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I sipped my coffee and smoked in silence for a beat, trying to decide what to do. Meanwhile, she was just sitting there in her car? What was her plan? Had she come here, tested her key, then discovered it didn’t work? In which case, why did she linger? Why not start up her car and drive away again?
Interesting timing she had too. Coming here early on a Sunday morning…
River and I looked up again when we heard a car door close, and seconds later, Ella emerged from the carport.
Anger simmered below the surface. I hadn’t anticipated I’d feel so strongly about seeing her again, but I was wrong. I didn’t want her here. She’d done enough.
I took a final drag before putting out the smoke in a flowerpot, and River followed suit. Then we rose from the sofa, leaving our mugs on the table, and trailed over to the porch steps.
Ella spotted us then, and she faltered briefly.
“Didn’t she leave town?” I muttered.
River nodded with a dip of his chin. “Philly’s not that far away, though.”
Ah. True. I’d forgotten she was from Philadelphia originally.
Ella picked up the pace again, and she raised her chin in the way that let us know she was steeling herself for conflict.
I had no intention of causing any harm whatsoever. For close to a decade, I’d considered her my friend as well. But that didn’t mean I was going to let her skirt the rules. This was a members-only community, at least the house. She could reopen her online account and stay active only there, or become a proper member again.
I didn’t see the latter happening, thankfully. That was the last thing Penelope needed.
When Ella made it clear that she was about to avoid us and head straight for the back of the house, River cleared his throat.
“Where do you think you’re goin’, hon?” he asked.
She deflated a bit but tried not to let it show. “I’m just going to leave Penny a letter. I tried to get in earlier, but my key doesn’t work.”
“Because we changed the locks,” River replied. “If you wanna leave Pen somethin’, you can give it here. You’re no longer a member with us, Ella.”
She blinked, and disbelief flashed in her eyes. “Are you serious?”
“Does it look like I’m jokin’?” he asked flatly.
Ella turned her incredulous stare my way instead. “Sir? We’ve known each other for ten years. You can’t make an exception for a damn letter?”
I leaned against the nearest post and folded my arms over my chest. “You’d think those ten years would be worth a goodbye, wouldn’t you?”
She blew out a frustrated breath. “Everything became a shitshow, and I just had to get out.”
I offered a one-shouldered shrug. “The shitshow passed eventually, and you reached out to no one.”
“Because I knew you’d take Penny’s side!” she argued.
I frowned. “This isn’t high school, Ella. Community matters are handled without bias, and personal problems are handled between those involved. If you come to me and tell me you cheated on your girlfriend, I don’t care if you’re my best friend or a complete stranger. I’ll still tell you it was a fucked-up thing to do.”
She flinched and looked away.
“Outta curiosity,” River said, scratching his nose. “What is your side? ’Cause I can’t figure it out.”
I wasn’t sure it mattered. Infidelity was a heart-wrenching issue and, unfortunately, not always black and white. In KC’s case, for instance. Toward the end of his marriage, he was beaten down and at his wit’s end. The slightest problem could cause Christine to relapse, and he kept postponing the divorce talk. Meanwhile, he spent the night with me a few times.
I’d be the last person to make excuses for it, and I sympathized with Penelope wholeheartedly; I understood why she’d told Ella to fuck off. Just like I would’ve understood if Christine had done the same thing with KC—on that particular matter. But a terrible thing didn’t necessarily make a terrible person.
At the same time… Hell, if Cam, against all odds, had betrayed me that way? I would’ve shattered.
“It’s complicated,” Ella mumbled.
