<b>Chapter </b>47


    Frank avoided her gesture and ced the box on the empty passenger seat. “She’s younger–has a sweet tooth. And aren’t you watching your sugar?”


    Marcia stared at him in disbelief.


    He was as calm and handsome as always, as if nothing about him had changed.


    She stood there, frozen, thinking for a long moment–then, suddenly, it hit


    her.


    Maybe what had changed was his heart.


    He kept insisting he saw Elissa as a little sister, but what if–what if he was falling for her and didn’t even realize it?


    Her fingernails dug deep into her palm. She shot Frank an unhappy look, but this time, she didn’t bother to question whether he’d caught feelings


    for Elissa.


    “So, do you treat every friend’s kid sister this well?”


    “She burned bridges with Rowan just to marry me.”


    Frank nced over, clearly thinking her question was unnecessary. “Is it wrong to be a little nicer to her?”


    Back home, Elissa stepped out of a hot shower.


    She was drying her hair when Tanya Foster came in, bncing a te of dark cherries, and popped one into Elissa’s mouth. “Come on, spill. What happened?”


    “Hm?”


    “You might not look miserable,” Tanya said, handing her a napkin for the pit, “but trust me–my eagle eyes can tell when something’s off.”


    Chapter


    Elissa couldn’t help butugh.


    Sometimes, she thought, her life really wasn’t so bad.


    Her mentor and Jacqueline treated her kindly, and she had Tanya as her best friend.


    She set the hairdryer aside. “Guess who I ran into after leaving my mentor’s ce?”


    “Who?”


    “Frank and Marcia.”


    Elissa’s lips twisted into a wry smile. “Frank was there, paving the way for Marcia–trying to get my mentor to take her on as a student.”


    She wasn’t even sure how she felt about it.


    Mostly, it left her feeling stuck.


    Frank had only gotten close to her mentor because of her, and now he was using that connection to help the woman he truly cared for.


    It didn’t even make her sad, exactly-


    “What’s Frank thinking? Is he trying to p you in the face? Honestly, you two aren’t even officially divorced, and here he is, parading it around.” Tanya was indignant.


    Exactly.


    It was like getting pped in public.


    It stung, no matter how she tried to brush it off.


    But once she said it out loud, Elissa felt a little better. She let out a long breath, “Probably only Marcia knows what he’s thinking.”


    “The divorce papers?”


    Tanya looked as if she’d love to drag Elissa out of her wreck of a marriage herself. “When is his mother finally going to send them over?”


    <b>2/4 </b>


    “I asked today. Should be soon.”


    “She’s not stringing you along?”


    “No.”


    Carm always acted warm and easygoing, but she was sharp and decisive underneath.


    Elissa had made her own intentions perfectly clear–she was definitely not the kind of daughter–inw Carm wanted.


    If anything, Carm was probably even more eager to get the divorce finalized than she was.


    Just then, Tanya’s phone, left forgotten on the living room couch, started ringing. Tanya dashed out to answer it.


    Elissa picked up her hairdryer, about to finish drying her hair, when her own phone buzzed on the table.


    The caller ID made her body tense up instantly. She traced her fingernail along her fingertip several times before finally answering.


    “Hi, Grandma.”


    On the other end, the old woman’s voice was impatient and sharp. “What took <i>you </i>so long?”


    Elissa drew in a silent breath. “I was just getting out of the shower…”


    “Elissa,”


    Matriarch Paige Murphy cut her off with a cold, mirthlessugh. “Being a littlete to answer isn’t the problem. Not answering at all–that would be impressive.”


    Elissa’s knuckles whitened around her phone. “Grandma, I would never-”


    “All right,”


    Paige’s tone softened, just slightly. “Family dinner tomorrow night. Make sure you’re home early. te’s just got back from overseas–he’s been


    12 13 #


    saying he hasn’t seen you in ages.”


    A jolt ran through Elissa, and the phone slipped from her hand, ttering to the floor.


    By the time she picked it up, the call had already ended.


    She stared up at the ceiling, taking several deep breaths to try and steady herself, but the memories crashing through her mind only made her hands tremble harder.


    She hesitated, weighing her options again and again, before finally dialing Frank’s number.


    “Elissa, what’s wrong?”


    He picked up almost immediately.


    Somewhere in the background, she could faintly hear Marcia urging him to eat more fruit.


    Elissa kept her voice steady. “There’s a Murphy family dinner tomorrow night. Can youe with me?”


    <b>Chapter </b>48