Playing All the Angles (28 page)

The realization of Eve’s betrayal still stung and likely would for a long time. The night of the party, when she’d found out the truth, she’d been devastated. When Patrick had arrived at the hotel, all she could do was cry. She managed to tell him what had happened in fits and starts between the sobs, and he’d held her until she couldn’t cry anymore. They’d managed a few hours of restless sleep before she had to start facing the truth again. He’d been supportive and stayed with her while she made the phone calls to her family, to the lawyers, to Jeanne. He’d offered to let her stay at his place, but she’d decided that she didn’t want to complicate their relationship further by being that close while she dealt with all of the legal things and the loose ends of her marriage.

She did continue to meet him for lunch, though, and when the word came from her attorney that Dominic was leaving for LA, she let herself have one more good, long cry over it. Then she pulled herself up. She could either wallow in it and be miserable—acting like Alora—or she could acknowledge the past and all its hurts, get up, dust herself off, and look at the future, appreciating that she had a fresh chance to make a whole new, better life for herself. She cut off the thought before she could liken that to Eve.

Jeanne helped her find a little flat in the same building, and they moved her things in by the end of the week. It was the first time Isabelle had ever been alone. She had gone straight from her parents’ home to Dominic’s and had never had her very own place. It was terrifying and exciting, and she wasn’t sure what to do with herself.

She reenrolled in school and threw herself into her studies. She and Patrick began to see each other as often as their schedules allowed, though he was at the hospital more often than not, and most of their dates consisted of lunch or dinner in the cafeteria while he was on break. Isabelle was taking it slowly, easing back into a relationship with him, not wanting to ruin the possibilities that were open to them. She wanted to be sure that she was over Dominic and completely trust her heart with Patrick before things progressed too far.

She found a nearly full-time job at a bookstore that paid the rent without her having to ask her parents for bankroll—something else new, as they had always just kept a steady stream flowing through her bank accounts. She’d set up new banking as part of her move toward independence. If her parents noticed she’d stopped touching the old account, they did not say.

Isabelle began making new friends in the city and began to come out from under the cloud she’d been in for so many weeks. She started to enjoy herself and feel happy again. She wasn’t worried about pleasing anyone but herself, and pleasing herself meant scoring the highest possible on her exams and doing a good job at work.

She went out with her friends, dancing, drinking—all the things she hadn’t done because she’d been in a serious relationship by the time she was nineteen—and she found herself laughing more. Alora was pregnant again, so while her sister had been delighted to regain her title as most successfully married sibling, she had the pregnancy to turn her attention to, keeping most of her gloating to that.

Her parents were pleased with the progress she was making, and no one spoke of Dominic at all. They were too busy asking after Patrick all the time.

He had been warmly welcomed back into the family, and her parents especially let him know just how happy they were about the rekindling of his relationship with Isabelle. Of course, she and Patrick didn’t spend much time with either of their families, less so hers than his. They were more interested in being together on their own, which was still a rare occasion, but had become more intimate as the weeks went on.

By mid-November, they were spending the night together, either at his flat or hers, whenever they could manage it. Patrick talked about them moving in together after the New Year, finding a place that was theirs, somewhere close to the hospital and to her school. She wanted to wait awhile longer before committing to the idea, though, so he agreed to wait until January to bring it up again. For the time being, it was nice just to be together.

Isabelle went along with her studies and building up a life she wanted. She thought of Dominic now and then, but only with a sour passing aftertaste, not with pain or humiliation.

She thought of Eve more often. Every time she saw an infant, her sister crossed her mind. The baby would have been born by now. She wondered what name they had chosen. Who the baby looked like. How Eve was doing. But the thought still made her insides tremble and broke her heart all over again, so she stayed away. Eve had told her to cut ties, and she had.

Just before Christmas, Isabelle was working in the bookstore, helping to stock the magazine racks with the latest editions, when she came across a bundle of
OK!
magazines, and there on the cover was Eve, holding a baby, Marcus Rode beside her. Isabelle tore the brown wrapping from the top and sliced the hard plastic bindings to pull the top copy off the stack. When she’d cleared it, she saw that Tad was pictured as well. The byline said that there was a spread inside, introducing Xandra Rode Edmunds, the inspiration for the latest Rode Street line.

“Oh my God,” she breathed aloud, staring.

“What?” Luci, one of her coworkers, came up beside her.

“That’s my sister. On the cover. My sister.”

“Wow,” Luci said. “That baby is adorable. That’s the prettiest baby I’ve ever seen! She’s like…she’s better than the Brangelina babies. What’s her name?”

“Um…Xandra.” Isabelle flipped the pages for the full spread, skimming the captions. Xandra had been born in August, right after the party. She knew the date. It was the day after she’d moved her things out of Dominic’s house.

Eve was happy, the caption said, and was helming the XRode line, creating fashion for pregnant women, post-natal mums, and children. Candid photos of her in maternity wear that she and Marcus had created together were collaged to show a range of the line.

Marcus was the godfather. He was delighted. Tad, who had been promoted to the head of the art department at his company, couldn’t be happier. Life was good.

Isabelle stared, feeling her eyes welling up. The baby looked like a carbon copy of Eve. There was no Dominic to her. She just looked exactly like Eve—black eyes, auburn curls close cropped to her round head, creamy skin, and, already, a full smile in one photo. In the rest, she stared solemnly at the camera, unimpressed.

“Are you okay?” Luci asked.

Isabelle realized she had been staring at the article with a gaping mouth and quickly shut it. “Yeah. I-I just didn’t expect this,” she said, standing up. “I just need a few minutes.”

“All right,” Luci answered, nodding. “If you need to go, that’s fine, too. I can finish this up.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, go on.”

“Thanks,” Isabelle said, taking the magazine up to the counter to pay for it before she grabbed her things and left.

She went to Patrick’s flat, knowing he was home today. He was making tea when she arrived.

“Hey,” he said, his smile instant, then faltering when he saw that she was crying. “What’s wrong?”

“Look,” she said, holding the magazine out to him.

“Oh,” he said softly, then folded her into his arms. “I’m sorry.”

“I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Who would?”

“Well, I should have. I mean, it’s Eve after all. Of course she’d be on the cover of
OK!
Look at the baby. She doesn’t look anything like Dominic,” Isabelle said, flipping through the pages to show him. “Look at her. That’s all Eve.”

“She does look just like Eve,” Patrick agreed.

She turned and looked at him. “Do you think Eve lied about Dominic being the father?”

He considered. “Why would she do that?”

“To get me away from him.”

“I dunno, Iss. That seems like a big tale to tell.”

She sighed. “It would fit her logic, though,” she said, looking through the pages again.

“Why don’t you ask her?” Patrick offered. “Go and see her.”

“You think I should?”

“You love Eve. You like Eve. You like her more than anyone else in your family.”

“But if she did…if she was sleeping with Dominic all that time…”

“I’m not going to pretend I understand her at all.” He shook his head. “She’s messed up. But I don’t think she’d go into anything with the malicious intent of hurting you. Lora, yeah. Your mum, yeah. But you? I think she was probably honest when she said she made a bad choice and then didn’t know how to get out of it. She’s not entirely right in the head. Never has been, as I recall. And I mean that fondly.”

Isabelle chewed her lip, looking down at the pictures again. “I guess it couldn’t make it any worse if I went and talked to her.”

“Might make it better,” Patrick reasoned.

“I still have that frog,” she said, more to herself.

“What frog?”

“Hmm? Oh, I bought a stuffed frog for the baby,” she said, then shrugged. “Before. I still have it.”

“Well, look at it this way, Issie,” he said, hugging her. “The baby is still your niece, regardless of her paternity. Don’t you want to at least know her?”

She smiled at that. “Yeah, I do. And maybe Eve and I can work things out.”

“So, I think you have your answer. Go see her.”

“The article says they’ve moved.”

“You know where she works. You have her phone numbers, yeah? I’ll help you make the first contact, if you like.”

“No…I need to be the one to do that.”

“I think it’ll be good. If nothing else, you get a sense of closure that you don’t currently have.”

Isabelle kissed him and eased away to get her phone. She called Eve’s number at the office, unsure if the home numbers would be the same as before.

Her secretary answered, and Isabelle asked to speak to Eve.

“Evie is in Japan for the month. May I take a message?” the secretary, whose voice Isabelle did not recognize, asked.

“This is her sister, Isabelle. Could you just tell her to call me? I—I have a new number. I can give it to you.”

The secretary took the number and message, apologizing that she could not give out Eve’s cell phone number or hotel information.

After a few days without a response, Isabelle was starting to despair that either Eve hadn’t gotten the message, or she had and didn’t want to talk. However, before she could give up all hope, Eve finally did return her call. Of course, Isabelle had missed it and it had gone to voice mail, but it was a start.

“Hello, Isabelle,” the recorded message said. “It’s Eve. I’ve gotten your message and am returning your call. I hope everyone’s all right. I’m in Japan, and it’s a bit difficult to manage the time zones and my schedule, but if there is an emergency, ring me back at this number. I hope everyone is all right. I—yes. Well. I’m back in London at the end of the month, and I’ll ring you from there if it isn’t urgent. Goodbye, then.”

They played phone tag until well after Eve arrived home, but each message was a bit friendlier and more normal. When she finally made it through on Eve’s office line, she was so shocked, she’d almost forgotten how to speak.

“Hold just a moment,” the strange voice said, and Isabelle heard some postmodern industrial music on the line while she waited.

It was another two minutes before Eve’s voice came on the line. “Isabelle? Is it really you?”

“Yes, it’s me,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry I interrupted your meeting.”

“No, it’s just Marcus. We were discussing some things for the new line.”

“XRode? I saw the
OK!
spread.”

“What’s wrong?” Eve asked seriously. “Did something happen to someone?”

“What? No…why? No, everyone’s fine. I told you that in the message.”

Eve’s voice was full of relief. “I know. It’s just…I was afraid something bad had happened.”

“No. No. I just saw the article, and I wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh. Um…how are you?”

“I’m doing well, thanks,” she said. “I don’t need to ask how you’re doing. I keep reading how smashing your life is. I was hoping that I could come talk to you in person. I hate the phone.”

“Okay. Yes. That would be good.”

Isabelle hesitated. Her sister sounded so distant and wary. “Do you have plans today?”

“Tomorrow is better. I can arrange a sitter.”

“No. Don’t do that. I want to meet Xandra too. Is that okay?”

“Given the circumstances…let’s you and I meet first. Then, if you still feel that way, all right.”

She was hurt, but then remembered herself. She really didn’t know how she was going to react to seeing Eve, much less the child Dominic had fathered. “I guess that makes sense. Have Mum and Dad seen her?”

“I haven’t heard from anyone since the night of my party. Well, anyone save Mother’s attorney to let me know I’d been taken out of the will. Frankly, I was pleased it wasn’t to do with a restraining order.”

Isabelle swallowed. “It’s been quite a mess, hasn’t it? We, ah, I kind of thought you might call me. I thought maybe you’d want to ap—talk. Talk to me.”