AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Babe!”
“I’m just saying,” she snaps defensively. “We’re all family here. We should be comfortable enough to tell the truth.”
I lift my chin. “He’ll be here.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Novah mumbles.
I huff.
Fold my arms over my chest.
Pretend to be offended that Novah doesn’t believe my lie.
Which is in fact… a lie.
This anger? It’s all false bravado.
Born of irritation and fear.
I’m starting to wonder if I got played.
There’s that voice in the back of my head telling me that Brogan’s gone.
Into the wind.
Disappeared.
And I can’t even be mad at him.
I mean, if he did all this to save a little girl’s life, the humiliation is worth it.
Right?
I fold my fingers under my chin.
My ring catches the glow of the sun’s orange rays. Fragments of light spill on the cream-colored walls. The calm, abstract paintings. The cake tiers set up all over the room.
Novah gasps. “It’s so pretty.”
“Thanks.”
She takes my hand. Studies the rock. “You really shouldn’t have gone to all this trouble, Liz.” Novah glances through the glass window at Gerard who’s waiting in the car. In a low voice, she says, “Won’t it just be cheaper to come clean?”
Oren frowns. “Novah…”
“She already spent so much on a ring. Now she hired some weird driver guy just to keep the ruse going. It’s too much. Someone should tell her when she’s overdoing it.”
I open my mouth, but before I can tell her off, Brogan appears outside the window.
Time slows.
I watch his determined stride.
His broad shoulders.
The square jaw.
His red beard.
