Moving On (Ghost Of The Past Book 1)

by Trisha Grace

  “What?” Dan exclaimed. “Why?”

  “To study. I’ve been accepted to study interior designing there. Everything is settled. Evelyn found an apartment for me and went shopping with me for all the necessities I need.”

  Evelyn knew all along? “And how long ago was this decision made? Do Mom and Dad know about this? You’ve never been away on your own for so long. How are you going to survive?”

  “Oh, Dan, you should be glad. It’s a fantastic opportunity; it’ll be good for her,” Marianne said. “Good luck with your studies, Joanne.”

  “Glad? She’s never done her own laundry. She doesn’t know how to cook—”

  “This is why I didn’t want to tell you. I’m always just your baby sister. I don’t want to be just your sister anymore.”

  Clueless about what Joanne was talking about, Dan turned to Evelyn with a slight frown.

  “Let her go. She’ll be fine,” Evelyn stated simply.

  Dan sighed softly.

  “Look, Evelyn taught me how to do my laundry, how to cook can food and ramen noodles,” Joanne said.

  Evelyn taught her?

  Joanne continued to rattle on, “Always lock my doors and windows when leaving the house and when going to bed. Do not walk in dark alleys. Always be aware of my surroundings, and a whole load of other stuff that Evelyn has already been nagging me about.”

  “Nagging?” Evelyn arched a brow.

  “Kidding … kidding.” Joanne gave Evelyn a nervous smile.

  “How long have you been preparing for this?” he asked.

  “A while.”

  And Evelyn had been helping her.

  Evelyn wasn’t fond of Joanne at all, not after all that Joanne had done to Kate. So why was she doing this?

  His gaze fell on Evelyn. If only he could read minds.

  “I’ll be fine,” Joanne continued when he said nothing.

  Evelyn had been living on her own since she was sixteen. There couldn’t be a better person helping Joanne. And for the first time since the conversation took a turn, he finally breathed easier.

  He leaned back and nodded. “When were you intending to tell me?”

  “Soon, in a less public scene.”

  His head bobbed up and down as he thought things through. “Everything is settled? School admissions … money?”

  “Yes, and probably yes. Evelyn settled all the admission stuff for me. I think Mom and Dad will help me with the money. Otherwise, Kate has agreed to help me with whatever I need while I find a part-time job.”

  He turned to Kate and smiled gratefully. Though he was somewhat offended that Joanne hadn’t come to him for help, he was glad that she’d chosen the next best alternative.

  “I’m sorry. She made me promise not to tell,” Kate said with a wry smile.

  He already knew how good Kate was at keeping secrets, but he couldn’t believe that Evelyn hadn’t told him anything when they were going out. Then, a sudden realization hit him. “Kate knew, that means you knew,” he said while glaring at Tyler.

  Applying his signature style to avoid talking, Tyler merely shrugged.

  “I made him promise not to tell,” Kate interjected. “Joanne wanted to make sure that everything was settled before announcing it.”

  There was no way he was going to win the war. Putting aside his bruised ego for being blindsided, he had to admit that it was a positive step forward for Joanne. “Looks like you’ve got everything covered. If you need anything else, I hope you’ll remember that you have a brother.”

  Joanne laughed. “I will. Now that I know you’re not going to stop me, I will.”

  With that, all the guys wished her well while Dan dove into his own interrogation, prying all the details from Joanne.

  When everyone was done with breakfast, Joseph helped Ryan back to his room, and Lydia left for her own house. Dan lingered in the kitchen; he wasn’t through with Joanne.

  “Going to the office today?” Evelyn asked Kate.

  “Yup.”

  “All right. Tyler can drop you off, right? I’m going to head off first,” Evelyn said and strode out of the kitchen.

  Kate made no objection, but Dan saw how her eyes bored into Evelyn’s back. Kate wasn’t the sort who’d pry information out of people, but she’d definitely be keeping a closer watch on Evelyn.

  Since he wasn’t able to do so, he was glad someone would be watching Evelyn’s back.

  To continue reading Closing Books (Ghost of The Past book 2), you can get it here: http://amzn.to/SifbVF