It's Only Love(17)

Smiling, she glanced at Gavin and reached for his hand to lead him into the kitchen, where her mom was standing watch over something on the stove, and her dad was standing watch over her mom, hands on her hips, head tilted forward, saying something in her ear that was making Molly giggle madly.

I want that, Ella thought. To be married nearly forty years and still be giggling with the man I love. She cleared her throat. Loudly.

Lincoln Abbott turned, his face lighting up with pleasure at the sight of her and then zeroing right in on the fact that she was holding hands with Gavin Guthrie. “Hey, El, Gavin. Look, Molly, Ella’s brought Gavin.”

Molly turned down the heat under the pot on the stove and turned to hug and kiss both of them. “This is a nice surprise, Gavin.”

“Hope you don’t mind me crashing Sunday dinner.”

“Of course not. You’re always welcome here. You know that.”

“Thanks, Molly.”

Molly took a good long look at Ella before she enveloped her in a hug. “Keeping secrets, my love?” she whispered for Ella’s ear only.

Ella pulled back and smiled at her mom.

“Do we have a few minutes before dinner, Mol?” Lincoln asked.

“About twenty.”

“Let’s go look at those trees then, Gavin.”

“Sure thing.” He squeezed Ella’s shoulder and then followed her dad to the mudroom.

Ella watched them go, focusing in on the excellent fit of Gavin’s faded Levi’s jeans. Yum.

“Ahem,” Molly said the moment the door closed behind the men and dogs. “Something you want to tell me?”

“There’s been a bit of a development.”

“So I see.” Molly checked the pots on the stove and then returned her attention to Ella. “Care to share?”

“He . . . We . . . We’re giving it a whirl.”

“Well, that’s a huge development. What brought this on?”

“It’s been kinda happening for a while now.”

“I’d noticed that, but I wondered if it was somewhat one-sided.”

“It’s not one-sided.”

“Oh no?”

“No.”

Molly wiped her hands on a dish towel that she had tossed over her shoulder. “May I speak freely?”

“When have you ever not spoken freely?”

“When what I have to say might hurt one of my precious children. I tend to be a little more circumspect in those situations.”

“Whatever it is, just say it.”

“You know I love Gavin. I love him as much as I loved Caleb, and as much as I love Bob and Amelia. The Guthries are family to us.”

“I know.”

“That said, I worry about whether Gavin is in the right place, emotionally, to be what you need.”

“He’s well aware of his issues, Mom. I’m well aware of them. We’re working through them together.”

“As of when?”

“Last night.”

Molly folded her arms and leaned back against the counter. “What happened last night?”

Ella debated whether she should tell her mother the whole story. “He had a situation . . . And, apparently, I was listed in his phone as his ‘in case of emergency’ contact, so they called me. I went there—”

“Where is there?”

“A place called Red’s.”

“The biker bar on 114?”

“Yeah.”

“Eleanor Abbott! Are you telling me you went, alone, to a biker bar on a Saturday night to bail him out of yet another scrape?”

“He was there.” Ellie was determined not to squirm. “I wasn’t alone.”

“Honestly. And he condoned this?”

“He didn’t know they were calling me.”

“I don’t like this. Not one bit. Is this how it’s going to be? You bailing him out of ‘scrapes’ in bars?”

“No, that’s not how it’s going to be. He’s determined to turn things around and to make a go of it with me.”

“What if he can’t turn things around? What if he only wishes he could and you get swept up in the mess he’s been making of his life lately?”

“I don’t know, Mom! I don’t know what’s going to happen or if he’s going to be able to be what I want and need. What I do know is that I’ve wanted a real, legitimate chance with him for years, and now that I finally have one, I’m not going to squander it by worrying about what might happen.”

“I don’t want you to get hurt, Ella.”

“I don’t want that either, but I refuse to spend the rest of my life wondering what could’ve been because I was so afraid to get hurt that I didn’t even try.” She swiped at her face, angered by the tears that wet her cheeks. Why was she crying?

Molly drew her into a hug. “Sweetheart, listen to me. No one wants you to be happy more than I do. I know how much you care for him. Anyone can see that. It’s just that he . . . Well, you may not be able to fix what’s broken inside him, sweet girl.”

“I can at least try, can’t I?”

“Of course you can. I just want you to be careful to protect yourself, and I don’t want you going to biker bars alone. You got me?”