Page 100 of Tracked
Chapter 25
Lara
“I remember your sister,” Colby blurted out as soon as we were alone.
My hands, filled with bowls, paused halfway in the giant farmhouse sink. I’d honestly assumed Colby knew who I was—who I was to Calder, and why I’d come here in the first place. But then again, it was equally plausible she didn’t.This was business for him, after all.
“Oh?” I tried to sound nonchalant. “I didn’t realize you met Rachel when she was here.” She would’ve had to have been, what?Eleven? Twelve?
“No. Not officially.” She bit her bottom lip, scrubbing the dishes roughly, water splashing onto the counter like she wasn’t really paying attention. “I saw them walking at a distance.”
My heartbeat steadily climbed into my throat, giving a tremor to my voice. “They dated in college.”
Her wild scrubbing screeched—orsloshed—to a halt, and she turned to me, gaping. “Wait, they weredating?”
Had that not been mentioned?Judging by the look on her face, I guessed not.
“Yes ...” I grabbed a towel to help her dry.
“Calder and your sister?” she repeated.
Taking the first clean plate from her, I said with emphasis, “Yes.” And then managed to feign a weak laugh. “Calder brought her here to ... end things. It was a long time ago. It doesn’t matter now.”
“Lara.” Colby shook her head slowly. The kind of horror-movie slow, like I’d just unknowingly made out with the murderer. “No.”
“No? What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’ve been here—are here. You know we don’t really do well with strangers. Calder wouldn’t bring someone here to end their relationship.”
My mouth opened, lined with a million explanations forwhyCalder would do that, knowing my sister, but then I shelved them all for the simpler “Well, he did.”
“No, Lara, he didn’t,” she insisted, and my head spun, confused as to why she was being so persistent about this. “I’m sorry. I didn’t just see them walking. I mean, I did see them walking, because they walked right by the tree house we passed earlier, and I happened to be inside it, so I heard them talking,completely unintentionally, which I’ll admit is not the norm for me.”
“You ... heard them?” I choked, my heart thrashing against my chest.
“Your sister was sobbing about some other guy. Ethan—no, Aaron, maybe?”
Thank God I wasn’t holding a dish right then, because I would’ve dropped it.
“Allen?”
“Yes! That’s it. Allen.”
The ground started to feel like a balance board, tipping and rocking underneath me in every direction.Breathe, Lara. Focus.
“I couldn’t make out much because I was up pretty high and she was crying pretty hard, but she was definitely upset at Allen, not Calder. I had no idea ... I guess maybe I wouldn’t have had any idea if they were dating, but my brother definitely wasn’t breaking up with her.”
My brain felt like a spilled jar of marbles, thoughts rolling in every direction, faster than I could catch them.
Whatever had happened between Rachel and Allen had to do with the night she’d come here.
Calder had known about it this entire time, and not only had he not told me, he also hadn’t defended himself when I’d accused him.
And Rachel ... had lied to me.
Air whooshed at the fresh burst of pain in my chest, anger and guilt melding into double-sided torture.
“Calder tends to accept responsibility for things that aren’t his fault.” I reeled when Cassius’s words slammed to the front of my mind.
