Page 43 of Secondhand Secrets

“You humiliated me.” Ally ground the statement out through gritted teeth. In part, so Gordon wouldn’t hear from his position by Maynard’s stove. But also because of the leashed anger eating her up from the inside.

Now second-guessing her direct approach, she slammed her mouth shut, the kitchen’s heat adding to the sharp prickle over her skin because Chip stood right beside her.

For months, she’d held on to her feelings over what Sarah had done. So now she wanted no regrets and swallowed back her unusual shyness, trying again. “You and Dean shared a connection from the very beginning. You could have told me, Sarah. I would have been happy for you. But instead, you let me act on something that didn’t exist.”

Sarah startled at Ally’s words, as though they were a literal slap, her lips wavering in contrast to her usual stoic air before she found her voice. “It’s not like Dean and I entered a committed relationship on day one, and to be fair, I spent weeks in denial over how I felt about him. So yes, we had a short prior history, but nothing that justified me fighting off other interested women. Besides, you didn’t do anything more than invite yourself to his place with breakfast. You did the exact same for Emilia when she first arrived in town, remember?”

“Hey!” Chip sent her a frown, one that twisted at the corners and denoted humor. “You didn’t bring me any breakfast.”

Ally cringed and shook her head, now not being the time for that conversation or humor, though she could always argue she’d cooked him breakfast the morning he’d slept at her parents’ house.

“You lived in Harlow once before, so technically, you’re not eligible for one of my welcome breakfasts.” She gave him a mock scowl and then refocused on Sarah. “Besides, Dean and I knew the intention of his breakfast was something more than me saying hello, which is why that morning led to a damn awkward conversation about how his feelings for me weren’t mutual. But yah know, my problem here isn’t even about Dean. Up until the day Blaine uncovered who Dean really was—his criminal past and his reasons for being in Harlow, as well as your secret relationship with him—you let me, and everyone else in this town, believe layer upon layer of lies. Only for the truth to hit us harder than if you’d just tried to be upfront. You acted like an outsider. Like you had no obligation to the people who looked out for you when you needed it most. And on a personal front, what hurts me most, is that you treated me like a child who couldn’t handle the truth. I thought we were closer than that.”

A prolonged silence settled over her, Sarah, and Chip. Sarah’s attention shifted about Ally’s face, the woman failing to blink while a small muscle at the corner of her jaw rose from clear strain. Even Chip appeared floored, his gaze darting between her and Sarah, his cheeks looking sort of hollow, like he hadn’t thought Ally capable of cutting to the core of an issue quite like she had.

Now, Sarah’s head moved in a slow and seemingly unintended nod before she finally blinked and then shook her head, as though emerging from a dream. “Yah know…you’re right. Which means, I was wrong. At the time, I was reeling from my breakup with Blaine, his injuries, and the Syndicate. Then Dean came along, and I was drowning under the pressure to figure out what all these changes meant for me. It was an onslaught, Ally, a literal onslaught of shocks. I was overwhelmed and frightened and too busy protecting myself to tend to my other relationships. I know none of that excuses the selfish approach that I chose, but I’m sorry. I really am sorry.”

Ally’s lips parted, and she took her turn offering frozen silence—her mind racing, while the rest of her held numb. Long seconds passed until she pried her attention from Sarah and onto Chip, his wide gaze extending a similar bewildered sheen.

Sarah Overton wasn’t the sort to say sorry—not without great reluctance anyway—and she showed no reluctance here. Then again, no matter how genuine or out of character an apology, feelings of betrayal and bitterness didn’t just disappear the moment she, the perpetrating party, uttered, “I’m sorry.”

Ally didn’t want to forgive Sarah out of pure and simple pressure or because her convoluted relationship with Chip made the quarrel feel somehow bigger. Did he think less of her for fighting with his sister? And what about her past crush on Dean?

As always, Chip’s face gave nothing away, nor did his general upbeat personality. Especially not the small shrug he gave her now, as though he had no answers on how she should receive Sarah’s apology.

So Ally turned back to Sarah and sought some open answers. “You put so much effort into deceiving everyone, especially me. Why?”

Sarah’s gaze dropped to the tile floor, her delay the same perpetual caution that always scrubbed Ally’s nerves the wrong way. Perhaps another frustration that had added to Ally ditching Sarah as a friend.

“Apart from not wanting a whole lot of gossip over who I spend my time with?” Sarah gave a dry laugh and peered back up. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m overprotective of you because of how our friendship started.”

In search of a clearer explanation, Ally narrowed her eyes only for Sarah to raise her brows and nod to her brother, her stare refusing to let him go.

“What?” Chip wore a pinched look, and he raised both hands in a gesture of innocence. “What do I have to do with any of this?”

“Remember that promise you forced me to keep before you left for Boston all those years ago?” She dipped her chin low and peered up at him, waiting.

Meanwhile, the tension across Chip’s face dropped, and he shook his head slowly, a silent plea for her not to elaborate.

But Sarah being Sarah, she would say her piece no matter what, and no amount of pleading could stop her. “You made me promise to look out for Ally. You said to make sure no one troubled her, and that she wasn’t alone.”

This time, she paired her raised brow with the crossing of her arms, her stance daring Chip to refute her claim. But much to Ally’s sorrow, he didn’t. He merely turned to her, his face slacker and paler than before.

“Don’t get me wrong”—Sarah’s softened tone called for new attention, that softening a sign she sought to ease Ally’s sudden disenchantment—“I want your friendship back, Ally. I always valued you irrespective of any promise to Chip. That promise only meant that I started with a need to protect you. Maybe I should have been up front about that, and I took a great deal longer than normal to let go, but I can see how my not doing so made you feel patronized.”

Though Sarah’s honest appeal for friendship brought some relief, an icy sensation washed down Ally’s body—over Chip’s childhood meddling with her life—that neither of these two had ever stopped the charade long enough to inform her of their little sibling protection pack.

Damn right I feel patronized.

Muscles loose, she turned to Chip, her heart drumming a rebellious beat. “You too?”

His gaze darted about her face, as though he searched for the right answer to supply.

How disappointing.

A hot prickle formed behind her eyes, and she shook her head, no longer wanting to hear what either of these people had to say. And sure, maybe they’d meant well, but their good intentions still hurt, and she wanted to leave.

So, while she’d lost the heart to double back through the bar and face the confused stares and questions of her fellow townsfolk, she found the will to push past Sarah and Chip and shove the nearby back door open.

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