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"Parker seems to be quite taken with you," I casually comment.
"Weren’t his intentions just to make polite conversation?" Phebe raises an eyebrow, her lips curving into a smirk.
"That was definitely more than just polite conversation. I’m just saying this based on my observations." I shrug, trying to appear nonchalant.
"Well, that's interesting, then," she chuckles. I frown wondering what is so intriguing about Parker flirting with her. The thought of her possibly being interested in him turns my mood sour.
As we drive back to the beach house, the silence between us becomes tense. I can't shake the image of Parker's lingering attention on Phebe, and a knot of unease tightens in my stomach. Once we step out of the car and enter the beach house, I turn to face Phebe.
"Phebe, can I ask you something?" The words tumble out before I can second-guess myself.
"Of course, Jeffrey." She glances at me, her expression expectant.
I pause for a moment, carefully choosing my words.
"You were married, but now you aren't not. What happened? I mean, you left me, presumably because he was better than me, so I’m curious why you haven't mentioned him once."
"Jason wasn't even close to being the man you are,” she says.
"You don't expect me to believe that. If he truly wasn't, you wouldn’t have chosen him over me," I challenge her.
"It's not what you think. My marriage… it wasn't by choice. I had to do what I had to do." She stares at the ground, and a heavy sigh escapes her lips.
"Not by choice? But your father said you wanted to get married," I say, my confusion growing. I remember her father’s insistence that everyone who cared to listen knew that she was marrying a successful man.
"It's complicated. My father was… controlling, to say the least. Anyways, there’s no point going into it. It's in the past." Phebe's eyes meet mine, and there's a vulnerability in her gaze that surprise me. I scramble to make sense of it all.
"And you expect me to forget without an explanation? Are you serious, Phebe?"
"Jeffrey, please. It's been almost two decades. We’ve moved on. We were young, naïve, and we had these dreams of happy ending, but I soon found out the reality," she says, and I feel anger surge up in me.
"Young and naive? I thought you loved me. I thought we were in love. I gave you all of me, but to you it was just some childish fantasy?" I ask, incredulous.
"Jeffrey," she calls out.
"No, do you have any idea of the emotional torture you put me through? Do you understand how I felt for all those years, wondering why you vanished into thin air?" I snap, my voice raised without caring about it. Years of frustration bubble to the surface, charging the air between us tension.
Her words hang in the air. I had always assumed that she callously toyed with my emotions, but having her confirm it is devastating blow.
"I didn't want to, okay? You're the only man I've ever wanted but I was forced to marry Jason. I had no choice," Phebe snaps back. My heart clenches at her words, and tears well up in her eyes.
"What did you say?" I whisper.
"He caught us that night and to protect you, I had to agree to his demands. Why do you think I hate John so much? Why do you think I never returned after all these years?" She explains. Suddenly, everything starts to make sense. Her father had forced her into marriage.
"Why didn't you come to me? Why did you disappear without a word?"
"What could you have done? You were powerless against him too. It was better for both of us that I didn't come to find you, Jeffrey. Trust me." Her eyes hold a mix of pain and regret as they meet mine.
The frustration that's been simmering beneath the surface boils over, and I no longer try to hide my eagerness to learn the truth.
"For the best? Tell me what exactly happened. Do you have any idea what those years were like for me? I loved you, Phebe, and you simply disappeared. I understand your father forced you now but why won't you share everything?"
"I'm not sharing it because there are things best left unsaid. It wasn't easy for me. It was the worst day of my life. The only good thing that keeps me from cursing that day is that night in your cottage. But I had no choice."
My heart aches as I see the pure emotion in her eyes.
"No choice? What else did he force you to do? Please, talk to me."
