Chapter 43

forty-three

ELLA

“Are they fairies?” Lucy holds the mason jar comically close to her eyeball.

“They’re fireflies,” I say.

Although I suppose they could be. Enchanted Hollow isn’t exactly ordinary.

She’s perched on the front steps of the farmhouse, while Luke and I sit on the porch swing. He uses the heel of his boot to rock us gently back and forth, and all I can think about is how perfect this moment feels.

It’s another image that belongs in a snapshot. A family that could be mine.

“Do you want to meet Bruno?” She brings the jar down a little so her eyes no longer look bigger than her head.

I eye Pumpkin, sprawled comfortably on a pillow to my right. His eyes are horizontal slits. He must be as relaxed as I am.

“Will he leave Pumpkin alone?”

She wrinkles her nose. “It depends on his mood. ”

“Pumpkin can fend for himself,” Luke says, squeezing my hand. “That cat isn’t afraid of anyone.”

He looks so blissfully happy I hate to disturb him, but I also don’t want to disappoint Lucy. And to be honest, I’m curious about this little dachshund she’s so enamored with.

“If he can behave. Do you think he can be good?”

“I’m his mom. I’ll tell him he has to be a good boy.” She sets her jar down and gets to her feet.

Her confidence is adorable.

“Then yes, I’d love to meet him.”

“You two can’t go anywhere. Hear me, Dad? You have to share.”

My heart clenches.

What we’re doing feels irresponsible with Charlotte ramping up her antics. Laila’s arrival means she’s done playing around. I don’t want Lucy to get caught up in all of this, even though she technically already is.

Just because I’m here.

“Stop it,” Luke says. “You’re worrying too loud.”

“I haven’t said anything.”

“But I can feel it.” He untangles our fingers and wraps his arm around me, tugging me closer. “Do you trust Laila?”

“Yes.”

Maybe not in the beginning. But Laila recognized we had mutual wounds to heal from. Narcissism doesn’t change based on blood relations. We’re both far from healed, but I like to think that we gave each other a solid place to grow from once we created a mutual starting point.

“It’s probably about that time for the hard conversations, isn’t it?” He sighs.

I nod into his shoulder. “I think so.”

“How bad are things if Laila is here?”

“Not defcon one. Maybe a two. ”

He’s silent for a long couple of moments. “What do you think she’ll do?”

“I don’t know. She’s hard to predict. And I usually try to avoid upsetting her.”

“Ella, I told you I wouldn’t push, but that ring on your finger and everything else that’s going on—we need to be on the same playing field. I need all the information.”

I wiggle to a sitting position, casting a quick glance at the front door for Lucy. If we’re going to have this conversation, I want to see his face so he can also see mine. I’ve never even had the full depth of this conversation with Gaby.

Just Laila.

With a deep breath, I start at the beginning.

“She was supposed to move with Laila and Bridget. I don’t think I was ever part of the plan. Not until your family intervened with Midnight on the Hollow.”

His jaw clenches, but he stays quiet.

“I walked in the door and everything was in boxes. Honestly, I expect there was a magical intervention of some kind because there’s no way they packed so fast alone. She told me I had a choice: I could work for her or lose everything. She’d sell my parents’ farm off to the highest bidder and never look back. It’s the only home I’ve ever had.” I shrug, biting my lip. “She had the upper hand, and she knew it.”

He leans forward, the swing wobbling under the shift of his weight. I shake my head because I’m not done.

“She threatened your farm, too. I’ve never dared to ask how or why it could be a valid threat, but she doesn’t say things she can’t follow through on. She never has.”

Luke’s chest heaves with the deep breaths he’s taking. It’s heavy. I know because I’ve carried it for years.

“Is our farm still under a threat? ”

“As long as Holly’s wedding goes off without a hitch, no. Your farm will stay safe, and I’ll get my farm back.”

But she also went back on our original agreement. Something I never expected that she’d do. Worry presses its fingers at my temples.

“Would she intentionally sabotage you? The wedding?”

I consider it. “Her image is too important. So, no, I don’t think so. I’m here for Holly’s wedding, still attached to her business. It would be incredibly risky.”

“But what if she had a reason?”

“What reason?” I ask. “She ran from here as fast as she could and never looked back. We never spoke about Enchanted Hollow. Not magic, not the people, not the town.”

His countenance softens. “Not even your dad?”

“No. Once we got to Colorado, it was like our life in Enchanted Hollow no longer existed. I was the only reminder of her time there, so she gave me all the destination weddings. Anything she could to keep me out of town but still under her thumb.”

He doesn’t wait for my permission this time. His firm hands gather around my face, and he presses a tender kiss to my lips.

“I won’t stop reminding you that you’re wanted, Ella. Without conditions, without strings,” he breathes. The words settle against my heart, soothing the ache that’s lived there for years.

They’re words I never expected him to say, especially to me.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

“Can you be sure she wouldn’t flip a metaphorical table? Go rogue?”

I want to laugh and tell him it’s absurd. But is it? From the moment she sent me here, I knew she was playing by a different set of rules.

“No. I can’t.”

“We have to tell my parents, then.”

I nod my agreement and open my mouth to say something when the porch door comes flying open.

“Dad! I need help. I need help!” Lucy’s arms are full of a brown and white dachshund, little pajamas twisted around his body.

He glances up in our direction, half pleading for help.

“I know I’m supposed to feel bad for him right now, but he’s wearing pajamas that match your daughter.” I’m practically whisper shouting. “You got suckered into matching PJs for your dog.”

“You should know that three pairs of these exist.”

“Three?” I clap my hands together gleefully. “Come here, you sweet baby.”

Lucy passes him to me, laying him on my bent knees. He’s oddly calm as I work on adjusting his outfit, like he enjoys the attention. Both of his front paws are caught in the twisted fabric, so I work on easing them out.

“Dad and I call those his T-Rex arms,” Lucy says. “You know, because they’re so short.”

“I think that’s the perfect name for them.” I playfully wiggle his front paws, giggling at the size of his floppy ears.

“You should have yelped for help,” Luke replies, bumping my shoulder.

“Dad,” Lucy whispers. “You’re embarrassing me.”

“I didn’t hear a thing,” I reply, scratching Bruno on his chest and belly. It might be my imagination, but I swear this dog is smiling.

“Since we both have a friend over, can we make friendship bracelets?”

Luke groans. “It’s close to bedtime, Lucy. ”

“Just one? She needs a bracelet for homecoming this weekend.”

“Your call,” he says, watching me.

“I’ll never say no to friendship bracelets. But I get to keep Bruno.”

I’ve never encountered a dog that is so trusting. He’ll fall asleep in a stranger’s lap and all four paws in the air. Come to think of it, I haven’t had a dog since I was a child. Constantly being on the go for work isn’t exactly fair to a furry friend. My parents’ farm has land, and lots of house space.

I could have more than one dog if I wanted.

“You’re already naming puppies, aren’t you?”

Luke is leaning forward on his elbows, amused by the way I keep running a finger down Bruno’s long velvety snout.

“I would do no such thing.” I scoop him up like a baby, my heart giving a contented sigh when he lets me. “But if I wanted one, where would I get one?”

He chuckles and follows me into the house.

Lucy already has a fabric storage cube on the kitchen table, unloading clear plastic boxes.

“You’ve got no idea what you’ve unleashed,” he mutters under his breath, closing the door behind us.

“That’s quite the collection.”

My eyes widen as she stacks more on the table.

“Ella, do you like the glass beads or the clay beads?”

I look to Luke for help and he shrugs.

“What was that about yelping for help?” I demand in a hushed town.

He snorts. “Do you even know what that means?”

“A really cute saying?”

“It’s from a television show about dogs that save people. I’m too old for it, but Dad won’t listen.” Lucy announces.

He leans into my space, close to my ear. “That’s because I’ve caught her still watching it when she thinks I’m not looking.”

We take seats at the kitchen table, where Lucy promptly starts giving directions on how to tie the plastic and all the various alphabet beads she has. Which is a lot.

I’m only a few minutes in when I realize that balancing Bruno on my lap while making friendship bracelets is going to be a whole body effort.

“Dad said earlier that he wanted to make you a friendship bracelet.”

“Did he now?”

I cut a glance over at Luke, his brow furrowed as he strings impossibly small beads onto a string with his bulky man hands.

“Luke, do you need help?” I ask quietly.

He only grunts in response.

“That means leave him alone. He sort of growls if you keep bothering him.”

His eyes flick up to mine. As enticing as that sounds, I’m going to let him figure this one out on his own.

“Done!” Lucy yells. “Can you put glue on the knot?”

It’s scary how easily I can picture this life.