Page 72 of Promise Me Never

But her face tells a different story. I don’t believe that she’s happy that I’m here. She’s still staring, in shock, and then finally she speaks again.

“I don’t understand. Everyone thought you were dead, drowned. Your body never found. What happened?”

“I’ll explain it all. Let’s get out of here. Go sit somewhere.”

She nods, still ashen, and we make our way out of the store as she mumbles a distracted goodbye to the manager.

The shock she’s feeling right now is nothing compared to what she’ll feel when she finds out the truth.

| Seventy-Four |

Savannah

Once they were outside, Savannah pointed.

“My hotel’s down here a block. Why don’t we go to my suite where we’ll have some privacy.”

“Okay.”

Savannah’s hands were bunched into fists. She cast a surreptitious look at her sister. She looked as beautiful as ever. Where the hell had she been all this time? Had she been in hiding? Waiting to come and ruin Savannah’s life?

When they got to the suite, Poppy whistled.

“Pretty swanky. I guess you’ve become accustomed to the good life.”

Savannah narrowed her eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Poppy put a hand up. “Nothing, nothing. A joke. When did you change your name?”

“After college. Savannah Brooks looks better on a book cover than Millie Morningside, don’t you think?”

“Did he know?”

“That we’re sisters?”

Poppy nodded.

“Of course not. You want a drink? I know I could use one,” Savannah said.

“Yes. Whatever you’ve got.”

Savannah poured them each a glass of vodka and they sat down in the living room. “So where’ve you been?”

“Before we get to that, tell me something. Did you love him? Or did you want him because I had him first?”

Savannah felt the heat rise to her face. “You know damn well how I felt about him. I told you that the last time I saw you. But you married him anyway. And then you died.” She took a sip of her vodka and scoffed. “Or you pretended to. You didn’t deserve him.”

“You have no idea—”

“Stop. Don’t try your typical bullshit excuses. I’m over them. I loved him. And he loved me. Even now that he’s dead, I can’t help but wonder, if you’d come back before…” Her breath hitched. “If he were alive and saw you. Would he dump me and take you back?”

Poppy shook her head. “It’s really sad. You’re still blaming me for everything. Either he loved you or he didn’t. When are you going to stop using me as an excuse for what goes wrong in your life?”

Savannah stood, trembling with rage. “I had a life with him! But you, the ghost of you, was still around. Your bizarre sculptures. His memories of you. I can never escape you!”

“No one told you to marry my husband!”

“You were dead! And you should have never married him in the first place!”