Page 23 of The Caress

He walks away without saying anything else, leaving me to mull over his words on my own. For the second time in as many minutes, I find myself agreeing with him.

We really do seem to have a better understanding of each other these days. And yeah, it makes me wish for the same thing—that we’d found a way to get here sooner.

If we had, it might have changed the trajectory of our entire relationship.

"Ella?" Saffron’s normally-assertive voice carries a hint of uncertainty that makes me look up from the TV as she walks into the living room. "Do you have a second?"

"Sure," I nod, patting the sofa cushion next to me. "What’s going on? Is everything okay?"

She offers a sheepish smile as she sits down and heaves a drawn-out sigh. "Everything is fine. Good, I mean. It’s nothing to worry about; I just thought maybe we could catch up a little since I think this is the first time I’ve seen you alone since we got here." She pauses and cocks her head to the side. "Unless you’d rather have some peace and quiet? Sorry, I didn’t even think about that before I came barging in here."

I know she said not to worry, but she’s acting so uncharacteristically unsure of herself that I can’t help but wonder what she isn’t telling me.

"You didn’t barge in at all," I reassure her. "After all, we’re in the living room. If I really wanted privacy, I would have stayed in my bedroom." I wait a second, then prompt her when she still looks a little conflicted. "So? What’s up? I’m already imagining the worst, so go ahead and put me out of my misery, whatever it is."

Finally, she flashes a genuine smile, followed by another heavy sigh. "Promise not to say anything to my brother?"

I only have to hesitate for a moment. While I don’t want to keep anything important from Keir, it’s definitely not my place to divulge her secrets to him. Or vice versa, for that matter. The last thing I’m going to do is jump in the middle of whatever sibling drama might be brewing between the two of them.

"All right," I say, nodding. "I promise."

"Right. Well." She looks around the room as if to make sure there isn’t anyone else standing around who might overhear. "I have to leave the island for the rest of the summer."

I wait to hear if there’s more, but she just looks at me expectantly as if she’s dropped some kind of bombshell.

"Okay," I say slowly, still trying to grasp the significance of her revelation. "Are you worried about Keir getting angry that you’ve decided to leave? He doesn’t normally keep tabs on you like that, does he?"

The thought of Saffron cowering in fear of her brother’s anger flies in the face of everything I know about her. She’s strong, smart, and independent. I’ve only ever seen Keir celebrate those qualities in his sister. He might be annoyed that she’s leaving so soon if she promised to spend the summer here, but I can’t imagine him actually staying angry about it.

I also can’t imagine her caring this much about something so trivial, if I’m being completely honest.

"No," she admits. "I don’t think he’d mind so much if I just went back home to Scotland. It’s not like he forced me to come here or anything." She nibbles at her bottom lip as a spark of mischief flashes in her eyes. "But I’m not going back home. I’m going to Los Angeles."

She’s leaning in close and whispering the last bit so quietly that it takes a moment to register.

"Oh!" I blink, my breath catching in my throat as my brain finally catches up. "Oh. I see. And is it safe to assume that you’re going back to L.A. in order to see a certain someone? A certain movie producer?"

"Do you think it’s a mistake?" she asks, confirming my suspicions without actually answering my question. "Deacon has already warned me that Keir won’t like it if we start seeing each other, but I don’t care about that. He’ll come around eventually. I’m just worried I’m making a mistake by going all the way out there when there’s no guarantee it’ll work out."

Unlike Saffron, I’m definitely worried about what Keir will say or do when he finds out what’s going on. But I also share her concern about traveling so far and risking a confrontation with her brother if it turns out Deacon isn’t interested in her.

"Has Deacon said anything else?" I prod. "Do you know how he feels about starting a relationship? Particularly a long-distance relationship?" I’ve stopped trying to hide the doubts in my tone as I continue. "Please tell me that’s something the two of you have discussed before now."

"Well," she winces, doubling my worries in an instant. "He hasn’t spelled it out in so many words. I think he still mostly sees me as Keir’s younger sister. If I’m there on my own, I know for sure it’ll be a different story. There won’t be any other distractions. He won’t have to worry about my brother scowling at him or threatening him every time he looks at me. It’ll just be me and him. I think we have a really good shot at making it work."

I can hear the hope in her voice and see it clearly on her face. As much as I’ll hate to see the inevitable squabble between her and Keir, I can’t help but share her same hopeful optimism for her relationship with Deacon.

"I won’t pretend I’m not surprised," I say. "But I admire what you’re doing. Sometimes you have to take a chance on love, and follow your gut and your heart when people try to persuade you otherwise. That’s why I’m still here even though..." I clap a hand over my mouth as I realize what I am about to say.

Good lord, did I seriously almost admit my feelings for Keir? Did I tell Saffron, almost casually, that I'm in love with her brother?

I cringe, preparing myself for her shocked reaction. Except she doesn’t seem shocked at all. My own eyes are wide, and my heart is racing, but Saffron is grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh, Ella!" She throws her arms around me and hugs me tightly. "It’s about time you admitted the two of you are in love."

"But," I shake my head, still stunned by what I almost said. "That isn’t what I meant. I shouldn’t have said anything."

My stomach is starting to hurt. While I’m glad she doesn’t seem surprised or upset at all, I still don’t think I’m ready to talk about my relationship with Keir. Mostly because I'm fairly certain that relationship no longer exists. What we have now is more of a truce. An understanding, like he said earlier.

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