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“I can hear him! Matt, that idiot.” She heaved a sigh, and then asked, “You really won’t tell me, will you?”
“It’s just so complicated, Hal,” Elise tried. “And I’m afraid you’ll think I’m crazy for all of it.”
“Elise, that’s nuts and I think you’re just a little more than paranoid. The whole point of a friendship is to think the other person is a little off tilt and love them anyway,” she said. “I don’t understand why you’re being so cagey. And to be honest with you, it hurts me.”
Elise closed her eyes tightly. She hated hearing this.
“Whatever,” Haley said, half-brushing it off, half-insinuating that it was a conversation for another day. “I don’t want to do this to you when you have a whole Matt-sized problem on your hands. I only want you back, you know? I love you.”
“I love you, too, Haley.”
And I’ve met my father, and I’m having a DNA test, and I have two sisters, and I’ve maybe met the love of my life...
Elise glanced again in the mirror after Haley hung up. She no longer looked like that triumphant, confident woman, prepared for a date with Wayne. All the blood had drained from her cheeks.
Did I really think I could get away with running so far from home?
Am I like Michael? All my problems are ready to catch up with me.
Elise grabbed her phone just as Haley texted her one final thing.
HALEY: Just give him a chance, won’t you, Elise? I mean, he’s handsome. He’s charming. He’s well-intentioned. Maybe he could be a part of your future, back here in LA? Don’t rule it out. I know sometimes you need to be pushed. You’re one of the more stubborn ladies in this wide world.
Elise groaned and then set back toward the staircase. When she reached the foyer, she found Rhonda and Matt in what seemed to be a wildly invested conversation about the local bird population.
“You should really come in the spring or summer,” Rhonda suggested. “I swear to you, sometimes, I wake up at the crack of dawn because the birds do and they start chirping like nobody’s business.”
“That sounds like an absolute dream,” Matt said.
Rhonda turned to catch Elise’s eye. “Your California man is quite the catch, Elise. Why didn’t you tell me about him before? You know, Elise and I have spent a great deal of time together in this old house over the past weeks. She only landed here because her bed and breakfast actually caught fire. Can you believe that?”
Matt arched his eyebrow, incredulous.
“She’s been quite the source of gossip around here,” Rhonda continued.
Elise’s hands clenched into fists, but she maintained her smile.
“It’s been a wild ride,” she said. “But I guess it’s getting a little late, and you’ve had a long day of travel. Should we, um... head out to dinner?”
“That’s a fantastic idea!” Rhonda said.
Matt looked at Elise as though she was the sun, moon, and stars put together.
Elise and Matt walked down Main Street as the sun collapsed over the horizon line. Matt again commented on how chilly it was, although he seemed captivated with the landscape, the turquoise water, even the sunset itself.
“I’ve hardly left California in the past three years,” he told her. “But look at this place? A hidden gem.”
At that moment, a horse and buggy clopped past. Both horses were black, their coats catching the last of the orange light. One of the horses cast his head back, bobbing it and grunting. Matt laughed, and it occurred to Elise just how used to the horses she had become. They were an extension of her life and occasionally an easy way to get around.
“Tell me you’ve ridden on one of them while you’ve been here,” Matt said as they ambled down the road.
“I have, actually.”When Wayne and I snuck past my dad’s place, so I could catch sight of him.
“Elise Darby on a horse! I hope somebody took your picture,” Matt said, his grin widening.
Elise took him to a little swanky seaside restaurant, where they ordered a bottle of wine and asked the server about the chef’s specials. There were only about five couples in the restaurant, and it occurred to Elise, as they sipped their wine, that probably everyone else in the restaurant thought that she and Matt were romantically involved, as well.
“So Elise. You have to tell me,” Matt said as he set his glass of wine on the table and leaned forward. “What is this screenplay about? And why do you think it’s better than anything you’ve ever written?”
