Page 72 of Can We Skip to the Good Part?
“I’m 100 percent on board. It’s why I’m here.”
Rachel nodded and disappeared into the crowd that had grown considerably in the last fifteen minutes. The line at the point-of-sale stand now snaked around the side of the bookstore and contained several of her colleagues from the local bar association. Not only was she proud of Ella and Ariana, but relieved for Doug and the boost he was about to receive to his rebuilding fund. There was only one thing left to do: buy a book or two and quietly exit the event. Why did the thought make her heart tug uncomfortably?
“And what arewe paying for this pristine copy ofKnot Today, Cupid?” Ella asked the woman with long gray hair and pearls clutching the newest Parker Bristow. Ella had read that one earlier this month, and the wedding planner romance was an emotional roller coaster for the ages. Bristow was getting more daring in her career.
“I was thinking a hundred and eighteen,” the woman said with a definitive nod.
“I applaud your specificity.”
That seemed to make her happy, and her cheeks glowed pink. “Doug and I went on a date in 1997 and now I show up at his store once in a while just to give him shit. It’s my favorite hobby.”
“Then you and I are a lot alike.”
“Don’t go gabbing about me, you two,” Doug said, looming over Ella’s shoulder. He just looked so cute in his bow tie, even when he griped and scowled in that Doug way he had. “AndBeverly, you don’t have to buy anything! I already told you that. You never listen when I speak.”
“I do, too. I just do what I want, you old fool!” Beverly shot back.
“That’s because you’re hardheaded like your sister.”
“He always had a crush on her,” Beverly told Ella. “I’m afraid it went unrequited.”
“I absolutely did not. I just thought she made a mean White Russian, so I hung around to have some. Who wouldn’t?”
Oh, wow. Ella realized that she really liked these two. They needed a sitcom or maybe a candlelit dinner for two. Just the thought of romance made her heart sink the minute she remembered hers was kaput. Seeing Max across the room had her shaken in a manner she hadn’t been able to prepare for, and she’d done lots of emotional prep work for tonight. Max stunned in that black dress, making Ella’s mouth go dry.
“Do you need more bags?” Rachel asked, approaching. Ella had recruited her as an extra pair of hands behind the counter when the line began to overwhelm the group.
“Um, actually yes. That would be incredibly helpful.”
She and Rachel seemed to be in a better place. They weren’t exactly cuddling and swapping funny stories from their days quite yet, but they were laughing on occasion. Rachel had even asked her if she needed anything at the grocery store, which felt like a huge victory. With each passing day, another chunk of ice fell off their friendship, and they took a small step forward. In fact—oh shit. Hold all thoughts. Ella swallowed and lightly touched the counter, then untouched it because Max was in the book line. This was no big deal. Air would show up momentarily. Maxshouldbe in the book line. She was here to help, like all the rest of them. Moreover, she’d been responsible for securing the space and for many of the evening's biggest donors.Exhale, and in again. It was just that Ella hadn’t seen her face-to-face since that last day when everything came apart, and her heart squeezed uncomfortably, reaching for Max automatically, because how did you tell a heart not to reach?
Two quick sales from two very generous buyers, and she stood facing Max. She could have stepped aside and let Doug handle the sale, or switched spots with Ariana, who floated through the store. The truth was she didn’t want to. She wanted a moment with Max, even if it was just that.
And then the moment was upon them, and those soulful brown eyes were on hers. “Hi,” Ella said. “It’s nice to see you.” Anything else would have been a lie.
Max’s smile was small, hesitant at the edges, like it wasn’t sure it was allowed to stay. But it was real. It was Max. “Hey, El.” Soft and familiar in a way that made Ella’s chest go tight.
God, she’d missed that voice.
Up close like this, Max looked the same and not the same. There was a weariness to her now, maybe the same weariness Ella carried. Perhaps you didn’t come out of something like what they’d been through unmarked. But, underneath, she was still Max. Still achingly, impossibly Max.
“I didn’t know if I should—” Max started, then stopped, glancing down at the book in her hands like it had the ability to tell her what came next.
Ella shook her head before she thought better of it. “I’m glad you did.” And it was the truth. Wildly inconvenient, probably unwise—but true.
For a beat, neither of them moved. The room went on around them—laughter, the low hum of conversation, the rustle of shopping bags, and the clink of wineglasses—but Ella’s whole world had narrowed to the woman standing just in front of her. The woman she wasn’t supposed to want. The woman she still did.
Max’s fingers traced the edge of the book absentmindedly, like nervous energy that needed somewhere to go. “You look—” She huffed a quiet laugh, self-conscious. “You look great.”
Ella’s laugh caught somewhere between nerves and wanting to cry. “So do you.”
There was so much more lingering in the space between them, everything they couldn’t say, everything they maybe still wanted to, but all Ella could do was press her palm lightly to the cover of the book between them. A touch without really touching.
“Can I ring that up for you?” she asked gently.
Max’s answering smile was barely there. But God, it still knocked the air right out of her.
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
