Chapter 30

CHAPTER THIRTY

Ellie/Two Weeks Later

"Let's go, Mom!" I call across the house. My mom was cleared by the doctor twelve days ago to resume normal activities. Not only has the brain bleed healed on its own, but the turmeric Zach gave her seems to really be helping with her pain.

I hear the low whirring of her wheelchair before I see her. My mom drives into the living room wearing a pretty summer dress and a smile. "I love this thing!" she says excitedly. Then she sees Zach. "We couldn't have gotten this without you, Zach. Thank you."

"Don't thank me," he says. "Thank your daughter for being a PR mastermind." He smiles in my direction. "Tony asked if you wanted to move to LA and work for him."

I shudder. "I'd rather become a professional mud wrestler."

"Is that a thing?" he asks in horror.

"Who knows. I'm just saying that I never want to be in PR. Especially if it means working for people like Yolanda."

"How about people like me?" he asks with a wink.

Walking over to my purse, I open it and hand him an envelope from inside. He looks confused while opening it. Then he holds up a check. "That's your money back," I tell him.

"I don't want it." He sounds offended.

"I don't either."

"I thought you were going to use it to help with things around here."

"I'm using Yolanda's money for that," I tell him. "I was going to give hers back, too, but I'm so mad at what she's done to you that I've decided to keep it." After a beat, I add, "Although if she asks for it back, I'll probably give her whatever I haven't spent."

Looking at my mom, Zach asks, "Would you like a check for forty thousand dollars?"

My mom shakes her head. "Ellie told me everything, and you can rest easy that neither of us wants your money."

Zach looks like you could knock him over with a feather. "Fine. But I'm paying for everything at Maple Fest today."

"You have yourself a deal," I tell him before sealing our pact with a kiss.

"I knew you two were going to be a perfect match!" my mom cheers.

Zach asks us, "What do you say that after this hockey tournament is over, I take you both to stay at my house on the beach?"

"You don't have ramps," I remind him.

With a wink, he tells me, "I do now. I had my brother hire someone to install them the day I left."

"Don't you think you might be putting the cart before the horse?" I ask.

"What does that even mean?"

My mom injects, "It means, what happens if you and Ellie stop seeing each other?"

"Then I'll have a wheelchair ramp at my house." He hurries to add, "I could start skateboarding."

Even though it's early days, I don't like that Zach's thought about the possibility of us breaking up. I suggest, "You can do that even if we keep seeing each other. "

He wraps his arm around me. "That's the real plan. Now, are you two ladies ready to introduce me to the best fall festival this side of the Mississippi?"

"You know it," I tell him while opening the door. I stand back while my mom navigates her travel wheelchair through the opening. We got her a second chair until we can get a car big enough to haul the electric one. Zach follows her out, while I stay back and lock up. My mom stops her wheelchair next to the back door of Zach's SUV, and when I catch up, I help her stand while he puts the travel chair in the trunk.

On the way to the festival, my mom tells Zach, "Maple Fest was Ellie's favorite event during her youth. I think she liked it more than Christmas."

"Christmas didn't come with caramel corn and corn mazes," I complain.

"It should," Zach says. "But personally, I'm hoping to find some apple cider donuts covered in cinnamon sugar."

"Oh, you will," I assure him. "And pumpkin fritters, and pecan tassies, and whoopie pies …"

I could keep going but Zach interrupts. "Will there be real food or just sweets?"

"They'll have brats boiled in beer, Italian sausages, pretzels with cheese sauce, potato pancakes …"

"I should have worn bigger pants," he moans.

"Or we can go back again tomorrow," I suggest.

Zach pulls into the large field by the farmers' market that's being used as a parking lot for Maple Fest. "I'll drop you off up front before finding a spot. What do you say we meet at the donuts?"

"We'll wait for you," I tell him. "It's super crowded and we might not find each other."

Zach pulls over to the entrance and quickly brings my mom's wheelchair around. Once I help transfer her, he leaves to park. "That is one nice man," my mom tells me. "I mean seriously, I don't think you could do better. "

A huge smile overtakes my face. "He is pretty terrific. But you know he'll eventually have to go back to LA, and long distance relationships can be tough."

"Good thing he invited us to go with him then," my mom says.

"He invited us to come visit his beach house," I clarify. "That was not an invitation to move."

"While you were locking the front door, he told me the beach house was ours for as long as we wanted it. He mentioned that he hoped we'd stay for a long time."

"Are you seriously telling me that you'd be fine moving to Malibu?" My mother loves Maple Creek.

She shrugs. "Honey, I'm happy being wherever you are. And if you want my opinion, that man is worth following."

I have no idea how to respond to that, so I say, "I don't have a job in LA."

"So, get one."

"I burn easily," I remind her.

"Good thing they make a high SPF sunscreen."

"You would seriously go to Los Angeles on a one-way ticket just so I could be with Zach."

"Honey," she tells me. "I'd go to the moon for you."

My eyes start to fill with tears. When Zach showed up in Maple Falls, I felt like my life was stalled. I was overwhelmed trying to stay on top of my to-do list, which included helping my mom. And now, only a short time later, there are suddenly so many possibilities.

Scanning the crowd inside the entrance my eyes stop on Kiki. I'm about to wave to get her attention when I see who she's talking to. Dan Roberts. There are definite sparks brewing there that I don't want to interrupt. If anyone deserves a happy ending, it's Kiki.

Turning my head, I see Zach cross the parking lot. He jogs up to us and says, "You gals ready to see how much I can eat? "

I lace my fingers through his before giving him a kiss on the cheek. "You're a good guy, do you know that?"

He squeezes my hand. "I must be to have someone like you in my life."

"Get a room!" my mom calls out. Then she laughs. "But feed me first."

Zach and I follow behind her as she navigates her way through the crowd. "My mom said you invited us to move to Los Angeles," I tell him.

"Or I could move here, if you prefer."

I stop dead in my tracks. "You would move to Maple Falls for me?"

"I would," he says. "But I suggest we try out both places before making a final decision."

"Zach, it's only been two weeks since our first kiss. You can't possibly be that sure about us."

He pulls me along as he starts walking. "Part of the reason I'm so successful, Ellie, is because I know a good thing when I see it. And believe me, you and I are great together."

"Let's get through the hockey tournament before we make any decisions," I tell him.

"Fine by me."

"You're seriously that easygoing about this?"

"I seriously am," he says. "That's because I'm serious about you."

If I had to put money on it, I'd bet that in a few short years, Zach and I will not only be married, but we will have started a family. He's right; when you know, you know. Now all we have to do is decide where we're going to live.