was no better word for a situation such as this.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Ellery zombie-walked down the hallway. She may have passed someone. Or not. That’s how messed up she was after shutting the door on her mother half-dressed with Clay Caldwell.
So not only was her fiancé watching a video of a guy blowing another guy, but her mother, who Ellery thought had cheated to end her marriage but was now innocent of cheating, was, in fact, screwing the only guy who’d broken her heart.
Which was worse?
Adultery or pedophilia?
Okay, it wasn’t pedophilia, but it felt creepy and dirty and plain wrong that her mother would sleep with Clay. Yuck. Gross. Ugh. Wrong.
All Ellery knew at that moment was her life was completely upside down, and she had no idea how to spin it right side up again. Maybe she wouldn’t. Maybe fucked up was her new normal.
She emerged into the common area where the reception desk and small bar were located and immediately saw Evan McCallum. His gaze met hers before she could rip it away and find a place to hide.
“Ah, Ellery,” Evan said, setting down the papers he held in his hand onto the reception counter and walking toward her. “Good morning. Hope you had a nice time last night.”
“Oh, it was dandy,” Ellery said before immediately wishing she’d banked the sarcasm and proceeded with politeness. Maybe she was done with being polite. The fake veneer of cheerfulness she’d pulled on when she first arrived at One Tree Estates had worn off. Bitter deceit and bad behavior tended to abrade cheerful fronts.
Evan frowned, and she noted for the third or fourth time how handsome he was. He wore jeans and a deep-green Henley shirt that stretched across his broad shoulders. He looked Colin Firth–esque, and it dawned on her that she’d probably romanticized Evan to that exact degree. “What’s wrong? Was it the food? Or something at Vine House?”
Ellery shook her head and waved a hand, wishing she could talk to him as easily as she did behind the keyboard. When they corresponded, he always had good suggestions and an insightfulness that dug beneath her shallow worldviews. Maybe he would know how to handle finding one’s mother diddling the much-younger help. Okay, Clay was the contractor, but still, wasn’t that sexual misconduct? “It’s not that. The house is fine. I’m just dealing with family stuff.”
“Oh, well, I understand that,” he said.
She looked at him and saw he did indeed understand. Or thought he did. Her father’s comments last night had been inappropriate, and Evan probably thought what she dealt with was the fallout. Ha. She wished this was about Rex acting like an ass. Nope. Way bigger. “Yeah, dealing with family can be . . . impossible.”
Evan smiled. “But what would we do without them, right?”
“Yeah,” Ellery said. “I do wonder sometimes. In fact, maybe I need to find out.”
“Hey, while we’re on that subject, I wanted to ask you something. Your mother and I have been corresponding for a few months, just a general friendship struck up when I sent her an email about speaking at Poppy’s school. Your mom’s a special lady.”
Ellery swallowed hard and tried not to look guilty. Here’s where she should say: Funny thing, Evan. I answer email for my mother, and, surprise, you’ve been chatting with me all this time. But she didn’t say that. Maybe because she was embarrassed about the deception. Or maybe because she wanted to continue the secret relationship because in that she could be herself . . . or not herself. Whatever. Evan always made her feel like she was perfectly okay being the hot mess she was, but of course he really didn’t know her. You never really knew anyone. “Yeah, she’s certainly special.”
“I’m thinking about asking her out. Maybe drive over to Shreveport for dinner? You think she’d be open to that? I know she hasn’t dated much since her divorce.”
Evan wanted to ask her mother out?
Ellery’s vision flashed brighter, and something ugly tore loose inside her. No. Her mother didn’t get to have Evan, too. She’d tossed aside her father, screwed Clay, and now she got a shot with Evan? Nu-uh. No frickin’ way.
She didn’t want Evan to see the truth in her gaze, so she glanced away.
Of course this would happen. Hadn’t she suspected as much? Evan had said he thought they had . . . what had he called it? Oh yeah. A connection that transcended distance? But that connection was as false as Ellery’s