Page 104 of Promises We Meant to Keep

“No. Stop being so self-centered, Elia. I can’t find a replacement for you tomorrow. Hell, I’ll be lucky to find someone for next semester. This isn’t for you. It’s for the school. Your students need you, and I’m not going to let them suffer because you’re choosing the easy way out.”

Elia nearly stumbled backward, but she didn’t move. “It’s not for you?”

Kamryn snorted. “It’s never for me.”

Was she really that self-centered? Had she been so stuck in the what-ifs where they concerned her that she hadn’t been able to see the bigger picture? Perhaps. But Elia was still stuck there. Abagail had told her to stay there. And she’d promised that she would do what Abagail told her, where it concerned her job anyway.

“For the record, Kam—because I want you to understand before I walk away this time—I do love you.” The words took the air from her lungs. Elia couldn’t tear her gaze away from Kamryn’s, from the way that Kamryn looked at her. Betrayal first, and then understanding, and then pure lust in its truest form. “Kam?”

“What?” Kamryn bit out the word, as if she was trying to control herself.

Elia nodded slowly in understanding. This was so hard for both of them. It was hurtful. “I need to leave now. It’s just how this has to be. I hope you know that.”

“Know that you’re choosing this path? Or know that we haven’t explored every alternative.”

“Know that this is the decision that I’m making, for the both of us, because it’s the right choice.” Elia stepped away from her.She reached the door to Kamryn’s office and opened it slowly, startling when she found Mrs. Caldera standing on the other side of her. She had a file in her hands, but she looked worried.

“I didn’t want to interrupt,” Mrs. Caldera said. “So I just waited.”

Did she have a meeting scheduled with Kamryn? Elia tossed a look over her shoulder toward Kamryn in a question, but she didn’t receive an answer. Elia swallowed, wetting her mouth at the same time. How much of the argument had she heard? If it was everything, then the rumors would definitely get worse. Then again, Mrs. Caldera was probably one of the few people on the campus who could keep a secret.

How did Elia ask if she was going to be discreet or not?

Mrs. Caldera put her hands up. “I haven’t said a word since I first suspected.”

Well, that answered at least one question. Elia’s cheeks burned. She couldn’t even force herself to turn around and look at Kamryn, because Mrs. Caldera had literally just proven the point that she’d made earlier. People at Windermere knew. And it was only a matter of time before the board found out and they were both screwed.

“Perfect,” Elia muttered under her breath. She pushed past Mrs. Caldera and made her way toward the door. She needed to get outside, into the cold air. She needed to find a way to work out the rest of her contract and not feel this way every time she was in the same room as Kamryn.

And for that only time would help.

Time they so obviously didn’t have.

thirty-seven

Kamryn was left reeling in Elia’s wake. But she’d called Mrs. Caldera there for a reason, and from the look on her face, she knew exactly what this was about. This had better work out for the benefit of everyone—at least as much as it could.

“Sit down,” Kamryn said, shutting the door behind Mrs. Caldera.

She never wanted to have a conversation like this with anyone. But it was impossible to avoid this time. Kamryn wasn’t ready for this. Then again, she was fairly certain she never would be.

“This weekend you slid a folder underneath my apartment door.” Kamryn tensed, eyeing Mrs. Caldera to study what her reaction was going to be. She wanted to know everything that she possibly could. “I know it was you, despite you not leaving a note or telling me.”

“H-how?” Mrs. Caldera stuttered.

“There’s cameras all over the school, including the hallways to the dormitories and the entryway. I had security pull the footage.” Kamryn flicked the pencil between her fingers back and forth, waiting for some kind of useful information that she could write down. “Where did you get the file?”

“I’ve had it in my desk.” She sounded so small, and she was so pale.

Kamryn hated this for her. “Why?”

“I kept it there for safety. No one ever looks in my desk.”

That was true. Kamryn had torn apart the entire office except for that one place. And the worst part was that Mrs. Caldera knew exactly what Kamryn had been looking for. And she’d flat out ignored it, lied about the fact that she didn’t know where the paperwork was.

“I took it a while ago.” Mrs. Caldera wrung her hands tightly in her lap. “Before you started working here, when Miller told me that Heather was put onto the board.”

“I’m not sure I understand.” Kamryn tapped the end of the pencil against the paper, just waiting for information. This was something she could do well, and she was going to.

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