Page 50 of Unexpected Entanglement

“Hey, you were thinking on your feet as you were being attacked. She’ll understand,” Chris assured her. “Go on. Call your brother.”

Rowan nodded, hoping he was right. She dialed Kieran’s number and waited. He picked up after the second ring.

“Kieran, come to the main house. We have a problem.”

sixteen

Ten days to the wedding

Rowan jogged toward the rising sun. Alex was running a good ten yards ahead of her. They used to run track in high school, but Alex, with her long legs, was always faster. And to this day, she’d kept running as an exercise, unlike Rowan. This morning was probably the first time in years she had run at this pace.

Rowan was ready with her sneakers on to catch Alex this morning—because she knew her friend would run when she was pissed.

And boy, I pissed her off big time.

When Kieran had arrived at the main house last night, Rowan and Chris had explained to the group that she’d only come up with the engagement to stop Gibbes from making more issues for Bright Head. She’d known Alex might’ve felt duped, but she hadn’t expected Alex to be this upset with her.

“You lied to me. You let me believe it,” Alex had said flatly. “I truly thought you finally found someone you deserve.”

Alex had walked out of the kitchen where they’d converged and left the house. Rowan had wanted to go after her, but Kieran had told her to deal with Alex later since he had his own questions. Oliver had assured Rowan Alex just needed to calm down and had gone after her.

After a short initial “what the fuck were you thinking?” reaction, Kieran had been oddly reasonable about the whole thing. He’d actually agreed due to the circumstances, announcing Chris as her fiancé had been the only way to shut up Connor Gibbes.

“But now you have to keep up with this ruse, at least until we can assure the Chamber that Chris isn’t here to buy up land,” Kieran had said. “Or until he leaves.”

“I have a feeling we didn’t fool Gibbes,” Chris had said.

“The more reason you need to convince them of your engagement, and you’re only here for Rowan,” Kieran had said. “Rowan is telling the truth that some people would prefer if the inn doesn’t reopen and we’ll be forced to sell the land.”

“Wouldn’t that make the island more vulnerable to buyers like me?” Chris had questioned.

“Sure.” Kieran had shrugged. “There’s a conservation group whose goal is to protect and preserve the island’s natural state and culture. Rowan and I support that goal. Maybe they hoped we’d donate the land?”

“Ever since we started the renovations, we’ve hit several issues,” Rowan had added. “But our dad had his own pull in the community. He got us the permits to build the additions. But since he passed, people like Gibbes think they can push me around. They’d use any ammunition to hinder my way.”

Chris had understood the dilemma and agreed to play the part of her fiancé. That was one issue temporarily solved, and now Rowan had to deal with another. She picked up her pace and closed the distance between her and Alex, though her lungs were burning.

“Alex, slow down, please!” she pleaded.

Alex glanced over her shoulder and gave her an annoyed look. She ignored Rowan and kept going. Rowan tried to keep up with Alex, but she gave up. She stopped and tried to catch her breath. With a hand pressed to the stitch in her waist, she bent forward and rested her other hand on her thigh.

“Alex!” Rowan called between pants. “Come on. We need to talk.”

Alex finally stopped but took her time before she doubled back. Once she was upon Rowan, Alex glared at her. “Now you want to talk?”

“Why are you so angry at me?” Rowan demanded. “I wasn’t planning to tell Gibbes Chris was my fiancé. The lie just flew out of my mouth. It was a reactive panic thing. You don’t know how much trouble he could cause the inn if he believed Chris was buying it.”

“That’s one thing to lie to that old guy.” Alex’s usual fuck-it demeanor was nowhere to be found. “But you’ve been keeping things from me, Ro. I can feel it. What the hell is going on? I’m here to support you. Don’t I deserve the truth?

“Why is Chris Sullens really here, huh?” she demanded. “You haven’t even given me a straight answer on that one. He may not be your fiancé, but I know there’s something between you two. I can see how you look at each other, the way he pushes your button—”

“He’s here on behalf of my half-sister,” Rowan blurted.

“I’m sorry.” Alex did a double-take. “I must need to have my ears checked. I thought I heard you say your half-sister.”

“You did.” Rowan twisted her lips. “Kieran and I have a half-sister.”

“What the…” Alex stopped short and stared at her with rounded eyes.

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