“You know perfectly well what we’re talking about.” Zoe stepped closer to Elise who had to fight the urge to back up.
“How could you? Especially when he obviously worships the ground you walk on! I thought it was so great when Kane brought you here; that you’d be perfect for him. Apparently, I was wrong!” Phoebe looked on the verge of tears. “Come on, Zoe. Let’s get out of here!”
As they stalked off, Elise watched them leave feeling as if she’d just been run over by a steamroller. What had that been all about? Rose had definitely been acting strangely last night and apparently it was because of something she thought Elise had done, but she hadn’t had any real contact with the girl in over a week! She walked back to the red sports car and slowly climbed in, still puzzling over the strange encounter.
An awful thought suddenly popped into her head. Kane had mentioned Rose was in town yesterday to pick something up at the Gallery. What were the chances that Rose had seen her meeting with Bryan? Elise replayed her time with her old friend and groaned. To an onlooker, it might have seemed really bad. They’d hugged several times and hadn’t she called out “I love you” as she drove away? That could easily be misinterpreted as her seeing someone behind Kane’s back!
Oh great! What if Rose had already told Kane? How would he react given all she’d heard about his parents’ relationship? She could only hope that Kane had been busy all day. As soon as she got home, she’d have to find him and tell him the whole story before Rose put her own spin on things. Then she’d have to go to Rose and find out who else she had told the story to... Hitting the steering wheel with her hand, Elise cursed herself for ever having listened to Marla and her harebrained scheme!
Thoroughly deflated, Elise turned the key in the ignition and drove to Marty’s.
Chapter 25
By the time she arrived home, Elise’s stomach was in knots over the prospect of talking to Kane. Even though she hadn’t done anything wrong, it still wasn’t a conversation she was looking forward to. After all, who knew what Rose might have said? It had been an innocent meeting but apparently Rose was willing to believe the worst of her and jump to conclusions, which was rather upsetting given the fact that she had tried her best to be pleasant to the other girl.
Mentally, she played out what she’d say to Kane and how he’d react. How did she start? ‘Did you hear a rumour about me?’ No, that probably wasn’t a good opening line. Neither was, ‘You know that rumour Rose told you about me and another man...?’ No, a straight out explanation would be best. She would simply tell him she’d had lunch with Bryan but what with one thing and another, it had completely slipped her mind. Not because she was trying to hide anything, but simply because it wasn’t that important. Yes, that sounded good and it was the truth. She nodded, satisfied with her plan.
Now all she had to worry about was Kane’s reaction. Surely it wouldn’t be that bad, her rational side told her. Kane wasn’t one to jump to conclusions; he’d listen calmly and understand. Unless, the other side of her brain told her, Rose had got to him first. After all, he really hadn’t liked Bryan the one time they’d met. He’d told Bryan to stay away and implicit in that command, she was to stay away from Bryan as well. In a roundabout way, she’d directly disobeyed his orders. Darn but this wasn’t going to go over well at all.
Elise suddenly realized that she’d been standing on the porch for some time, staring blindly at the door. Swallowing hard, she wiped her sweaty palms on her pant leg and stepped inside.
The house was unusually quiet and she strained to hear a sound that might indicate where everyone was. When nothing reached her ears, she gave a sigh of relief. She’d have to face the firing squad eventually, but any reprieve was welcome.
Peeking into Kane’s office, she saw that it was empty. A late afternoon sun streamed weakly into the room, leaving the corners in shadow. The smell of leather mixed with the unique scent of Kane permeated the space and drew Elise inside. Tucking her hands in her pockets, she looked around curious as to where Kane might be.
The desk held the usual piles of paper and the answering machine was blinking, indicating several messages were waiting for Kane’s attention. Briefly she wondered if he’d replaced the tape or not—the quality really had been poor this morning. Impulsively, she wrote a reminder on a sticky note and attached it to the machine. While at the desk, she noticed that the computer hadn’t even been started yet for the day. Had he even made it into the office? Seeing nothing that would provide an answer to her question, she exited the room, shutting the door behind her.