Looking Inside

“I haven’t been.” She waved at the mess on her desk. “I’ve just been buried with work ever since I got behind last week.”

More accurately, she’d buried herself in the work, eager to focus on something other than the fact that the days and nights not seeing Trey were starting to accumulate. His calls were coming less frequently. She told herself it was what she wanted, but her thoughts didn’t ring true.

Every day that passed not seeing him, every night spent without him, seemed to be making the aching hole in her chest gape just a little wider. So she worked. And she tried to forget.

It wasn’t working in the slightest, she acknowledged grimly as she watched Jimmy plop down in the chair in front of her desk.

“How’s your dad doing?” he asked.

“It seems like he’s doing better every day. He got the okay for regular exercise from his doctor, and he and Mom joined a health club. We found one that has a cardiac rehab specialist on staff. Last night when I visited them, my dad was showing off his hip new workout clothes and talking about things like free weights, reps and optimizing his cardio routine,” she told him drolly.

Jimmy laughed. “That’s great. I should go with you out to Evanston sometime soon. I’d like to see them.”

“That’d be great,” she said, setting down her pen and stretching.

“And how are things going with Riordan?”

She froze, then sighed and lowered her arms.

“They aren’t, to be honest,” she admitted after a pause. She had been avoiding Jimmy a little, mostly because she didn’t want to have this conversation. She’d been evasive about the topic of Trey with her parents too.

But maybe it was time to start coping with the truth.

“Trey and I aren’t going to see each other anymore,” she said as evenly as possible. “It’s over.”

“Why?” Jimmy asked, sitting forward in his chair.

She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “You didn’t really think what was happening between him and me was going to last forever, did you?”

He blinked and started back slightly. “I don’t know, exactly. But the way you two were looking at each other that night at Gold Coast, I thought there was enough steam to keep it going for a hell of a long time. That’s for sure. What happened?”

“It’s a long, boring story,” she said dismissively, avoiding his stare and shuffling the papers on her desk.

“Eleanor?” She looked up and saw his arched eyebrows. “I’ve got time.”

She exhaled resignedly. The truth came out awkwardly at first. By the time she got to the revelation that Trey and Caddy had known each other for years, and formed a pact not to get involved romantically despite their attraction for each other, the words were spilling out of her throat in an anxious rush.

“So that’s it,” she said breathlessly after several minutes. “Just my luck, isn’t it? That they’d known each other? Liked each other? Back when we first met, Trey told me that he was taking a break from relationships . . . trying to figure his life out. He called it an existential crisis, brought on by some ugly breakups and losing two close friends.” She met Jimmy’s dark eyes. “One of those friends was Caddy.”

Jimmy shook his head. “That’s incredible. I guess it’s not too surprising, though. They did live right next to each other.”

“That’s the weird thing. One of the weird things,” she amended, grimacing. “They didn’t know they lived next to each other, according to Trey. Their relationship was strictly professional. They saw each other only through work.”

“And Trey told you that they’d decided early on not to date or see each other romantically?”

She nodded, her eyes downcast. “He said they made a pact about it. He said they respected each other too much, and were open about their bad luck with relationships. So they mutually decided to just be friends.”

“Wow,” Jimmy said, leaning back as he took it all in. “Did you believe Trey when he said it?”

“What do you mean?” she asked, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end.

“Did you believe him when he said that he and Caddy hadn’t slept together?”

“Yes,” she said hollowly. “Don’t you think I should have believed him?”

Jimmy shrugged dubiously. “You know him better than me. Would he have lied about something like that?”

Her mouth hung open as his question repeated in her head. “No,” she stated absolutely after a pause. “Trey’s not like that. He doesn’t lie. Not about anything elemental. Honesty means too much to him.”