Let It Be Me (Triplets book 1)

Chapter 23

Ophelia managed to make some excuse about closing the store for the night and slipped down the stairs to the quiet darkness of the coffee shop. It smelled like coffee and books, and for Ophelia, that was a comforting smell.

Ophelia was numb as she curled up in one of the overstuffed chairs in a dark corner. Sullivan was right upstairs, in her life, again. What a cruel joke for fate to play on her.

All of a sudden, a furry body was jumping up to join her on the chair. There wasn't really room for Polly, but Polly wasn't going to be bothered about it as she turned until she was half on Ophelia and half on the chair.

Ophelia took Polly's face in her hands and dropped kisses on her nose. "How is everyone, girl?" she asked.

"Everyone's fine," Sullivan said, emerging from the shadows. He looked so tall and foreboding from her sitting position and also slightly unsure as he shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned on the armrest of the neighboring chair. "If you'll agree, I would like you to join me at the house for dinner this evening. The entire family will all be there."

Sullivan had a house in New York, but Ophelia had never been invited to visit it. Reyna preferred a hotel when she was in New York.

Ophelia was tempted. To be able to see everyone again would be wonderful.

"I don't think that would be a good idea, Sullivan. I don't want a repeat of what happened over a year ago." She shook her head.

"It won't. I handled it." Sullivan's jaw grew hard as he said the words.

"How did you handle it? You cannot control the press, and you know it!" Ophelia scoffed if anyone knew that by now, it should be Sullivan.

"I sued Barrett for breach of contract, I sued Giselle for breach of contract, and I published a personal letter to the public explaining everything."

"How did you sue Barrett and Giselle? On what grounds did they break their contract?" Ophelia asked, racking her brain for how they could have done it.

"They took photos while on set. Everyone on set signed a contract forbidding photography. They broke it and then sold those photos. It was an easy case. They both settled and disappeared."

"And the personal letter?" Ophelia asked, her voice wavering.

"When it didn't go away as quickly as I had hoped, I took it upon myself to write a letter addressing the subject. I sent it to every paper I could think of and posted it on my social media accounts." Sullivan's eyes were glued to Ophelia's face, but Ophelia couldn't bring herself to look at him. "I can't believe you didn't see it."

Ophelia shook her head. "I stayed as far away from them as I could. What did it say?" She licked her lips, nervous about his answer.

"You'll have to read it when you get a chance. Now it's my turn to ask a question." He pulled his hands out of his pockets and crossed them. "Why did you leave? I told you we would figure it out together."

"I..." Ophelia shrugged. She couldn't admit it was because she had told him she loved him because if she was candid with herself, that was why she ran. "I didn't want to hurt the family any more than I had."

"Why didn't you at least tell us where we could find you?" he asked.

Ophelia shrugged again. "At first, I traveled around. Then I landed here. I figure you all had moved on, and it was time I did as well." 

"We have not moved on, Ophelia. None of us have. We miss you every day and talk about you just as much." His words made her want to cry.

"I looked for you, but without your phone number, it was impossible to find you. You have no social media, no permanent address to trace. We threatened Shay on numerous occasions, but she refused to share anything other than the fact that you were safe." Sullivan stood and walked toward her, kneeling in front of her.