Page 64 of Not So Very Sensible

Wow. Dad really didn’t mind going there. “The problem is, Dad, Lucinda has posted this in a public space, so now all of my friends and work colleagues think I’m engaged to her. And I’m not. And I will not be. So, I can’t see a way to let them know this is not the case unless I do say something publicly. Can you?”

Three pairs of dark eyes stared back at him. He shifted his glasses back up his face. His glasses often felt like an inconvenience, but right now they felt like a shield. Or an X-ray. Like he could see these people and their motives more clearly. They didn’t care about him. They cared about money, impressing people, their own reputations. Too bad his own reputation was seen as expendable.

Finally, Francine leaned forward. “What if you just leave it for a bit? Give Lucinda the weekend to play pretend—I agree, it is odd—then next week when the fuss dies down, you speak to her and it all goes back to normal.”

“How can you say you think what she did is odd when you just congratulated her on Facebook?”

She looked nonplussed for a moment. Then shrugged. “I agree, I probably shouldn’t have done that—”

“Then delete your comment.”

“Fine, fine.” She waved a hand. “I will. But I agree with Dad. If you make a fuss now, it’s only going to hurt his election campaign. And to be fair, it might even hurt your work.”

“What?”

“Who’s going to trust a lawyer who doesn’t keep his word?” Rob piped up.

“It wasn’t even my word to begin with.” He clasped his head in his hands. “I can’t believe any of this. This is a nightmare.”

“It’s a nightmare for Christine, that’s what it is,” Dad said. “And you making a fuss is only going to hurt her even more.”

He exhaled. This felt like an impossible situation. And Francine was right. He didn’t want to be the guy who people couldn’t trust. Even if what was being said was a lie.

“Fine. One weekend. That’s all. Then I’m speaking to her and it stops. Understand?”

Dad smiled his Cheshire cat–like grin. “I appreciate it, Son. You’ll find it won’t be as bad as you think it might be.”

He shook his head, not bothering with farewells as he exited. Not as bad as he thought it might be?

No. It would be a thousand times worse.

Chapter 12

“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!”

“Katie, calm down.” Ellie chuckled as her sister raced into her room, holding her phone. “What’s the matter with you?”

“Look!” Katie held out her phone.

“I can’t see anything—you keep moving it.”

“I can’t believe it. He seemed so into—”

At the abrupt end of sentence and the way Katie bit her lip, misgiving stole through her. “What’s happened?”

“It’s Ethan.”

Her heart thudded as fear shrieked inside. “He’s not dead, is he?”

“No. But … Oh, Ellie. I’m so sorry.”

She tugged the phone from her sister’s grasp and finally read the post. Short and snappy, the “I said yes!” coupled with a diamond ring and a picture of a heavily lashed woman being kissed could only mean one thing. And the fact that man looked awfully like the man who had kissed Ellie on the cheek a week ago could only mean another.

Her heart crumpled. “Oh my gosh.”

Far from the genuine Christian man she believed him to be, Ethan seemed as much of a user as she had suspected Jason of being. And while Katie and Jason seemed to be going great guns—he’d taken her to dinner at Doyle’s at Sydney’s Watson Bay on a seaplane—this picture only confirmed what yesterday’s no-show had suggested. That Ethan was the player, and she, sensible, practical Elinor, had been played.

She pressed her lips together, feeling the intensity of her sister’s scrutiny. No way did she want to deal with Katie’s sympathy. Let alone her mum’s. Their emotions were always so big, their pity would be awful. So the best thing she could do would be to pretend this didn’t hurt like the soul-crushing weight it was. Lord, give me strength.