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I make my way around the reception room, scanning for Elianna, aching to see her again. What I’ll say to her, I don’t know. But I’ll think of that when the time comes. I just have to find her first.
I bump into Oliver and Gabriel. “Did you know Elianna’s here?”
They exchange a look. “Yes.” The way Gabriel says it tells me there’s a lot more to the story.
“Why?” I ask. I try to say it in a nonchalant way, but quickly abandon the pretense. “I’m surprised to see her.” I point to Gabriel. “Did you invite her?”
“She . . . well, she’s been helping with this.” His face is growing red.
“Helping? It was her idea, wasn’t it?” Oliver says.
Gabriel gives Oliver a pointed look and then sighs, crossing his arms over his chest. “Look, she didn’t want you to know. She wanted to do one last thing to help the company, and so she reached out to me. It was her idea to have this be a time to thank everyone who’s helped the company this year.”
“Why didn’t she want me to know?” The stiffness in my lungs is starting to dissipate. If she was angry with me, if she wanted nothing to do with me, she wouldn’t have done this, would she?
Gabriel shrugs. “She didn’t want any attention placed on her. She’s got a good grasp on mindset and thought with Thanksgiving being this week, it would be a great time to express gratitude.” He places a hand on my shoulder. “All on her own time, by the way.”
A ball in my throat is making it difficult to swallow. I scan the room again with my eyes. “Do you know where she is?”
Neither of them answer, and by the time I’m looking back at them, I know something’s up.
“She left, didn’t she?” I ask.
Oliver sighs. “We tried to talk her into staying. I’m hoping that’s what she decided.”
“She might still be around a bit longer,” Gabriel says. “But I know there were things she had to get back for.”
Probably the play she’s working on—her life in Capistrano.
An hour later, with no sign of Elianna and my social capacities tapped out, I gather everyone around to make an announcement. “I’d like to finish the evening by heading outside to show you a project I’ve been working on. Something that’s been a labor of love.” I search the crowd again, hoping I’ll catch a glimpse of the woman this is all for. “Thankfully, we haven’t had our first snow yet, but I’d bring your coats. It’s something we’ve been doing in collaboration with my brother Alec, who’s over the entertainment and recreation aspects of the resort. Please follow me.”
I know she’s not here. But if anything tonight could showcase what I’m thankful for, it’s this—something tangible to express how I feel.
I guide the group out the double doors, down the hall to the lobby, and out the sliding doors to the back veranda. The stringed lights and lanterns glow yellow against the brisk night air. A few minutes later, after following a path that winds near the hidden tree swing, we arrive.
“It’s an outdoor theater, built to house Longdale’s community theater productions, which have had to close due to not having a suitable stage anymore.” I look out at the bare bones of the stadium seating, still in the beginning stages of construction, and the composite wood stage with stone steps on either side. We just commissioned a weatherproof curtain and backdrops. “It’s on the smaller side, and I don’t know how much more we’ll be able to get done before it snows, but I’m hoping it will be ready for the spring season.”
My chest aches for Elianna. I’ve fought it this whole time, having this theater built in some way to memorialize her somehow.
And now that I know she was here, the urgency to see her, to tell her how much she’s meant to me this whole time, threatens to undo me, right here, right now.
I haven’t wanted to admit it to myself, but I built this for her, in hopes she’d come back.
And now I need to do all I can to make that happen.
Amongst the comments from people stating how nice the theater is, I find Gabriel. “Is she flying out tonight?”
He frowns. “Yes.”
I scratch my brow. “I need to go.” Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I know nothing else matters right now than to thank her for all she’s done. In person. And to tell her I’m sorry and that I’ve missed her.
There’s so much to say, and I have little hope I’ll be able to get it out in a way that makes sense. But I have to try.
Gabriel nods, grinning. “You go get her, brother.” He rotates his finger in the air. “This is wrapping up. Oliver, Alec, and I can finish it.”
I smack his back and thank him, already texting Gordon to ask him to book me the next flight from Denver to the John Wayne airport in Santa Ana.
Chapter 38
