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Chapter Seven
Elise insisted thatMatt stay in the foyer of the Bloomingfeld while she rushed back upstairs to collect herself. “I just have to grab something I forgot. Then, we can grab dinner. Or something like that,” she told him as she fled toward the stairs.
“I’ll take good care of him!” Rhonda called from the desk. “Such a handsome man. I don’t think they make them like that over here in Michigan.”
Matt’s laughter shot up the staircase along with Elise. When she reached her bedroom, she slammed the door closed, and her knees clacked against one another.
Here he is. A man who’s loved me for years. A man who would go to the ends of the earth to see me.
Why don’t I want him?
Why have I never wanted him?
Oh, but he’s here. At least take him to dinner.
We’re friends, aren’t we?
“Be cool. Be cool,” she muttered to herself. After a moment, she gripped her phone from her pocket and dialed Haley’s number. The phone blared across the continent until the familiar voice of Haley cut across the speaker.
“Elise! This is a rare sight these days, seeing your name on my phone.”
Elise felt a stab of regret. “I um... I’m sorry about that.” She furrowed her brow, and then added, “I really should be better about calling you. I really do miss you.”
Haley made a little noise in her throat. “Yeah, yeah. I know. I miss you, too. But what’s up? Are you coming home yet? Have you decided to take us up on that offer to work in the writer’s room?”
“Um, here’s the thing about that. Did you happen to know that Matt Gauthier had plans to make a little visit to Mackinac Island?”
There was silence on the other end for a long time. “Are you suggesting that Matt is there?”
“He’s waiting downstairs for me right now,” Elise hissed.
Haley burst into reckless giggles.
“Haley, this isn’t funny!” Elise cried.
Even as she said it, a smile spread between her cheeks.
“I’m sorry! I can’t help it. It’s always the same. Even back in early college. Heck, even back in your early years of marriage! Men were always obsessed with you. Remember that guy who asked you out when you were walking the twins across Calabasas?”
Elise remembered it fondly, especially since she’d thought the extra layer of pregnancy flub had made her a no-go for men.
“Don’t be silly,” Elise returned.
“Come on, Elise. Why is it so nuts that Matt came all the way to see you? He’s talked about you non-stop the past few meetings. Both Mia and I want to hire you to the writer’s room, of course, but Matt basically insisted we can’t start until you get back. We always knew he was in love with you. This is something a little bit more. And why don’t you consider it, for once? I mean, come on. Most women across the world crave a man like that—the kind of man who will make such a big gesture.”
Elise bit her lower lip as Haley finished out her rant. She allowed silence to fill the space between them—the long, long route from Michigan to California, before Haley continued.
“And besides, we’re all completely mind-boggled about the fact that you haven’t come back yet. I never imagined that my best friend in the world would just take off at a moment’s notice. You know that I relied on you for my own round of emotional support, right? Who am I supposed to call? Mia? You know how cold she can be. And we’ve been together since the beginning, Elise. You and me in that silly college dorm room, imagining what our lives would become?”
Elise stewed in guilt. She opened her lips, but before she could answer, Haley had more to say.
“I just don’t know why you don’t respond to my texts or my emails. I don’t know a single thing about your daily life. Are you writing all the time? Are you cooped up in a little room, waiting for the end of the world? I know your mother died, and I know how hard that was on you. But Elise, you have to find a way to move on... And you know I say this with all the love in the world.”
Elise really considered telling Haley everything right then.
She even leaned her head against the wood of the door, closed her eyes, and prepared to say it.
But as she did, she heard Matt’s uproarious laugh downstairs, and then Haley burst into her own laughter.
