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Okay, so perhaps she’d have a little left over by the time she’d paid all the legal fees. That would be nice. Maybe give her a bit of a breather while she looked for a job.
“So, the current balance of funds stands at one million, three hundred and thirty-nine thousand dollars.”
She couldn’t have heard him right. That was Ellie’s first thought. She repeatedthe figureback to him, just to be sure. She couldn’t even imagine that amount of money.
She sat at Tono’s little breakfast bar in shock once she’d put down the phone after hastily looking up the name and address of a nearby law firm and firing off a quick email asking them to act on her behalf.
Then she plonked herself on a stool and simply stared at nothing for long minutes, trying to get her head around what had just happened.
Whoever would have guessed that Gran’s lawyer would turn out to be her fairy godmother.
She almost burned the last batch of muffins she was so lost in stunned bemusement. It was only hearing Tono’s vehicle pull up the driveway that brought her back to her senses. She gave herself a shake and jumped up to save the baking from incineration.
Perfect timing, she could feed him some lunch, give him some quick re-heat instructions and say her goodbyes before it got too late in the day to be on her way. She could even splurge on a hotel for a night or two while she waited for the lawyers to get everything sorted. Maybe Tono could recommend somewhere, she wondered absently. That would give her more time to decide where she wanted to go, although all she really needed to do was get into the car and drive and let the road take her wherever whimsy took her. One place was just as good as another.
Sadly, the fact that she had suddenly come into a vast amount of money didn’t change the fact that she was alone with nowhere to call home.
“You can buy yourself a home wherever you choose, now,” she said out loud to see if it made it any more real. But there was a little pang inside her at the thought of moving on. Buying a house didn’t automatically make it a home.
‘Jeez girl, what is wrong with you. Stop being so damn ungrateful and be thankful you’ll never have to go another day without a roof over your head and food in your stomach,’ she told herself sternly as she walked over to the oven.
She had justbentover to take the final batch of muffins out of the oven when there was a whistle and a familiar voice behind her, which had her heart beating just a little faster, even though it made her cringe at the same time. What was Ezra doing here?
“Now there’s a sight for sore eyes,” he quipped, and Ellie rose stiffly, purposely keeping her eyes on the tray of baked goods and her back towards him.
“We’d like to talk to you Ellie,” Syrus requested quietly, and the melty feeling she always felt when he spoke trickled through her veins.
She stilled and just looked down at the baking sheet in her hands. What did they want with her now? Surely there wasn’t anything else they needed to pick at her for. She’d gone; that had to be enough to keep the trifecta happy. It was what they’d wanted, after all.
“Turn around, Ellie.” Her stomach flipped, then bottomed out at the demand in Cody’s voice. Great, they were all here.
With measured movements, which she did her very best to control against the tremble of baseapprehensionthat tickled her awareness, she leaned over and placed the muffins precisely on the cooling rack and switched off the oven.
She still wasn’t ready or willing to face them, but she couldn’t stall any longer.
Turning slowly, she tried her best to straighten the slump in her shoulders and as much as she wanted to keep her head down, she chose a spot on the wall behind them and focused on that instead. She didn’t bother saying anything, she figured she’d find out soon enough what they wanted.
Instead, she concentrated on hardening her heart against whatever life wanted to throw at her this time. She’d just take it on the chin and be on her way and then it would all be behind her, just a tiny, minute blip on the landscape of her life. Even if it seemed like so very much more at this particular moment.
Her heart might cry at the idea of leaving this place and these three men specifically, but her head knew better.
“Mmm, something smells delicious,” Syrus said appreciatively. Ellie just flicked a fleeting look at him and then concentrated on the wall again. She needed to harden her heart, not get lost in those mesmerizing, whisky colored eyes.
The silence stretched, and they seemed almost as uncomfortable as she was. In the end, it was Cody who broke the tension.
“Perhaps we could all just sit down a minute,” he suggested.
Ellie just shrugged. If anything, them settling in made her feel worse. She couldn’t even hide behind the role of hostess, since it wasn’t her place to be offering them somebody else’s hospitality.
Syrus got around that one too, moving around her as the others sat down and filling four mugs from the pot on the counter. He brought them over to the table with sugar and creamer. Clearly he was familiar enough with Tono’s home to know his way around.
“I’m glad we caught you,” Cody started when everyone was settled. He sounded uncharacteristically uncertain, and Ellie found she didn’t care for his sudden apprehension. She liked that forceful, dominant side of him, just as much as she appreciated Syrus’ charm and Ezra’s playfulness. It prompted her into speaking.
“So, what is it you want now?” Okay, so it didn’t come out as strong as she might have liked, but at least her voice didn’t waver.
“Well, it’s like this, you see…” he began.
“We’ve come to apologize,” Syrus finished for him.
