Page 22 of Promises We Meant to Keep (Love in Massachusetts #1)

twenty-two

“Yara.”

Elia nearly screeched to a halt on her way to Kamryn’s office. She’d thought they could snag a late lunch together, but now her entire stomach was in knots just staring at her ex-girlfriend in the middle of the hallway of the administration building.

“Elia.” Yara winced visibly, but then she plastered on the cool, confident mask that Elia had become so familiar with after their breakup.

Elia’s heart was in her throat. What was Yara Cole doing here? Her kids had all graduated years ago, and Elia had never been more thankful to be able to close that phase of her life and truly move on from their breakup.

“It’s been a while,” Elia said, trying to open the conversation for something—anything—that might give her a hint as to why Yara was here. Because there had to be a reason. And it couldn’t be because she’d applied for the Head of School position because it hadn’t even been opened yet, and she hadn’t even decided if she would or not.

“It has.” Yara’s lips twitched upward into a half smile before it faded. “I just had a meeting with our new temporary Head of School.”

“Oh.” Elia wasn’t sure if that was a comment or a question. But she was definitely going to ask Kamryn about it as soon as they had a moment alone and away from the school.

“She’s doing well, don’t you think?”

“Yeah.” Elia tightened her grip around her notebooks. The panic that she’d faced all those years ago was settling into her chest, and it was trying to overtake her, but she wasn’t going to let it. Not again. And definitely not today. “She was well chosen for the position.”

Yara nodded, still staying put and not moving. So this conversation—if it could even be called that—wasn’t over yet. At one point, Elia had convinced herself that they were in love. But now she was fairly certain it had just been a strong dose of infatuation, one they’d both experienced. Elia was probably the only one willing to admit to that now, though.

“What are you doing here?” Elia asked, ending up being the direct one and breaking the stalemate between them.

“I was asked to join the ethics committee.” Yara’s look was pure satisfaction, crazed and elated satisfaction.

Elia’s stomach dropped. She closed her eyes and sighed heavily. Of all people to ask to be on the team, Yara would be the last one that Elia would want. Even over herself. But they’d allow Yara on, wouldn’t they? She was the innocent one in everything, and she’d made damn sure that the world had known that.

“I hope that doesn’t bother you,” Yara added.

Of course it damn well did, and of course Yara would be pleased to know that Elia was one of the first to find out, to know that Elia was going to go back to her home and struggle with this. Elia needed to catch her breath, and she needed to find a way to give as good as she was getting right now.

“Why would it bother me?” Elia raised her chin up high, steeling herself for whatever was going to happen next, because damn would it be major. “You’re clearly the perfect person for the role, with your extensive experience in the area of politics and ethical violations. I’m sure the team will benefit from all your experience. ”

Yes, she’d thrown that last bit in there to tick Yara off, even though it probably wouldn’t work in the long run. It’d come back to bite her in the ass so hard, and she would regret it every second of the way.

“Yes, I do have quite a bit of experience in these things, don’t I?” Yara fired back, but her shoulders tightened, and her jaw line was so sharp that Elia knew she’d at least gotten under her skin. No one else might be able to tell, but two years of dating didn’t erase that. Elia could read her from anywhere.

“You sure do.” Elia nodded sharply. “Too bad your efforts couldn’t have been aimed in a more fruitful direction instead of at an innocent party.”

“Innocent?” Yara choked on the word. “I hardly think you’re innocent.”

“No, you wouldn’t think that, because you never even took a moment to listen to what I had to say, did you?” Elia spat out the words, all the anger rushing up and out of her. “It was only every listening to one side of it, and you know what? I’m glad you weren’t on the ethics committee then, or the board. You wouldn’t have provided an objective voice.”

“Then justice might have actually happened.”

“Really? After eighteen years, you’re still going to hold this grudge?” Elia waved her off. “Give it up, Yara. Eighteen years is too long to hold onto something so negative in your life. Move on already.”

“No.” Yara took a step forward. Elia very nearly took a step back in response, but she held her ground. They were in the middle of the administration building, and there were cameras everywhere. If anything happened, then someone else would see it and know about it. This wasn’t twenty-years ago when there was nothing to prove her right, to back up her claims of innocence.

“Excuse me.” Kamryn’s voice startled Elia. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Elia said, stepping back immediately. “I was coming to discuss the Speech meet this weekend. I see you’re busy. We can reschedule.”

Without another word, Elia turned on her toes and walked away. Kamryn didn’t say her name. She didn’t follow her. She didn’t even try to stop her. Elia could understand why. Yara had to be Kamryn’s priority in this situation. Dealing with Yara had to be the reason why Kamryn was staying behind. Not because it was anything else.

And if Elia let her mind wander, she could come up with any number of reasons as to why she might be staying that were far beyond Yara. Elia rushed out into the cold air and held back her tears. Running face first into her ex-girlfriend at a time like this.

And to have Yara be on the ethics team?

Elia couldn’t tell them now. They couldn’t tell the board what she and Kamryn had been doing. That they’d been dating? It would ruin any chance of Kamryn getting the job, and it would instantly set Elia up for a termination. Yara would make sure of it.

Snagging her phone from her pocket, Elia called Abagail before she even made it back to her office. She wasn’t going to stay there long, just enough to grab her stuff and walk straight home.

“We have bigger problems with the board.”

“Uh-oh.” Abagail clicked her tongue. “This isn’t going to be a short conversation, is it?”

“No.”

“I’ll call you back in five.” Abagail hung up.

It gave Elia enough time to grab her laptop and shove it inside her bag. She needed to get out of here. It’d be better if she lived off campus, because she really needed to distance herself from the school, but she couldn’t—not today. She still had Speech practice that night, and she couldn’t escape. Not yet.

She was just inside her front door when her phone buzzed. Staring down at it, she saw the missed messages from Kamryn. Elia immediately ignored them. She needed to talk to Abagail, someone who understood the situation. Someone she could fully trust.

Not that she couldn’t trust Kamryn, but she had no idea what Yara had told her. She may have told her absolutely everything already, and Kamryn would certainly see that as a betrayal. Wouldn’t she?

Elia answered and fell into her couch at the same time. She just wanted to cry.

“All right, tell me what happened.”

“I was going to talk to Kam, and walked into the admin building, and right into Yara.”

“Shit.”

That was the exact response that Elia had been looking for. She didn’t need to explain anything. She was so close to tears. The stress and anguish of the past years coming right back into her chest in a way that she wasn’t able to get rid of. “Someone—and I strongly suspect I know who—invited her onto the ethics team.”

“Elia…” Abagail trailed off. “Not Kam I hope.”

“No, I don’t think so. She barely even remembered Yara from when she was a student. I’m betting it was Heather.”

“Heather-Heather.”

“Yeah. That Heather.” Elia closed her eyes. She hadn’t told Kamryn that part of everything, not who Heather was to Elia and exactly why she knew she’d never be allowed on the ethics team, not while Heather was there. “She joined the board about a year ago but hadn’t really caused any issues until Kamryn was hired.”

“And you think she’ll cause more?” Abagail asked.

“I know she will.” Elia pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling the dampness from her unshed tears. She wasn’t ready for this. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be ready for it. “I can’t tell the board about Kam and me now. It’ll spell disaster for both of us. They won’t listen to a thing we have to say. It’ll ruin her career.”

“And yours,” Abagail added. “Or don’t you care about it anymore?”

“I do.” Elia frowned. Teaching was her life. She’d made it her life and she didn’t want it any other way. She wanted her world to remain exactly as it was now. Where she could teach, live here, and have some fun on the side with someone she found really, really interesting. And she definitely found Kamryn interesting—and exciting. “I do care about it. I’m not ready to quit or retire. I need to teach.”

“Then you’re going to have to fight whatever they throw at you.”

Elia had been afraid Abagail was going to say that. She wasn’t sure she had any fight left in her. They’d taken it all those years ago, and she’d done her best just to fly under the radar until now. And now it wasn’t even her fault. It wasn’t like she and Kamryn had talked to the board yet.

“There’s going to be so many questions,” Elia whispered. “Not just about back then or now, but about Kam and me.”

“There will be,” Abagail confirmed. “And they’ll be invasive. And they should be. Those questions are there for a reason.”

“They are, but…” Elia sighed heavily. “Will it be worth it?”

“Only you can answer that question, E.” Abagail shook her head. “But you need to come up with a game plan going forward, and you need to make sure that you have every possible outlier and base covered. You can’t be alone with a student—ever. And you need to make damn sure that you’re always in the view of someone.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“No, you didn’t. And unfortunately, when it comes to situations like these, it’s never innocent until proven guilty.”

Abagail was right. Elia had experienced that firsthand.

“So what do I need to do next?” Elia asked, already knowing the answer and already hating the fact that she knew what was coming.

“You need to talk to a lawyer, and you cannot tell anyone anything. And you need to talk to Kamryn, not about eighteen years ago, but you need to talk to her about your current relationship.” Abagail sounded so sure of herself.

“And tell her what?”

“That you’re done. End it now, before it blows up in your face.”

Elia curled in on herself. “And Yara?”

“Yara is going to be your worst enemy if you let her. Don’t. She doesn’t need to get under your skin any more than she already has. She was always a brute, and she’ll continue to do exactly what she thinks she needs to do.”

“It feels like the whole world is out to get me.”

“Not the whole world, babe.” Abagail’s tone turned tender. “But most of the people at Windermere, that’s for sure. At least the ones in power right now. I don’t know about Kam, yet. She might still be on your side.”

“I’m afraid she won’t be when she finds out.” Elia sounded so small, so scared. And she was. She cared what other people thought about her—at least about this—and she especially cared about what Kamryn thought about her. It mattered. She mattered.

“There’s only one way to know that,” Abagail answered. “But now isn’t the time to find out. You’re going to have to live in the ambiguity a little longer.”

“I hate that.”

“I know you do.”

Elia frowned. She checked the time on the wall and knew she was going to have to head back for the Speech practice soon. At least she’d gotten a small escape. Maybe she could take a few more minutes to put her head on straight and be able to hide the fact that she wasn’t okay. The last thing she needed was Kamryn to start prying.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Elia said. “You should get back to work.”

“Okay. I’m going to hold you to that, and if you don’t call me, I’m going to sic the hounds on you.”

That made Elia smile slightly. She could always trust Abagail to have her back. “Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

Hanging up, Elia went to the kitchen to pour herself a cold glass of water. She stared at her phone, knowing that she needed to read the texts from Kamryn. And then she needed to follow Abagail’s advice. She needed to pull away and protect Kamryn as much as she could. Because this was turning out to be a disaster.

Sliding her phone open, she was relieved to see the first text was Kamryn saying she wouldn’t be able to make it to the Speech practice that night, that she was going to be stuck in a meeting for a few hours. And then her stomach twisted hard at the next ones.

Are you okay?

Can we talk soon? I have time later tonight.

You’re worrying me.

She was already in too far over her head, wasn’t she? She’d thought briefly that this might work, but now, she wasn’t so sure. Her mistakes from decades ago were going to come back and take her down again. And she wouldn’t let Kamryn bear the brunt of her past.