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She’d neverreallybeen there for Annabel—not the way that truly mattered. And now her friend didn’t trust her or was unwilling to share the secrets of her past because of it.
Scarlett sighed when Annabel still refused to talk. Part of growing up meant she couldn’t force her friend to do something she wasn’t willing to do, and this was one of those times. “You don’t have to tell me. It’s fine.”
Annabel smiled. “Thanks.”
“Of course.” Scarlett returned her gaze to the darkening skies, the silhouettes of the trees and shrubs in the distance, and the handful of animals that were out grazing for the night. Back in Germany, she’d be staring at a cityscape.
“Do you miss it?”
Scarlett glanced once more toward her friend. “What?”
“Germany. Do you miss it? All the rushing around and doing a job that you loved?” Her voice was tinged with longing, as if Annabel were the one missing out on a life that she could have had and not Scarlett.
With a slow shake of her head, Scarlett smiled. Then she bumped her shoulder into Annabel’s. “I missed this more than I will ever miss my life in Germany. You and me.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” she said. “It took me coming back home to things being so different for me to realize everything I’ve been missing out on over the last several years. I should have never been gone for so long.”
“No one judges you for it, you know that, right?” Annabel turned to face Scarlett. “No one who matters anyway.”
It was hard not to think about Elijah in that very moment. He’d judged her the most ruthlessly. But things were changing. And perhaps he was seeing another side of her that he found redeemed her prior selfish behavior. If he could do that, then why couldn’t everyone else?
A warm sort of feeling flushed out all the insecurities Scarlett was dealing with. She nodded and reached out to bring her friend into a hug. “I’m so lucky you’re my friend. You have no idea how much I’ve missed stuff like this.”
“Me, too.” Annabel pulled back first, then she leaned her back against the railing as she peered at Scarlett through the encroaching darkness. “Are you really serious about dating someone? Like seriously dating someone?”
It took a great deal more self-control to contain herself when Annabel asked that question. There was no way she knew about Elijah, and yet it felt like she was fishing for such information.
Scarlett nodded. “I am.”
Annabel’s look of disbelief faded somewhat. “Well, then I guess we have our work cut out for us.”
A laugh burst from Scarlett’s chest. “What?”
“You had to have come home to one of the smallest towns there is in the country. I don’t think you’re going to find anyone nearly as interesting as the men you met abroad. So, we’re going to have to hunt around, look under rocks, and go diving into haystacks to find someone suited for you.”
The temptation to tell her right then and there that she had actually found someone she was interested in pulled at her. Annabel wouldn’t like it, though, and Scarlett wasn’t about to ruin their friendship over something so trivial.
At least for the moment.
“I guess you’re right.”
Annabel beamed. “We’ll come up with a game plan this weekend. Maybe we can go to the next town over and see if they have any fun hangout places. That guy I was telling you about? He’s from that direction. I’m sure he could find someone we could double with.”
There would be no point in arguing with Annabel over this. Scarlett would just have to make it clear to Elijah that this was what would happen if they wanted to keep their secrets. “Sounds fun.”
19
Elijah
Elijah gave himself a once over before he grabbed his hat and slipped from his house into the night. Annabel had just gotten home a few minutes ago, and from the sound of it, she’d headed straight for her bedroom.
It was easy to avoid detection from his whole family, but what made this situation so much better waswhohe was planning to see in the next twenty minutes.
He might have missed out on supper, but now that everyone had settled down for the evening, he’d get more quality time with her instead.
His heart skipped a beat just at the thought of going for a walk with her or getting to know the Scarlett he’d only caught glimpses of so far. Elijah didn’t know what exactly had been the thing that made the shift for him, but that didn’t matter anymore.
