“The idea that he could be happier with someone else.”
“Has it ever occurred to you,” I ask coolly, “that maybe he could be happier with someone else? Because let me tell you something — he is. He is happy with me. And he wasn’t with her.”
“Why? Because you managed to lure him in with constant sex? You think that’s going to last?”
It was definitely Allison she spoke to, and it’s Allison she’s parroting now. I wonder precisely how much of Ginny’s ugliness this summer can be traced back this way. “There’s an element of that at the start of every relationship,” I say. “It doesn’t mean that’s all we have.”
“What could he possibly have in common with you?” she asks.
I knew it would bother her that I’d been lying, but I never anticipated this level of animosity. I get the feeling that there is nothing I can say to fix this with her.
“You’ve known both of us your entire life,” I say. “And if you were willing to think about it for two seconds you’d be able to answer that question yourself. But you’re so in love with some little fantasy you’ve created about James and Allison and their wedding and their brilliant careers that you won’t even look at whether your fantasy would have made James happy.”
“And does he know about your little piece on the side?” she asks harshly.
“What are you talking about?”
She rolls her eyes. “Don’t do your innocent thing with me, Elle,” she sneers. “It doesn’t work anymore.”
“I’m not ‘doing’ anything. I’m telling you flat-out that I have no idea what you’re talking about. I haven’t been with anyone but James all summer.”
“God, I never realized what a liar you are,” she says through narrowed eyes. “Don’t think I’m not going to tell James.”
“Tell him what? That you’re delusional? Give me one shred of proof that I’ve been with anyone else!”
“I have proof,” she says. “Don’t worry about that.”
“This is crazy, Ginny,” I say, aghast. “I honestly can’t believe you’re saying this shit. It makes no sense. We’ve been best friends for 16 years.”
“We were best friends,” she hisses. “Now we’re nothing.”
I grab my stuff from the bathroom and go back to James’s room. When he comes in I’m curled up on his bed and crying into his pillow. He wraps himself around my back, tucking me into him like a child.
“Shhhh,” he says. “I guess it didn’t go too well?”
It takes me a minute to answer. “Among other things, she seems to be under the impression that I’m cheating on you. She claims she has proof. It makes no sense, James. I haven’t been with anyone but you all summer.”
“I know,” he soothes. “I’ll talk to her. What else did she say?”
“She said I lured you in with sex. And that it won’t last. And that we have nothing in common.”
He laughs and puts his mouth to my ear. “You lured me in by being you,” he says. “By being the person you’ve always been. A little naive and a little too grown up for your age and kind of a smart ass but so good underneath it. And by being wiser than me about 99% of the time.”
“That’s sweet,” I tell him, tucking his hands into mine.
“But honestly, I could have overlooked all of it if the sex part didn’t make me break.”
I laugh despite myself.
“She says I’m nothing to her anymore.”
“She’ll get over it,” he says. “She has to. You’re permanent.”
Chapter 48
When we finally emerge from his room, I see that I’ve missed two calls from Corinne in NYC. We’ve texted occasionally this summer, but nothing more, so two calls can only mean one thing. Something has happened, or is about to happen.
She doesn’t bother with greetings. “You need to watch your back.”
“What do you mean?” I breathe. This can’t be good.
“There was some PR thing going on before, you know, to fix Edward's image? But then all morning today, there’ve been people in his office, freaking out. His publicist was there before I came in. And I heard someone say he’s giving interviews today. Which is weird since he hasn’t said a word up ‘til now.”
“Well, can’t that only help me?” I ask. “I mean, he’s probably going to say there was nothing going on, right?”
She hesitates. “Some stuff was leaked.”
“What stuff?” I huff in exasperation. “Nothing happened.”
“Don’t shoot the messenger.”
“Fine. What stuff?”
“Someone on his staff leaked that he had a guest coming to the Hamptons that weekend after you left — and they were only supposed to get the master bedroom ready.”
“But that could have been anybody.”
“Yes, but everyone is saying it was you. And that’s not all. There have been some leaks from inside the office. Someone claimed that you played up to Edward and he let you do things no one else got to do. Did he really promise you air time?”
I groan. “Possibly.”
“Well, someone overheard it. And they told the press that everyone knew you were a couple.”
I hang up and my shoulders sag. Edward Ferris is beginning to feel like a problem that’s never going away. James comes up behind me, rubbing my shoulders and planting a kiss on my head. “What’s up?”
“More drama,” I sigh, and tell him what Corinne said.
“God, Elle,” he says, “If this is happening because I made you go to the police … ”
“It’s not,” I say. “And you didn’t. I’m a big girl. I could have said no if I disagreed. I didn’t want to go, but I knew you were right.”
It’s out of my control, and putting it out of mind is easy to do, because to finally be with James, publicly, is thrilling. Second only to the thrill of ending up with him at all. To hold his hand when we walk or to feel his fingers grazing my back when we’re on the beach. Or to spend huge blocks of time just lying in bed with him in the middle of the day. Even Ginny — who avoids me and acts like I’m a stranger if we’re in the same room – can’t ruin it.
“Have I told you how happy I am that you’re staying down here?” he asks, climbing into his bed, where I already wait.
“Once or twice,” I smile. “It makes me wish we could start the whole summer over.”
He brushes my hair off my face. “We have lots of summers ahead of this one.”
**
We’re just walking in the door when I get a call from my father. We haven’t spoken once since the credit card incident.
“I need to discuss something very important with you,” he says.
“That you’re getting married?” I sigh. If that’s why he’s calling, it feels a little late to make amends. I move toward the deck and James motions that he’ll give me my privacy, but I grab his hand and bring him with me.