Page 19 of Terms + Conditions
“She just said something the other day, and it made it sound like Elizabeth was seeing someone.” She sighed on the other end of the line. “And, I guess, it made me realize this is really happening.”
“It’s been happening, MJ.”
“I know, but you know how it is…It’s not real until it’sreal.”
You have no idea.I sighed, letting my head fall back against the couch.
“I’m sorry, Josh,” Michaela said quietly.
“Yeah, me too,” I said. We sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments until she delved into a story from the previous week. Something she had been dying to tell me, but the week was crazy, and she barely had a chance to breathe until that day. Truth be told, I don’t think she knew how to start the conversation. Was she supposed to say something about what I told her? Or was she supposed to act like everything was fine?
“Josh, finally!” Alex shouts, bringing me back to my current situation and breaking the tension between Elizabeth and me. He strolls past the double-sided stone fireplace into the foyer with a plate of random pieces of meat and cheese from the charcuterie board. “Hey, answer something for me...Would you rather—”
“No,” I interrupt him before he can even finish. I am not falling for one of his stupid scenarios where I lose either way.
“But I didn’t—”
“I don’t even want to know what you were about to say.”
Elizabeth stifles a laugh, and when I look over my shoulder, she offers a small smile. “You really don’t.”
Nina’s voice echoes from the kitchen, “Alexander Chase Davis, you better not be doing what I think you’re doing.”
Alex heaves a sigh with an exaggerated eye roll. He whispers, “She’s such a mom.”
Moments later, Nina appears around the fireplace, wiping her hands on a dish towel. A white and blue striped apron is tied around her waist. “Help your brother with the firewood, would you?” It’s less of a question and more of a command, and Alex knows it. He lets out an annoyed huff and stalks off to help Nick.
“I brought pie,” I say, raising the pie in the air when she turns back to us.
Nina offers a polite smile in return and immediately I notice she seems more tense than usual. Taking a deep breath, she says, “You can put it in the pantry with the rest of the desserts.”
She holds that polite smile and motions behind her toward the kitchen. When I don’t move, she motions with her eyes again, and I finally take the hint. She wants to have a conversation with her sister without me sticking around.
Elizabeth fiddles with one of the leaves of the fern on the entry table, avoiding my gaze.
“I’ll just go put this away then,” I say and glance back at Elizabeth one more time before stepping between them to join the others. I can feel Nina’s stare on my back the whole way to the kitchen.
“Finally,” Nick says, clapping me on the back and taking my party contributions from my hands.
“You get lost on the five-minute drive over here?” Finn asks from behind his whiskey glass.
“Or something.” I try to catch a glimpse of the women in the foyer, but the fireplace hides them from view. What I wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall forthatconversation.
“Whiskey or beer?” Nick asks, coming back from the pantry.
“Something strong,” I say, finally pulling my attention away from the fireplace. “I have a feeling I’m going to need it.”
CHAPTER TEN
THEN
June 2016
“WHAT THE HELL DO you have in here? Bricks?” I drop the box on the bed with a huff. I don’t care what she says, there are definitely bricks in there. What in the hell could be that heavy?
Elizabeth vaguely looks over her shoulder and smirks. “Books.”
She turns back to the shoes that she’s been organizing for the last twenty minutes on the shelving unit in her closet. I’ve never seen one person with so many shoes, not even Michaela, and when I commented on it with the last box I brought up, she told me I should see Nina’s closet.
