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The truth of the matter was that she’d let her relationship slide with her family. She couldn’t remember the last time she came home for a holiday. Had she called on said holidays? Of course. But for all intents and purposes, her parents had become strangers. Watching Annabel with her family made her realize just how far her relationship with her father had fallen. And she needed to fix it.
She wouldn’t be able to do that if she chose to return to Germany. There were no other options besides staying.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
Scarlett flashed her friend a smile. “Of course. This is just part of life, right?”
Annabel didn’t look convinced, but before she could say so, her phone rang. She grabbed it from her back pocket and held up a finger as she answered. “Hello?” She glanced toward Scarlett, covering the speaker of the phone. “I’m going to take this inside, okay?”
Scarlett nodded and turned away from the house.
She wasn’t alone for more than five minutes when the screen door opened and shut. “That was fast,” she murmured.
“What are you doing here, Scarlett?” Elijah moved to lean against the railing beside her.
Tossing him a confused look, she muttered, “What is that supposed to mean?”
“You know what I’m talking about.” He sighed.
Scarlett faced him, her brows furrowed. “Actually, you’re going to have to lay it out for me.”
His expression was hard, not unlike all the other times he’d stared at her this evening. “Annabel hasn’t seen you in ages, and now suddenly you’re here and want to catch up with yourbest friend.” He spit the words out like they were venom.
“What is your problem?” she snapped back.
For a moment he looked confused. But then his eyes hardened. “What?”
“You’ve never liked me. I get that. There’s something I’ve done that really made you mad. But you said so yourself. I haven’t been around for ten years. So what is your problem?”
“Myproblem? Myproblemis that you only show up when you want something or you need a little minion to make you feel better about yourself. I’m not going to let you mess with Anna again. She’s finally in a decent place.”
Scarlett was at a loss for words. Out of everything Elijah could have said, this wasn’t expected. What was she supposed to say? Even if she recalled every memory she had of herself with Annabel, she wouldn’t be able to pinpoint any instance when she’d treated her poorly. Elijah was remembering wrong. He had to be.
She opened her mouth, fury surging inside her, but the door to the house opened and banged shut.
“Sorry about that. It was work. I guess I’m going to have to cover someone else’s shift.” Annabel’s eyes darted from Scarlett to Elijah and back again. Her brows furrowed. “Is everything… okay?”
Elijah stepped back, a fake smile spreading across his face. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t it be?”
Annabel’s eyes drilled into Scarlett, but she wasn’t about to tell her a single thing. This was between herself and Elijah. The conversation wasn’t over. They’d settle things the second she could get him alone. Her own strained smile tugged at her lips. “Yep.Allgood.”
3
Elijah
Elijah didn’t buy one word that Scarlett had said since the moment she arrived. She was just trying to win the sympathy vote until she inevitably left again. He couldn’t remember one time in the past when she had someone else’s best interest at heart—especially not Annabel’s.
Not only that, but Scarlett had always had a one-track mind. Ever since she was a teenager, she’d always planned on being a fiercely independent woman. This was one of the many reasons his small crush had fizzled out.
Was she objectively attractive? Yes. She was one of those women who would continue to turn heads for years to come.
There was also something about how driven she was. Scarlett had made something of herself. Walking away from all of that simply didn’t make sense. There had to be something deeper going on.
He spent the rest of the evening out on the porch while Annabel and Scarlett caught up. Their quiet voices were difficult to follow even though he was only a few yards from them. None of it mattered, though. When he got a chance to be alone with her, he’d tell her exactly what she was going to do.
She’d tell Annabel she’d changed her mind and wasn’t going to be sticking around after all. Then Annabel wouldn’t have a relapse, and everything would go back to normal.
A small niggling thought weaseled itself into his head. Was he being too hard on her? Nah. If Wade were here, he’d agree with Elijah’s sentiment. In fact, Elijah would make sure to tell his older brother what was happening and maybe they could have an intervention with Annabel about being manipulated by her best friend.
