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“Nothing. What makes you think something happened?”
“Is it Shane? It’s him, isn’t it? Iknewhe was going to do something stupid.” She let out a groan and threw her hands into the air. “I should have never—” She snapped her mouth shut as her eyes found Eloise’s. “Hand me the phone,” she demanded.
“What? No. Why?”
“Eloise,” she warned. “Give me your phone. You’re clearly upset, and the only one who could do that kind of damage is a boyfriend.”
“No,” Eloise protested. “Friends can…”
The look on Brielle’s face made it clear she wasn’t about to let Eloise talk her out of getting what she wanted. And Brielle was smart enough to see right through her.
Eloise sighed and held the phone out to her sister without meeting her gaze. “Fine. I don’t care anyway.” Her voice broke on the last word and another tear leaked from her eyes. She did not like her emotional state right now. She’d always known there was a reason her sister didn’t seriously date anyone, and this must be the reason. It was so much easier to keep her distance when she didn’t get attached.
Well, she’d royally messed that up.
Brielle let out a string of expletives, and Eloise’s eyes widened as she stared up at her sister. “I don’tbelievethis!” She took off pacing as she shook her head. The color of her face would have put a poinsettia to shame. “Who does he think he is? He can’t just dump you like that. It’s not right. We’re going over there right now.”
“What?” Eloise squeaked. “No, we’re not. I don’t want to see him. At least not right now. I’m still processing—”
“He owes you an explanation.” Brielle gestured toward the phone in her hand. “Didn’t you read this? He broke up with you over text because he didn’t want to face you. He’s a coward, Eloise. He needs to own up to what he did, and he needs to be a man about it.”
Eloise stared at her hands and shrugged. “Maybe I don’t want to see him right now because I don’t think I would be able to stop myself from crying.” Her voice was soft and broken. Right then, it felt like her heart had broken in two and she didn’t have anything left. “Maybe that will change, but right now, I would rather not see him.”
Brielle groaned. “Come on, Eloise. You deserve better than this.”
“Maybe I don’t.”
“What?” She seethed.
Eloise peeked at her sister. “He told me he loved me.”
Her sister’s face contorted with even more surprise and fury. “He didn’t.”
“Yeah, he did. And I didn’t say it back. I didn’t give him any indication that I was in this for the long haul. Maybe he just got tired of waiting.” That was it. That confession lifted the floodgates and the tears spilled down her cheeks. The more she thought about it, the more she had to admit that this definitely felt like it was her fault.
When Shane confessed his love for her, she should have given him something—anythingto show him that his feelings weren’t one-sided. She could have prevented this if he’d only known where she stood.
The step creaked beside her as Brielle settled onto the old wood plank. “It’snotyour fault.”
Eloise shrugged.
“I mean it. Guys like this are trash. They don’t deserve women like us. We’re like diamonds.”
She could tell Brielle was trying to help, but at this point Eloise didn’t know if there was anything that could.
“Because, you know, diamonds take years and years of pressure to get to their fullest potential.Years, Eloise. If Shane cared about you like you think he did, then he would have waited as long as it took until he could have you on your terms. He’s just a jerk.”
“No, he’s not. There’s more to him than you realize, Brielle. He’s a good man.”
Brielle snorted. “He’s a liar. He said so himself. What do you think Dad would do if he found out about this?”
Eloise stiffened. She sucked in sharply and stared wide-eyed at her sister. “Don’t tell Dad a single thing. He doesn’t need to know.”
“Iknowthat,” Brielle muttered. “But based on the way you just reacted, you can’t deny that I have a point. If Dad wouldn’t like what happened, then you shouldn’t put up with it either.”
“Dad doesn’t know Shane like I do. He wouldn’t understand.” Eloise snatched her phone away from Brielle. Her fingers itched to message Shane back and ask to see him. She wanted to talk to him and find out what was going on. There had to be a reasonable explanation.
Unfortunately, a seed of doubt had been planted. Not only from Brielle but from those strange gut instincts she’d been feeling when she was around Shane. He’d been hiding something from her. Was his losing interest in her part of that?
