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Ellen wanted Hendrix to be happy, but if they made up and still refused to accept her... She wasn’t sure what that would mean. She’d need a driller again, for one. She probably wouldn’t see as much of Hendrix. And she supposed he might feel even more torn than he did now.
She was just sipping her coffee, mulling over all the complications while they continued to wait for Jane and Talulah explained to yet another passerby that the diner was out of breakfast buns, when she received a text from Hendrix.
Have you checked the website?
Ellen’s heart began to thud against her chest.
Not since last night. It’s the weekend. I figured I’d have to wait until Monday to try again. Why?
Whoever Talulah had been talking to moved on, and she leaned forward. “What is it?”
“I don’t know,” Ellen muttered while waiting for Hendrix’s response.
“Hendrix isn’t fighting with Lynn and Stuart, is he?” Talulah asked.
“I don’t think so.”
Another ding signified Hendrix had responded.Stuart wants to know if you’ll come over.
Right now?
If you’re available.
“Ellen?” Talulah said.
She swallowed hard as she looked up. “I have to go.”
Ellen wanted to check the website before she arrived at Lynn and Stuart’s, but she couldn’t get it to load on her phone. And since Hendrix was waiting for her, it didn’t make sense to drive all the way home to get on her computer.
Her chest felt so tight it was hard to breathe as she eyed the vehicles in the Fetterman drive and purposely positioned her truck so that she could get out of there immediately, if she had to. Then she sat behind the wheel, trying to suck enough air into her lungs to speak. The anxiety that had her tied up in knots wasn’t going to make whatever was coming any easier.
Zeus ran past her truck, barking. Then Hendrix appeared right outside her window and opened her door.
“You look a little pale,” he said. “You okay?”
“Of course,” she said, releasing her seat belt. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
He didn’t answer that question. He knew her well enough by now to recognize when she was posturing. “I’m right here,” he said. “You don’t have to worry about anything.”
She could trust him, she reminded herself. He cared about her. Things were different now than they’d been when she was just a vulnerable girl.
She hoped...
“Do you know?” she asked.
He knew she meant whether Stuart was her father without asking her to make that clear. “No.”
She jerked her head toward the house. “Does he?”
“He hasn’t said. He just asked me if you’d checked the site today, so I asked you.”
“I tried to log in on my phone but the website’s down.”
“Hi, Ellen!” Leo yelled from the doorway. “Are you coming in? You can come in!”
Hendrix glanced in Leo’s direction. “You ready?”
She figured she was as ready as she’d ever be. Either way, she didn’t want to look scared. Dropping her keys into her purse, she climbed out and felt slightly emboldened when Hendrix slipped his fingers through hers. “Seeing us holding hands might upset them,” she said and tried to extricate herself, but he wouldn’t allow it.
