It was several minutes before she returned to Jane’s room, but Jane was still busy reading, or more likely, rereading. Elsie handed her a mug and carefully sat back down with her own.
Jane looked up. “This explains Will’s weird questions about Lydia. That girl. You have to go talk to her.”
Elsie’s shoulders slumped. “I know. But maybe you should. She likes you better.”
Jane took a sip. “Maybe so, but she doesn’t listen to me any better than she listens to you.”
“I could approach Jeff first. He said he was heading back to L.A. I hope he is.”
Jane’s eyes lit up. “That might be better. Maybe he’ll come clean about the whole thing and apologize.”
“Jane. Did you even read the letter? He put Will’s sister in a wheelchair. He’s a manipulative monster. I don’t see this going well no matter how I approach it.”
Elsie took out her phone, reminding herself that Jeff didn’t know about any of this and it would be normal for her to text him.
Hey. Have you left for LA yet?
Not yet. Denny says he’s not ready. He met someone, lucky dog.
Likely story. Elsie was too mad to answer and put down her phone. “He’s not leaving.”
“You could tell Mom and Dad.”
They rarely interfered in Lydia’s life these days, but this was a whole different level of trouble. “Yes, I think you’re right, Jane. I’ll talk to Dad, and then I’ll talk to Lydia.” Elsie stood and retrieved the letter from the bed, carefully folding it back up.
“You’re not going right now are you?” Jane asked.
Elsie nodded. “Actually, I think I am.”
Chapter 19 ♥Suspicion
“Dad, you’re not listening. Lydia still lives at home. Can’t you ground her or something? Cut off her phone like you did before?”
Elsie’s dad wrinkled his nose. “I thought you liked Jeff? Did he break up with you? Is that why you were crying in the library this morning? I’m sorry, Elsie. Him choosing Lydia over you is terrible, but not a reason to take away her phone.”
“Dad, I don’t care about Jeff. Not romantically, anyway. And now that I’ve learned some things about his past I can’t even be friends with him. He will be a toxic influence on Lydia. Can’t you just trust me on that? How am I going to convince Lydia of it if you don’t believe me?”
“I believe in your character judgment. If you say Jeff is a bad guy then I believe you. But Lydia goes through boyfriends like toilet paper. Why make all this fuss about this one or that one? I can already hear the screaming. It’s not worth it.”
Elsie rubbed her head. Lately, peace and quiet were all he cared about. “Has Jeff been over here recently?”
He shrugged. “He’s here all the time. Your mother loves him.”
“I’m sure she does. Where is Lydia, anyway?”
“No idea. Look, I’ll send her over when she shows up. Then you and Jane can sit her down and have your chat.”
There was little else she could do. But she didn’t need to wait for him to pass on the message. She pulled out her phone and texted Lydia on the walk back to her house.
Where R U?
She reached her door before Lydia bothered to respond.
At home. Why?
Elsie glanced back. Sure enough, Lydia was pulling in her parents’ driveway. Elsie jogged back and reached Lydia before she could head into the house.
“What has you so worked up?” Lydia asked, looking amused.
