Page 3 of Desiring the Highland Laird
Though she knew the answer, she asked, “Why not?”
“Eve, you know why. She couldn’t wait to get back to her beaches and her dolphins.” Chloe didn’t bother to hide the animosity in her voice.
She understood. The moment they graduated high school and sold their parents’ house, Brianna packed up and left them on their own. It was a struggle, but Chloe was determined to go to college. Evie never cared one way or another. Evie was the one who encouraged her to follow her dreams while she made sure they had a place to live and food to eat. They’d managed to save some of the money from the sale of the house, but even so, Evie went to work to help pay the bills so they wouldn’t exhaust their savings.
“Brianna is built different than us,” Evie said.
“Don’t make excuses for her,” Chloe snapped. “She took care of us because she was forced to.”
It was a bone of contention with Chloe. Evie, though, tried to forgive her.
“It’s like she didn’t even care when Mom and Dad died.”
“Don’t say that,” Evie admonished. “She was as sad as we were.”
“Was she? You know she blew through her part of the inheritance already, don’t you?”
“I didn’t.”
Evie shifted in the seat and regretted asking about Brianna. It wasn’t a lot of money, but it was enough to sustain them and help pay for Chloe’s college. Evie thought it was important she go because she was so much smarter than her and deserved thechance to live out her dreams. Evie never dreamed of a career. She floated from one job to another without any purpose or direction.
Chloe blew out a breath as if she were defeated. “I’m sorry, Eve. I don’t mean to sound so defensive about her.”
“You hold grudges. I get it.”
When Chloe cast her a sideways glance, Evie grinned at her. “God forbid we get into a fight and you hold one against me.”
“That will never happen.”
She took another roundabout at breakneck speed. Evie held on for dear life.
“Tell me about Bruce,” she said through clenched teeth, trying to take her mind off her sister’s driving. She was never great at it—at least that was something Evie was better at—and this driving on the wrong side of the road set her nerves on fire.
“I can’t wait for you to meet him at dinner,” Chloe said.
“Dinner? Tonight?”
“I told him we’d meet him at the pub.”
“Pub?” Evie reached for the door handle and hung on, her nails digging into it.
“Yeah, he and his band play there every Tuesday night.”
“Band?”
What the hell was going on? Chloe was not the type of girl to fall for a guy in a band. Chloe was the type of girl who made straight A’s and aced all her exams. The type of girl who was in bed by nine and never missed a deadline. The type of girl who worked hard and sometimes enjoyed a glass of wine.
All this talk about a pub and a band and some guy was unnerving.
“Not like a rock band or anything,” she said. “More like…traditional music.”
“So, no AC/DC or anything?” she asked.
Chloe laughed. “Nothing like that. Here we are!”
She took a turn into a cramped car park that had narrow spaces. But Chloe seemed unfazed by it as she threw the car into reverse and backed in like a professional driver. Evie was impressed. It was clear her sister was eager to get out and show Evie her flat. And she was eager for that, too.
Right after a nap and a couple of ibuprofen.
