The Elliotts: Secret Affairs. Susan Crosby
smiled. Even though Summer had made sweeping changes recently, her wardrobe still wouldn’t include anything like the purple-and-red minidress that Scarlet had designed and made this past week. “My closet is your closet,” Scarlet said.
Summer laughed.
Scarlet could usually anticipate what her sister would say, but not this time. Not for the past few weeks, actually. She only knew that Summer was revved about something. “What’s up?”
She linked her fingers together and set her hands on the table. “I’m taking a leave of absence from The Buzz.”
Shock heated Scarlet from the inside out. “Why?”
“I want to go with Zeke on his international tour.”
“For how long?”
“A month.”
Scarlet could barely find words. “We’ve never been apart for more than a week.”
“Life is changing, Scar. We’re changing.”
“Separating.” I used to be able to read your mind. We used to finish each other’s sentences.
“It was bound to happen someday.” Understanding and determination rang in Summer’s voice.
“I can’t believe you’re giving up your dream job, and an imminent promotion, for a … man.”
“Not just any man, but Zeke. The man I love.” Her calm voice was offset by a stubborn glint in her eye. “The man I’m going to marry.”
“When do you leave?”
“Tomorrow.”
“So soon?” Scarlet felt more vulnerable than ever. Her link to life as she knew it was breaking. It had been hard enough this past month not to confide in Summer about her night with John Harlan, especially when Summer had asked her where she’d been all night.
“Don’t be jealous,” Summer said, laying her hand on Scarlet’s.
“Jealous? I—” She stopped. Maybe she was, a little. She’d been wanting to try her hand at fashion design but hadn’t had the nerve to quit her job as assistant fashion editor for Charisma. “Granddad will accuse you of being ungrateful,” she said to her sister instead, reminding herself of that fact, as well—the main reason why she hadn’t quit her job herself.
“That’s what I’m afraid of. But Zeke has tried to convince me otherwise. Loyalty matters more than anything to Granddad, but I need to do this. I want to do this. I’m going to do this.”
And everyone thought Summer was the meek twin. “Have you told him?”
“I’m telling you first. I’ll tell Shane after lunch. Then Gram and Granddad.”
Shane—Uncle Shane—was Fin’s twin and the editor in chief of The Buzz, EPH’s showbiz magazine, where Summer worked as a copy editor, and was about to be promoted to reporter. Scarlet didn’t envy Summer telling Shane or, worse, Granddad.
“I’m going to miss you like crazy,” Scarlet said, nearly crushing Summer’s hand.
“Me, too,” she whispered, her eyes instantly bright. “I’ll call lots. I promise. Maybe you could meet us somewhere on the tour for a weekend.”
“Three’s a crowd.” Scarlet made an effort to keep things as normal as possible. She dug into her salad again. “Want some?”
“Butterflies,” Summer said, patting her stomach.
Scarlet nodded. “What I said about my closet being your closet is true, you know. If you’d like to take some of my stuff on the tour, you can.”
“Zeke likes me as I am.”
So had John, Scarlet thought. Summer was so much easier to be with—not anywhere near as demanding of equality or independence as Scarlet. At least, not openly.
“There you go again,” Summer said, tapping the table next to Scarlet’s salad bowl.
“What?”
“You’ve been zoning out for, I don’t know, about a month now.”
“Have I?”
“Yes. Right after you spent the night away from home and wouldn’t tell me where you’d been. Seems to me you’ve been keeping a secret, and that’s a first for us, too.”
Scarlet wanted so much to talk to Summer about John, about that night, but that was impossible. There was no one she could talk to, except the man himself, maybe, but he hadn’t contacted her at all, and she both resented and appreciated his self-control. Except for having her coat delivered to her office the next day, without a note, they hadn’t existed for each other.
Except that her body hungered in a way it never had.
“Can we spend the evening together?” Scarlet asked, changing the subject altogether, then noting the hurt in her sister’s eyes. But Scarlet couldn’t confide. Nothing would ever change that. Some secrets would be taken to the grave.
“You’ll help me pack?”
“Sure.”
“I don’t know what time I’ll be home. I’m taking the helicopter to The Tides to tell the Grands.”
“I’ll wait up. We’ll have margaritas. You’ll need one.” Scarlet added teasingly, “Better you than me this time.”
Summer grinned. “I know. The shoe’s finally on the other foot. For years you’ve made it your goal to irritate Granddad with your men of choice, and I’ve always tried to get you to stop doing that. The Grands have taken their role as guardians seriously since Mom and Dad died. I guess after fifteen years in that role it’s hard to change. And of course, Granddad still cares about image.”
“He cares too much about image.” And Scarlet thought, they hadn’t really been her “men of choice,” but men she’d chosen specifically to irritate her overbearing grandfather. Men came and went. Very few had been lovers. Most were just friends.
Then there was John. She missed him. How had that happened? But she couldn’t reach out to him—she, who’d never been known for her patience, had controlled her impulse to contact him, made easier by the fact that he’d left town, or so the rumor went. In mourning for losing Summer?
“I need to get going,” Summer said. “I’ll call you when I’m headed home, as long as Granddad lets me take the copter back. If not, it’s a long ride from the Hamptons.”
“I’ll go up the elevator with you,” Scarlet said, not wanting to stay in the booth alone.
They waited at the doors. Scarlet would get off at the seventeenth floor, Summer one higher.
Scarlet swept her into a big hug as the elevator rose with silent speed. “Promise you won’t change.”
“Can’t.”
Scarlet pulled back and brushed her sister’s hair from her face. “Is it wonderful, being in love?”
“Zeke is an amazing man.”
The simple statement, layered with tenderness, almost made Scarlet cry. She wanted that for herself—a partner, an amazing partner. One who cared for her more than anyone, who thought she was amazing. Someone who was hers, and hers alone, as she would be his alone.
“I love you,” Scarlet said as the elevator door opened.
“Me, too, you.”
Scarlet stepped out of the elevator and headed for her cubicle, past the dazzling sign with the company slogan—Charisma, Fashion for the Body. The bright turquoise color scheme and edgy, bold patterns seemed to shout at her. Everything was topsy-turvy. She needed a little peace.
She would find none in her cubicle, which was filled with photos