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“I’m going to report him on the dating site we’ve been using. He’ll probably be kicked off. Or they’ll put a warning label on his profile, letting potential matches know he’s under review. That should make him leave the site on his own. Other than that, there’s nothing more I can do. He didn’t cross the line far enough to create any real legal troubles.”
“He kissed you against your will,” Talulah pointed out.
“True. But let’s be honest. Even if I filed a complaint and Hendrix backed me up as a witness—which he might not be willing to do because that would attach his name to mine—I doubt Jordan would be arrested. The police might contact him and ask a few questions, but unless there’ve been other reports filed documenting something worse, like rape or molestation, they have too many bigger crimes to investigate. You can’t punish people for every little thing they do, even if it’s wrong. It’s not practical.”
“Sometimes you’re too realistic. You know that?”
“You mean jaded?” Ellen said with a laugh.
Talulah took a sip of her coffee. “That, too.”
“So much for online dating.” Ellen tore off a piece of her croissant. “I knew it would be a mistake.”
Talulah wasn’t excited to hear Ellen say that. It wasn’t easy meeting someone in such a small town, especially when you were a little too progressive for the area. She’d been hoping online dating would be the answer. Talulah wanted to see Ellen find someone who could love and appreciate her as much as she deserved. “One bad experience doesn’t ruin everything,” she argued.
“It does for me,” Ellen responded with a grimace. “I was leery of going online to begin with.”
“Does that mean you’re getting off Together Forever?”
“I think so.”
Talulah frowned. “Ellen, don’t. It’s a decent way to meet people if you’re careful. Besides, it took us too long to create your profile to give up after the first guy.” She was only half joking about the profile. She and Brant had taken the pictures Ellen had used, which had been a real chore since Ellen had been so critical of every one. Talulah had only persevered because she knew the pictures weren’t the real problem. Ellen was afraid of failure. What’d happened with her father had convinced her that she didn’t deserve love, so she refused to open herself up to the quick and easy rejection that came with online dating.
“You can say that after last night?”
“Hang in there. You’ll meet the right guy eventually.”
“That’s not a given. Why risk another Jordan, especially when I’m fine with being alone?”
She was the most guarded person Talulah had ever met, and she had reason to be. Her past, not only with her family but with her previous boyfriends, had made her determined to get through life without ever being vulnerable again. But love required vulnerability. And Ellen needed love. Everyone did.
“What was Hendrix doing at your place so late at night, anyway?” Talulah asked, changing the subject. “That’s what I don’t understand.”
“I told you. He said he came over to talk about a truce.”
She’d mentioned that, but then they’d gotten busy and Talulah hadn’t been able to ask for more details. “You never explained what the truce would entail.”
Ellen set down her cup. “Because we never actually talked about it.”
“Why not?”
“I had him leave. I don’t want to call a truce. I don’t want anything to do with him.”
Talulah eyed her closely. Ellen often pretended she didn’t want what she really wanted. It was a defense mechanism, in case she was disappointed. She’d been dying for her father’s love and attention ever since he’d left her mother, and yet she insisted she hated him and wouldn’t speak to him even if he tried to have a relationship with her. Talulah suspected the same might hold true for Hendrix—that deep down what she really wanted was to be accepted by him. “You couldn’t have listened to him long enough to find out what he had to say?”
“There was no point. It wouldn’t change anything.”
“It would’ve satisfied my curiosity,” Talulah pointed out with a grin. “Aren’tyoucurious?”
Ellen finished the last of her croissant and dusted off her fingers. “Not at all.”
Talulah couldn’t fully believe that, either. But Averil Gerhart was coming down the sidewalk, and it was always awkward to run into her. They’d been friends since Talulah could remember, but in recent years their relationship had been difficult for several reasons, and it hadn’t grown any easier after Talulah moved back to town and married the man Averil had hoped to get.
“Hey,” Averil said. Normally she had Mitch, her six-year-old son, with her but today she was alone.
“Hey.” Talulah smiled as brightly as possible. “What’s up?”
Her eyes shifted to Ellen, which made Talulah even more uncomfortable. She didn’t want this to turn into a confrontation. Several weeks ago, Ellen had overheard Averil and her mother talking about Talulah while grocery shopping, and it’d made Ellen mad enough that she’d approached them and told them off. Ellen was like that—fiercely defensive of those she loved.
