Chapter 76

Chapter 76
Just smile and act normal. Elvie thought. Thea and Joey sat at her side; the little girl was wearing a pink jersey that matched her mother, and Joey was wearing his old jersey and a Lazio team baseball cap and drinking cold soda, which was definitely not on his current menu. She let it slide because he looked completely enchanted by the game. She, herself, wore a huge Roma flag hat and a pink Lazio shirt. Close enough, if you ask her.

“Mommy, where is Daddy?"Is he not joining us?” Thea asked, her eyes shining with little hope that Elvie knew was there as she sighed.

“Baby, daddy is busy, but don't worry, okay? He’ll be here soon.”

“Promise?”

“Yes, dear.”

Elvie sighed as she broached the subject when she got back from refilling our bowl of popcorn in the kitchen—another thing Joey shouldn’t be eating, but a little couldn’t hurt.

“Would you... would you mind if I took off this weekend?” She tried to sound casual through the lump of guilt forming in her throat, leaving her daughter and brother in the mansion; her palms were so sweaty the popcorn bowl nearly slipped between them. She was going to lie to Joey yet again, and for what? Why did she keep the truth from her brother, the closest person to her? I wasn’t doing anything wrong. She thought to herself. Then again, he was still so fragile and was only now getting back on his feet, literally and figuratively. He was feeling physically better, and between spending time with Mrs. Hawthorne and seeing her thrive at her new job, he was emotionally better too. But Elvie still didn’t want him to know what Zander thought of him. That could set Joey back, and if his mental health took a wrong turn, she'd never forgive herself.

"Sister." He patted her knee as she sat down, his hand immediately sliding to the bowl of popcorn. “I think it’s a great idea. You deserve some time off. Zander is taking you anywhere fancy?" He smiled.

Elvie thought I would, in fact, tell my brother about how Zander thought he was the mastermind of what happened to his parents after I got back from vacation. I could even tell him about Zander, as the two seemed to be in contact. I wasn’t sure how much they had in common, but part of the reason I didn’t despise Zander—though it was tempting—was because I knew he had a soft side. I’d seen it when he helped my brother. I saw it when he tried to save me.

“I don’t know, Joey.” She dodged the question. “You'll be okay with Thea here, right?”

“Yes. Besides, Mrs. Hawthorne will visit us.” He laughed, shuttling more popcorn to his mouth. “You’ve mentioned it one, two, or a million times before. Plus, if I need anything, the nanny and the rest of the mansion staff are here; don't worry about me.”

Elvie eyed him curiously, smiling. “When do I finally get to meet her in the capacity of being her boyfriend’s sister?”

Her brother looked down and wiggled his toes inside his slippers.

That’s the first time she’d noticed he was wearing a new pair. Actually, his whole ensemble was new—still the same grey sweatpants and white T-shirt, but they were ironed and looked good on him. He’d also shaved whatever was left of his hair to create a more unified look. Elvie didn’t know why she found it so heartbreakingly joyful to see him happy about another woman. Maybe she shouldn’t have. But he did look kind of good, like a browless Bruce Willis.

“Does he make your heart sing?”

“What?” She pretended to laugh. And failed. Oh, God.

“Does Zander make your heart sing? Music is such an important part of your life, and when you’re happy, I can see it. Your steps have a rhythm. When you talk, you swing. Are you in love with him? Because if you’re not, it’s not worth it.”

Elvie looked the other way, pretending to clean invisible lint off of a decorative pillow on the couch. “I can’t fall in love, Joey. I tried. You know about our arrangement. Our plan for divorce.”

“That’s a load of bull.”

“It’s true. My friend said her heart was a lonely hunter—just like mine—and that it would never find someone else to beat next to. And she was right. It didn’t.”

Elvie didn’t tell him the whole truth—that she believed Almera and that she guarded her heart like it wasn’t for the taking. She probably could have moved on from Zander if she’d wanted to, but she’d never really wanted to. She didn’t want to tell Joey that this one simple sentence had changed her world more than she was willing to accept and that she was terrified that her heart was losing its claws, its weapons, and its hunger for blood in the battle against Zander.

Joey’s eyes crinkled, and she was so focused on the confusion and awe in them that it didn’t even register that he was laughing. Not just laughing—hooting. Holding his stomach and everything.

“No, come on, no. Your friend didn’t mean your heart is a lonely hunter. She meant the book The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. Maybe it was her favourite. The author was twenty-three when she wrote it. Your age.” He looked at me pointedly, like this, too, added meaning. “You should read it.”

He rose to his feet with a groan and made his way to his room. Elvie sat dumbfounded, feeling irrationally furious at both herself and Almera for allowing her to look at life through the thick, dirty lens of a person who’d never believed she could experience love.

The game was still playing, with the Roma dominating, and that’s how I knew Joey really was serious about her reading this book. He came back, blowing the dust off the cover, and handed it to me. I saw it in the guest room mini-library. If you travel at all on your way to this little vacation, make sure you read it. Your friend believed in love. Very much so. She believed in fate, too.”

She smiled and thanked him, and she didn’t wait for tomorrow.

She devoured the whole thing in one night.

Every single page. A to Z

Then she read bits of it again as she packed her summer clothes and dragged her suitcase down our narrow stairway in the morning, waiting for the cab.

Her heart was not lonely.

It was desperate, beating, and alive.

It frightened and delighted Elvie at the same time, knowing that she could, and she would, and she should fall in love—whether it was with her boss slash contract husband or otherwise.

And when the alarm started singing, she slid into the right shoes and wiggled her toes inside them, knowing he was going to notice. They were golden yellow.

Happiness and hope

On the private plane, however, was something Elvie had never imagined—dreaming about Zander. Yet here she was, clutching her tattered copy of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter with a glass of champagne by her side, wondering where on Earth Zander was. They had five more minutes before the plane took off.

He stumbled through the door right before they locked it, wearing the same clothes as yesterday and nursing a cup of Starbucks. His leather Armani duffle bag hung lazily from the tips of his fingers, and the minute he saw me, his tired face cracked into a dangerous smile. She licked her lips, looking down and pressing her thighs together.

What the hell was wrong with me? Ever since I’d learned the truth about what Almera had told me, thinking of Zander was weird. It felt like we were no longer rivals, like he had the upper hand. Which was ridiculous because he always had. I’d simply refused to accept it.

Zander shoved his bag into the overhead bin and thanked the air hostess for hysterically offering to do so herself. He then slid into the seat next to her. He smelled of alcohol, coffee, and hope.

Elvie wiggled her toes inside her yellow shoes. “Came straight from work?”

Instead of answering her question, he cupped the back of her neck and erased the distance between them by sealing her mouth with a hot, demanding kiss. Elvie groaned against his lips. When we disconnected, his eyes were half-lidded and drunk, and she assumed hers were too.

“That’s…very relationship-y,” she mumbled, staring at his lips. “Did I get all the information right?”

Zander plucked a red marker from the book sitting in her lap, uncapped it, and wrote A+ on the back of her hand. Then he kissed the inside of it, like Patrick had done to her, and like she’d done to him. She swooned inside.

“Here’s to many more revelations, and to saving the world, one item at a time.” He took her glass from her side table, tipped it back, and then smashed his lips into hers again, this time letting her taste the alcohol in his mouth.

The plane had begun to take off when Zander looked more closely at the book in her lap. He grabbed it, examining it from all angles.

“Is it good?” he asked.

“The best,” she said, resting her hand on the cover.

Zander put his hand on hers.

Her heart smiled at that.

And all she could think was, please don’t hurt them.