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That was what he’d said, but she didn’t want to get involved in any type of agreement with him. She hadn’t done anything to her father, his wifeorHendrix—nothing like what they’d done to her, anyway. She was merely competing in a free market, and she was going to continue.
Maybe he’d been planning to threaten to go after her business again if she didn’t back off...
She dismissed that possibility as soon as it crossed her mind. He hadn’t been acting hostile. He’d been different...friendly. Why the sudden change?
“Don’t worry about him,” she muttered into the darkness. “Even if he was friendly, it won’t last.” It couldn’t. His aunt would never tolerate any type of a relationship between them. Ellen had no idea why Lynn had hated her so much right from the start, but she could still remember meeting her father’s wife for the first time and feeling her resentment and animosity.
Jan blamed Lynn’s reaction on jealousy. She said Lynn didn’t want to run the risk of Stuart loving another female as much or more than he did her. Lynn also didn’t want any competition for his care and attention when it came to her family—her son and her nephew. But Ellen had been only ten years old at the time. She hadn’t been capable of defending her own heart. How could a grown woman be so petty?
Forget about Stuart, Lynn, Hendrix—even Leo.She had to ignore them, couldn’t give them the power to hurt her, or they would.
But in the dark quiet of her room, the memories she tried so hard to contain began to bombard her again.
After Stuart had moved from Anaconda to Coyote Canyon, where he and Lynn had grown up, Grandma and Grandpa Fetterman had tried to include Ellen—and get their son to include her, as well. Ellen remembered staying with them for a week or two each summer, during which she’d hear Grandma Lilly on the phone in the other room, talking in a low voice while beseeching Stuart to show up for dinner, meet them for a picnic or even stop by to say hello. All too often, she’d come out of the room with red, swollen eyes, and then she’d try to smile and continue to entertain Ellen on her own, as though nothing had happened.
Ellen loved her grandma for the kindness she’d shown. Jan’s father, a truck driver, had died in a big rig accident before Jan got married, and her mother had lived with her sister clear across the country, in Virginia, ever since. Other than a birthday card, a Christmas gift or a call here and there, neither of them had been too involved in Ellen’s life. But at least she’d had one set of grandparents who loved her. A lot of kids who went through a rocky divorce didn’t have that much.
Ellen was barely sixteen when Lilly was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Although Lilly’s decline had been slower than most people’s, Grandpa Pete’s attention had shifted away from the farm and everything else at that point, so he could take care of the woman he’d loved for nearly fifty years. That was why, once Lilly couldn’t remember even those who were closest to her, he’d given Ellen the farm and taken his wife to an assisted living facility in Phoenix, which was where their daughter, who was a nurse, lived.
Fortunately, Ellen had been pretty self-sufficient by the time Lilly was no longer fully functional. That was the only thing that’d saved her.
Still, she missed the long, hot summer days she’d spent in Coyote Canyon, helping Grandpa Pete in the garden or learning to cook or can in the kitchen with Grandma Lilly. They were some of the happiest moments of her life. But those brief interludes never lasted long enough. All too soon, she’d have to go home to a mother who was emotionally unstable, who wouldn’t bother to cook or clean, let alone help with homework or attend a school function, and who couldn’t keep a job, which meant they’d had to move from one cheap duplex or mobile home to another. The only way to survive was to take over as the responsible person in the household, and that was exactly what Ellen had done.
Why’d it have to go that way? That was the question that had haunted Ellen for years. Why would her father let his new wife dictate how he treated his daughter? He’d been a good dad until he’d divorced Jan to move back to Coyote Canyon to be with Lynn. And, at ten, Ellen had had no idea her future happiness would depend on pleasing the cold, sharp-tongued interloper who’d caused the complete destruction of her world. The less welcoming her stepmother was, the angrier and more resentful she became, creating a vicious cycle that ended after only ten months, when Lynn refused to have her over at all.
Ellen remembered the first and only time, after she’d been banned from her father’s house, that Grandma Lilly was able to prevail upon Stuart to drop off “the boys.” Lilly had wanted to build a bridge between Stuart’s daughter and his wife’s son and nephew, hoping the situation might get better.
But Stuart only dropped off Hendrix—Leo was somewhere with his mother—and Hendrix had no interest in getting to know her. He’d spent his time avoiding or ignoring her, and the initial excitement she’d felt at possibly having someone in the Fetterman household who might finally accept her had quickly faded into a long day that turned out to be one of the loneliest she could remember. She was embarrassed, now, by how hard she’d tried to please him. She’d even given him the ten dollars her grandparents had put in a card for her birthday—which was all the money she had—and he’d taken it and shrugged it off as if it was nothing.
With a grimace at her eagerness and stupidity, she rubbed her stomach, which was beginning to ache from the angst she was feeling. She had to stop stewing about the past, or she’d give herself an ulcer.
Forget, she told herself. She was an adult now, in charge of her own destiny. She no longer needed her father, Hendrix, her mother or anyone else.
Her phone lit up in the dark room. Who would be texting her at one in the morning? “It’d better not be Jordan,” she grumbled as she rolled over to check.
It was Hendrix.
I’m sorry I upset you.
Shit.Now that he had her number he could text her whenever he wanted.
She almost wrote back that he had it all wrong. Nothing he did or said could ever upset her. She didn’t want him to believe he had that kind of power. She didn’t trust him not to abuse it. But the sayingMethinks thou dost protest too muchpopped into her mind in time to stop her.
After putting her phone back on the charger without responding, she eventually fell into the welcome respite of sleep.
Nine
Talulah could tell Ellen was agitated this morning. Her friend also had dark circles under her eyes. She didn’t seem to be getting enough sleep. They often talked about how hard she was working—too hard in Talulah’s opinion. But running your own business wasn’t easy; Talulah knew that from experience. And today she was worried about something else. “I think you should go to the police and file a report on Jordan Forbes. Who knows how far things would’ve gone last night if Hendrix hadn’t stepped in.”
Talulah had heard a knock on the back door of the dessert diner before dawn and opened it to find Ellen, who’d insisted on helping her get ready for business. Ellen did that occasionally when she had the time, especially if she needed to talk. So while they’d finished baking Talulah’s popular breakfast buns and opened the doors for the customers who lined up on the sidewalk each Saturday, Ellen had shared what’d happened with her date.
“I tried to call the police, but Hendrix stopped me,” she responded. “And now, after how it went... I mean, Jordan got his ass handed to him. I don’t want him to react by going after Hendrix for assault.”
Talulah arched her eyebrows. “You’re worried about what might happen toHendrix?”
They’d survived the morning rush. After putting a sign on the door to indicate they were sold out of breakfast buns and closed for a short break, they were sitting at one of the small tables Brant had helped Talulah arrange out front, enjoying the warm spring weather, a cup of coffee and a croissant. Business slowed about this time every Saturday, and the bulk of the work at the diner was done for the day, but Ellen didn’t seem very relaxed. “I’m notworried, exactly,” she said. “I just don’t want to turn it into a big deal when he was only trying to help. I’d feel the same about anyone who stepped in.”
Cammie Cartwright, who owned the clothing shop down the street, walked by and gave Talulah a finger wave. Talulah nodded in return before continuing her conversation with Ellen. “I’d hate to see anything bad happen to Hendrix, too. And considering all the animosity of the past and present, I can see why you might not want his aunt and your father to know he was ever at your house. I’m just afraid if we don’t do something about Dr. Forbes, he might try something similar on another woman.”
