Chapter 29
Lucy
Present Day
“You are NOT playing in that softball game today!”
“You can’t tell me what to do, asshole. GO AWAY!”
I glance up from my paperwork when I hear shouting coming from the porch to watch as Ellie flies through the front door with Bobby charging in right behind her.
“I most certainly CAN tell you what to do, and you’re damn well going to listen!” Bobby argues.
I’ve never seen Bobby so fired up before and it gives me pause. Where Bobby isn’t what I would call hot, like Fisher, he’s boyish and cute with his curly head of brown hair, twinkling blue eyes and easy smile. He stands even with Ellie’s five-foot-ten frame and he’s lucky she’s not wearing heals right now or she’d be towering over him and most likely pummeling him to the ground going by the furious look on her face.
“You are not the fucking boss of me! I knew it was a bad idea to tell you!” Ellie yells, stomping right past me, not even glancing in my direction.
Bobby races behind her and I toss down my pen and follow him, wondering what in the hell is going on. Thank God all of the guests are already down on Main Street waiting for the parade to begin and aren’t getting front row seats to this shouting match.
Bobby finally catches up with Ellie in the kitchen, wrapping his arms around her from behind when she tries to leave through the sliding glass doors.
“Will you stop trying to run away from me?!” he argues, lifting her up and moving her away from the door.
She kicks and claws at his arms until he lets go and moves away, putting himself between Ellie and the door so she can’t try and escape again.
“Will you stop following me? Jesus, just go away!”
“I’m not going anywhere until you agree to marry me!” Bobby shouts at her.
My mouth drops open and my eyes widen in shock. What in the actual fuck is happening right now?
“Oh, my God, will you stop?! I am NOT going to marry you, I don’t even like you!” Ellie argues.
“Bullshit! You’re in love with me, dammit, you’re just too scared to admit it!”
Ellie stomps her foot like a toddler and crosses her arms in front of her. I should probably say something, try and get them to stop arguing and tell me what the hell is going on, but I’m too stunned to do anything other than stand here in the doorway.
“You are SUCH an asshole!” Ellie screams.
“You’re right, I’m a huge asshole. That’s one thing we agree on. I’m also not going to let you do this alone,” Bobby adds.
“I am perfectly capable of doing this on my own. I’ve been taking care of myself since I was nineteen years old and I don’t need some guy thinking he needs to marry me just because I’m pregnant!”
Whoa. What the hell?!
“Ellie?” I whisper, finally making my presence known.
She jumps a little at the sound of my voice, her tear-filled eyes finding mine across the room. I look at her questioningly and she just shrugs, swiping angrily at the tears that have started to fall down her face.
Finding out that Ellie is pregnant has thrown me completely, but finding out that she was actually dating someone is even more shocking. Ellie has been alone since her husband of only a year, Daniel, was killed in action. They were high school sweethearts just like Fisher and I, and when he received orders that sent him from South Carolina to Texas, they got married as soon as Ellie graduated from high school so she could go with him. She’s told me countless times after a few glasses of wine that she knows she’ll never love someone as much as she loved her husband. The tragic way she lost him scarred her heart worse than anything I could ever imagine, and she’s kept that heart under lock and key for all of these years. I’m protective of her whenever I see a guy try to hit on her or ask her out on a date, but I also recognize that she needs to move on.
Bobby wraps his hands around her upper arms and turns her body to face him. I stand silently in the corner and let him say what he needs to say, hoping he knows what the hell he’s doing. If he hurts my best friend, I will kick his ass.
“I know I’m not Daniel. I would never try to take his place in your heart or your life, but I hope that you can make a little room for me in there and give me a chance. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m completely in love with you, Ellie. I’ve been in love with you since the first day I met you and you told me to fuck off when I asked you out on a date,” Bobby chuckles. “I want to marry you because I love you and I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life arguing with anyone else but you. I’m not asking you to marry me because of the baby, I’m asking you to marry me because of ME. Because I want this, more than I’ve ever wanted anything else in my life.”
He drops his hands from Ellie’s arms and leans forward, pressing a kiss to her forehead before backing away.
“Don’t say no. At least, not right away. Just think about it. You know where to find me.”
Bobby gives me a nod before turning away and leaving through the sliding doors. As soon as he’s gone, I rush over to Ellie and wrap my arms around her while she sobs into my shoulder. I’ve never seen Ellie cry, EVER, and it tears me apart to hear the anguish in her voice as she cries.
“Everything is going to be okay, Ellie, I promise. I’m going to be here for you every step of the way. If you don’t want Bobby, I will be here. I’m not going anywhere,” I tell her.
She lets out a groan, pulling out of my arms. “That’s the problem. I DO want Bobby! He’s such an arrogant ass, but he’s sweet and he loves me and fucking hell, I think I’m in love with him, too!”
Grabbing onto her hand, I yank her outside onto the veranda, pointing to a rocking chair. “Sit!”
She immediately complies. Leaning my butt against the railing, I cross my arms in front of me and stare at her.
“Speak.”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m not a damn dog, Lucy. Hey, aren’t you supposed to be down at the parade?”
“Distraction is not going to work, missy. Explain what the hell I just witnessed in that kitchen. Why didn’t you tell me you were dating Bobby?”
Ellie sighs, pulling her legs up onto the chair and wrapping her arms around them. “Because we weren’t really dating, we were just sleeping together. It wasn’t that big of a deal until… it sort of became a big deal. I really started to like him and I wanted to spend time with him. It scared the hell out of me. I kept thinking about Daniel and how I was tarnishing his memory by having feelings for another man.”
Pushing away from the railing, I squat down in front of her. “Oh, honey, you aren’t tarnishing Daniel’s memory. Do you really think he’d want you to be alone for the rest of your life? To never experience love again and to never be happy? I can’t believe for one minute that he would’ve wanted that for you.”
Ellie brushes her hand against her cheek as more tears start to fall. “I know that, in my head I know that. The problem is that… I think I love Bobby more than I ever loved Daniel. I don’t know, it’s all happened so fast with him and all of these feelings came out of nowhere. I wasn’t looking for love and all of a sudden it smacked me up side the head. I feel guilty because my feelings for Bobby are so much stronger than they were for Daniel and I hate that. I hate that I’m forgetting him and Bobby is the one filling my thoughts.”
Grabbing onto her hand, I give it a squeeze. “You aren’t forgetting Daniel, you’re just moving on, sweetie. You loved Daniel when you were both really young. You should’ve had more time together, but you didn’t and that sucks. No one can ever take away the love you had for him, and there’s no shame in falling in love again. You’re older now, you’ve seen more of the world and life in general. You’ve learned more about love and you’ve found someone who challenges you and isn’t afraid to call you on your shit. If you love Bobby, and it seems like he really loves you, why should you punish yourself by not exploring it?”
Ellie sighs, leaning her head back against the chair. “I really want to marry him, Lucy. I can’t believe I’m saying that, but it’s true. I can see a future with him and it makes me happy and excited. I haven’t felt like this in a long time.”
“I think you need to tell him that,” I inform her.
“He’s never going to believe I’m saying yes because I actually want to marry him. He’s going to think I’m doing it because of the baby. Oh, my God, I’m going to have a baby,” Ellie suddenly whispers in shock.
I laugh at the look of horror on her face. “He’s going to believe you when you tell him exactly what you just told me. And when you two are living happily ever after together, you can name this baby after me as a thank you.”
“I really hope it’s not a boy, then, or he’s going to be the girliest little boy in the world,” Ellie finally laughs.
“I’m so happy for you, Ellie,” I tell her honestly.
“I’m happy for me, too,” she tells me with another laugh. “What about you? When are you going to get your happily ever after?”
I sigh, thinking about the things my mom said to me the other day about Fisher. I just need to get through today and then hopefully the two of us can talk. I want an explanation for all the things that happened between us and I want to be able to have a calm, rational talk with him about how I feel and what I want.
“I don’t know if a happily ever after is in the cards for me, but I’m going to try,” I admit.
“Does that mean you’re going to kick Stanley to the curb?” she asks with an excited look on her face.
“Seriously?” I ask her in annoyance.
“What? I mean, he made you happy for a little while and I gave the guy a chance, but Lucy, he’s a fucking dud. I like the way you are when you’re with Fisher, that’s all,” she says with a shrug.
“And how is that, exactly?” I question.
“You’re a little firecracker when you’re with him. And yes, I just made a Fourth of July joke ON the Fourth of July. You’re welcome,” she says sarcastically. “I don’t know, you come alive when you’re around him. You aren’t just going through the motions, doing what you think you have to do. You’re passionate and angry and happy and crazy. You’re actually living when you’re with him. I haven’t seen you do that in a while, and definitely not with Stan the Un-Man.”
Ellie and I talk for a few more minutes about Fisher and I tell her a little bit about what happened in the alley without going into too many intimate details.
“Nice, Lucy likes it rough,” Ellie says with a laugh.
I smack her hand and roll my eyes at her.
“That was not the point of me sharing that with you,” I scold her. “The point is, Fisher thinks I’m made of glass. He thinks I’m still the same woman he married and that he has to handle me with kid gloves. He’s afraid of his temper and the passion that comes with it, and I don’t know how to tell him that he doesn’t have to be afraid. That I’M not afraid and I want it. I want everything from him.”
Ellie shrugs. “So how about you show him instead of tell him? Men are visual creatures. You could talk to him until you’re blue in the face and he still wouldn’t get it. He’d still think you were only placating him or saying what you thought he wanted to hear. Strap on a set of balls and show the guy that you want all that intensity and passion from him.”
I mull over Ellie’s advice while she helps me gather up the t-shirts to sell on Main Street. Even though Fisher and I really do need to talk about so many important things, Ellie is right. He’s never going to believe that part of what I have to say unless I prove it to him, show him that I’m not afraid of his anger or his jealousy and that if he’s serious about working through things, I want ALL of him this time, not just the parts he chooses to share with me.