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But then I showed up in person. I got chewed out by Elisha for about thirty minutes straight and then she finally let me talk. And when I finished, she was wiping tears away. I hope that’s a good sign. Apparently, whatever I said made her switch to…what did she call it… Team Adam because after that she’s been trying to plant a seed with Isa that maybe I’m not a lost cause. Even Max and Bastian have been attempting to help me. They all know about my plan…my grand gesture or at least that’s what Bastian and Max deemed it.
But my biggest breakthrough was driving over here every day for the past ten days. It’s been hard some days, but I keep trying. Bastian made me go back to therapy, which I had stopped for a while, and I hate that he was right. I needed it.
“If this doesn’t work, then you have no chance,” Bastian’s voice comes from behind me.
I turn and give him the middle finger. “Is everything else set?” I ask.
“Oh yeah. Elisha, Ella, and Max are all down at the festival helping her set up. It’s going to be epic!” Bastian assures me.
“Let’s hope so,” I say.
“I mean…way to not half-ass this apology,” he says with a laugh.
“Whatever. I should probably head over there. I think this is as much as we’ll have done for today,” I state.
Bastian rolls his eyes. “Seriously? You’ve basically rebuilt this catastrophe of a building in under two weeks. It’s wired for state-of-the-art technology. It has two floors of shelves, meeting spaces, an audio/visual space, a special exhibit hall, and offices for staff. Plus, the security features are sick as fuck. Like seriously, if she doesn’t like it, I’m going to question her sanity,” he says.
“She’s headstrong. What if…” I trail off not wanting to finish the thought.
“It’s enough. You are enough. Jesus, I thought we were making progress here,” he groans.
I sigh and run a hand over my trimmed beard. “We are.Iam,” I state.
“Good. Then fucking act like it. Let’s roll,” he says as he motions for me to leave the house.
“Did the—”
“It’s fine! Let it go!” Bastian yells from behind me as I step through the door’s threshold.
He claps me on the back. “You go this. Go get your woman.”
My woman. God, I hope this works and I can say that she is in fact mine by the end of the day.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
Isa
“Thanks again, Ella. You’ve been a big help,” I state as I hurry to straighten the books on my display.
“Congrats, by the way,” she says, motioning to the sign I have hanging in the background of my kiosk. I got the grant application submitted on the last day and I just found out yesterday that we got it. I cried when I opened the email. I cried more when my parents told me how proud they were of me. Speak of the devils.
“Hey, turtle dove!” my father says as he walks over with my mom.
“Hi, Dad. Hi, Mom,” I say as I hug them both.
“It looks great! Job well done!” Dad says as he takes it all in.
“You really outdid yourself this year,” Mom adds as she examines my grant poster.
“Well, we have reasons to celebrate, right?” I say as I lean my head on my dad’s shoulder. They know a little about my time with Adam, but I played it off as no big deal. They don’t need to know that my heart is broken.
He wraps an arm around me. “Yes, we do. Hey, did Mom tell you about the cruise we found for a month?”
I laugh. “You two and your cruises. I swear, you go from one to the next.”
“You should join us sometime. They are a blast,” Mom says.
“Hey, sorry to interrupt, but the band is setting up and wanted to know if they can start playing or if you wanted to say a few words first. The mayor is here, so…” Elisha says as she steps in front of me.
