“Odd how?”
Crying during sex, for instance, Max wanted to say. “She’s been distant.” He gave his brother a significant look. “And stressed.”
Elliott merely looked concerned. He didn’t seem to associate Jenn’s stress with her bizarre behavior that last night on the island. “I hope she’s okay.”
“Did Jenn say anything to you about what’s been bothering her? Anything about Chloe? Or Thomas?”
Elliott’s face finally registered the implication of Max’s tone. His cheeks reddened. “I know what those gossip sites are saying, and you’re way off base.”
“I’m just asking, Elliott.”
“It’s offensive.”
“So she didn’t say anything to you?”
His brother pushed off the desk and walked out, giving Max his answer. Shit. Could it be that Thomas DeLorn had been cheating with Jenn? He couldn’t imagine Jenn doing such a thing, but you never really knew people. His own life was a testament to that.
He paged through a few days’ worth of gossip, not finding anything that made him feel better about himself or Jenn. The police had been hinting for a while now that Thomas had been helped by someone. According to anonymous sources who claimed to work at the Florida resort where he’d hidden out, Thomas DeLorn had clearly been waiting for someone.
Could it have been Jenn? Max stared at the bookshelves he’d built for his brother, trying to think, but he couldn’t come up with a plausible alternative explanation for Jenn’s withdrawal.
He went to look for his brother. Elliott was on the balcony, clutching a beer. He didn’t look up when Max joined him.
“I’m sorry,” Max said. “I like Jenn. But even Chloe is suspicious and she loves Jenn like a sister.”
“She said she was an awful friend,” Elliott muttered.
“Who? Chloe said that?”
“No. Jenn said that. When she started crying that night, Jenn said she’d been a liar and an awful friend to Chloe.”
All the air left his lungs. “Are you sure?”
“I don’t think she meant that, though. I can’t imagine her going behind Chloe’s back like that. She’s so protective of her.”
“That could just be guilt.”
Elliott’s head drooped. “I suppose.”
Max raised his phone just as Elliott turned toward him.
“It was a private conversation. You can’t tell Chloe about that.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? She needs to know.”
“If it’s true, she’ll find out soon enough,” Elliott said, leaving Max out on the balcony and sending an unsubtle message with the slam of his office door.
“Goddamn it.” Even in the short time he’d known them, Max could see that Chloe and Jenn were as close as sisters. They were totally at ease with each other, protective and affectionate. If those rumors about infidelity were grounded on truth, and if the truth involved Jenn, surely that would be an even deeper blow than the one her fiancé had dealt. The kind of blow that just might break her in two.
If Max passed on the details of his brother’s conversation with Jenn, would it help her brace for the pain? He supposed it didn’t matter. Even if he could convince himself that Elliott would get over it, Max didn’t have a way of getting in touch with her. After that little public breakdown, he imagined that Chloe wasn’t going to be answering her phone for a while.
There was nothing to be done.
From the fourth floor, the neighborhood was a sea of treetops, rippling in the breeze. He tried to let the sight bring him a little peace. At least he wasn’t out on the ocean. Then again, maybe the ocean would be more peaceful than this. Boy, he’d reached a sorry point in his life when he was wishing for the sea.
When his phone rang, Max was still staring out at the green waves. The chime was so muffled by his tense grip that it took him a moment to place the sound, and when he finally flipped it open, he answered with a desperate “Hello?”
“Max Sullivan?” an unfamiliar male voice responded.