Dad and I didn’t talk about my news on the way to the restaurant. Instead, I asked him how he liked the premiere last night and what he thought of Janice Bishop. He admitted the premiere wasn’t as bad as he’d expected it to be and relented that red carpet events weren’t the same as what we’d gone through on Christmas Day. And then he’d gushed about Janice Bishop for the rest of the ride. Someone had a serious author crush. It was cute, and I was proud I’d been able to do something so special for him.
Things were comfortable between us when we reached the restaurant, which seemed a miracle in itself. Then we were shown to our table, where Jennifer and the twins were already waiting for us. Ana was just as anxious and excited to figure out what my big secret was, too. “Let me see the ring!” she demanded, nearly pushing Juliette out of the way to get to my hand first.
I laughed. “Sit down, you bridezillas. I’m not engaged.”
“Then what is it?” Juliette asked. “I’m dying. You’re killing us.”
“Just sit down already. I’ll explain in a minute. We’re still waiting for one more person.”
“I thought Brian was filming today,” Juliette said.
“He is. We’re waiting for a friend of mine.”
Jennifer and the girls sat, and Dad pulled out my chair for me, but before I could sit, Nash’s voice called out across the room. “Ella, my beautiful doll! Please tell me that this lunch is your way of accepting my offer.”
I laughed as I greeted him with a hand squeeze and a cheek kiss. “It is.”
His eyes lit with delight as I presented him to my family. “Nash, I’d like you to meet my family. Everyone, this is Nash Wilson.”
Dad shook his hand, nodding cordially, having no idea who he was. Juliette and Ana looked surprised, but they’d both known I knew him and that he’d asked to take my pictures, so their surprise was nothing compared to Jennifer’s shock.
After a few minutes of Jennifer’s gushing—which Nash proudly accepted with enthusiasm—everyone got seated and gave the server our orders.
Ana was the first to bring up the subject the second we were alone again. “You’re really going to take his offer?”
“Yeah.” I grinned at Nash. “If you’re still feeling inspired, anyway.”
Nash brought his fisted hands to his pursed mouth, as if trying to keep from cheering out loud or possibly trying to hold tears at bay. Then he suddenly took my face in his hands and kissed both my cheeks with so much flourish that my whole family laughed. “You lovely, courageous woman! You are going to be my pièce de résistance!”
“I hope so, if we’re really going to release the pictures to the entire world,” I joked.
Nash sobered instantly and took my hand in his. “You have my word, Ellamara. You are going to be the most beautiful, ethereal, heavenly being ever to be captured on camera.”
I swallowed a lump of emotion. “Thanks.”
Our lunch arrived, and I gave everyone a chance to dive into their meals before I brought up the reason I’d requested they all come. Once we were all settled in, I finally broached the subject. “So Nash…are you still thinking faeries in an enchanted forest?”
Nash cocked an eyebrow at me. “Is it not a perfect idea for the mystic druid priestess and her beloved druid prince?”
I grinned. “More perfect than you know. I just wanted to make sure you were still thinking that direction, because I wanted to run an idea by you.”
Nash put his soup spoon down to give me his full attention.
“Okay, I know this is your shoot. I understand you have to be inspired and all, and I’ll trust your judgment, but I had a thought this morning after I decided I wanted to really do this.”
I took a breath and cast a quick glance around the table. “What if we make it a family session instead of just me?”
Jennifer gasped, so startled she dropped her salad fork, while both Juliette and Ana looked at me with wide eyes. Dad frowned, as if he was trying to figure out what the big deal was.
I held Nash’s gaze while he narrowed his eyes on me. “Look at them,” I said. “And tell me what you see.”
Nash humored me and looked—really looked—at my family. He took his time, and I could see him really thinking about my question. “I see a beautiful, picture-perfect family,” he said, shaking his head as if they were nothing more than ordinary.
“Exactly,” I said. “You see perfection. You see beauty, elegance, and grace. You see Hollywood’s mold wrapped up in a perfect package. And then there’s me…”
Nash’s eyes flashed to me.
“One of these things is not like the others, Nash.”
His eyes widened, and he sat straight up in his chair, looking at my family again but seeing them with a new perspective. I could tell he understood what I was getting at. “You’re absolutely right,” he whispered reverently. “They’re perfect. They’re exactly what the world demands. They’re so beautiful and perfect that they’ll blend together.”
His head snapped back to me, and then he rose from his chair to take a step away from the table and see us all together as a whole. “It’s brilliant,” he muttered. He held his hands up, as if putting us all in a frame together. “The most beautiful and perfect creatures all together, and among them, you will shine. Your differences—your imperfections—will stand out among them and set you apart. And imperfect truly will be more beautiful.”
His eyes met mine, and I knew he was onboard.
“Brian will be disappointed not to do it, but—”
“No, we still need Brian,” Nash said. “Having you two as a couple in the photos with the others will only make everything that much more powerful. The powerful fey prince claiming his princess, only she’s not the one the world would choose upon first sight.”
A huge smile bloomed on my face. “I hoped you would say that. My cosplay-loving boyfriend really would have been devastated to be left out of this photo shoot.”
Juliette and Ana burst into laughter. They loved that Brian, of all people, was, at heart, a huge geek.
Nash and I grinned at each other, and he kissed my face again before sitting back down. He was speechless for an entire minute before he looked around the table. “Will you do it?” he asked my family.
There was excitement and even desperation in his plea. He would beg, if he had to. Which was a good thing, considering he was going to have to convince my father to dress up like a faerie, bare-chested and in tights, and allow his daughters to be photographed in what I assumed would be some pretty skimpy faerie outfits showing a hefty amount of skin. Begging was definitely going to be necessary.
Jennifer shook as she asked, “You really want us to join Ella’s photo shoot?”
“Mrs. Coleman.” He shook his head, shooting her a smile that made her blush. “I would love nothing more. You have a beautiful family, and together with Ella, you complete a picture so breathtaking it will mesmerize the entire world.”
Tears formed in Jennifer’s eyes. Even if she wasn’t the main focus of the pictures, being photographed by Nash Wilson was a dream come true for her, and having those pictures in her portfolio would open a world of new opportunities. The twins, if they wanted to follow in the footsteps of her modeling career, which I was pretty sure Ana did—would be set.
Jennifer shook her head in disbelief and then laughed a startled laugh that was mixed with a tiny sob. “We would be honored. Wouldn’t we?”
She looked to the others. Juliette and Anastasia nodded immediately, heads bobbing like bobbleheads and eyes as wide as anime characters. “I can’t believe this,” Ana whispered. “We’re going to get to do a Nash Wilson photo shoot.”
All eyes turned to my dad, seeking final approval. He frowned at me with eyes so wary it was hard not to laugh. “Hold on now; you said something about faeries in an enchanted forest. Just what kind of family pictures are you thinking of taking?”
I let Nash explain, and as he spoke, Juliette’s, Ana’s, and Jennifer’s expressions got dreamier and dreamier, while Dad’s slowly became so horrified I worried he was going to have a stroke.
He wanted to say no. I could see it in his eyes. A little of his hesitancy was because of his daughters, but mostly it was for his own dignity. Brian may have had no problem dressing up in skintight leggings and pretending to be a faerie for the world, but Richard Coleman, power-lawyer who ate criminals for breakfast? Not likely.
“Dad,” I whispered when he opened his mouth to say no, “I can do this on my own. I can take these pictures myself, and with Brian—I’ll do that no matter what you decide—but it would mean a lot to me if you all did this with me.”
Dad’s mouth shut, and he turned a very conflicted set of eyes on me.
“I know I’m asking a lot,” I whispered. “But the thing is…I’m doing this as a way to heal. Deciding to show myself to the world is something I need to do to accept myself. But I need to accept my family as well.”
“Ella…” My dad shook his head as his voice trailed off. He didn’t know what to say. That was all right, because I’d sort of prepared this speech ahead of time.
“I called my agent this morning after I agreed to meet with Nash. We had a long conversation about what this photo shoot would mean for me and what I would want to get out of it. Ultimately, I’m looking for closure. I think I’m going to try and write my autobiography. I want to share my story. I think if I just face my fears and lay it all out there, I’ll find the acceptance over everything awful that’s happened to me. I need that acceptance with you and your family just as much as I need to accept my body.”
I lifted my gaze away from Dad and met the eyes of my stepmother and sisters. “I have never truly felt like I belonged with you. From the moment I arrived in California, I was one giant, imperfect mess trying to mold myself into your beautiful picture-perfect world. I wasn’t surprised that my father had left me for you. Why would he want me, when he had such a better offer?”
“Ella—” My dad choked on the name and reached out to me.
I surprised him when I took his hand. “I’m sorry. I know that sounds awful, but it’s the truth. I’ve been so intimidated and scared of your perfect life that I haven’t been able to let myself be a part of it. I need this. I need to feel like I can be every bit as worthy to be a Coleman as the rest of you. I need to face the insecurities I have where you, Jennifer, and the twins are concerned if I’m ever going to conquer them. So even though it’s going to make you uncomfortable, I’m still asking. Please do this for me, Dad.”
My dad looked at me for a moment before his face crumpled, and he let out a heavy sigh. “Honey, from the moment I brought you home, all I’ve wanted was for you to feel welcomed into my family.”
“Then do this with me, Dad. Let’s be a family, for once. All of us. Together. I’m about to do the most terrifying thing I could possibly ever do. I may have decided to do it, but it is going to be hard for me.” I took a breath to stave off tears that were suddenly stinging my eyes. “I could really use the extra support.”
Dad’s shoulders slumped, and resignation washed over him. “Okay.” He met my eyes with the same big bright blue ones he’d passed on to me. “If you really need this—if you really think it will help you feel like you belong in this family, then we’ll do it. I’ll do it.”
Jennifer, Juliette, Ana, and Nash all broke out into cheers, while my father and I just looked at one another. I couldn’t believe he’d agreed. Yeah, I’d totally played an underhanded card there, but I still hadn’t thought it would work. It had been the truth, though, every single bit of it. I needed this with them. And now that he’d agreed, my chest burned with as much excitement and anticipation as it did with nerves.
I’d tried so hard to stay dry-eyed, but I finally lost that battle, and my eyes welled up with tears. I threw my arms around my father and sniffled as I hugged him. “Thank you, Dad.”
“I love you, sweetheart.”
My throat closed up even tighter, and I couldn’t let him go. He didn’t seem to be in any hurry to end the hug, either. “I love you, too,” I whispered.
When I pulled back, I wiped my eyes with my napkin and blushed as I looked around the table. When my eyes met Ana’s, she smirked her classic dry smirk. “You’ve always been a Coleman, stupid.”
Stupid was a term of endearment this time, because her lips twitched. Juliette laughed and added, “Glad you’re finally ready to own it.”
I rolled my eyes at the twins as they both giggled, and then met Jennifer’s watery gaze. She smiled brightly and chuckled a little as she said, “Welcome to the family, sweetheart.”
For the first time since coming to California, the invitation felt sincere, and I was finally ready to accept it. “Thanks. It’s nice to have one again.”