Jodi, Micah’s wife, leans forward. “None of us wanted to do that.”
“I was able to rearrange my schedule,” Lena says with a reverent smile. “This year has been an extremely busy one with both the rock country and the Christmas albums,” she tells me. “But we all deserve to slow down and keep things into perspective. Family is the most important.”
Gabriel puts his arm around his wife and brings her closer, kissing her cheek.
“What we’re all saying,” Ace starts, “is that we love you, Joel, and we didn’t mean to make you feel as if we’d forgotten about you.”
My lips twitch but I suppress the smile that threatens to break free. I can’t let my kids think I’m a sucker or that I’ve gone soft.
“I appreciate that,” I say, trying to sound unaffected, but I’m forced to clear my throat of the raw emotion clogging it.
“What Joel’s trying to say,” Ellyn suddenly speaks up, side-eyeing me, “is that he’s missed you all and he’s extremely grateful you’re all here.”
I narrow my eyes over at Ellyn. “Why would you tell them that? Now, we’ll never be able to get rid of them,” I gripe.
She just rolls her eyes and turns toward everyone else.
“I’m Ellyn, by the way. Some of us have met before, but that was earlier this year when I first moved in.”
“Moved in?” Lena asks, a wrinkle between her brows. She’s been on the road a lot this year and she and Gabe haven’t had a chance to meet Ellyn before now.
Then she snaps her fingers. “Oh, right. Your dad’s new neighbor.” She grins. “Savannah, you were right. She’s beautiful.”
Ellyn actually blushes.
“I told you, right?” Savannah answers. “Do you really have a YouTube channel?”
“Best channel on the entire site,” I answer without thinking. “It’s named Mz. Ellyn and I particularly enjoy the videos where she does her makeup and gives advice to younger women. Oh …” I snap.
“There was also that one video where she toured her office after she’d first moved in and then did the reveal after. I love the color scheme she chose for her office. Then there was …”
I trail off, realizing that seven pairs of adult eyes are staring at me with their mouths ajar.
“What?”
“You watch my channel?”
I turn to Ellyn who’s looking at me with watery eyes.
Clearing my throat, I sit up in my chair. “I mean, I had to check you out to make sure you were legitimate and everything.”
“You didn’t know about my channel until after my fall.”
“Did I?” I ask, looking around at anything besides the faces staring at me. “I must’ve been surfing YouTube one day.”
I glance down at Amelia.
“It’s her fault.” I jut my head toward the almost two-year-old. “It was that darn Ms. Rachel channel we were watching, and then all of a sudden your channel pops up.”
I take Amelia from Ellyn and sit her on my lap. “This is your fault.”
Amelia claps and then looks over at Ellyn. “Pre-ttee,” she says, making her parents gasp.
“Did she just call you pretty?” Savannah asks, amazed.
“Pre-ttee,” Amelia says again.
“That’s right,” I tell Amelia while looking over at Ellyn. “She is pretty.” I look at the baby again. “But I told you that was a secret between the two of us.”
