to spin. Elisa had to close her eyes to drown out the riot of noise and rush of colors as they swirled by. “You don’t understand.”
“I love that the women get along.” Josh’s voice rose above Nathan’s squeals and Harris’s laughter as Josh pretended to drop Nathan.
Josh, Harris, and Nathan stood outside now. The men talked on the path. Nathan tumbled around on the grass. Elisa could see them but kept Rachel just inside the entry with her.
“Elisa, you two can talk wedding stuff later. They need to go,” Harris called out.
Josh had put Nathan down but he tried to climb back onto his uncle’s shoulders again. “Take me!”
It was all too much. Elisa grabbed onto Rachel’s hand. “Please.”
“Listen to me.” Rachel held up one finger. “It’s going to be fine.”
“You don’t know that.” All the evidence said the opposite. Elisa fought for the right way to say those words without alienating Rachel or upsetting Josh, who stood less than ten feet away.
“But I do.”
Rachel sounded so sure, which only added to Elisa’s confusion. She fought to keep her voice steady, to not give her fear away. “How in the world could you?”
The car alarm chirped as Josh unlocked it. He and Harris walked over to the driveway and Josh opened the car door. “Let’s go.”
“One second.” Rachel turned and gave Elisa an awkward, barely touching hug. “I promise everything will be okay.”
Elisa didn’t want to let go of her. She let desperation fill heras she whispered in Rachel’s ear, “Let me stop this. I don’t care if Josh gets angry with me. I’ll take the blame.”
Rachel stepped outside. “You’ve done enough to help.”
She hadn’t done anything. Not for Candace or Abby. She had vowed to save Rachel and was failing at that, too.
