Most of All You: A Love Story(59)

The truck stopped and I watched as George hopped out, giving me a slight nod and a smile, gesturing that he’d help Ellie out. She stepped down and glanced at me nervously while getting herself situated on her crutches.

George started walking toward the driver’s side, calling out a quick goodbye to both of us.

“Thanks, George,” I said, hoping he understood the deep sincerity of my words. He nodded as he climbed inside.

“Hey,” I said, turning to Ellie, who was standing on my walkway, that same uncertainty in her eyes as she chewed at her lip, making me want to kiss her and comfort her all at the same time.

“Hey.”

I nodded to the front porch swing. “Will you sit with me?”

She glanced behind her. “Yes.”

I helped her up the two steps although she was already adept with the crutches, and we sat down on the swing, strangely awkward for a moment. The porch was cast in shade, and the chocolate mint growing on the side of the house scented the air.

I felt like a young kid on my first date with a girl I wasn’t sure wanted to be on a date with me. And I felt like a man who had apologies to make and didn’t know where to begin. I let out a slow breath. Best to dive right in, I supposed. “Jesus, I’m sorry, Ellie.”

She looked at me, turning her body slightly the way mine was so we were mostly facing each other. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for.”

“After everything, I didn’t keep you safe—”

“You hold no responsibility for that.” She looked down. “The truth is, I goaded Dominic. I encouraged him to do what he did.” Her eyes were full of a pained guilt, and it made my heart pinch, though I couldn’t deny a fierce streak of jealousy raced through me, too, hot and uncomfortable. It made me feel edgy, like hitting something again. Or someone, rather. My brother had kissed Ellie before I’d kissed her.

“Did you want to kiss him?”

“No.”

I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth, watching her for a moment, wondering why she’d let him, thinking she might not even know. “I think maybe we should lay the responsibility mostly at Dominic’s doorstep and leave it there. What do you say?”

A slight smile, a small nod. “But I don’t want to come between you and your brother. It’s not right.”

I looked past her, staring off into the trees over her shoulder, the sun high in the sky, remembering the way my guts had twisted when I saw Dominic pressed against Ellie in the hallway, his face angled over hers.

I clenched my eyes closed briefly, attempting to shut out the image still seared on my brain. “What I told you before is the truth. Dominic and I have needed space for a while. We have a complicated relationship, Ellie, and it has nothing to do with you.” I had realized for some time, years probably, that in some ways, Dominic considered himself my caretaker. I’d felt … smothered, though I’d never acknowledged how much. He’d been in college locally when I bought the house, and I’d asked if he wanted to move in for a while. A while had turned into years, and we were long overdue for a change.

We needed this space in general. What had happened with Ellie was just the proverbial straw. A very large, exceedingly weighty straw, but a straw nonetheless. I’d kicked Dominic out of my house because of what he’d done to Ellie. But I should have asked him to leave long before that. It would have been better for both of us.

Ellie’s wary eyes moved over my face for a minute before she nodded her head. “George gave me a job at the quarry. I … I can go back home now. I can get around much better and my car is fixed …” She frowned slightly, looking away as if there was something troubling her despite her words.

“Stay here.” My words sounded so serious, even to my own ears, and her eyes moved back to mine. I shook my head quickly. “It’s minutes from the quarry, and I can drive you there and back. How can you drive an hour and a half every day while you’re wearing a cast on your right leg?”

She looked down at her leg. “I think I could but … I guess it wouldn’t be the safest thing to do.”

“No.”

We were both quiet for a minute as Ellie picked at her fingernails, a habit I’d noticed she did when she was nervous or unsettled. “Gabriel, Dominic told me why you came to the Platinum Pearl in the first place. About Chloe …”

Ah, God. I sat back, letting out a breath, even angrier now at my brother for his insatiable need to drive Ellie away. His insatiable need to control. I used my toe to push the swing very slightly. “What did he tell you?”

“He said you had dreams about her … that you came to the Platinum Pearl to find someone to help you get ready for her. That … that was my role. And now she’s here and …”

I made a small sound in the back of my throat that turned into a sigh. “There’s a bit of truth in that.” She flinched very slightly, and I looked down at my hands for a moment, gathering my thoughts. “When Chloe contacted me, I let my mind wander to … possibilities. But the whole truth, Ellie, is that Chloe made me realize I was ready to try to recover that last part of myself—the part that’s been holding me back from seeking relationships. She was the catalyst that sent me to the Platinum Pearl that night. The idea of her …” I paused, picturing Ellie as she’d looked that night sitting across from me in her gaudy makeup and too-high heels. “And that’s where I found you. I didn’t expect you, Eloise, but there you were. And it’s you I fell in love with.”