Page 57 of When Ellie Falls in Love

Isla’s singsong voice made Ellie whip her head around to look at her.

“What?” She held up her hands in defense. “I’m just making an observation.”

“You two looked awfully adorable out on the dance floor tonight.”

“Oh, geez.” Ellie pretended to be annoyed, but knew her smile was giving her away. “You two are annoying. I’m going to bed.”

“Not before kissing.” Vera kissed Ellie’s cheek before framing her face. “I love you, Ellie.”

“I love you, too, Mama. Happy anniversary!”

“Thanks, my love.” After another kiss, Vera released her hug as Ellie went to Isla.

“Happy anniversary, Mom!”

“Thanks, Angel.” Isla kissed the top of her head. “And thank you for helping put this together. It means the world to me and Mama.”

“Well, you and Mama mean the world to us.” Ellie kissed Isla’s cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too, baby.”

After wishing her parents a good night, Ellie headed to the garage apartment. Ellie wasn’t tired, but the day had drained her. They had been working all day to get everything ready and her feet were killing her in the heels she’d deemed a good idea seven hours ago. But now, as she kicked them off and plopped down onto the couch, Ellie was ready to relax.

And think about Sadie.

And how Sadie’s lips felt on hers.

And how they’d danced on the dance floor together without caring who saw them.

Ugh.

Ellie had it bad; there was no denying it. Her crush on Sadie had grown so much over the last few hours that she couldn’t stop smiling each time she thought about her. Grabbing a nearby throw pillow, Ellie buried her face in it and happily screamed. She couldn’t remember ever feeling as happy as she currently did.

Maybe the first time she led a musical, but that would be it.

All she knew was that Sadie was definitely taking the top spot for Ellie’s happiness tonight.

The alarm over the garage door dinged, indicating someone had come inside. Ellie waited as she heard the footsteps climb the stairs and knew by their sound it was Mason. Her older sister sat beside her, a giddy grin on her face.

“So,” Mason held out the word longer than necessary, “do you want to talk about anything before I head home with mywife?”

Mason’s eyes sparkled as she said the wordwife. Her sister was hopelessly in love with Chase, and Ellie hoped she could find what they had someday.

Never one to keep her thoughts to herself, Ellie spilled her innermost thoughts about kissing Sadie to Mason.

“What if I did it wrong?”

“Did what wrong?

“Kissing Sadie.”

“You mean you didn’t want to kiss her?”

Ellie busted out laughing, which made Mason laugh too. “No, Iwantedto kiss her. But what if I’m not really a good kisser? What if I did it wrong?”

“Well,” there was a playful gleam in Mason’s eyes, “judging by the look on Sadie’s face, you were doing it right.”

Blushing under Mason’s comment, Ellie covered her face with the pillow. She couldn’t stop smiling, nor could she understand why she was suddenly embarrassed in front of her sister. The two had been close since Ellie was born. Mason always looked out for her and loved her more than any other older sister Ellie knew. Mason always knew everything about Ellie, either from Ellie willingly telling her or Mason prying it out of her.

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