Chapter 452

Helena took the sample kits, frowning. "No, but you really should watch where you're going."

In the car, Rowan's words left Elissa in a prolonged silence. It took her a moment to pull a shred of reason from her chaotic thoughts.

She chose to follow her heart, speaking softly, "Thank you for defending me back there."

When she hadn't known the Wilkinson family's stance, with Maya and Marcia cornering her, his support had been a lifeline. A direct confrontation with the Wilkinsons wouldn't benefit her right now, and she didn't want to burn that bridge just yet. Rowan stepping in had kept them from becoming outright adversaries. Of course, Suzanne and Laurel's later attitude had been the complete opposite of what Maya had shown.

Rowan's lips twisted into a self-deprecating curve. "I've never spoken up for you before? I don't recall you ever thanking me then."

Elissa braced herself for him to demand she make up for all the thanks she'd omitted in the past. She even had her answer ready. But he didn't want them. What he noticed was the distance and formality between them-two things that should never have existed.

As a child, Elissa had accepted Rowan's affection and protection as the most natural thing in the world. Sometimes, if he defended her and said something she didn't like, she would pout and complain about him to lan Murphy for ages.

Like the first time she tripped one of the mean girls to protect Tanya Foster, and they both got beaten up for it. The teacher, without getting the full story, had lectured them about how "it takes two to tango" and made them stand in the hallway for two periods, bruised and swollen. She was young and sensitive, and the snickers from other students during the break were humiliating.

Rowan had rushed to the school, his brow furrowed tightly as he stared at her face. He then marched her to the principal's office to set things right, but in the process, he'd let slip, "Our girl can be a bit delicate, but..."

Of course, the rest of what he said was all in her defense. But Elissa was already on the verge of tears, and the word "delicate" was all it took to open the floodgates. On the way home, she was bawling her eyes out, protesting, "How am I delicate? Where am I delicate?"

Rowan hadn't been annoyed. He'd just gently applied some bruise cream, trying to distract her. "Does it hurt?"

She had winced in pain, her eyes watery. "Rowan, I'm the one who's hurt. Why do you look so upset?"

Thinking back now, she realized she had been delicate in every way, especially with him, always being such a handful.

Memories swirled with the present, and Elissa's eyes began to sting. "The past was the past. It's different now."

Back then, he was her brother, the person who had cherished her for nine years.

"How is it different? Back then, I was Rowan, and you were Elissa." His dark eyes fixed on her as if trying to

see into her soul. "Am I not wan

now? Are you not Elissa?"

His gaze made her uneasy, but these were questions that had to be Unless she decided, as

answere

before, to cut ties with him

letely.

Steeling herself, Elissa summoned

Λ

her courage once more. "You're still you and I'm still me. But our relationship changed the day you left me nine years ago." fo

Another year had passed. Nine years.

"Rowan, you're a smart man. You know better than I do how hard it is to build trust, and how easily it shatters."

And for her, back then, it had been like being thrown from a great height just when she trusted him the most.