Page 27 of Fight for Me
I grab my phone and call Ellie. While I have no plans to tell anyone other than Sierra that I’m pregnant, I miss my friend.
She answers on the first ring.
“Hey! How are you?”
“I’m fine. You?”
I hear rustling through the line. “I’m just grading papers and dealing with the insanity of building a house ... oh, and also planning a wedding.”
“Don’t forget you’re also pregnant,” I tack on for good measure.
“And then there’s that.”
“Are you having a big wedding?”
Ellie sighs. “No, just family and close friends. I wanted to elope, but Connor wants the ceremony, and he wants Hadley to be part of it all too.”
Hadley has very clear ideas on what her parents’ wedding should be like. That kid is the best thing that’s ever happened in most of our lives. She’s full of wit and love, and she has no problem dispensing either.
“She let me know a few weeks ago that she wants a big wedding in the castle that Connor should build her,” I inform her. “Of course this was before you were even engaged, but the kid was making plans.”
Ellie chuckles. “She also informed me that she will not be a flower girl because she’s not a baby.”
“Well, she is eight now.”
“Going on thirty. Hey, what are you up to tonight?”
I go quiet. No way am I falling for another one of Ellie’s attempts to force Declan and I together. “No.”
“No?”
“No. I’m not going to meet you where your fiancé and his brother will happen to be, forcing us to be coupled up again. No.”
Ellie lets out a loud gasp. “Me? I would never do that to you.”
“Liar.”
“Okay, maybe,” she amends. “I only did that because we wanted to talk to you guys together. I’m sorry for forcing it. After what I heard he said, I promise I won’t do it again.”
And I believe her. Ellie is the kindest person I’ve ever met. She wouldn’t deliberately hurt me.
“Thank you.”
“Syd,” she hesitates and then begins, “Did he … I mean … are you okay?”
No, I’m not, but I’m really good at pretending.
“Yeah, it was, but I’m fine. It’s nothing I didn’t already know, right?” I try to brush it off because, really, I can’t talk to her about this.
Ellie is quiet for a second. “Okay, if you say so. I know this situation is a bit messy, but you’re my best friend. If you want to talk, even about my soon-to-be brother-in-law, I’m always here for you. I won’t betray your trust—not even to Connor.”
I smile even though she can’t see it. Ellie came into my life when I thought it was her who needed me, only it turned out that we needed each other.
I thought I had it all together, only it turns out that I’ve gotten really good at hiding my feelings and pain. Working, volunteering, running all kinds of town activities was my way of pretending everything was fine—I was fine.
But I wasn’t. That much is clear considering it took him showing up just once to alter my entire life. Now it’s time to face it and finally find some closure if it’s at all possible. However, I won’t drag Ellie into the middle of it.
“I wouldn’t ask you to lie to Connor.”
