Page 88 of You Belong With Me

Unable to locate their waitress, Edie stood at the bar and opened her phone. The WhatsApp from Fraser was still on the screen.

She clicked away from it, and as she did so, spotted a tiny detail that snagged her attention. She couldn’t make sense of it.How was he …?She clicked back into WhatsApp and stared. On impulse, she typed a reply and hit send, to see if it would get blue ticks. Grey ticks: delivered, but unread. She looked towards the double doors at the end of the room, the ones that first Elliot, then Fraser, had departed through, and scanned the room.

She carried her Diet Coke back to her seat, turning over a puzzle in her mind. She did a mental inventory of the detritus on their table.

‘Tastes better from a bottle, right?’ Iggy said, and she smiled absently.

Molly returned from the toilets.

Within minutes, both Owen brothers were back, expressions similarly stormy. Edie had never seen Fraser’s sunny countenance contorted like this before, and it made her heart pound.

‘Mol, get your things. We’re off,’ he said.

Edie’s hopes that they’d find a way to unite over this wereimmediately dashed. She could tell it had gone exactly the way she’d hoped it wouldn’t.

‘Why?’ Molly said. ‘I’ve got a tuna tartare on the way – I don’t want to go.’

‘I’ll explain later. Come on.’

‘Elliot?’ Molly said. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Don’t ask him,’ Fraser snapped, and Edie winced.

She doubted Elliot had held back and, if Fraser had done nothing wrong, how it would’ve been received. And after Fraser’s concern for Elliot’s welfare, too. She could see both sides. This was a fight that could turn into a feud and a rift. Edie looked at Molly, who was deeply disconcerted and obediently gathering her coat.

Edie had to speak up. She’d intended to talk to Elliot about her hunch, but they were out of time.

This might be the only moment where it would help.

‘Iggy, don’t do this,’ Edie said, looking at him.

Everyone stared at her in confusion.

‘Do what?’ Iggy said.

‘Don’t let them fall out over this, if it’s you who’s responsible.’

‘Responsible for what?’

‘Selling stories on Elliot.’

‘Why would I be selling stories on Elliot?’

‘I don’t know why,’ Edie said. ‘But I think you look at Fraser’s phone behind Fraser’s back, so I bet you have the material.’

She nodded towards Fraser’s phone, case side up, lying on the table.

‘What? Do you?’ Fraser said to Iggy.

‘No, I don’t! Why would you make something like that up?’ Iggy said indignantly. ‘Bit bloody rude.’

If she was wrong, not only had Edie slandered Iggy, but she might well be doing serious, lasting damage to her popularity in Owen world. It was a testament to the strength of her bond with Elliot that she’d risk it, based on so little. And it was little; it was virtually nothing.

Edie swallowed. No turning back now.

‘Why d’you think he does?’ Fraser said to Edie.

‘When you and Elliot were talking, and Molly was in the loo, I looked at my phone when I was stood at the bar. It said you were Online on WhatsApp, even though you weren’t with your phone – you left it here. I sent a message to you and as it landed, Iggy looked up, right at me. I think you were checking his messages—’ She addressed Iggy. ‘You must’ve seen it arrive. My guess is you leave those ones in preview, and then Fraser opens them and thinks he’s seeing it first? Obviously, any messages he’s already seen, you can scroll.’

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