My phone sat on the nightstand where I’d left it. No messages. Not that I’d expected any. I’d told Snapper to leave, and he had.
A knock sounded at my door.
“Go away.”
“We need to talk.” Felicity’s voice filtered through the wood.
“I said go away.”
The door opened anyway. Of course it did. My sister had never been good at respecting my boundaries or—apparently—telling me the truth.
I whirled on her. “You want to talk? Fine. Let’s talk about you and Snapper.”
Felicity stood on the threshold. Her face went pale, and her eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb with me.” I crossed my arms over my chest because it was the only way to keep myself from coming apart at the seams. “Isabel told me about the two of you. She said if I wanted to know what kind of man Snapper really was, I should ask you about your relationship with him.”
“Relationship? Saffron, what relationship?”
“The one you had before Wagner. The one you never told me about.” My eyes stung, but I blinked the sensation away. “How could you not tell me? You’re my sister. We tell each other everything.”
Felicity moved into the room and closed the door behind her. She rested against it the same way I had moments ago. “Saffron, listen to me very closely. I was never involved with Snapper. Not ever. Not even close.”
“But Isabel said?—”
“Isabel lied,” Felicity snapped. “That man has been crazy about you since we were teenagers. Everyone knows it. Everyone except you.” She pushed away from the door and sat on the edge of my bed. “I would never lie to you. Never. And I sure as hell would never get involved with a man my sister was in love with.”
I absorbed what she said, but it felt disconnected from reality. “I’m not—I mean, I wasn’t?—”
“You’ve been in love with him for years, Saff. Just like he’s been in love with you. Whatever Isabel told you was poison meant to make you doubt him. Don’t let her win.”
I resumed pacing. “But I heard you. Downstairs. You and Snapper were talking, and you said I didn’t need to know. That there was no reason I ever had to know.”
Felicity’s expression shifted to recognition. “Oh, honey. That wasn’t about us. That was about something else.”
“What?”
She opened her mouth, then closed it. She looked toward the door like she was making a decision. “I need to tell you something. But I think Mom and Dad should hear it too.”
Dread settled in my gut like a stone.
“Just—wait here. I’ll be right back.”
She disappeared into the hallway before I could argue. I heard her footsteps on the stairs, then muffled voices below. A minute later, footsteps again. Multiple sets this time.
My parents appeared in the doorway with Felicity. My mother’s face was lined with concern, and my father looked confused.
“What’s going on?” Dad asked.
My sister moved past them into the room. “Isaac Brennan stopped by this afternoon while you were all out.”
My dad’s eyes opened wide.
“You know I dated him in high school. Anyway, he works at the bank now. In the loan department.” Felicity’s gaze moved to our father. “He came to see you, but since you weren’t home, he talked to me instead.”
“What did he want?” Dad asked.
“To let you know the bank is extending the deadline on the foreclosure.”
