Page 59 of When Ellie Falls in Love

“I’ll see you both tomorrow.” Mason kissed Ellie's cheek before giving Blake a quick hug goodbye.

When she was gone, Blake and Ellie awkwardly stood smiling at each other. Ellie knew one day, hopefully, she’d be able to read Blake as she could Mason. But Blake still had walls up that Ellie couldn’t decipher. She knew they weren’t because of her; that much had at least been established. However, Ellie wished to have a better relationship with Blake.

One day.

“I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t know you all were,” Blake paused, shrugging, “well, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Closing the gap between them, Ellie wrapped her arms around Blake. It took her a moment to reciprocate, but when she did, she held onto Ellie tightly. “Thanks for looking out for me, sis. I love you.”

“Anytime, Ellie. I love you, too.” Blake kissed the top of her head, an easy accomplishment given her height.

“What time are you all coming over tomorrow to clean up?”

“Whenever the kids get up.” Walking back toward the stairs, Blake put her hands into the pocket of her pants. “Probably by eight.”

“Cool. I’ll see you there.”

“See you, Ellie. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Blake.”

Ellie waited until she heard the garage door shut before heading to the bathroom. She took a quick shower, brushed her teeth, and changed into her favorite pajamas. As she curled up in bed, she pulled up Sadie’s text thread on her phone and smiled at the missed text. Not because she had missed it, but because of what it said.

I meant what I said earlier. You’re a great kisser. We should def do it again sometime.

She couldn’t explain why, but Sadie’s use of correct punctuation in texts made her smile. Ellie hated when people simply wrote a stream of conscious texts. Putting her fingers over the keyboard, she typed out a message back.

Um yes! Totally! The sooner the better in my book.

With graduation loominglargein only a few days, Ellie knew her schedule was packed with end-of-year activities, and she knew Sadie’s would be as well. But there was one place they’d have ample time together if Sadie was interested.

And you should totally come to the Cape with us this summer. If you’re interested. It’s totally okay if not.

Sadie didn’t take long to respond.

I’ll check with my parents tomorrow, but I’m totally in if they’re cool with it!

Unable to control her smile, Ellie buried her face into her pillow. Why that was becoming a happy habit she didn’t know. All she knew was that she’d possibly get to spend two weeks of the summer with Sadie on the Cape.

Which was probably exactly why her dreams were filled with Sadie on the beach.

Not that Ellie was complaining.

She was only anxious for the real thing.

Chapter 20

Sadie

The fact graduation was merehoursaway was stressing Sadie out way more than she’d expected. She’d been anxiously awaiting breaking free from Moonflower Cove and forging her own path in college. But after everything that had happened between her and Ellie over the last few weeks, the thought of leaving the Cove was suddenly making Sadie sick to her stomach.

And that did nothing to quell the already present pit-of-her-stomach feeling of leaving her mom. Sadie had never spent more than a few days at a time away from her mom her entire life. They were basically joined at the hip, and Sadie knew how lucky she was to have that relationship. Not every kid had a mom as awesome as Delaney Baxter.

Or a stepmom as awesome as Charlie.

Ugh. Focus Baxter. Focus.

Glancing at the clock, Sadie groaned. Her mom was insistent they take pictures before graduation, which meant Sadie was running out of time to get ready. She’d chosen a simple blue dress for the event; the same one she’d worn to the softball end-of-year party the week before. But this time, Sadie had actually taken the time to curl her hair instead of stuffing it under a baseball cap.

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