CHAPTER 28
Erin stared at the blank screen of her cell phone and took a deep breath, fingers hovering over the power button.
“This is ridiculous.” She muttered to herself in disgust, grateful that at least Kim was not here to see her acting like a scared fool. She tossed the offending object aside and drew her legs up on the bed, hugging her knees. A part of her was curious to know what sort of messages Ethan had left on her voicemail, had Nicky told him everything? Was he furious at her for keeping her cousin’s infidelity a secret?
So many questions…and if she wanted answers, she would swallow this irrational fear and call Ethan… One hand reached for the phone, then stopped and Erin sighed again.
“Stop being foolish,” She chided in a voice that wobbled with uncertainty. Goddammit Erin! You’re a grown woman….and Ethan Lachlan was just a man after all. You’re stronger than this…
Determined, she reached for the phone yet again and turned it on, proud when her grip remained steady. Ethan was just one man….ok…the one man who was extremely capable of turning her insides to jelly with just a single look… but really, she’d handled him before and she could sure as heck handle anything he threw her way.
Kim came back into the room, proudly displaying the huge tub of frozen yoghurt. “I brought some comfort food!” She announced, handing Erin a spoon while she set the yoghurt between them on the bed. “Nothing beats love and depression like yoghurt…at least that’s what the mags say.”
“Thanks.” Grateful for the distraction, Erin set the phone down, and even though she really didn’t feel like eating, accepted the spoon and dug in, though her eyes kept straying back against her will.
“Have you called yet?” Kim motioned toward the cell phone. Erin shook her head and licked the cold lump off her spoon.
“I don’t think I’m ready for real life just yet.” She mumbled, hating herself for sounding so pathetic. “But I’m dying to know what happened with Nicky…and the only way to get those answers…”
“Just call the guy already.” Kim shot her a stern look. “Look, like I said, avoiding the inevitable is not gonna make it go away. You don’t have to see him or tell him where you are, but from the earlier calls, I’d say Ethan wants to talk, and you’d be a fool not to at least hear the guy out.”
“It’s easy for you to say,” Erin grumbled, stabbing at the yoghurt. “You’ve never had to listen to Ethan when he’s furious.”
“Girl please! Stop making excuses and just call him.” Kim glared at her in exasperation. “It’s been two days, and much as I love you being here and all, sooner or later you’re going to have to deal with this.”
Erin opened her mouth to say something, but Kim soldiered on. “Besides, Heather called, asking if I’d had any contact with you…and she sounded so worried, I had to tell her I’d talked to you and that you sounded okay. Don’t look at me like that..you know I had to say something…you don’t want Ethan calling your parents now, do you?”
“God no!” Erin’s eyes widened in horror at the prospect, the last thing she wanted was for her parents to become involved in this….dear God! and they would if Heather or Ethan called saying she was MIA…that would lead to explanations that would spawn even more explanations until the dreaded truth about Nicky came out. Victoria Gosling was as effective as the FBI in rattling out any information she wanted from Erin.
Resolved thickened, she dropped the spoon and reached for the phone and dialled Ethan’s number, pushing back the wave of nausea that swam to her throat as it began to ring. Damn yoghurt.
