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“The room gets darker.”
Ellie nodded. “But as long as there’s one candle burning, there’s still light.”
“Right.”
“You have to quit blowing candles out. If we want Autre to be as bright as it can be, we need to keep all of our candles here.”
That hit him directly in the gut. “So you don’t think it’s selfish of me to ask her to stay?”
“As a life-long citizen of Autre, Louisiana, I think it’s selfish as hell of you to ask her to leave,” Ellie said. “It might makeyoufeel good. It might make you feel all high and mighty and like you’re making some huge sacrifice by letting her go. But we need that girl here. And as someone who loves her quite a lot, I want her to stay herewith you, because that’s how she’ll be happiest.”
Beau swallowed hard. “You sure about that?”
Ellie crossed her arms. “When has Becca Bollier ever been anything less than completely honest with you, Beau?”
His chest tightened. “Never. That’s always been our thing.”
Ellie nodded. “Exactly. You’ve always been fully honest with each other no matter what. When she says she loves you, she means it.”
Ellie was, of course, completely right. The one thing he could always count on was Becca being totally honest with him.
That was why, when she’d gone along with him to annul their marriage, and then had not spoken to him on the plane at all on the way home, it had torn him up even more than finding out that they were married.
He’d been shocked. Then angry. She’d known how he felt about all of it, and she’d still said the vows. He didn’t remember it, but he was certain that the Elvis impersonator—he knew it was an Elvis impersonator only because he had actually located the marriage certificate and the photos—had certainly askeddo you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband to have and to holdetc., etc.
And she’d saidI do.
But he’d saidI doin return.
And they’d never lied to one another.
Drunk or not, he couldn’t imagine ever saying those words to anyone else.
So yes, he definitely believed she loved him.
And that she wanted to spend her life with him.
He was the one insisting that they wait. He was the one insisting that she didn’t want to stay in Autre.
No, she didn’t know for sure that she wanted to.
But hell, no one knew what tomorrow would bring.
He was part of this community, though. He wasn’t a kid anymore. He was a man and a business owner. That meant he could be a part of shaping the tomorrow around here.
He needed to get involved.
He reached into his back pocket and withdrew his wallet.
Ellie shook her head and held up a hand. “The beer and gumbo are on the house.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.” He started to tuck his wallet back into his pocket.
“But the advice will be five bucks.”
He grinned and laid a twenty on the counter. “Worth every penny.”
twenty-one
