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Ella grimaced before she swiped open the message on her phone. Then groaned again. Of course he was asking her whereshe was. Not only that, but he had several people lined up to speak to her about the renovations of the barn.
Didn’t her father understand that the barn already held memories that were too painful for her to handle? The wound was fresh. She’d broken the one rule that was the most important—allowing herself to get close to a guy she knew wasn’t the right fit.
She couldn’t even blame Lucas all that much. He was simply following what his heart told him to. He was trying to be happy just like anyone else.
The only thing she could blame him for was his loyalty to a guy who didn’t deserve it. But then, how many people were blinded by that very same loyalty when it came to relationships—both familiar, romantic, and friend-based?
Ella sighed, tossing her phone on the seat and leaning back against the headrest. She could pretend she never got the message. Her father couldn’t fault her for not coming back if she acted like she didn’t know he wanted her there.
She could slip inside, draw a bath, and just pamper herself. She deserved it after having to deal with the likes of Candy.
Another groan escaped her lips. It wasn’t fair to blame that woman, either. She was simply a person who had accepted an invitation to go on a date. Just because she was slim and pretty didn’t mean she deserved Ella’s dark thoughts.
Her phone buzzed again, flashing with light in the dark cab of the car. Ellashouldignore this one. She should just leave her phone in the car and head inside. When her father came home, she’d have the perfect excuse.
Glancing at the device out of the corner of her eye, Ella gave in to her curiosity. The message could have come from anyone. It didn’t have to be from her father. It might be from one of the crew. Or it could be from Shane. If they were experiencing any issues, they might contact her first.
She snatched the phone, and just as she’d predicted, found it wasn’t from her father at all. Eloise had sent her a picture of something that was honestly a little too hard to see in the lighting she’d used. The wordsIs this okay?were typed below the image. There wasn’t any context for the question she asked, and Ella wasn’t even one hundred percent sure Eloise would respond if she requested clarification.
Ella zoomed into the picture. It was clearly an image of something made out of wood. But that was where Ella’s deducing skills ended. If Eloise was concerned enough to send her a question about something in the barn, then it was probably important enough for Ella to return.
There was one blaring issue about that, however.
Lucas was there.
And he was with a date.
She shook her head. Lucas wasn’t the problem. It was Taven—who was also present and likely even more trouble. As much as Ella wanted to avoid it all, she knew better than to assume she would be content with staying home on the couch while whatever was happening in that picture was going on.
Just like that, Ella had made her choice. She wasn’t going to let her worry about seeing Lucas prevent her from fixing something she had control over. Never in her life had she avoided something because an ex might show up, and she wasn’t about to start now.
Seeing Lucas with another woman had been the most painful thing she’d experienced this evening, and she couldn’t think of a single thing that would top it. If she’d survived it once, she could survive it again.
Ella pushed her keys into the ignition and started her car once again. She drove the long way out to the property where she’d been working for the last several months and then pulled into the parking space she’d vacated about thirty minutes prior.
Her eyes darted toward the building from where she sat in her car, and she couldn’t help but admire the work she’d put into the place. If she wasn’t so set on heading back to the city, she might try to convince her father to let her take over the venue hosting while living on the premises.
That was crazy.
Even if the city council would go for something like that, she knew deep down that she couldn’t stick it out in this town for much longer. If bumping into Lucas was bad enough in the few minutes she’d spent with him, what would it be like to run into him in various stores around town?
Her heart squeezed at the mere thought of having to see him with another girl on his arm who didn’t deserve him.
That was the hardest part of this whole thing. She knew Lucas was so much better than he gave himself credit for. She’d seen first-hand how hardworking he was. Granted, that could be due in part to his stubbornness. Lucas definitely had a stubborn streak—but it wasn’t so bad she found it off-putting. That nature of his was the thing that tipped the scales in his favor when he’d asked her out.
She didn’t realize she was smiling until someone knocked on her window. Ella jumped and stared out the glass at the shadowy figure who stood on the other side of her door. She fumbled with the button to lower the window, then peered up at Eloise.
Her friend dropped down, resting her chin on folded arms that were placed on the open window. “Good, you’re back. What are you still doing out here? I thought you’d be coming in so you could see the wall. I know it doesn’t look like much from the pictures, but I could have sworn that some of the wood was pulling apart. It’s probably not structural.”
Ella must have been giving her a funny look because Eloise laughed.
“Okay, it’s definitely not structural. I probably shouldn’t have had you come all the way back here. But it’s still something someone might notice, and I would hate for you to hear back from anyone on your quality of work.”
The woman was rambling far more than was necessary. If she continued her chatter much longer, Ella wouldn’t be surprised if she passed out. She gave Eloise a pointed look. “I’m more than happy to look at it, but I can tell you right now, whatever you sent me doesn’t look like anything.”
Eloise’s grin widened. “And yet you’re here.”
Ella sighed. Her friend had a point. Under most circumstances she would have stayed put. She didn’t want to be here, and it was clear by the look on her face.
