Page 200 of Vows We Never Made

No one knows I’m here.

My nosy damn sister certainlyshouldn’t.

Now, I’m glaring at her and she’s staring right back, her blonde hair up in a messy bun, and her hands on her hips.

Her power pose, and it means I’m in for one hell of a lecture.

My jaw clenches. I don’t unblock the doorway.

“Margot, it’s two in the morning. What the hell do you want?”

“Oh, nothing. I just got tired of waiting for you to crawl out of your little hidey hole.” Her smile is all knives. “Plus, you never texted back, so somebody had to do a wellness check. Better me than the cops, right? Can I come in?”

“For fuck’s sake—how did you find me?” I mutter, opening the door just enough so she can brush past me.

She sniffs loudly as she looks around.

As cabins go, it’s nice enough, but I’ve been camped out here long enough to make a mess with cheap instant noodle cups overflowing the trash and beer cans everywhere. A shameful row of empty bottles of whiskey line the kitchen counter.

I meant to straighten up about ten times, but it isn’t easy once you’ve reverted back to pissy seventeen-year-old. I’m sure I deserve her judgmental death glare.

“I don’t want you here,” I growl. “There’s a reason I didn’t text you.”

“I know. You have a packed schedule, moping.” She sighs. “But holy shit, Ethan. Look at this place!”

“If it offends you, leave.”

She raises a brow. “Nice try, Brother. But no. You need a full-on intervention, even if you don’t want one.Especiallyif you don’t want one.” She sniffs again. “Jesus, what is thatsmell? Please tell me you’ve been letting Ares out?”

“Fuck you. He gets more walks than he’s had in years. It’s not like I’m doing anything else besides taking the dog out hiking.” Snarling, I stride past her to rip a window open, almost breaking its old crank. “Better?”

“Not yet. Ethan, how could you?” Her tone shifts from standoffish to sad. “I’m your sister. Did you really think I’d love you less because we have different dads?”

Aw, shit. Here we go.

Ten seconds into this and I’m already sick of it.

I fold my arms and glower.

“You first. How did you find me?”

“Um, like it washard.” She throws herself on the sofa with a huff. “I mean, I figured you wouldn’t go too far. It took one call to find out you haven’t taken the jet anywhere. Then I asked around. Didn’t take long to find the three places around here that still have summer vacancies. I asked if any of them gave upa long-term rental to a grouch who probably offered them ten times their summer rate to clear their schedules for him.”

“Smart,” I say dryly.

“Yeah, that’s Portland. Everybody’s nice and they like to talk—everybody with one exception, I mean.”

Sighing roughly, I scratch my neck and stalk away, throwing myself into the armchair. My head is fucking pounding.

“Remind me why I let you in again?”

“You didn’t have a choice, dearest brother,” she says in that same hard voice. “And because no matter what, I’m your sister and you love me. And I couldn’t stand cutting you loose to drink yourself to death.”

“I’m not—what the fuck ever.”

She leans forward, her elbows on her knees.

“Look, now that I know you’re not dead, I’m not going to give you crap for scaring us half to death or going AWOL with the company or any of that.”