Page 55 of Sweet Revenge
“Thank you. That’s so nice. In any case, I wouldn’t think you’d need me to update you on Declan’s sexual prowess. I’m sure his girlfriends have given you plenty of dirt over the years.”
Evie hated the way the words twisted in her gut as she spoke them, but she plastered on a grin anyway.
“What?” she asked in response to Cait’s amused smirk.
“Declan doesn’t do girlfriends. I’m sure he’s had lovers, but he does not bring them home. Ever. As far as I know, you’re the only woman he’s ever slept with at Glenmore House.”
That couldn’t be true. And so what if he had brought women home? It’s not like she’d been wondering how many others had slept in the bed she now shared with him every night. Much.
“So what does he…”
Cait’s voice trailed off, and Evie followed her gaze across the restaurant in time to see Maura weaving her way through the tables. She looked about as happy as Evie felt at the idea of a public exchange.
Maura stopped short next to the table, ignoring Evie to glare at Cait. “If you had told me she was going to be here, I wouldn’t have come.”
“Exactly,” Cait replied. “This time it really is a setup. Now sit down. I said sit down,” Cait snapped when Maura protested. “So help me God, Maura Elizabeth, if you don’t sit, I will not hesitate to make you. If I can buckle a screaming toddler into a car seat, I can body check you into that chair.”
Maura’s gaze shifted to the chair Cait was pointing at, and she sank into it with a reluctant huff, muttering to herself as the waiter brought more water and a basket of warm bread.
“Now,” Cait said when the waiter left with their order, “we’re going to sit here until we sort this out or we die. Whichever one comes first. It’s up to you two.”
“There isn’t anything to sort out. I’m done with her.”
“This isn’t going to work.”
“I don’t accept that.” Cait shook her head. “Our whole lives we were sisters in everything but name. And sisters are supposed to love each other no matter what, forgive each other no matter what.”
“It’s irritating how nice you are sometimes.”
“Yeah, for once can’t you just be an asshole like the rest of us?” Maura agreed.
“Well, at least you two see eye to eye on something,” Cait said brightly.
“It’s a nice sentiment, Cait, but I can’t forgive someone for abandoning me for ten years over something so stupid.”
“Excuse me?”
For the first time, Maura met Evie’s gaze with a hard stare. “I know you left because you didn’t want to get married. And that’s a shitty fucking reason to abandon everyone who loves you.”
Well, that wasn’t exactly the reason.
“It’s not that simple. Christ, Maura,” Evie added when Maura scoffed. “What do you want me to say? That I fucked up? Because I did. Everyone at this table knows that.”
Evie hooked her thumb at Cait. “Even the nice one. My reasons for leaving made sense to me at the time, and you don’t know how many times I’ve wished I could take it back, how many times I’ve wished I could undo it all. But I can’t.
“So I’ve learned to live with it instead. To create a new life and a new normal and pretend I was happy because at some point it was easier to stay gone than to come back and try to fix it.”
“Would you even be here if not for what happened to your parents?” Maura asked.
“Probably not. I hurt you,” Evie admitted. “Both of you. All of you. And I’m sorry for that. I don’t know if you believe that or not, but you didn’t deserve what I did to you. Just like my parents didn’t deserve to suffer for my bad choices.”
“Evie,” Cait whispered, reaching out to cover Evie’s hand with hers.
Evie jerked her hand away and cleared her throat against the lump that had gathered. “The more I think about it, the more I realize if I had never left, I would never have gotten tangled up with Peter, and they would still be alive.”
“That is not your fault.”
“She’s right,” Maura said softly. “I’m still mad at you, but I could never tell you what happened to them is your fault because it isn’t. It’s Peter’s and Peter’s alone. You can’t blame yourself.”
