Page 34 of My Sweetest Agony

And her shock over it matches mine.

After everything that’s happened, I would think Cam would want to be here for Nancy, yet he seemed so adamant about not wanting her to know he’s in Philly.

There has to be a reason.

But I haven’t been able to come up with a good one.

Just like I haven’t been able to come up with a reason Drew lied that night and left our bed to drive to an area of town he would normally never travel to…

Unless he was cheating.

My stomach turns even thinking about it, yet it’s the only thing that has made any sense. The sole explanation for why he was being so secretive.

That trait certainly seems to be embedded in the Usher brothers’ DNA.

“Are you going to tell her?”

I grab a bundle of white roses and begin arranging them in the next vase. “I’m considering it. I don’t like lying to her. And I’ve given him two weeks to do it…”

Marlo resumes working as well, snagging the red roses and handing a few to me to add to the arrangement. “How long are you going to give him?”

A very good question.

Even though I’m not technically lying to Nancy by not telling her, it certainly feels like that. And I’ve never liked having to lie to anyone about anything or been particularly good at it, either.

I shrug. “I’m not sure. Until I crack, I guess.”

Marlo snorts and shoves another group of flowers into a vase. “So not long, then?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

She rolls her eyes. “Oh, come on, Ivy. You live by your emotions, and that’s totally fine. It’s one of the reasons I love you so much. You’re not going to be able to keep that woman in the dark. You love her too much.”

A resigned sigh falls from my lips. “You’re right…”

It won’t be long until I crack and rat out Cam, but I’d feel a lot better about doing it if I knew why he doesn’t want her to know. If I understood even a fraction of what happened between him and Drew or why that prevented him from coming home when he died or being here now to support Nancy.

“I just wish I could ask him why…but by the time I get home every night, he’s gone.” I finger a thorn on the stem of one of the roses, gently pressing my fingertip into it. Not hard enough to draw blood. Just enough to start to feel the bite. “I think he’s avoiding me.”

“Why would he do that?”

I shrug, remembering the look in his eyes before he left that day. How quickly the entire mood in the office shifted because of what I asked him, because I pressed when maybe I shouldn’t have. “I don’t know. Things are just weird and tense between us. The situation is awkward, at best.”

“So…” She gives me a pointed look. “Do something about it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Go home early every day until you find him there and talk. Clear the air.”

“I don’t know if that’s possible.”

She rests her hip against the table. “Why not?”

“Because I think I overstepped.” I shake my head, shoving the rose in my hand into the vase with the rest far too aggressively. “I’ve been wanting answers for so long that I pushed him for them, and I shouldn’t have.”

“You have every right to want to know what went down between him and Drew.”

“Do I, though?”