Page 116 of Shattering Nash

“Elle, I’m fine, I swear.” Charley offered a smile in hopes of convincing her.

This was not at all how she’d expected this to go. She’d gone over a hundred scenarios, and this hadn’t been one of them.

“I want to apologize for…”

Elodie waved her hand. “I accept it, we’re good, it’s done.

What?No. Elodie deserved an apology, an explanation and groveling. Charley had intended on giving her all of it.

“I’m really sorry about all the lies and…”

Elodie rushed forward, grabbing her hands.

“I’m not upset with you, Charley. I understand why you did it. I just wish you wouldn’t have felt like you had to. That’s a lot to carry on your own.”

“I’ll tell you everything.”

Elodie held up her hand. “That was part of my deal with Oz. If he told me, I wouldn’t ask you anything. Usually, I wouldn’t make a deal like that but” —She paused— “Oz said you lived it. You didn’t need to rehash it in detail. It would be easier to move on if you didn’t have to keep talking about it.”

Oz said that?

“He did?” She knitted her brows. “So he told you everything?”

Elodie chuckled. “Knowing Oz, probably not. But I don’t need all the details unless you want to share them, Charley. If you need to talk about it, then I’m here, and if you don’t, I’m still here.” She sighed with a small smile. “As long as you’re okay now, that’s good enough for me.”

“Thank you.”

The knock on the door had both of them turning their heads when Isla peeked inside. “Sorry to bother you guys, but Keely is here looking for Charley.”

Shoot!Keely had been her next stop. She’d left dozens of messages in the last few days.

“She’ll be right out,” Elodie said.

Isla smiled and closed the door.

“How much does Keely know?”

Charley shrugged. “Nothing, really. I mean, she knows about my brother going to rehab and his dealer harassing me. But that’s it. I didn’t want to involve her with my mess.”

“Protecting her.” Elodie smiled. “Let’s keep doing that. The less she knows the safer she is.”

Charley had no intention of telling Keely about anything that had happened. She was still processing it herself and wouldn’t involve her innocent friend.

“Once I speak with Keely, can I start working again?”

Elodie knitted her brows. “Don’t you want to take some time off?”

She drew in a breath. “I want life to go back to normal.”

Elodie pulled her in for a hug and held on a little longer than usual. Elodie released her and started to the door. “When Keely leaves, come back to my office. There’s one subject we need to discuss and for that, I want full details.” Her lips twitched. “Nash.”

Charley laughed as they walked down toward the showroom. Keely was looking through a rack then jerked her head. She rushed toward Charley, and she felt a pang of guilt.

“Where have you been? I’ve been calling you.”

Charley wasn’t as prepared as she thought she was. But Elodie saved her.

“She lost her phone. Sucks, right?”

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