“Violet,” Iris said quietly, walking over to them. Gingerly, she sat on the arm of the couch. “Are you sure you want to get married?”
Violet didn’t answer. She stared down at her hands, silent.
“Because we’d support you if you changed your mind,” Lily added. “You know that, right?”
“Of course I want to get married,” she said. “I love Eddy. We’ll be fine.” She looked up and brushed her hair over her shoulder, letting out a full-body sigh. Then she glanced at the stack of papers in Lily’s lap. “What’s that? Something you’re editing?” Then she paused, looking at Lily more closely. “Wait. What’s wrong? Have you been crying?”
Her sisters looked at her on high alert. Lily was suddenly the topic of conversation.
“I’m fine,” she said, putting Nick’s email drafts aside. She didn’t want to tell her sisters the whole backstory with Nick. It was too complicated and embarrassing. She didn’t want them feeling bad for her. But she could be vague. “Nick lied to me about something important.”
“Did he cheat on you?” Violet asked.
“He’d have to be my boyfriend to cheat.”
“Is he married?” Iris asked.
“No.”
Violet raised an eyebrow. “Is he one of those Cash App scammers?”
“What? No. It’s nothing like that. He kept something from me that I wish I’d known earlier.”
Violet and Iris exchanged a glance.
“What did he keep from you?” Violet asked.
“I’d rather not get into it.” Lily hoped they wouldn’t push her.
“Okay,” Iris said slowly. “Well, did he apologize for lying?”
Lily nodded.
“Do you think what he’s done is worth forgiving?” Violet asked.
“I—” Lily paused. “I don’t know.”
“We don’t know what happened, of course,” Iris said. “But it’s clear to me how much he likes you.”
“Yeah, he followed you around like a puppy at Mom and Dad’s,” Violet added.
Iris reached over and squeezed Lily’s hand. “We’re not saying that you shouldn’t be upset. If you never want to talk to him again because he lied, that’s completely valid. We’re just saying that if you do decide you want to give him another chance, we’d understand that too.”
Lily sighed. “I don’t know what I want. That’s the problem.”
“Then you should take all the time you need to figure it out,” Violet said. “And if Nick really likes you as much as we think he does, he won’t rush you to make a decision.”
“Exactly,” Iris said, nodding.
Lily smiled gratefully at her sisters. “Thank you for listening.”
“Of course,” Iris said.
“I love sister night.” Violet grinned, stretching out her legs.
Then Lily realized there was something else she had to tell them. “I have a job interview next week.”
“What?” Iris said. “Really?”
“Oh shit! For real?” Violet said. “Where?”
Lily told them about her upcoming interview with Francesca Ng. When Lily was finished, Iris walked around and sat on the other side of her. She threw her arm around Lily, and Violet did the same, enclosing her in a sister sandwich.
“You’ll get the job,” Iris said. “It would be a mistake not to hire you.”
“And if they don’t hire you, let me know because I will go up there and pay them a visit,” Violet said.
Lily laughed, leaning on her sisters. It was exactly what she’d needed.
Iris’s stomach grumbled. She sat forward and looked at Violet. “Are you gonna order the pizza, or what?”
Violet groaned. “Only you would ruin our bonding moment with your bossiness.”
Iris and Violet began to bicker, and Lily welcomed the distraction. Because she still had no idea what she was going to do about Nick.
18
After Nick left Lily’s apartment, he paced back and forth in his bare living room. He couldn’t stop thinking about the look on her face when he’d admitted that he was Strick. Just moments before she’d been telling him that she had feelings for him. He’d held her soft body close to his. Her expression had been one of raw, vulnerable hope. And then he’d told her the truth and watched in dismay as her expression morphed into confusion, then closed-off anger.
He’d betrayed her. This was why he’d wanted to avoid getting close to her. But it was too late now. She knew the truth and he was in too deep. He’d given her the email drafts because he wanted her to finally have the whole truth. He had to make things right with her. He had to fix this.