Page 47 of Behind These Four Walls

He repeated himself when Isla looked confused. “What does Edie have to do with a spread on her father? She’s been gone”—he swallowed—“years. From what I hear, she doesn’t keep in touch.”

Well, all right,Isla thought, sitting back in her chair. No need to butter him up. He liked things straight. She could respect that.

Isla had taken out a notebook for her talk with James, and she looked at the page with various notes she’d jotted down thus far to show she was keeping track, as if trying to decide where to begin. She asked, “Do you know why that is? You’re one of Bennett’s friends. I hear from Sara that you, Bennett, Danny Crawford, and Roger Monroe have been very close friends since school. You all were tight. You should know why she left and why she hasn’t returned, shouldn’t you?”

She watched his reaction to the last question, and she got a ding, because the man most definitely flinched as if he’d been zapped. And then his shoulders slumped, and sadness came over him. Isla didn’t know whether to be suspicious or comforting, because the guy sitting across from her was definitely conflicted. Isla didn’t know what James knew, but he knew something.

She said softly, “She deserves the truth, don’t you think? Sara said the two of you really cared for each other, and from what I’m seeing now, I think you really did. You probably know more than anyone what happened to her. Maybe she confided in you?”

She was going in hard, she knew. But since there was something between them, maybe Eden had reached out to him when she and Isla had come to town back then.

James stared at the table—any harder and he would have burned a hole in it. His hands were clasped tightly in front of him. “Edie and I were ... she trusted me. And I ... I didn’t stand up like I should have.”

Isla leaned forward, feeling the answer was right on the cusp of her knowledge. “What do you mean you didn’t stand up? What happened?”

He shook his head like she wouldn’t understand. “So much happened. Too much. But you gotta understand we were all young. Me and Bennett, Rog and Danny, we were on break from college, and Ediewas in high school, always trying to be accepted by Bennett. She really wanted him to like her. And I did too,” he admitted in a small voice. “I mean, I’m not a jock like Danny, or funny like Rog, or someone who has everything come easy to me like Bennett.”

“Your dad owns one of the most prestigious law firms in this region, which you work for and will become partner in and take over. The firm does business with the Corrigan Group too. That seems like a privileged life to me,” Isla retorted.

She couldn’t help it, but when those whohadwhined about what theydidn’thave when there were so many people with so much less, it got on her nerves. If James struggled, it was because of his own doing, Isla wagered. Not because his family couldn’t provide.

James let out a shaky breath, not seeming to notice Isla’s snark.

“What was the deal between Bennett and Edie?”

“He just couldn’t stand her. He called her a Goody Two-shoes. He and the other guys could be cruel and play around too much. And me and Edie, we weren’t like that, and we started talking, yeah. But I was older, and she was a Corrigan, and Bennett’s little sister.”

“But he couldn’t stand her.”

“That didn’t mean he’d want me or any of his friends to get with her. Allowing that would mean she might be happy, and for some reason only Bennett can understand, he didn’t like any of his siblings being happy. Not Myles. Not Edie. He made their lives miserable. At least Holland was young enough that she wasn’t in his orbit. And after Edie left and Myles was gone to the air force, Mr. and Mrs. Corrigan kept a closer eye on Holland. Plus, Holland wasn’t competition. So he left her alone.”

That all tracked. Bennett pretty much acted like Holland didn’t exist, and his contempt for Myles radiated from him.

“I thought I could protect her. I could talk everyone down. But I wasn’t strong enough.”

Isla’s heart pounded. “Protect her from what, James?” she asked. “Do you know why she disappeared?”

James shook his head. “Probably because I couldn’t protect her. If only we hadn’t gone riding that night. If only we hadn’t been drinking at the old Abbott farm ...” He swallowed hard, like it hurt him to do so. “She probably believes I betrayed her, and I probably did. Twice I didn’t stand up for the person I cared about the most. She wouldn’t let that happen a third time.”

Isla could taste it. The truth was right there. A huge piece of the puzzle—maybe the biggest piece. If only he would just say it.

“This sounds like a huge weight on you for years,” she gently prodded. “You’d probably feel a lot better if you explained it all. I’m sure Eden would forgive you.”

He sat up. “Why do you call her that?” he asked sharply.

Isla was confused. “Call who what?”

“Eden,” James said suspiciously. “No one would call her that around here.” He eyed her sharply, his voice gaining strength. “When you got here, you called her Edie. It’s how we’ve been referring to her. But just now, you called her Eden.”

Isla was at a loss for words. She could have kicked herself for her slipup. “But that’s her name.” The first excuse she could think of.

He said warily, “Why are you really asking about her? What is it you want?”

She lifted her hands as if innocent. “I just want to learn about Victor Corrigan.”

“And yet you haven’t asked me one question about him.”

He was right. She was too eager to find out about Eden. She was forgetting her own story. Isla attempted to pacify him, trying to look innocent and save their moment. James was the most important person in this story. He was the one she could get closest to out of all of them because he had something none of the others had. He had guilt, and it’d been weighing on him to the point he’d almost spilled. But in her eagerness—her hunger—she might have ruined her chance. She was coming in too hot. Rey and Nat would have told her so if they could hear what was going on.