Maverick had spent weeks—months—poring over that letter she’d mailed him, desperately seeking something that made sense. Because the words she’d written didn’t match the things she’d said to him in all the months prior.
It had driven him out of his mind, trying to understand how everything could flip on a dime. Part of him was tempted to ask her outright, right here, right now, but his deep-seated bitterness toward her wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing how much she’d hurt him.
Despite what he was starting to understand about that stupid legend, he wasn’t going down this road again.
Fool me once and all that jazz.
“Grace?” Jace asked, clearly curious about her pen name.
“To be honest, I chose that name as a nod to Gracemont. I loved living in this town.”
Ella’s comment was the perfect response for his hometown-proud siblings. He figured there wasn’t a single member of the Storm family who didn’t believe their small town wasn’t the greatest place on the planet.
However, he was slightly surprised to hear Ella felt the same. Neither she nor her family had embraced the close-knit community, keeping to themselves. Ella claimed it was simply because her father was a private, quiet man, who preferred to keep his social circle small. As Maverick recalled, the only socializing the Decker family did was with other members of their church.
While most people in Gracemont attended one of the three main churches in town, the Deckers had driven two towns over, worshipping at a fundamentalist Baptist church. Their chosen place of worship was yet another thing that set Ella’s family apart from the rest of the community, who were all Methodists, Lutherans, or Presbyterians.
Because of their standoffish ways, Maverick would bet there weren’t more than a dozen folks in town who would even remember who the Deckers were.
“How long are you in town?” Everett asked, leaning closer to Ella.
Maverick’s vision turned a hazy red when he realized his brother was flirting. His fists clenched beneath the table, even as he tried to take several deep, cleansing breaths to calm down.
Everett didn’t have a clue that putting the moves on Ella would piss off Maverick, because none of his brothers knew who Ella had been to him.
Their romance had been a secret one. Ella said her father was overprotective and wouldn’t approve of her having a boyfriend, so by tacit agreement, they’d kept their relationship on the down-low. At the time, he’d thought of them as star-crossed lovers, like Romeo and Juliet in that stupid play his English teacher made them read. It had actually felt romantic to him.
After Ella left town, he started to wonder if the reason she didn’t want anyone to know about them was because she was embarrassed of him. There’d been nothing to suggest that, but he’d been a devastated seventeen-year-old boy, and that was the only thing that felt logical at the time.
Maverick could have told his brothers about Ella after she left, but he’d been too crushed by the things she’d said in her letter. And once that feeling passed, he’d felt stupid and embarrassed for falling so hard for a girl who hadn’t fallen back, so he held his peace. The more time slipped by, the less he wanted to revisit it, so he never mentioned her at all.
“I got in on Sunday,” Ella said to Everett. “And I’m staying for a couple weeks.”
“And after that?” Everett asked, laying on the charm. “Where’s home?”
“Idaho,” Ella replied. Before adding softly, “For now.”
The last two words captured Gretchen’s attention. “For now?”
Ella shrugged. “I don’t know why I said that. I…” She changed course rather than explain. “I was born and raised in Meridian, Idaho. It’s the only place I’ve ever lived, with theexception of the three years my family spent in Gracemont. There’ve been some changes in the past six months that…” Ella paused again, and Maverick got the sense she was trying to explain her comment without having to reveal too much. He wondered if she was holding back because of him, or because she was still a very private person.
While he’d been an open book with her when they were dating, Ella had always played her cards close to her chest, dropping only small bits and pieces about her life. At the time, he always felt grateful whenever she gave him one of those tiny breadcrumbs. Now, he could see that her lack of sharing was because she’d never committed to the relationship.
“I’ve been thinking lately that it might be time for a change,” Ella finally finished.
“Gracemont’s a great place to live,” Everett said, wiggling his eyebrows playfully. “Beautiful scenery, amazing wine, and some damn fine-looking bachelors. And you already admitted you love it here.”
While the others laughed at his brother’s over-the-top flirting, Maverick had to swallow down the bile that had risen. The idea of Ella returning to Gracemont was too painful to consider, especially given the way he was feeling right now.
Seeing her again was bringing up all the emotions he’d felt right after she left, and they were raging just as strong as they had back then. For his sanity and peace of mind, she needed to leave again. Because as long as she was away, he could pretend he was fine and get the hell on with his life.
“I haven’t truly decided if I want to leave Idaho, let alone where I might go if I do,” she said noncommittally, her eyes flashing toward Maverick for a split second before returning to Everett. “I really shouldn’t have said anything at all.”
Maverick should excuse himself and call it a night because if he continued sitting here, he was likely to say something he’dregret. Usually he was able to keep his temper under control, but he wasn’t sure that would be the case tonight.
“You came!”
Everyone at the table glanced up as Roni approached, making a beeline straight for him.