Page 94 of It's Always Been You
“Once. Yes.” I frown at myself. As if the number of times matters. While Evie and I might have only slept together once, there was enough going on between us behind closed doors to make our friendship far from innocent.
Gladys shifts off the couch, grimacing at it like it has cooties. “Not here, I hope?”
The scowl returns to my face. “Be serious, please. This was years ago.”
She grins sheepishly. “I was going to say . . . sleeping with the help could be a big problem for you.” She tilts her chin down, arching a brow. “Lawsuit big. And I know you’re not that stupid.”
How stupid I am is debatable. Leaning back, I clasp my hands on top of my head and sigh, feeling helpless. I wanted to go after her just now, but I knew that if I did, she’d only end up lashing out at me again. She needed space.
To be fair, so did I.
“So what happened?”
I shrug evasively.
“Spill the beans, child.” She lifts her wrist and starts a timer on her watch. “You’ve got one hour. After that, I charge extra.”
I laugh. “Go home, Gladys. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.”
She shimmies back against the couch, settling in. “I’m not going anywhere until you talk. I know you need to get something off your chest. The tension between you two has been putting meon edge for weeks now. Can’t imagine how you’re feeling.”
I groan again. And to think I’ve been begging Evie to hear me out, but I can’t even bring myself to tell Gladys the full story. “She’s always had a crush on me.”
She frowns, confused.
I shake my head, disgusted with myself. To pin what happened between us on Evie’s childhood crush is diabolical of me. I sit forward and rake my hands through my hair. “I don’t know. I knew that, I guess. And yet . . .”
I’m expecting Gladys to wag her finger at me, but she sits quietly. “And yet?”
“I wanted her,” I whisper, shamefaced as I think back to her wedding day—and how she looked in that form-fitting gown. It was as though the scales had fallen from my eyes, and I could see her clearly for the very first time.
“And what was so wrong about that?”
“Because she’s liked me all her life. Ever since she was a kid.”
She stares at me like she’s struggling to connect the dots. “Well, she’s not a kid anymore . . . so what’s the problem?”
“You make it sound so simple. And it’s not.”
“Tell me why it’s not.”
Somehow, my heart starts beating even faster. “The truth is ugly.”
“I’m sure I’ve heard uglier,” she says, pulling her legs up beneath her so she’s sitting cross-legged.
“I don’t know . . .”
She doesn’t say anything. Just waits. But where do I even begin?
“Start at the beginning,” she says, like she can read my mind. She grabs a mint from the side table and untwists the wrapper. “And do not sugar coat anything. Give it to me neat.”
Chapter 30
Evie
Rainpeltsagainstmyhood as I run away, yet again. I can’t believe I just walked out like that.
Shivering, I wrap my arms around myself as I think about what Gladys must have overheard. I’m just lucky there were no patients in the building when I had my meltdown . . .
