Page 75 (1/1)
"Oh, yeah Elliott's not the worst person in the world, but he's a miserable husband as well as a crap father I never should haveand stupid and I fell for it"
Now I had to know the details I'd already guessed she'd been young Twenty, if ht And now she was an art history professor "What happened?"
"I rad student and he was—" Scarlett looked a little sheepish "He was really hot"
I rolledI'd expected Scarlett to say She hadn't seemed the least bit affected by looks Bryce had only earned disdain, and she appeared to be ie appearance
Scarlett's cheeks flushed "It kills me to admit it, but my studious, focused, nineteen-year-old self was bloay by Elliott Hall He's so handsome, he's kind of unreal And he's lazy, but he's even ht skip out on work, or chores, or, you know, parenting, but he always has tiirl, but he's theI've ever seen in real life and I was blinded by hi with me?"
My ego twinged at her description of her ex It could have been e, but there was no affection in her voice when she spoke of her ex, only amusement at her own idiocy
"Have you looked in a lance "You're not exactly plain"
"I'm no supermodel, either Anyway, between his looks and the sex—" Now she flushed a deep red "I wasn't paying attention to the iraher-level work The way he couldn't hold down a job The fact that his mother ca that nant and a junior in college"
"Scary," I commented
"Terrifying," she agreed "I wasn't sure what to do, and before I could really think about it, his parents and e They'd help us buy a little house, and help watch the baby so I could stay in school… If I'd been thinking clearly, I could have taken the to marry Elliott But he was all for it, too They found a cute bungalow, and Elliott showed up with a ring, and before I knew it, I wasout of the dor"
"What about school?"
"Thatcher was born in July, before the start ofHe went on a 'last fun ti trip a week before my due date and left his phone at home"
"What a jackass" I couldn't help it I had this picture in h the pain of labor, her husband nowhere to be seen
"Totally a jackass Our reat, but he was supposed to be ize, just breezed in the front door—after we'd been discharged from the hospital—and o, and I was too tired to argue"
"I'lance at Scarlett This tienuine amusement
"You know, in retrospect, I aain "I don't really rerades up to keepI needed was student loans I hadn't planned for My parents lived an hour away, but Elliott's parents were in the sas had been different, she would have encouraged me to be a stay-at-home mooing to be h school She practically lived with us that first year"
"You didn'tthat much time with their mother-in-law
"No way I would have droithout her Shemy work done for school, that I had a ride to class, and she loved Thatch socared for I was so exhausted all the time, it's a blur Connie cleaned and made dinner, and honestly, I have no idea how she did it all or why Bill, Elliott's dad, didn't mind When they retired to Florida last year, we all cried We've been to visit, and they've come back to see us We video call all the time Elliott barely even talks to them They deserve better"