Page 28
“Yeah…” I blow a harsh breath with the word. “Eloise made her way into everyone’s head. But, she actually isn’t in my dad’s life anymore.”
Sean hoists himself up in his seat, head tilted. “Really?”
“I know, it came to a surprise to me too when he told me yesterday. He’s two years free from her.”
“And you just found out?”
“Yeah, I guess you’ve missed a lot in the Sloane family drama.”
“Apparently.” He’s silent for a moment, chewing his bottom lip. “You said you came back home. Where were you living before that?”
I see we won’t be digging into too many family details just yet.
“New York.”
His eyebrows raise steadily. “That’s a big change.”
“Yeah, it is. It’s good to be back home though. New York won’t miss me.”
His eyes narrow and his brows furrow tightly. I know he has questions—but he’s holding back.
I can’t exactly blame him.
“My dad is helping me do some house hunting later today.”
I’ll say anything right now to avoid awkward silence.
“For you?” His voice is as smooth as silk, ringing in my ears.
“Mmhmm,” I mumble.
I wish I had a coffee to sip on myself. It would be too weird to get one now. Meeting for coffee is too tricky, because you have to go to the counter and order. We should have just met at a restaurant so they’d come to us.
His brows stay furrowed. “So you plan on staying then?”
I can feel my skin growing cold and pale. It’s never good to feel unwanted. He isn’t as easy to read as before, I don’t know what he’s thinking. But he clearly has anger toward me. Toward what happened.
“There’s a house for rent, by my parent's cabin,” he carries on. “It’s a two bedroom. The folks that lived there went to an assisted living home. It’s small but nice, you should check it out. I can give you the address.”
“I forgot about your parent's cabin,” I say, warily.
He invited me to the cabin a few times, but I only stopped by for a couple of minutes one day. It was beautiful out there. It’s only a twenty-minute drive from town, but it has a very secluded atmosphere.
“That would be great, actually.”
He gives me a full smile—the smile that I always knew and loved.
“Okay, I’ll send it to you,” he says. “It’s nice that you’re back.”
“It is?” I jolt up, surprised.
“Sure, it’s nice seeing a familiar face.”
He smiles so wide, it makes me smile too.
“So now that you are back, what else do you have planned?”
He went from nervous, to confident, to hostile, and back to confident.
