Page 59 of Not So Very Sensible

“Losing your phone makes life tough, doesn’t it? All those passwords and things you have to change.”

If he kept the focus on losing his phone, that would be best. No way did he want anyone outside of the family to know the truth about what Lucinda and his dad seemed to want. “You got that photo I sent, didn’t you?”

“About the youth group program? Yeah, it looks great. I hope you don’t mind, but I went ahead and ran off some copies so you’ll have them to hand out tomorrow night.”

“Thanks. I, uh, had a friend do that.”

“Well, tell him thanks. They look great.”

“Yeah.” He didn’t like implying that his friend was a man but knew that if he admitted it was a woman, he’d be facing questions he’d really rather not.

“We may need to get him to do some more about the youth camp this summer.”

“If you send me details, I’ll pass them on. But I don’t want to be taking advantage of them.”

“You’re right. These look professional, so we probably should pay him. Oh well. Maybe we should get one of the kids to design something instead.”

Ethan held back a sigh. He didn’t want Ellie missing out on work, but the budget allocated to youth ministry was minimal. He’d just have to find another way to help her. If he could ever get back in contact with her.

Chapter 11

The mild sense of panic that had set in when she’d still not received word by Friday night had blown up into full-scale disappointment when Saturday dawned, still with no word.

How could Ethan just ghost her? Especially when Jason and Katie were in touch so often it seemed like they were joined at the hip? Which part of her suspected Jason would like to be, given his messages that Katie read to her that seemed full of innuendo. Or was that just her overprotective streak at work again, and she was seeing things that weren’t there?

She glanced at Katie as she exited the car at the train station. “Be safe!”

Katie rolled her eyes and mumbled something under her breath, which Ellie pretended not to hear. Instead, she smiled and waved like she was glad Katie would be spending time with a man she didn’t trust.

She couldn’t afford to show her real feelings anymore, not when that was a guaranteed offence waiting to happen. Instead, she’d have to pray that God would keep her reckless sister safe, even if part of her wanted to catch the same train and stand guard and watch from afar. But that was hardly trusting God. And besides, there was still a thin tendril of hope that a miracle might occur and Ethan would still come. In her latest message, she’d sent him the Silver Teapot’s address, and even her phone number. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and all that.

And it was quite possible that he’d simply been swamped with work this week and had been working late and hadn’t had a chance to call her.

Or maybe he’d had an accident and was lying in a coma somewhere, unable to call her.

Or maybe he’d decided she was the next best thing to a weekend fling, and he didn’t want to call her.

No. Her knuckles whitened on the steering wheel as she steered back onto the main street. It wasn’t that. She wouldn’t think like that. Defeatist talk wasn’t her.

But lately she’d been remembering the way his friend—had he said brother-in-law?—had looked at her, like he was wondering why a man like Ethan was with a woman like her. Like he’d never met anyone who had dyed their hair before. Like she didn’t fit with his personal aesthetic of Burberry and Calvin Klein. Well, she wasn’t that kind of girl. She shopped at op shops for clothes that had been stitched in a time before disposable fashion was a thing. Clothing with interesting fabrics and designs that might give a bit of a Boho hippie vibe but she felt comfortable in, even if some of Nicola’s high-brow clients might raise their eyebrows or sneer. Was that what Ethan thought? That she didn’t fit in his world?

No. That was silly talk. They had gotten on so well precisely because they did match in so many ways. But … but … Ethan couldn’t have just been pretending. Could he?

She returned to the café, parked in the staff parking spot, and went in the back entrance, collecting her apron on the way.

“Hey, Ellie.” Annabelle, their redheaded cousin, smiled.

God bless the peacemakers of the world. People like Annabelle, who had stepped in for Katie today, happy to supplement her nursing work at a nearby nursing home by doing occasional shifts at The Silver Teapot. Ellie and Annabelle worked well together, but then Annabelle was like that, flexible, willing to go with the flow, nothing too much trouble. She never displayed the angst of feeling like things weren’t happening as they should.

Ellie gathered her supplies, then started decorating iced mini cupcakes for a children’s birthday party booked at ten.

“So, a little birdie told me that you were expecting a special guest today.”

“Let me guess: a birdie named Katie.”

“Actually, it was a birdie named Aunty Liz.”

Of course it was. She rolled her eyes at her cousin, who laughed and continued her own work of cutting out scones.