“Itfeelslike it was my fault.”
“Why?”
“Because—because it does, okay?”
“Stupid answer.”
“When you grow up being told everything’s your fault and you need to do better and be perfect, it’s fucking hard to forgive yourself when your decisions hurt good people.” Her whole body freezes, and she pinches her eyes shut. “Never mind. Forget I said that.”
Not a fucking chance.
I lift my phone again and hitcallon Ellie’s number.
She picks up on the second ring, and in very Ellie-like fashion, she doesn’t bother with ahello. “What thefuck, Davis?” she hisses, which probably means she’s far enough away from her kids that they can’t hear her dropping the f-bomb. “Everyone’s worried sick about you, and this feels like when no one would talk about why you all?—”
“You remember Sloane Pearce?” I interrupt.
There’s a long pause. “Yes. Why?”
“She’s here. You’re on speaker.”
“Seriously?”
It’s official. The rumor mill that I’m marrying Sloane hasn’t reached all of my friends yet.
I nudge my pretend bride and wave my phone at her so she can see the name on the screen.
“Hi, Ellie,” Sloane says hesitantly.
“Is he giving you shit? Tell me if he’s giving you shit. My brother’s out there in Shipwreck right now, and I can be there in an hour if I need to kick his ass.”
“Kick…whose…ass?”
“Davis’s. I’d kick Beck’s ass too if you needed me to, but I suspect he’s too busy to give you shit. Also, giving people shit isn’t his style. Not that giving people shit is Davis’s style, but I hear he’s had…a day.”
“Davis is only giving me mild shit. It’s more like indigestion.”
Ellie snorts. “That’s how we all feel.”
“Sitting right here,” I remind her.
“It is,” she says. “You go off and do your secret-secret stuff, and then you show up and you’re all,hey, Wyatt, can you get me four VIP tickets to the air show?, and you don’t say why, and you don’t show up for the air show, and then the next thing I know, Beck’s reporting you’re about to do something stupid. Includinggetting married, even if he doesn’t knowto whom.”
“She’s very blunt,” I say to Sloane.
I almost get a smile.
“Ellie, are you mad at Sloane for what Patrick Dixon did to you?”
“What?No. I’m pissed at him for what he did to both of us. I mean, I was. I don’t think about him at all anymore. Oh my god. Sloane. Tell me you’re not dating him again. I mean, if you are and you’re happy, I’ll…be…happy for you? As happy as I can be? I really think you can do better.”
“That’s not the problem,” Davis says. “She’s smarter than that.”
“Oh.” Ellie pauses but only briefly. “Ohh.Oh, no. Oh, no no no. Sloane, you aren’t holding yourself responsible for a shithead man’s actions, are you? It’s not your fault. I was never mad at you. Jealous because you’re gorgeous, yes, but I’m only human. I think you’re awesome.”
Sloane eyes me.
Then the phone.
