Ella’s eyes landed on mine, and I watched as a mix of emotions flooded her face in a matter of seconds. First, there was a look of surprised recognition, followed by an almost happy half-smile. But all of that gave way to a look of startled confusion. She certainly didn’t look like she was expecting me.
Grace shot me a nervous glance as Derek and Ella approached.
“You’re early,” Grace said to Derek.
Derek gave her an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. I was trying to beat the storm.”
Judging from Ella’s face, the storm had arrived.
“Does anyone want to tell me what’s going on?” Ella asked, throwing up her hands and then setting her fiery gaze on me. “Did you put them up to this?”
Derek’s eyes grew big as saucers. “Uh-oh.”
“No,” Grace answered, stepping in front of me as though she could shield me from her anger. “This was all my idea.”
“I thought you said she knew?” I asked incredulously.
Grace spun around to face me. “Okay, so that wasn’t entirely true.”
My heart plummeted in my chest. If Ella didn’t know about this dinner plan of Grace’s, chances were she also had no interest in hearing what I had to say. In fact, from the looks of it, she probably didn’t even want to see me.
I pushed my hand through my hair and sighed. “Grace, what’s going on?”
“Knew what?” Ella’s nostrils flared, and she crossed her arms looking from me to Derek and then back to Grace. “Grace Eloise Claiborne, you have some serious explaining to do.”
“I know,” Grace said, taking a step toward her mom. “I asked Derek to help me get you here so you and Cash could talk.”
Derek attempted to back away slowly, but Ella caught him out of the corner of her eye. “Don’t even think about it.”
“Sorry,” Derek muttered.
“I wanted to surprise you.” Grace smiled meekly. “So… surprise?”
“This isn’t the kind of thing you surprise someone with,” I said gently. “She deserved to know.”
“Exactly, Lindsay Lohan.” Ella scoffed. “This ain’t theParent Trap.”
“To be fair, it did work in that movie.” Grace gave her mom a hopeful smile. “If it’s good enough for Disney, it’s good enough for us, right?”
“You’re on thin ice, little lady,” Ella warned. “You’re lucky your arm is still in that cast and I still feel sorry for you. Why didn’t you tell me, Grace?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I was afraid you wouldn’t come if I told you why you were coming.”
Ella narrowed her eyes. “You tricked me. And you tricked Cash. I understand that you want us to be together, but you can’t force this kind of thing, sweetheart. I think it’s best if we all just go home.” She took another look at me, and I saw the tears pooled in her eyes. “I’m sorry… about all of this. I had no idea. I know you needed space.” She turned away as a light rain started to fall.
My throat tightened, and I worried the storm really had been a bad sign. “Ella, wait.”
“No, mom,” Grace said, starting after her. “He wanted to talk to you. He came because he thought you were willing to talk to him. I was the one who told him not to call you, and I stupidly set this whole thing up, which I see now was maybe not the best idea. But I was afraid you wouldn’t want to hear him out.”
“Because I’m such an unreasonable person?” Ella said over her shoulder.
“Because I know how hurt you are,” Grace insisted. “I’ve heard you crying in the bathroom every night, and I know we’re out of Oreos. I just knew that if you gave him a chance to explain, you’d understand—that you guys could work it out and get back together.”
“Grace, let me take it from here,” I said, bypassing her and jogging to catch up with Ella. “Please wait.” I grabbed her hand and turned her around as the rain fell around us. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for the way I left, for hurting you, for not just telling you what I was feeling.”
She looked up at me through a mix of tears and raindrops. “And what is that exactly?”
“The accident and what happened with Sam… it all took me back to what happened with Carrie and how quickly I could lose everything that matters to me in this world. I got scared, and I ran,” I admitted. “I went to see Delilah and Richard, and they helped me realize that fear wasn’t a warning to leave. It was a reminder of all the reasons I should stay. It scared me because I don’t want to be without you and Grace a single second of my life.”
