Page 21 of The Secrets We Keep

“So here you are.” Sarah states as I hand her the glass of water. I take her in for a minute. She looks the same minus the added worry lines that surely I have put on her face. My poor sister, not once did I stop and think about how my up and leaving would affect her. I start to feel the tears threatening to fall.

“I’m so sorry Sarah. So sorry.”

I grab her hands holding them tightly in my lap. I take notice of the diamond still on her finger, shining in all its glory.

“Please know I was doing the only thing I knew to do at the time.”

“Why?” Sarah asks with nothing but sadness. Not one trace of anger laces her words.

“Sarah it’s hard to explain, but how did you find me?”

“A private investigator.”

A private what? Holy shit!

“A private investigator!” I yell standing. So much for trying to stay calm.

“Eleanor, you up and left! What else was I supposed to do? You deleted all social media accounts and disconnected your phone. I had no choice.” Sarah’s voice rises., though she makes no move to get up.

“Does Chet know? Know that you’ve been looking for me?”

“Yes, he does, but he’s not mad about the car anymore so you don’t have to worry.”

Ha, she thinks this is about his precious car, if she only knew. Sarah reaches for my hand squeezing it as if that’s going to reassure me.

“Does he know you found me?” I hold my breath, fearing her answer.

“Yes, Eleanor, I just told you it’s okay.” She sighs. It’s not okay. Nothing is okay now. If I thought my relationship issue with Landon was a problem, it’s not. Not compared to this.

“Sarah did Chet come with you here?”

“No, he’s out of the country on business. He doesn’t even know I decided to come yet.”

“Listen to me. Please don’t tell him you came here, not yet. Please.” My eyes plead as I reach out and squeeze her hands.

“Okay. I won’t tell him, but you’re starting to scare me Eleanor. Why all the questions about Chet? Why don’t you want him to know I found you?” She asks, clearly concerned and she has a right to be too.

Chapter 10

I agree to meet Sarah for lunch this afternoon. I’m anxious. I hope she kept her word and didn’t tell Chet a thing. Staring at myself in the mirror I huff, why did this happen to me?

I continue styling my hair and an idea comes to mind. What if I can open up to Sarah and tell her about Chet? Would she believe me and just leave him? Silently leave without knowing I had any part? Doubtful, she’s madly in love. The idea is far-fetched yet, I’m trying to think of anything at this point. Sighing, I wash my hands and leave to meet my sister.

I decide to arrive early to scope out the cafe and make sure there is no sign of Chet and worse case scenario, If I see Sarah and him I can slip away quickly. As I turn the corner that rounds the cafe I see my sister already there standing outside with a man. A man whose face I know very well.

What the hell?

I quickly walk up to them, nearly tripping over my own two feet.

“Landon?” I question, it must startle him because he quickly turns to look at me.

“You’re early!” My sister says excitedly. I don’t even acknowledge her. I’m in too much shock at the moment. Finding the two of them together was not what I was expecting and Landon looks like he just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. It does nothing to ease the sick feeling growing in the pit of my stomach.

“Eleanor, is everything all right?”

I turn my attention back to Sarah. “How do you know him?” I ask, pointing at him. I tilt my head back towards him and he looks nervous or maybe angry. It’s kind of hard to tell, though I’m pretty sure I see sweat beads forming on his forehead.

“Please don’t be mad, Eleanor. This is the private investigator I hired to find you. Mr. Miller here came very reputable.”

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