His Best Friend's Little Sister

by Vivian Wood

  “How did you make it up the mountain?” Ellie asked.

  “Being first lady has its perks,” Meredith said with a wink. “Starting with access to some seriously hardcore four-wheel drive vehicles. Hey, why are there two cars in the driveway, anyway?”

  A thump came from upstairs, and Meredith arched a brow. “Do you have company?” she asked in a lowered voice. Excitement flickered through Meredith’s eyes. Since falling in love with Eli, and especially after moving into the White House, Meredith had played her role well. However, there was still a big part of her that missed the excitement of her wilder days. Still, she had a role to fulfill and an image to maintain.

  “Kind of…”

  Henry emerged in the kitchen, rubbing his wrists. Ellie noticed that he’d put on jeans and a clean shirt. “Mer, hey.” He’d put on his most cheery, professional voice. “Here, let me take care of the coffee, you two take a seat in the living room.” He widened his eyes at Ellie as she and Meredith headed to the hall.

  “Ellie!” Meredith whispered, linking her arm through hers.

  “Nothing happened!” Ellie hissed back.

  “That’s not what it looks like,” Meredith said, looking back into the kitchen.

  The two of them huddled close together on the couch, and for a moment it felt like years ago. Meredith was the first girlfriend of Eli’s that Ellie had ever felt close to. Even though she was older than Ellie, she’d almost instantly felt part sister and part friend—truly the sister Ellie had always wished for.

  “You better marry that one,” Ellie had told Eli after meeting Meredith on the campaign trail.

  Eli had just laughed, but that was exactly what he had done. Ellie had been one of Meredith’s bridesmaids. They’d grown close, and Ellie had always looked up to her. Meredith was gorgeous in her own unique, yet classic way. Trim, slender and tall, she made grace look effortless.

  However, as Eli’s chances of being elected president began to blossom and it was clear he was going to win, Meredith had a choice to make. Did she want to be the president's wife? Her own career aspirations complemented Eli’s well. Meredith had been a journalist with the New York Tribune when she first met Eli, assigned to his campaign trail. After putting her journalism career on hold temporarily, she'd become involved with a major national nonprofit serving homeless youth. It was what had gotten Ellie interested in fundraising in the first place. Now, as first lady, Meredith had made homelessness her primary platform.

  Ellie loved Meredith something fierce, but they hadn’t seen each other much since Eli’s inauguration. Arliss jumped onto the couch with them, wiggling to get between them. “Arliss!” Meredith said with a laugh, stroking the shaggy head without a care whether he got white fur on her designer jeans or not. “You just love being the peanut butter in a threesome, don’t you?” she asked him with a wink to Ellie.

  “I don’t know how you handle such a big dog!” Ellie said. “He’s adorable, but I think he’d be the one walking me—and I don’t think I could keep up!”

  “Well, every president needs a White House pet, you know,” Meredith said. “That argument is the only way I could convince your brother to let us have a dog finally! Besides,” Meredith said with a smirk and glance toward the kitchen, “it seems like you have your hands plenty full with your own wild thing in there.”

  “Pervert,” Ellie said with a laugh. “Seriously, nothing happened. He’s just been here a few days, came in the night of the big storm. Then I got sick with the flu… he took care of me. It was a bad one,” she said.

  “Oh my God! Why didn’t you call me?”

  “I thought you guys were in South Korea,” she said.

  Meredith shook her head. “I didn’t go on this trip,” she said. “Are you okay now?”

  “I’m on the mend,” Ellie said. “So, are you staying?” she asked. Part of her was thrilled at the idea of a little sister time, but another part of her wanted Meredith to go so she could flesh out what was going on with Henry.

  “No, sorry babygirl,” Meredith said. “I wish I could, but I can only stay one night. I just wanted to make sure you’re doing okay.”

  “No!” Ellie said. “You should stay, please.”

  Henry walked into the room, placing two mugs of steaming coffee on the table. “Ladies.” He gestured to the mugs.

  “Thanks,” Meredith said, picking up her cup.

  “There’s plenty of room,” Ellie continued, trying to catch Henry’s eye. He avoided her gaze and headed through the French doors onto the porch.

  “Isn’t he going to be cold out there?” Mer whispered, watching Henry sink into one of the chairs and put his legs up on the railing. “He’s not even wearing a jacket!”

  “I don’t know,” Ellie shrugged, warming her hands on the coffee mug. “He’s kind of strange, you know,” she said, nudging Meredith with her elbow.

  “Yeah,” Mer said. “Eli told me the war changed him. I didn’t know him before he enlisted, though.”

  “I was too young to really know him,” Ellie said. Why was she trying to make excuses to Meredith? They’d always told each other everything—well, almost everything.

  Meredith shook her head sadly. “Poor guy,” she said. “War. I can only imagine.”

  Ellie wanted desperately to tell Meredith what was really going on. Besides Sam, Mer and Eli were the only people who knew she was a virgin. Meredith had been pure gold when she’d told her, reassuring her that waiting until she was ready was a good thing. Going into college, Ellie had been kind of embarrassed, especially when so many of her friends in high school were quick to share their stories about losing it.

  “You do what feels right for you,” Meredith had told her. “Trust me. It’s worth waiting for.”

  13

  You are a fucking idiot. Henry beat himself up as he sat on the porch. What the hell do you think you’re doing? That’s Ellie you’re messing with! He could hear the two of them talking on the couch, but couldn’t make out the conversation. Jumping up, he opened the door and grabbed a light wool jacket.

  “Henry!” Meredith called. “I’m just about to make some brunch. Would you like to join us?”

  “Nah, thanks though, Meredith. I’m not hungry. I’m actually going to go on a walk.”

  “A walk?” Meredith looked at him quizzically. “You’re not even dressed for it! Come on, why not—”

  “Thanks again, Mer.” He saw Ellie looking at him, confused, but shut the door before either of them could protest more.

  As he started walking up the hill, he let the cold embrace him. Out here, in the wild, with nothing but the sound of the winds in the pines and the occasional winter birds, a sense of calm came over him. This was what he needed—a little peace and solitude to think. Clearly, he hadn’t been doing a lot of that lately.

  He couldn’t believe he kissed Ellie like that, or at all. But he couldn’t help himself. He could only recall little pieces of what he’d been dreaming about, but her name had been on his lips even as he woke. And seeing her like that, nearly on top of him with that hair falling down and framing his face and the scent of her skin so close… it was a miracle he hadn’t broken free of those restraints and taken her right there.

  She’s a virgin. A virgin, a virgin… hell, she just had a fiancé a few days ago! You’re a fucking mess.

  He didn’t know what he was doing, or why he was still here. Of course, neither of them realized the snow had apparently melted quite a bit. If Meredith could make it to the cabin with no problems, surely his SUV could manage. There was only one thing to do. Leave before he made a bigger mess than he already had.

  As he crested another hill, he realized he’d lost track of how far he’d been walking, or even in what direction. Looking back, he was grateful to see a trail of his deep footsteps in the snow. Thank God there’s no more snow in the forecast, he thought. It would be simple enough to trace his footsteps back to the cabin. How long had it been? Hours? The position of the sun was hidden by cl
ouds and betrayed nothing. He could have walked for one mile, two or even ten. He had no idea. The entirety of his thoughts were consumed with Ellie.

  As the sky began to darken, he turned around and headed back. His stomach raged, ravenous from a day of starvation. After what seemed like an eternity, the cabin finally came into sight. He could see Ellie and Meredith on the couch, paging through magazines.

  “Henry!” Ellie said as he stomped his boots on the porch and opened the door. “My God! Where have you been? You’ve been gone all day.”

  “Just hiking,” he said, trying to shake off the sudden chill. Had he been shaking this whole time? “Lost track of time.”

  “I’ll say,” Meredith said, looking up at him with—was it accusation?

  “I’ll, uh—I’ll go start dinner,” he said.

  “Do you want—” Meredith began, but Ellie touched her arm and shook her head.

  “You two are hungry, right?” he called from the kitchen.

  “Starving,” Ellie yelled back.

  As he was finishing up the pork with a good sear and checked on the vegetables steaming in the bamboo basket, Ellie and Meredith made their way into the kitchen. “Just supervising,” Meredith teased him, peeking over his shoulder.

  “No need for supervision,” Ellie told her. “He’s an amazing cook.”

  “All ready,” Henry told them, placing the dishes on the breakfast table for a family-style meal. Meredith spread out, taking up room for two with Arliss at her side.

  “Don’t waste a good pork chop!” Henry admonished her as Meredith snuck little bites to Arliss.

  “It’s hardly a waste,” Meredith said. “Arliss loves it, and he has an excellent, very well-developed palate.”

  “So,” Ellie said, cutting into her pork chop. “Tell us all about the White House drama.”

  Meredith laughed. “There’s plenty of drama, but it’s pretty boring drama. Put a bunch of mostly old white men together to talk politics, and it’s not exactly HBO-level gossip.”

  “How’s Eli handling it?” Ellie asked. “I have a feeling he doesn’t tell me much.”

  Meredith shook her head. “I think he’s doing okay,” she said. “But you know what they say. Being POTUS ages you dramatically. I can’t imagine how he’ll look in four years.”

  “Or eight,” Ellie said.

  “Oh God, don’t even say that,” Meredith said. “Eli’s not saying one way or the other whether he’ll run again. I don’t think he knows, himself. Personally, I think four years is more than enough. I don’t really want to raise children in the White House, not with that kind of media circus exposure.”

  “Kids?” Ellie’s eyes lit up at the idea.

  “Don’t go getting any ideas,” laughed Meredith. “You’re not going to be an aunt for a while yet. We’re just thinking ahead.”

  “Oh, Mer!” Ellie cooed. “You guys would make the cutest babies, though. Don’t you think, Henry?”

  He realized Ellie said his name, but he was largely tuned out of the conversation. Something about babies. “Uh-huh,” he grunted.

  “Clearly someone doesn’t have baby fever,” Meredith told Ellie, looking at Henry as she sliced a slender cut of her pork.

  “Men,” Ellie agreed. “Well, at least tell me one piece of White House gossip.”

  Meredith giggled. “Alright, here’s one. You know Bob? That one congressman that always had it out for Eli? Kept calling him ‘that kid’ when Eli was first campaigning?”

  “Ugh. Bob the Blob,” Ellie said, nodding her head.

  “Well. It turns out his wife? He caught her in bed with the bellhop at the hotel they always stay at in Hawaii. And the guy was barely even twenty years old!”

  “What? How come that hasn’t been on the news?” Ellie asked.

  Meredith shrugged. “Seems Bob has enough money to pay off any journalists interested in that. On the plus side, he hasn’t said anything about Eli as far as I know since then!”

  “But God, Bob must be eighty years old. How old was his wife?”

  “About the same age!”

  Henry focused on eating as quickly as possible, not even tasting his dinner. When he jumped up and grabbed his plate, Meredith looked at him in surprise. “We’ll help.” She started to get up, and he waved her back down.

  “It’s fine. I’ve got it.”

  “Well.” Meredith gave Arliss the last scrap from her plate and stood up. “I’m going to call Eli and check in on the landline. Excuse me.”

  Henry could feel Ellie watching him as he rinsed the plates.

  “We need to talk about this morning,” she said to his back. He shook his head.

  “There’s nothing to talk about. It was a mistake,” he said. “I was tired.”

  Suddenly, she was at his side and he was drawn to her eyes. Brewing within, there was a fire he’d never seen before. She opened her mouth, parting those unbelievable lips—the lips he’d been devouring just a few hours before—but before she could retort, he excused himself. “I need to take care of something upstairs,” he told her.

  He almost made it to the stairs when Meredith appeared in the hallway. “Henry. Ellie.” There was a stoniness in her voice.

  “Is Eli still on the phone?” Ellie was right on Henry’s heels.

  “No. Look,” Meredith began. “Eli says there’s been several credible threats to your life,” she said to Ellie. “Probably from the recent, uh… media exposure.”

  “What?” Ellie gasped. “What kind of threats?”

  “I’m not sure,” Meredith told her. To Henry, it was clear that she was lying. That was a skill he'd learned well in the Navy. Knowing how to sniff out lies was paramount to survival. So then why are you so unsure about what Ellie says?

  “All I know is, most of the threats were anonymous but there were many online that were just too accurate to dismiss. They… they seem to know where you are, Ellie.”

  “Oh my God.” Ellie slumped down onto the bottom step, and Henry moved instinctively close to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

  “Eli has backup agents already en route to the caretaker’s cabin,” Meredith said. “He says the two there now won’t cut it. But, until they arrive… he thinks it’d be best if you stayed with her, Henry.”

  “Me?” Henry asked. “You told Eli I was here?” Was Eli going to be mad at him? He hadn’t even asked if it was okay to go to the cabin.

  “Of course I told him,” Meredith said with a strong look in her eye. It was what made her so impressive in those first lady speeches. She could command a room with her eyes when she wanted to. It was enough to make Henry collect himself. “Eli says please, Henry. You’re the only one he trusts with his sister’s life.”

  Henry went tense. Really? Was that true? “Of course. Of course I’ll stay.” He felt his hand automatically squeeze Ellie’s shoulder, a protective gesture. Meredith’s eyes glanced down at his hand.

  “Yeah, well,” Meredith continued, keeping her eyes on his hand. “You are a Navy SEAL, after all. Plus, you’re like a brother to Eli. And Ellie.”

  “A brother,” Henry repeated. “Yeah, right. I, uh, I need to go to my room for a moment. If you’ll excuse me—”

  Upstairs, he shut his door and sat on his bed. This was too much. Too much! It was one thing to be torn with temptation, and even have a few inappropriate moments with Ellie. Now her life was endangered? And he was supposed to protect her? Did Eli really say that to Meredith? That Eli only trusted Henry with his sister’s life? Where the fuck were those Secret Service agents?

  He was so fucked. So fucked. Thinking he could leave just like that, run away from everything. It hadn’t gone too far with Ellie, not yet—it wasn’t anything he couldn’t brush away. But now? Who knows how long Eli expected him to stay here and keep her safe?

  Worse—what if he couldn’t?

  14

  “Internet’s back,” Henry told her as he slunk into the office.

  “Thank God,” Ellie said to his retreati
ng back. He only left the door open a crack.

  Mer had left early that morning, wrapped up in a decadent red wool peacoat with a fur-trimmed hood. “You look like Little Red Riding Hood,” Ellie had told her, and Mer laughed.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll steer clear of any Big Bad Wolves,” she told Ellie as she kissed her cheek.

  “I can’t believe Eli lets you travel by yourself.” Ellie just shook her head. She hadn’t even been allowed to go to a local club alone.

  “He doesn’t,” Mer had said. “My guards are already waiting at the bottom of the hill.”

  With Meredith gone and Henry holed away in the office, curiosity began to itch at Ellie’s brain. What were the threats exactly? Was it really that bad? It seemed like forever since she’d been on Instagram or Facebook. At this point, she was even craving a few Snapchat stories, even though the transient nature of the platform seemed strange to her.

  Quietly, so Henry couldn’t hear what she was doing, she pulled her phone out of her bag in the hall closet and connected to the cabin Wi-Fi. A simple search for her name and “death threats” unveiled pages of Google search results. “Ellie’s a slut who deservz whatever the Turban terrorists got pland,” read one comment in a story about her. “U wana keep that bitch out of troubble? I got plenty of dick she can keep busy wit!” Somehow she stumbled onto what appeared to be an ISIS fan group. “White nationalist seductress paid by Washington to seduce God-fearing men into trespassing against Allah.” Well. At least that one could spell.

  Story after story, headline after headline, the words sunk into her head. She was reminded of that professor from sophomore year who'd preached the importance of cognitive reconditioning. “Especially in a society where sarcasm and self-deprecation is revered,” the professor had said, “speak kindly to yourself. Your brain is really good at making what you think a reality. And if you aren’t kind to yourself, who will be?”