Page 158 of No Rings Attached
“Ellie!” I yelled once, twice, lungs burning. Ruby River’s main street opened ahead, quiet.
Where would she have gone? If Ellie needed space, she’d go somewhere close by where the world would drown out her sorrows. Because I knew it had killed her to walk away.
The bridge appeared, stones gleaming under the moonlight. A night similar to the one we’d finally met in person. Her hair caught the light. She leaned on the stone wall, still as a statue.
I slowed.
Don’t startle her.
Don’t make this about me. Make it about us.
“Ellie,” I said, quietly.
She turned. Shoulders squared. Eyes careful. A queen counting the cost of another war.
The realization hit hard: I had unintentionally become one more person she had to survive.
My knees gave out. I didn’t plan it. One second I was standing, the next I was on the hard stone looking up at the one person I’ve ever wanted. “I did what your family always has,” I said, my voice wrecked at the thought. “I tried to make you smaller to fit my life.”
She flinched. I kept my hands open, beseeching her. “If you give me another chance, I will never make you feel like you come second again.”
“Why should I believe you?” Her arms were crossed, like armor protecting her heart, but her voice wasn’t cruel. Just tired.
Because love isn’t proof, not from me. She didn’t doubt my feelings. “Words won’t fix this, but I hope it’s at least a start,” I said. “Loving you has been the easiest thing I’ve ever done. I could do it in the dark, hands tied, with a hurricane whipping around me. But ease isn’t the same as showing up. I’ve been confusing endurance with devotion since that fateful night I chose the wrong design and decided that the only penance was for me to never stop working.”
A muscle ticked in her jaw. Yet, she stayed silent.
“I’m done paying a debt that no one’s collecting,” I said. “I’m done building a life that has no room for the person I want at the center of it.”
Her lashes fluttered. She didn’t move closer. And she didn’t step back, either.
“Give me two minutes,” I said, not bothering to stand. “No promises. Proof.”
I pulled out my phone, my hands shaking so hard it took me a second to open the expansion program doc, and typed.
Effective Immediately:Stepping down as Expansion Lead.
Proposed Successor:Logan Kingsley.
My focus:Heritage Collection—design + limited launch ops
Boundaries:40 hours/wk. No nights. No Sundays.
Non-negotiable:After 6 pm off the clock—needed at home
I hit send to Dad, the design lead, and Logan. Then I made a call and put it on speaker. “Dad.”
“Drew are you alright? Did you find Ellie?”
“I love her,” I said, “And I can’t be the man she needs if I keep living like I’m outrunning my mistake from twelve years ago. I just sent updated the doc and sent a message transferring the expansion to Logan. He’s ready. And I’m moving to design. It’s where I should’ve been all along.” My breath hitched. “I need your blessing. Not permission.”
On the other end, chairs scraped, voices hushed. Then Dad let out a booming laugh. “It’s about damn time, Drew. Yes, to all of it. Your life is your own. You owe the company nothing. You’ve been the only one keeping score all these years.”
My phone buzzed with incoming text messages from Logan and the Design Lead.
LOGAN
On it. I’m ready for this.
