AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"I'll try, I promise I'll try."
"You're still laughing."
"It's the Champagne, I swear."
"All right. I was discharged due to"—a dramatic pause—"frozen shoulder."
Elara snorted with laughter. "That's not a real thing."
"The US Navy would beg to differ."
"How did it happen?"
"I . . . don't actually know."
She laughed even harder, holding her hand up to cover her mouth. Her eyes were so beautiful when she smiled. "You don't know how your shoulder got cold?"
"It didn’t get cold. I must have damaged it somehow and then it kinda seized up after. It’s bad.”
“Sounds scary.” Still laughing. “A chilly shoulder! The winters would be unbearable.”
“You can have stiffness and pain for up to three years! It’s serious."
"Okay, that's not actually funny, I'm sorry."
"It's all right. It is kind of funny. Anyway, when I got back, Dad asked me to join the family business. I was reluctant at first—my heart was set on studying architecture." I took another sip of the Champagne, feeling the bubbles burst against the roof of my mouth.
“Architecture?”
“Yeah,” I said with a sigh. “Found a book on it while I was in the Navy. Got weirdly excited about it. Found myself drawn to the way buildings tell a story, you know? How they can reflect the time they were built in, and the people who made them. There’s something . . . poetic about it.” Why did I feel like such a dumbass saying that?
“That’s not weird. Architecture is really interesting.” Elara smiled. “Turns out I’m a philosopher and you’re a poet.”
“Well, I never really got to explore that side of myself.” I rubbed my chin. " I met Stephanie before I could leave for architectural college. Dad gave me the trailer and Stephanie moved in shortly after. Then, she got pregnant, so I put my dreams on hold. The rest is history."
Elara gazed at me. “I guess I must’ve headed off to culinary college right before that happened. I never knew about the girls. Dad never mentioned them and I didn’t see them when I came back to help him move out.”
“Stephanie and I had already split by then, I think. And your dad, he liked seeing the girls when they were little, but I guess his mind was a bit, well, you know, by that point.”
Shit. Why was I so bad with words? Fortunately, Elara didn’t look offended.
"Do you have regrets?" she asked. “About not going to college?”
I mulled it over. "Yes and no. I don't regret my girls, not for a second. But I can't help wondering how different life might have been." She was so easy to talk to, I felt as though I could say anything. "In my darkest moments, I sometimes feel like I resent them."
Elara nodded.
"Does that make me sound like an asshole?"
She shook her head, her blond hair catching the sunlight. "No, it makes you sound human. We all wonder about the roads not taken."
"You sure you're only twenty-four?"
"An old soul, I guess."
"You've been through a lot."
Our conversation lulled for a moment, and Elara's gaze drifted to the tree house. "So, in theory the tree house should take less time to make than a cronut?"
