Page 35 of Scarred Heart

“I’m just saying, it might not be as big of a deal as I want it to be…” She chewed her lip, positioning her sunglasses on top of her head so I could get a look at the excitement in her eyes.“I’m seeing somebody.He’s really great.”

“That’s amazing!It’s about time, woman!”When our iced teas were delivered to the table, I lifted my glass in salute.“No wonder you look like you just walked off a runway, girl.I’m going to need to know where you’ve been shopping.”

“It’s just been really nice.”The joy in her smile was like sunshine after a storm.Rhiannon was beautiful, smart as hell, with an amazing heart.For some reason, she had a habit of looking down on herself.She didn’t see herself the way we did, the people who loved her.She was a late bloomer, so it hadn’t always been easy to find her place in the world.That sort of thing could stick with a person even when they were grown up.

“So what’s his name?”I asked.“Tell me everything about him.”

Her head tipped to the side.“Tell me whoyou’vebeen seeing.”

“No fair!I’m not seeing anybody, anyway,” I reminded her.

She pursed her lips, eyes narrowing to slits.“That’s not what Hannah told me.”

“That little stinker.She is in so much trouble.”I was all smiles and laughter on the outside, but internally?It was a different story.I quaked, going cold even in the brilliant midday sunshine.

“So you admit you’ve been lying to me, and youareseeing somebody.”She was enjoying the hell out of this, riding high on the adrenaline rush of a new boyfriend.So what if I was dying inside?

“It’s complicated.”Please, let her leave it there.“I want to hear more about your situation since I really don’t have anything to tell you.”

“No way.You’re not going to get me off topic.”

It was time to backpedal a little and find out just how much trouble I would end up in.“Exactly what did my traitorous daughter tell you?”I asked, smiling gratefully at the server who dropped off my chicken Caesar salad, though I wasn’t feeling very hungry anymore.This had the potential of going very, very badly.

“She only told me she met your boyfriend, and the three of you went out for burgers last week.I asked her for more details, but she told me to ask you.”

Well, she hadn’t used his name, which, now that I thought about it, was fairly obvious.The second Rhiannon heard the name, Spencer, she would have been banging down my front door or maybe even kicked it in.“Honestly, she assumed he was my boyfriend, and I sort of think he got a kick out of it.”

Rhiannon‘s eyebrows lifted as she cut into her grilled chicken.“That’s a good sign, right?He didn’t run screaming.”

“If anything, I think he thought it was funny because he knew it made me uncomfortable.”I shrugged when she frowned.“It’s hard to explain.”

“Who is he?At least tell me what he does for a living.Does he work in the industry?”

“Actually, he’s in tech.I don’t know the details,” I told her, which was the truth.“I wouldn’t understand anything about it, anyway.”

“A tech bro, huh?”She chuckled, shrugging.“Good for you.I never thought you would be with a guy like that.I always figured you would end up with an actor or at least another lawyer like you.”

She was going to find out.She was the only person in my life who knew the name of the man who caused the accident because she was the only one I’d ever told we were dating.As far as Mom and Dad were concerned, I was out with a random man at the time, some Hollywood wannabe I was dating.They thought he ghosted me and ran away to avoid charges, which, on the surface, was exactly what he had done.They thought he left town before I could tell him about the baby, which again was what happened.Just not exactly how I’d explained it in those awful, stressful first days in the hospital.It was better for all of us that they believed my fabrications.The fact that my hospital bills and tuition were covered by the generous settlement went a long way toward them accepting the outcome.

But she knew.And eventually, sooner rather than later, Hannah was going to use his name.Did I want to risk Rhiannon freaking out on her?Maybe even telling her Spencer was her father?Or was it better for me to control the narrative?

When I looked at it that way, there wasn’t really a choice to be made.

“I’m going to tell you something.”I set down the knife and fork, my heart in my throat, a cold sweat beading on the back of my neck.“But I need you to promise me you won’t say a word to Hannah, to Mom and Dad, to anybody.”

“Rowan.”All the playfulness was gone, replaced by suspicion and maybe a little bit of dread.It wrinkled her forehead and narrowed her eyes.“Who is it?What’s the problem?”

Here goes nothing.“A couple of weeks ago, completely by accident, I ran into someone I hadn’t seen in a long time.”I had to sip my iced tea when my mouth went dry, and that was the only reason I was able to add, “Around eleven years or so.”

In many ways, we were as different as sisters could be.We may have resembled each other, we shared a lot of the same history, and she had my back more times than I would ever be able to count or repay her for, but we had differing temperaments and interests.She had always been patient, and I tended to blow up too quickly.

Those differences were what made it uncanny whenever she was able to see through me the way she clearly did at that table.She lowered her brow, eyes blazing.“No.You are not telling me this.”

“Just hang on before you?—”

Her silverware clattered onto the plate while horror washed over her face, widening her eyesandmaking her mouth drop open.“Did you forget what he did?How can this be possible?”

“We aren’t seeing each other.That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”

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