Free Back to Yesterday by Pamela Sparkman Page B

back towards the kitchen when she said loud enough for me to hear. “So when do you plan on doing it?”
    I stopped and turned around. “Do what?”
    “Break his heart? Or were you planning on stringing him along for a while?”
    “That’s not fair.”
    “No, it isn’t. Just like it’s not fair that Andr–”
    “Don’t say his name,” I hissed.
    “…that Andrew was a lying cad and you’ve had to suffer for it.”
    “I cannot believe we are having this conversation,” I said in disbelief. “Can you not respect my wishes? I never want to talk about him.”
    “Well, we’re gonna talk about him because you’re letting him dictate how you live your life – who you let in and who you keep out. So yeah, we’re gonna talk about him, girlie, whether you like it or not. Because Charlie is innocent in all of this. He hasn’t done anything to make you push him away.”
    “IT’S PUSH OR BE PUSHED!”
    She went quiet, her eyes softening around the edges. “God, Sophie, is that what you think?”
    My bottom lip quivered, and I gave myself a minute to get the upper hand on my emotions. I stood taller and jutted my chin forward. “I won’t be that girl ever again. The girl who threw pennies into wishing wells. The girl who sat at home and waited for him to come back. The girl who–”
    “The girl who trusted?” she asked quietly.
    I hung my head, remembering how foolish I had been. “Yes. The girl who trusted.”
    “Sophie,” Elizabeth said, sadness filling her eyes. “That’s not something to be ashamed of – you trusting someone.”
    “Isn’t it? I believed him. Every time. Doesn’t that make me an idiot?”
    She shook her head. “No. That makes him an idiot for not–”
    “I don’t want to talk about this. It’s old news anyway.” I was becoming increasingly irritated so I continued cleaning up, eager to escape the lecture I knew was coming, the lecture that always followed whenever my past came up.
    “Old news? You’re letting this old news commandeer your life.”
    “It’s called not being a victim of deceit, something you wouldn’t know anything about.”
    “No, it’s called bailing out on life.”
    Patience – gone. “Bailing out?” I got in Elizabeth’s face. “I lived it. You didn’t. The broken promises, the lies. I’m never giving someone that kind of power over me ever again. And that includes Charlie. Stop telling me how to live my life.”
    “Well, somebody needs to.”
    “Why are you doing this? Huh? You wanna know why I didn’t tell you about my date?”
    “Because you knew what I would say.”
    “Exactly.”
    “You knew I would tell you to let go of the past and open your eyes to the possibilities.”
    I gritted my teeth, needing her to stop prodding into my business. “You haven’t walked in my shoes, Elizabeth.”
    Stepping forward, she got right back in my face. “I knew you would do this.”
    “Do what?”
    “Charlie is a great guy. He cares about you. You care about him.”
    “Stop.”
    “No. You care about each other. I’m not gonna let you wreck this thing you’ve got with him because of your stupid pride.”
    Red hot anger flashed behind my eyes. “STUPID PRIDE?”
    “I didn’t mean that. I meant–”
    I held up my hand. “No, I know exactly what you meant. And this conversation is over.”
    A flash of lightning lit up the darkening sky the same time Charlie walked through the door. “There’s a nasty storm moving in,” he said, patting his wind-blown hair, unaware of what he’d interrupted. Neither Elizabeth nor I greeted him, both of us trying to tamp down our anger.
    He looked between us, concern etching lines into his forehead. “What’s wrong?”
    I gathered up the last of the dishes and said, “Nothing’s wrong. We were just having a slight disagreement. Elizabeth thinks she knows what’s best for me and she doesn’t.”
    “Right,” Elizabeth said bitterly. “I’ve only known you my whole life. I wouldn’t know