"We're in San Diego for her friend's wedding and thought about driving up to see you."
A surge of excitement flutters in my belly. "YES! When?"
"Ha, who do you want to see more? Elena or me?" he jokes but continues before I can reply,Elena, duh. "Friday. It's short notice, but we didn't know if we could make it until now. Chloe moved the rehearsal dinner to Thursday, and the wedding is Saturday."
I mentally go over my schedule, which, besides work, is wide open. "I'll check with Denis to see if he needs me. He and Collin should be done with contractnegotiationsby then."
Oli must've been drinking something because a choking sound followed by violent coughing comes through the speakers.
"Are you okay?" My eyes fly between the call on the screen and the road.
It takes him a few more coughs to regain his composure. Oli clears his throat. "What do you mean, Collin and Denis? What's going on, Nelle?"
I sigh—no point in playing it down. "Collin is in LA. Denis and Phyllis had an agreement that Liberman includes some of La Déesse's designs in their fall collection."
"Ugh," my brother harrumphs, "and Denis didn't reveal that tidbit before he offered you the position?" He's pissed.
"He probably assumed I knew." I try to play it down. "Oliver?" There is something I can't play down, though.
"Yes?" His hesitation tells me he won't like what I have to say next. I rarely call him by his full name.
"Collin knows. I, uh…" Fuck, I don't want to say it. Not that Oli would ever snitch to our parents, but I don't want him to worry. I hold my breath and then blurt, "I had an episode." I limit it to yesterday's incident and omit what happened at the vineyard.
"What happened?" he whispers. My brother has seen me at my worst. He used to fish me out of the pool more times than I could count when I was younger. Or stay and watch to make sure I would come back up when it became apparent that I needed thewater therapy.
I replay the morning to him and end with Collin driving me home. He is as shocked as I was when I repeat Collin's words about our father.
"That makes no sense. Why would Dad tell him?"
"I have no clue, but I don't like it. It gives him something to hold over me. And I wouldn't put it past him to use it to his advantage." I sound small.
I'm parked behind the boutique now but don't disconnect the call. I need to confide in someone, and Oli is the only one I can.
"Nelle, promise me something." His seriousness makes me sit up straighter.
My feet are both propped against the floorboard, and I press my palm on my knee to stop it from bouncing. "What?"
"If he tries to pull something on you, you need to go to Lilly."
The thumping in my ears mutes my response. "I can't."
"Denielle Keller!" My brother rarely gets angry with me. He is now. "Lilly is your best friend. Why would you not tell her? You did nothing wrong. This is not your fault."
I know his words are the truth. I didn't choose this. "I don't want her to see me differently," I admit. She already knows about what happened with Dad and Marcus. In my retelling, I also confessed that Lilly is aware of our father's hand in what happened with McKenna Baxter.
He softens his voice. "Why would she ever see you differently? You didn't change your opinion of her when she revealed her secret to you, did you?"
"No?" My meek response sounds more like a question.
"You didn't," he states firmly. "And neither would she. Nelle, you were a child when you witnessed— You couldn't do anything about it, and your mind chose a…coping mechanism. Everyone deals with trauma differently. And you had the predisposition for it to be triggered. What happened to McKenna…that would've happened with Dad there or not. No one could've foreseen that. Brain surgeries are unpredictable, or have you forgotten Dad's trademark statement during every lecture he holds?"
"You're right," I concede.
"Are you appeasing me, or do you really believe it?" Skepticism drips from his words.
I don't lie to Oli. Ever. "Both."
"Please think about talking to Lilly."