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Chapter Eight
Ella
There are some people who love silence . . . and then there was Ella. When she was home and it was quiet, she was pleased, but she could only take silence for so long. She needed some sort of noise, whether it was a radio playing, the television emitting black noise, or an audio book in her headphones helping her fall asleep, she needed noise.
She was getting none as she, Rafe, and Bass packed up Nana Bee’s belongings. They’d been at the house for four hours and no one was speaking to anyone. The tension between them could be cut with a knife. The house would be demolished soon enough and that was absolutely heartbreaking to Ella. The boys didn’t seem as heartbroken about it, saying it was about time the building got demolished. She thought they were monsters to even think it.
The will was emphatic though. The house had to be torn down and they had to make a joint venture for a business on the property. Of course they couldn’t agree on what they wanted to put there. Ella would agree to anything at this point, but Rafe and Bass couldn’t agree if black was dark or light. If one of them suggested one thing, the other demanded the exact opposite. It wasn’t a friendly work environment at all.
After hours and hours of mindless packing, Rafe decided he’d had enough. He looked up at them. “I’m done for the day. We’ll resume later.”
He didn’t wait for a reply, just turned on his heels and exited the house. Ella let out a relieved breath. For a solid thirty seconds there still wasn’t a word spoken.
“Well, this is a barrel of laughs,” Bass finally said.
Ella looked at him in confusion and then her funny bone was tickled and she started to laugh. Once she began she couldn’t stop no matter how much she told herself it had to end. Bass started laughing with her, and just like that the oppressive air was gone.
“Thank you. I needed that. It’s hard being here. I miss Nana Bee. I’m also very grateful to have been a part of her life. I want to do this job and remember all of the good times, not be bogged down by sadness and resentment.”
Bass sighed. “I don’t know if Rafe and I will ever repair the broken bridge between us, but I’m glad to be here too. This place is full of great memories for me. I loved Nana Bee. She really was the only person to ever give me a family. Without her I’d most likely still be lost. I’m not perfect by any means, but she gave me a new lease on life. She’s the reason I’m the man I am today.”
Ella wiped away a tear. “It’s the same for me. If it hadn’t been for her I don’t know if I’d have made it. She never made me feel like a piece of crap. She never compared me to my father. I needed her in my life. I miss her. I’m really glad she’s trusting me to carry out her final wishes. I can’t wait to see what this healing property becomes.”
“We’ll figure out the perfect solution. It will come to one of us while we’re lying in bed staring at the ceiling,” he told her. At his choice of words, Ella felt a tingling inside her body. She was horrified at herself. The last thing she needed to feel was attraction or desire toward this man who didn’t really trust her.
That hadn’t stopped Ella before. She’d made a lot of wrong choices in life. She most likely would continue to do so. It didn’t matter how many times she told herself to steer clear of him, Bass was a great looking man who oozed charm and sex, and shewashuman. There was no way she wasn’t going to feel some desire in his presence. Her humor evaporated as a new tension filled the air in the room.
“We’d better keep working,” she told him.
“I thought we couldn’t work if Rafe wasn’t here,” he pointed out.
“Our guidance counselor left a half hour before Rafe. What he doesn’t know can’t hurt us, and if we don’t get the packing finished, how are we going to get anything else done?”
“Good point. If he comes back we can always say Rafe just left and we’re only sitting here talking now,” Bass said.
“I can’t believe we’re being babysat like children,” she said. They moved to Nana Bee’s office. It was full of cabinets and files. It would take forever to get through everything as they didn’t want to throw away anything that might matter. They’d have to go through the papers one by one until they were done. They could be there for twenty-four hours straight.
They each went through a file cabinet, a few occasional laughs escaping as one found some silly quote Nana Bee wrote down and filed away. Then they relaxed and began sharing funny stories of their time with Nana Bee. There were many adventures with the old woman who believed in giving chances to wayward kids. Bass looked over at a picture with him and Rafe in it and sighed. She watched as he tucked it away in his back pocket. She could see he was trying not to be discovered doing that. Maybe he was more sentimental than she had given him credit for. He looked up and their eyes met.
“What was the promise you made to Nana Bee?” he asked again. It had been a while.
She shook her head. “I can’t tell you,” she said. She wanted to tell him, but she’d promised she wouldn’t. Why did she have to be the one with Nana Bee in her last days? Because she loved her. Of course she wouldn’t deny something Nana Bee wanted so much.
“Can I at least help you with the promise?” he asked.
She grinned at him. “You’re already helping. You just don’t realize it yet.”
He looked seriously confused. That was okay. He’d figure it out in time. He’d either hate her for it, or appreciate her. It depended on how it all turned out. It didn’t matter in the end. When they were done with this project they’d go their separate ways and she wouldn’t see either him or Rafe again. That’s the way it was supposed to be.
Ella moved over to a box in the corner and opened it to find a ton of letters. She picked one up and turned. “Look at this,” she said, excitement in her voice.
“What is it?” he asked.
“It’s letters from you.”
That stopped Bass from what he’d been looking at. He moved over and saw the box full of letters. He picked one up with reverence.
“Wow, some of these are twenty years old,” he said in awe. He picked up a handful. “It looks like she kept every single one I wrote her.”
