“They are? I mean, I saw him dancing with Jessica Dixon last night.”
Edith laughed. “Jessica has a girlfriend from Henley Falls. They’re keeping the relationship a secret because the other woman isn’t comfortable coming out to her family yet.”
“Oh,” Ella said, hating that information made her so happy.
“Well, Maverick was also talking to Roni Gray.”
Edith scoffed. “Maverick Storm has no interest in Roni Gray.”
Edith was clearly close to the Storms, as Theo had spent a great deal of time last night filling the older woman in on recent happenings on Stormy Weather Farm, before warning her she was destined to hear the same stories again when she joined them for the family’s weekly Sunday dinner.
“It doesn’t sound like he has much interest in anyone beyond a single night,” Ella said. She typically wasn’t one for gossip, but when it came to Maverick, she would trust what Edith said a hell of a lot more than the two women she’d just left.
“Oh my, the girls really were telling tales,” Edith replied, amused. “I’ve heard all about Maverick’s so-called reputation around town.”
“So-called?” Ella wished those words weren’t making her feel better. What she and Maverick had shared was in the past, and that was where it was staying.
“I’m not going to say the man doesn’t get around more than he probably should, but I also don’t think his list is as long as the ladies claim. I suspect the numbers have been exaggerated.”
“Really? That seems…”
“Weird?” Edith supplied with a laugh. “Maybe. But you’ve forgotten what it’s like to live in a small town where very little of interest ever happens. Maverick is an attractive, single man, who—if the gossip is to be believed—possesses quite a bit of sexual prowess.”
After writing so many steamy romance novels, Ella thought herself incapable of blushing, but Edith’s comment had done the job.
And, of course, the astute woman who never missed anything, noticed and laughed. Edith reached out and gently touched Ella’s forearm. “See why his reputations grows? That’s good gossip, right?”
Ella nodded, because she could see Edith’s point.
“You should take most things Molly and Judi say with a grain of sand, because those two are very accomplished when it comes to exaggerating and embellishing, and sometimes outright fabricating juicy gossip.”
“Gotcha.” Ella expected this conversation to set her mind at ease, but the truth was, she was still dealing with some very powerful and extremely unwanted jealousy. Because there was still the case of Maverick’s tie at Roni’s place and the fact she’d bragged to Judi and Molly about sleeping with him.
“I have a sneaking suspicion that, despite his protesting too much, Maverick will fall harder and faster than even his father and older brothers did. Love is coming for that young man, mark my words.”
Ella bit her lower lip but didn’t say anything, because Edith’s words had managed to quadruple her damn jealousy as she let herself imagine Maverick married to some other woman.
God. She really needed to get a grip.
Maverick was her first love and her first broken heart, so obviously her feelings surrounding him felt stronger than those for the men—all two of them—who’d come after. Teen emotions were the most powerful ones, the ones everyone had to suffer through, so that each subsequent hurt would be less.
Clearly it had worked in her case, because her last breakup—occurring only a few months ago—was no longer a blip on her radar. She’d been with Silas for five years, so the fact she wasn’t more upset about their split was fairly telling. While she’d cared for the man, she could see now she’d never been in love with him.
Ella’s phone pinged, drawing her out of her own thoughts. “Sorry,” she said to Edith as she pulled her cell from her purse.
She frowned, not because of the message but because of the sender.
Her sister, Martha, hadn’t texted in months.
For most of her life, Ella had longed for a close relationship with Martha, but they were simply too different to ever form a true sister bond. Martha had grown up a perfect blend of their parents, meek like their mother, judgmental like their father.
Always a daddy’s girl, Martha had followed their father’s prescribed path, marrying a man from their church right after graduation. Elijah, who was too much like their dad for Ella’s liking, was fifteen years older than Martha and had once remarked he’d married her sister because of her good, wide childbearing hips. Ella had nearly bitten her tongue off, aware any reply she gave would only be met by the scorn of her family. And she figured there was no point in bothering after Martha tittered and blushed as if Elijah had paid her some great compliment.
Where are you?
Ella frowned, confused by the question, considering this was her sister’s first text in months.
What do you mean?