Page 41 of Kayak Girl

“Thanks for being on top of things, Elle, but I set a timer on the oven, so it’s all good,” Weston said with a smile.

I was out of ideas. I wanted to tell Gray, but not like this. The impending conflict that was rapidly unfolding before me, heightened all my defenses. Memories of desperate moments spent trying to avoid confrontations with my dad flooded my mind, and the urgency to escape from this space was almost crushing. My breathing became erratic, and my heart pumped so furiously that it partially blocked my hearing.

Gray, who seemed to have noticed my distress, looked at me with concern etched across his handsome features. He made a subtle move toward me, but I quickly shook my head, signaling for him to stay put. I needed to regain control of myself.

I stumbled toward the closest free chair and sank into it, gripping the edge of the seat tightly. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to focus on the steady rhythm of my breaths as I inhaled and exhaled slowly. I could feel the tension in my body gradually dissipating, my heartbeat returning to a more normal pace.

“I bet you’re tired of talking about this,” Rick said, his booming voice interrupting my focused breathing. “But I’ve never known someone who works in insurance, and I am so interested.”

“Guys, let’s give Weston a break,” I said with a squeak in my voice as a last attempt to put an end to this.

“I don’t mind the questions, Rick. In fact, I can even show you how the app works. Gray let’s search the email address you got from the guy who hit your car. I wouldn’t normally do this, but just so I can show Rick how it works.”

I gasped and everyone looked my way.

“What’s the matter, Elle?” Gray asked.

“Nothing,” I squeezed out of my tightening throat.

“Give us that email address, Gray.” Weston said.

I stared at Weston and shook my head, hoping he would have mercy on me and quit this search, but he only frowned at me quizzically and typed in the address Gray read out to him. I was about to get up and run. But like it was God sent, Brenda’s calming voice interrupted my erratic thoughts. “That was then—this is now.” The instant I allowed that sentence to wash over me, my lungs loosened a fraction, and I took a deep breath. The fresh oxygen helped me to think more clearly, and I just kept repeating in my mind: That was then—this is now.

“See here Rick, it’s just searching. We’ll get all the relevant information on this guy in a minute.” Weston showed Rick his phone screen.

That was then—this is now.

“Oh, look here, the information is coming up. Huh. It’s not a guy. It’s a female aged twenty-four,” Weston said.

That was then—this is now. That little phrase gave me the courage to face what I knew was coming. Lord, help me face this conflict with grace. All I could do now was watch Gray’s reaction and deal with the aftermath.

“Oooooh, Gray, your car got beat up by a girl,” Rick teased.

“There’ll be a name here somewhere,” Weston muttered as he scrolled through his phone. A small part of me hoped that by some miracle my name would not show up.

“Here it is. That’s odd,” Weston said, his eyebrows shooting up. “It says the email address belongs to…” He looked at me and then almost whispered, “to Estelle Knight?”

All eyes turned to me. But I watched Gray’s face. He was laughing like it was a mistake and then he saw I wasn’t laughing. Unsure what to do, I just mouthed, “I’m sorry.”

Gray’s expression changed from confusion to utter betrayal, and my heart shattered.

Weston tried to contain the awkwardness, so he laughed and said, “Must be a glitch. I’m sure the food is ready. Let’s eat.”

Everyone seemed to take Weston’s lead, and either laughed or stood to get food. Everyone except Gray. He knew.

Chapter 28

GRAY

For Weston’s sake, I acted normal, ate the meal, and joined in conversations, but inside I felt crushed. I was wrong. Elle and Kayley had something in common. They both had the same guilty look in their eyes when their lies had been found out. I thought Elle was different. I couldn’t care less about my car, but the fact that Elle had purposefully deceived me caught me so off guard.

We waved goodbye to everyone, and I held Elle’s door as she climbed into my Jeep. The same car she’d crashed into. My heart took another hit as I shut the door. It all made sense now. She never told me why her van was at the mechanic. I got into my side of the vehicle and started driving us back to the hostel.

In the dim glow of the setting sun, the car’s interior was steeped in shadows. My hands gripped the steering wheel, each detail and stitch feeling cold and coarse under my fingertips. I exhaled slowly, trying to steady the storm of thoughts inside my head. Looking straight ahead, I spoke, “You know, I don’t care about my car. It’s that you lied to me. I told you I cannot tolerate lies, Elle. Why did you do it?”

“I was going to tell you.”

“Said every liar once they’ve been found out,” I said, not bothering to keep the bitterness out of my voice. She shifted uncomfortably in the passenger seat, the distance between us seeming so vast, even though we were confined within this small space.

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