Page 84

“What about Nicola?” Abagail fired back, glancing out toward the rest of the house.

“What about Nicola is right. You took her to the Cape.” Elia sipped her drink slowly, staring Abagail down over the rim. “She’s still here. Where does Nicola fit into all of this?”

“She doesn’t. Except that Warren’s treatment of her alerted me to how bad he’d really gotten.”

“Hmm, I don’t think that’s it.” Elia set her glass down again. “Talk to me about Nicola.”

“There’s nothing to say.”

“Where is she now?”

“Visiting her sister.” Abagail brushed at invisible lint on her pants, gnawing on the uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach that she couldn’t get rid of.

“So she’s still living here.” Elia said that like she already knew where this conversation was going. Well, who died and made her psychic?

“Yes.” Abagail bristled at that. She wasn’t going to deny it or lie to Elia, but she certainly didn’t like that she was being calledout right now—and that’s exactly what this was. “She hasn’t been able to find a new place to live yet.”

“Has she been looking?” Elia countered.

“I don’t honestly know.” Abagail hadn’t asked. She’d stayed as far away from that conversation as possible, because the truth of the matter was, she did enjoy Nicola’s company still. And she hadn’t wanted her to leave just yet.

“You haven’t asked her?”

Abagail shook her head. She really hadn’t been pushing Nicola out of the house at all, not like she had with previous flings. That should have been a tip-off that something was different, right? Abagail sipped her drink finally, letting the burn of the alcohol slide across her tongue, coat her throat, and settle warmly in her belly.

“Okay, let’s get real for a minute.” Elia’s voice came in strong, and it took Abagail aback.

Weren’t they already doing that?

“Okay?” Abagail answered, not quite sure where this was headed, but the potential outcomes scared her.

“What makes Nicola so different from anyone else?”

“She’s not different.” Abagail shook her head, her brow furrowing in confusion.

“You can stop lying to yourself. You just established, through multiple answers, that you’re treating her very different than anyone else in her position. The question I asked is why?” Elia crossed her arms and stared at Abagail. “And I want an actual answer this time.”

Abagail had no idea what to say. She had no answer to give. She’d known that she was treating Nicola different from the start, from the very first moment that they’d started their little arrangement, and everything about it had felt wrong. But it had gotten worse as the days continued.

“Oh, Abs.” Elia touched Abagail’s hand. “I didn’t mean to throw you into a spiral.”

Shaking her head, Abagail pulled on herself. She needed to answer this question. She wasn’t sure why, but she knew she had to. What made Nicola different?

“She’s family,” Abagail finally answered, the words slowly leaving her lips. But again, that didn’t quite feel right either, because she wasn’t family. Though it could be argued that right now Abagail was treating her better than family. So maybe there was something to be said for that.

“You care about her,” Elia supplied.

Abagail scrunched up her face. “I’m not sure I’d go that far.”

“Well, let’s explore that for a second. You haven’t ditched her and told her to get out yet. You spent a lot of money to fix one of her major problems.”

“But I didn’t solve it long term. She needs to figure that out on her own.”

“Does she?” Elia raised an eyebrow back at Abagail. “Is it her responsibility?”

“It’s not mine.”

“Didn’t say it was.” Elia folded her hands neatly in her lap. “If it was my brother in the hospital and mom and I struggling to pay for his care, what would you do?”