“You want me to stick around?” he whispered in her ear.
She nodded. She’d spent too much of her life dealing with stuff on her own, taking charge not only of the bills but Gigi’s medical care, when she was in her early twenties. Ella never asked for help, primarily because there’d been no one to ask.
When she was seventeen, she’d viewed needing a man as a weakness, but as Maverick stood next to her, offering his support, she realized that there was a big difference betweenneedinga man andwantingone.
For so much of her life, she’d eschewed true relationships, so afraid of losing sight of who she was inside. Twisting herself into something she wasn’t, just for a man’s approval, the same way her mother had, until she became someone unrecognizable. Now, she could see she didn’t need Maverick here while she dealt with her family…but shewantedhim by her side. Because his presence was one of support and strength, something she’d never experienced with anyone except him…and Gigi.
“Who are you?” Dad barked.
“This is Maverick Storm,” Ella said, wondering if her father would remember his name, or feel even the slightest bit of guilt for how he’d destroyed their lives so many years ago.
“Storm,” Dad muttered, his scowl even darker.
Oh yeah.
Dad remembered Maverick.
Mom glanced between them, her gaze locked on Maverick. “And the other man?” she asked quietly, gesturing toward the kitchen.
“My brother,” Maverick replied. “Everett.”
Martha tapped her toe impatiently, unhappy that she still hadn’t gotten an answer to her initial question. “The U-Haul?”
Ella sighed. “Maverick and I reconnected during my trip to Gracemont.” This conversation hadn’t even begun, and she was already tired of it. Probably because she’d been here too many times before, standing in front of her family as they all berated and tried to wear her down.
The older she got, the more she resented having to work overtime simply to have a relationship with Mom and Martha. In the beginning, Ella blamed Dad for the distance between her and the other two women, but as more time passed, she’d been forced to accept that Mom and Martha were very different people from her, both with different outlooks on life and politics and religion and…the list went on and on.
She had intended to use the next two days before her breakfast with Mom and Martha to calm down. Because ever since talking to Edith and Maverick about her family’s treatment of her following Gigi’s death, anger had been Ella’s prevailing emotion.
Over the years, she’d covered the spectrum of emotions with them, her relationship with her family provoking everything from anxiety to fear to sadness to frustration to hopelessness. The one emotion she’d never felt before—even though Gigi had experienced it in spades—was anger.
Maybe Gigi was the reason why Ella had never set her rage free. She’d always had to take the peaceful side, in order to calm Gigi down.
Now, it felt like a lifetime of anger had decided to erupt like a volcano that had lain dormant for a hundred years, because there was no way Ella could hold it back any longer
“Oooookay,” Martha prompted, letting her know her answer wasn’t an answer.
“You’re the young man…” Mom started, before her words faded away.
Ella reached behind her, clasping Maverick’s hand in hers. He gave it a gentle squeeze.
“Yes, Mom. Maverick was my first love. The one you and Dad yanked me away from when I was seventeen.Aftermaking me kneel on the hard tile floor for seven hours.” Ella wasn’t in the mood to appease anyone at this point, so she didn’t bother to temper her words. This was the first time she’d seen her family since they’d stormed out of her life after learning about the will.
Mom jerked as if Ella had slapped her.
“And there’s a U-Haul in the driveway because I’m moving to Gracemont.”
“No,” Mom whispered. “You can’t.”
“Moving to Virginia?” Martha was aghast.
She wanted to pretend that her sister’s reaction was based on her being sorry to see Ella go, but she suspected Martha’s primary concern right now was that she was losing her free babysitter. Although, she’d managed for the past six months, so maybe she’d found other?—
“What about the boys?” Martha asked. “You can’t seriously plan to move so far away from your only nephews. Stop being ridiculous! Your family ishere.”
Guess that answered that question.
“I can come back for visits, or they can come to Virginia. They’ll love Stormy Weather Farm. Maverick’s cousin, Remi, does trail rides and?—”