Page 45 of Isolated (Harper Security Ops #21)

Iris

My sister was like a stone.

Eleni didn’t bend or break. She was firm and absolute and strong.

But in the mere minutes the three of us had been sitting in utter silence, it became clear to me that she was on the verge of breaking. And it had been a long time coming.

“Talk to me,” I pleaded with her. “What happened? Why did you leave your job? Where are you going?”

“I didn’t leave my job, Iris.” Her tone was filled with agitation, her expression annoyed.

“But I called them and they said?—”

“I don’t give a shit what they said. I didn’t leave there. They fired me.”

I gasped, my fingertips flying up to cover my lips. “What? Why?”

Her eyes shifted between Landen and me. “Because I got involved with my boss. I did a stupid thing and got involved with him, and almost seven months ago, after I had a miscarriage, he broke things off with me. Tensions ran high between us, I was lost, and nearly three months ago, he fired me.”

My poor sister. Pregnant. Alone. And suffering some of the worst heartbreak imaginable. “Oh, Eleni. I’m so sorry. Why… why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“You’re joking, right?” She scoffed. “Why would I ever tell my family about how I was so desperate that I thought it was worth mixing business with pleasure and putting my job at risk?”

My heart hurt to think about all that she’d endured on her own. “You should have told us so that we could be here to help you, to support you.”

“That would be just lovely. Everyone can see how badly I screwed up.”

“Eleni, we all make mistakes.” I scooted closer to her, taking her hand in mine. “I’ve made plenty. And I’m sure Flora has as well. We’re here for you. We would do anything for you. And you had a miscarriage. You were pregnant. That’s not the kind of thing you just get over.”

She sighed, tears filling her vision. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”

“Well, you’re selling your house, so I don’t think everything is fine,” I pointed out. “Unless… Are you planning to leave Grouse?”

Shrugging, she revealed, “I might have to if I plan to work in my field ever again.”

My brows pulled together. There was so much I was attempting to process; I couldn’t keep up. “What? What does that mean?”

“I’m working as a waitress right now, Iris.

I’m doing that because nobody in this town will hire me.

Brandon, my former boss, has all but destroyed my opportunities.

And all the connections I had in this town were at my former job.

There isn’t anyone I can reach out to for help in securing another position as a corporate accountant. ”

No wonder she’d been telling me about how I needed to find friends outside of work. All this time I thought she was being miserable, but she’d been looking out for my best interests.

And to think that I thought I’d been having a tough time. My sister was going through something so much worse. I felt horrible. How could I have not known she was in such pain? The work situation was awful, but the miscarriage…

Unable to hold myself back, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her in for a hug. “I’m so sorry, Eleni. So, so sorry.”

She didn’t hug me back. Not immediately.

“Have you even allowed yourself to grieve for the loss you suffered?”

“I don’t have the time,” she croaked. “I have to work as many shifts as I can right now so that I don’t eat too far into my savings.”

Loosening my hold on her, I brought my hands to her shoulders. “I’m going to help you. Whatever you need, until it’s all figured out, I’m here for you. And I know Flora will be, too. You haven’t told her?”

Eleni shook her head. “No.”

It was at that moment, my phone rang. I pulled it out, noted the name on the display, and said, “It’s Flora.” I answered the call. “Hi, Flora.”

“I saw I missed your call, Iris. What’s going on? ”

“Can you meet me at Eleni’s?”

She groaned. “Don’t tell me you drove out here just to get her to talk to you.”

“I’m already here. And I’m with her. We need you to come here now. It’s important.”

There was a brief pause before she asked, “Is everything okay?”

I lifted my gaze to Eleni. “No. But it will be.”

“I’m on my way.”

I disconnected with her, looked at my sister, and said, “She’s coming.”

“Sunshine?”

The sound of Landen’s voice pulled me out of the chaos I was in. “Landen. I’m sorry. I just?—”

He held up his hand. “It’s okay. I don’t need any apologies.

But how about you tell me a place where I can go pick up some dinner for you and your sisters, as well as the best hotel in town?

If you want to spend the night here with Eleni and Flora, that’s fine.

I can grab dinner for the three of you, head to a hotel for the night, and come back in the morning. ”

This man.

This wonderful man was so selfless. We were only an hour away from home, but he was offering to spend the night in a hotel.

“You… You would do that?”

He smiled at me. “I would do anything for you.”

If it had just been the two of us, I might have burst into tears. But after everything I’d just learned about what Eleni had endured, I found a way to fight them off. Instead, I sent him an appreciative smile. “Thank you, Landen. That would be lovely. ”

I gave him the name of one of our favorite local restaurants and the single best hotel in the area. By the time Flora arrived—surprised to see Landen with me—we told him what we wanted for dinner, and he took off.

Then I sat down with my sisters and made the next moves toward healing. Not only Eleni’s heart, but our relationship as well.

And in the back of my mind, the only thought that kept popping into my mind was that I was beyond lucky to have Landen in my life. If it hadn’t been for him, I might not have ever known what happened to my sister.

I thought everything was falling back into place.

Slowly but surely, I believed my luck was being restored.

Things between Walter and me had gotten tremendously better over the last week. He was back to his old habits, meeting me outside occasionally so he could be nosy about the things going on in my life. I even had him over for dinner last Tuesday evening.

As for my sister, there were still things to be worked out.

But we were on better terms. We were speaking.

And I was going to do whatever I could to help her through such a horrible situation.

It still saddened me to think she believed she couldn’t come to me with what was happening in her life.

I hated that she thought I lived some perfect life and would look down on her for the choices she’d made in hers.

Sure, I’d had some wonderful things happen in my life, but if all that I’d been going through recently had been any indication, it was clear I wasn’t in any place to judge her.

And I never would have, regardless of what was happening in my own life.

So, Eleni and I were working on things between us. Even Flora had called me since I’d left Grouse and returned to Steel Ridge.

And, of course, things were just as wonderful as ever with Landen.

I still wondered how I’d managed to live and feel so happy before he came into my life like this.

Maybe it had been those little bits of time I’d gotten with him at the gym each week.

I didn’t know. But I was grateful for him and what we were building between us.

It was Monday now, and I was back at work hoping this week would allow me to put the final piece of the puzzle back into place. I was still working out the best way to fix things with Steph and Kasey, but I had high hopes, given how everything else had improved.

But I should have known that it was foolish to be so confident so soon, particularly on the work front.

There was no fix on the horizon. And if what I was dealing with at this precise moment was any indication, things were likely to get worse.

I inhaled deeply and allowed my eyes to scan the empty conference room.

It shouldn’t have been empty, because I’d had a meeting scheduled with several members of my team.

And while I was on time for this meeting and believed there might be a few stragglers, I expected to walk in and see at least a handful of my colleagues waiting. Nobody was here.

As I pulled out my laptop to confirm I had the correct time for the conference, I had to remind myself that not everything could be fixed overnight. Maybe some of my colleagues were taking a stand or wanting me to feel the weight of their scorn.

But I’d had enough.

It had been one thing for me to overlook the hints of disrespect in the meetings I had conducted since things had started to spiral out of control at work. It would be something else entirely for me to overlook the blatant disregard for my position and what was in the best interests of the company.

So, I gathered up my things and exited the room. I found the first team member that should have been in the conference room and came right out with it. “Hi, Georgia.”

She whirled around in her seat and stared at me with wide eyes. “Oh. Hello, Iris.”

“We’re supposed to be having a meeting this morning. Can you tell me why you’re still sitting at your desk?”

Her brows pulled together, genuine confusion littering her features. “Am I missing something? Is the meeting back on?”

I shook my head. “Back on? When was it ever off?”

She tossed her thumb over her shoulder. “Well, I got the email from Robert this morning, stating that the meeting was canceled.”

My eyes widened, my brows shooting up. “Robert emailed you?”

Nodding, she turned in her chair and directed her attention to the computer. “It’s right here.”

She pulled up the email and allowed me to read it. Robert had, in fact, canceled my meeting, but he made no mention as to why that was the case.

Was he intentionally trying to undermine me ?

Not wanting it to seem as though I had no clue what was going on, I said, “I’m sorry for coming at you like that. I’ve been busy preparing for the meeting that I missed the email. Thanks.”