Page 89 of Look What You Made Me Do

The entire school community had notched up the first step in saving the school from the Education Department axe and, in the process, united as she’d never imagined possible. It was as if Deluca had gone into a chrysalis all broken and defeated and emerged a thing of beauty, cohesive and unified.

Sure, the last couple of weeks had been exhausting. Between the continued media interest, the intense training schedule and her sexy night times with Jake, there hadn’t been a lot of sleep going on. But Ella wouldn’t have traded them for anything even if the furor had been unwelcome and uncomfortable. Because she wasn’t the same person she’d been before her most private information had been bandied around as entertainment.

And that, as it turned out, had been a good thing.

Jake had been right – her anger had been holding her back and taking steps toward letting it go had been incredibly cathartic. Her trip to Trently had helped as had enrolling Cam and her into counseling. There was still a long road ahead but at last Ella felt as if she and Cam were on the right track.

More good news came in on Monday with an official from the NFL calling to talk about funding some practice clinics at Deluca. Several months ago, Ella would rather have burned the school to the ground, but today she felt a little trill of excitement at the possibilities.

And, sweetest of all, Donald Wiseman rang to – rather stiffly – inform her that with a host of new enrollments the district review panel no longer had Deluca on its closure list. It seemed that despite some families not wanting their children at the school, even more families did. The story of the little school that could had become a beacon of hope in an area that often ran a little short on that particular commodity and people wanted to be part of it.

Best of all, Donald had let her know that, with their expanded numbers, Deluca High would also qualify for two more teachers and a deputy principal.

So there was a lot to celebrate that night as they all gathered around Daisy and Iris’s dining table – the inside one given the freezing rain outside. The household of five had grown to seven with Jake and Simon being at the house more often than they weren’t. Add multiple four-legged residents and Miranda and Pete into the mix and it was a raucous affair.

Dinner – curry, of course – was accompanied by the low hum of Ella Fitzgerald and the louder hum of everyone laughing and talking, enjoying each other’s company. Watching Jake talking tarot with Iris, Ella realized that all the warmth and love at this table tonight was because of Rosie’s aunts.

They had opened up their perfectly happy, chain smoking, spinster existence twenty years ago to two small-town runaways without complaint.

A lump swelled in Ella’s throat. She’d been truly blessed.

“What?” Daisy asked, squinting suspicious eyes at Ella.

Ella laughed at the crotchety inquiry. “Nothing.”

“Nothing my ass,” she chortled. “What was that look about?”

Ella sighed. “I was just thinking how marvelous you and Iris are. You took us in, became our family.” She shrugged. “You gave us this amazing life.”

“Nonsense,” Daisy dismissed. “Our lives hadn’t begun until you girls came along.”

Iris nodded. “You are our life.”

Ella’s vision misted over and Jake’s hand squeezed her thigh under the table. “To urban families,” Rosie said, her eyes also bright as she picked up her red wine.

Everyone toasted then Cam and Miranda stood. “Can we go and watch some TV?” he asked.

“Sure,” Ella agreed. “Door open though, please.”

“And not too late,” Jake warned. “Early to bed for the next week. Miranda, I’m taking you home in an hour.”

“Yes, Coach,” they chorused, rolling their eyes in the way of teenagers the world over.

The adults watched them go. “They’re good together,” Iris murmured.

Nobody disagreed.

As dinner continued, reminiscing about the season took center place. “I’d just like to say at this juncture,” Simon said with a grin, “this whole thing was my idea.”

“So it was,” Ella agreed. She had no idea where they’d be now if it hadn’t been for Simon.

Rosie slung her arm around his shoulders. “He’s brilliant, isn’t he?”

“Definitely,” Ella agreed. “And for that I give you permission to do unspeakable things to my best friend.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Ella, but I’m going to do unspeakable things to this woman whether you permit it or not.”

Ella lifted an eyebrow at Rosie. “I see your penchant for dominance is rubbing off?”

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