Chapter 10

ten

ELLA

Darkness zips by my windows as my driver heads back toward Ever After Farms.

There was a part of me that almost didn’t leave. A small part that wanted to embrace Luke’s advice to break the rules. I’m glad I didn’t listen because it would’ve been really hard to explain the way my dress transformed into something else entirely by the time it hit one minute past midnight.

My surviving shoe remains as magnificent as it was when Gran gave them to me, but I’m hoping it’s not a problem that I accidentally slipped out of one. There’s a whole pile of questions I’ve got for Gran and Mrs. Jackson, but it’ll have to wait for tomorrow.

Instead, I’m focusing my remaining minutes in this car on that kiss.

I don’t know what I was thinking.

Well, yes, I do.

I was thinking about all the things Patch and I have shared with one another. I was thinking about how he genuinely seems to be the same person face to face as he is on paper. He’s respectful, he’s kind, and despite the chemistry snapping between us, he wasn’t going to make the first move.

So I did. And I don’t regret it.

At least not until my phone alarm went off, and I had to run away.

We didn’t even establish where we go from here. Obviously we can still write letters, but our identities are still a secret. I don’t know where he lives or vice versa.

I rub my fingers on my lips, reliving for just a moment the way fireworks exploded behind my closed eyes.

For a few precious hours tonight, I was given a gift. No one treated me like I was beneath them. No one looked at me with pity in their eyes. In fact, Patch looked at me like I was something precious that he had to keep safe all night.

Even if it was only for a sliver of time, I’ll never forget it.

The cars slows and I can see the Jackson barn a few feet away. Mrs. Jackson left me a note telling me where to leave everything and where to change so I could go home, and perhaps Charlotte will be none the wiser.

It’s still hard to believe everything that’s spanned the last six hours. I gaze over the field at the Jackson house, considering my options. Truthfully, I don’t have any. Something tells me I don’t have time to figure out how to outsmart my stepmother. But I wish I could pack up, anyway.

I promised my parents I’d take care of our home. It’s probably not something they’d hold me to, especially given the situation, but it’s all I have left of them.

The minutes it takes to walk to our property go much faster than I’d like. My heart is still riding the high of feeling beautiful and dancing and all the moments spent with Patch, and I wish I could have it all just a little bit longer.

As soon as I open the back door, I know something is wrong. Boxes are piled from floor to ceiling and the sliver of hope I was holding onto goes downhill faster than a rollercoaster on the tallest hill.

My stepmother steps directly into my line of vision, looking far too put together for bed. Even with leggings and workout shoes that have never seen a dirty road, she’s more fashionable than I am.

Let’s face it. If she’s exercising outside, she’s running from something.

“Where have you been?” Charlotte snaps.

This question doesn’t come in the tone of an overly concerned parent, demanding to know why I broke a rule and stole a flying car.

Charlotte is angry .

“At the Jackson’s,” I reply. It’s not an outright lie, but it still doesn’t taste right in my mouth.

“I hope it was to say goodbye.”

I close the door behind me and take a few steps into the house. The walls are bare of pictures and paintings, and there aren’t any decorations or books cluttering shelves. My father’s entire collection is gone from the living room.

“Where are his books?” I demand.

“Packed away.” She flicks her hand dismissively before sneering at me in disgust. “Go change, will you?”

“Not before you tell me what’s going on.”

“Well, in light of recent events, my life-changing move now includes you.”

I refuse to panic. I’m eighteen, barely. My job at the coffee house hardly would pay for a place of my own, but the Jacksons would welcome me with open arms if I asked. Knowing Mrs. Jackson and Gran, they’d somehow know before I even got the chance to.

“This is my senior year,” I reply. Maybe logic is the best way to approach this. “School has already started and my transcript is really specific to our school. You could move and I’ll stay here and you can finally be rid of me.”

“Oh, Ella.” Her laugh sends chills down my spine. “That was the plan. But the moment you walked over to the Jackson’s you altered the terms of the deal I made.”

“How could that possibly have anything to do with a job offer?” I squeeze my eyes closed and shake my head. Maybe I fell asleep in the car and I’m having a really bad dream. I ate a lot of sugary baked goods earlier.

That’s it.

“I’m not talking about the job, you silly girl.” She closes the space between us and leans down so I can see the gleam in her eyes and the smirk on her lips. “I’m talking about a very specific deal I made so that my girls and I could finally be happy.”

I still don’t understand what this has to do with me, and I’m afraid to ask. One thing I do know is that there’s only one person, one family, that she could’ve made a deal with. And that’s terrifying to me.

“You’re going to come work for me, Ella.”

“And why would I do that?” I ask, lifting my chin in my last bits of wavering confidence.

“Because otherwise this house and this land will be sold at auction to the highest bidder.”

There’s the shoe drop. The moment that I realize with horror that life as I know it up until this moment is about to cease to exist for me.

No more moments in the pumpkin patch, no movie marathons with the Jackson sisters. No dinners at the oversized table behind Gaby’s farmhouse. Moment by moment flicks through my brain like they say happens right before you die.

Only I’m very much alive.

She’s just killing my hopes and dreams. All my happiness.

“For how long?” I ask. “Forever? ”

“Oh, Heavens, no.” She straightens and makes a face like she ate a sour piece of candy. “Let’s say ten years. Give or take. And then you can have this back.”

The shoe lifts slightly, allowing a sliver of light to pass through. Maybe all isn’t lost.

“If I go with you, my parents’ house won’t go up for sale? And neither will be the farm?”

“So smart that one,” she replies to Laila, who has suddenly appeared at the foot of the stairs. Her brow is furrowed, at least having the decency to look mildly horrified by her mom’s actions.

I suppose there are worse things.

“The animals?”

“Arranged for.”

“Can I at least say my goodbyes?”

“It’s well after midnight, Ella. You can’t possibly be serious.”

If I can’t say goodbye, there has to be a way to let them know what’s happening. My heart wrenches with all the moments I’m losing. All the potential with Patch or with Luke. Emotions clog my throat.

The years spent here with my parents far outweigh the couple I’ve lived here with Charlotte. All the good is infused in these walls and the land that stretches beyond them.

My parents taught me that love is bigger than our own selfish desires. If I have to work for Charlotte to save this place, there’s not a choice in the matter.

I touch the wall closest to me. “I’ll be back. I promise.”

I just hope that more will be left for me here than this farm when I return.