Page 129 of He Loves Me Knot

I can’t remember the last time I saw Elle so angry.It was expected, though.

Callum’s gaze flicked into the rearview mirror. They’d already stopped twice for that purpose and had only been on the road for an hour. If Callum was frustrated at the delay, he didn’t show it, and Liddy imagined he must feel bad about all this.

But then again, what do I know about his feelings?

Callum seemed to try his best not tohavefeelings. Whatever emotions he did display were more like reflexes.

“You want to stop right now?” Callum asked.

“Sorry, mate,” Quinn said apologetically.

“I heard that,” Elle said, crossing her arms. “Don’t apologize to him. He doesn’t need an apology. I’m pregnant and I have to pee. That’s not something you should apologize for.”

Right. The pregnancy.

Quinn grimaced and looked back at his wife. “Darling, I’m not apologizing for you having to use the facilities.”

“Yes, you are. And honestly, if I have to stop every five minutes, then that’s how it’s going to be. Callum’s a big boy, he can handle it.”

Yeesh.She’d never heard Elle be so rude like this. But Elle was also angrier than Liddy had witnessed in a long time.

“I’m not sure there’s a place for us to stop right now, Elle,” Liddy said gently. They were in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by jungle, and it was raining. “But there might be a town soon?” She looked hopefully at Callum, then added in as cheerful of a tone as she could, “At least we have GPS and phones this time.”

Elle stared at her,then looked at Callum. “So was anything that you two told me the last few days true? Anything? You’re not a couple—but you went above and beyond to convince us you were. And I still don’t really get why Callum forced you to pretend you were dating. So . . .?” She arched a brow.

She’s really furious.

And I hate this so much.

“This isn’t Liddy’s fault,” Callum said, speaking to Elle through the rearview mirror. “It was my idea to lie, my idea to buy some time while we tracked down Sergio. She wanted to tell you the truth, but I thought it would be more stressful for you. Sophia and I broke up years ago and, because my mum has always loved her, she didn’t take the news well. I didn’t want to give her any reason to attempt a reconciliation.”

“So you’re just a liar.” Elle held his gaze for a moment, her eyes narrowing. Then she glanced at Quinn. “Did you know this about him?”

“I think Callum and Liddy were trying to make the best of an unpleasant situation,” Quinn said, gripping her hand. “Though obviously it would have been preferable to just tell us the truth.”

Liddy gave Quinn a guarded look. He’d been kind throughout this all—which wasn’t surprising—but he also risked irritating Elle, which wouldn’t be good.

“Preferable? That’s putting it mildly. I can’t decide who I’m more frustrated with—Callum for manipulating Liddy the way he did or Liddy for not trusting meandletting Callum make a fool out of her and using her for some . . . duplicitous vacation fling.”

Liddy stiffened.A fool out of me? That’s a bit . . . much.

Then annoyance rankled her. Stressed or not, hormones or whatever it was, Liddy was also sick of tiptoeing around her sister, feeling like she couldn’t have a conversation with her.

The car slowed and Liddy looked over at Callum. He nodded at the road, which had disappeared from view. Instead, the path of the dusty inland road, a river flowed toward the sea, swelling from the rain.

“What the hell?” Liddy asked.

Callum grimaced. “I should have known this would happen. I’ve had to go through the rivers on this road before and avoid it in the rainy season—but usually October is the worst time for this, not June.”

Quinn leaned forward from the back seat. “You mean to tell me this happens on a regular basis?”

Callum stopped the car. Rain pounded on the windows. It was so bleak.

Elle peered through the windshield. “Where’s the road gone?”

“The river swelled and went over it. We have to go through it to get to the other side,” Callum said, his voice unusually quiet.

“Through the river?” both Elle and Liddy said nearly simultaneously.

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