Sure? Nothing about this moment contained the affection she’d grown to love about their relationship. But what did she expect? He’d told her he loved her. She told him she was leaving.
As she joined the family breaking out the goodies for s’mores, she fought a familiar sensation. The one she’d battled every summer as a teen on her last day in Hearts Bend—that this place was home and she could not go a single day without seeing Ryder Donovan.
After leaving Dorsey on Wednesday with a small box from her office, Elizabeth returned her shirts and apron to Ella’s. Tina sat in her corner booth, eating a chef salad and going over the monthly accounts on her laptop.
“So, you’re really leaving,” she said, scootching her work aside, giving Elizabeth her full attention. “I know, I know, you were never going to be a permanent face at Ella’s—I saw your star rising when you were a teenager. It’s just now I realize that final day has come. Shoot, I thought I’d lost you for good when you headed to MIT, but you worked a couple of weeks your freshman summer. And I snagged you for a couple of Christmas breaks.”
“You’re going to make me cry.” Elizabeth motioned for Lucy to bring her a Diet Coke. “I’m grateful to you, Tina. You taught me a lot. And you trusted me.”
“I’d sell the place to you if I thought it’d make you happy.”
Elizabeth laughed softly as she reached for a napkin to catch the single tear in the corner of her eye. “You sound like Will. Wanting me to be CFO.”
“You’re a talent, Beth. You’re good with people. You’re clever and intuitive. Wharton is lucky to get you. Blow their socks off, hmmm? And if one of those fancy Fortune 100 companies like Goldman Sachs doesn’t hire you, they’re fools. Just remember you are far more than anything you put on a résumé.”
“I’m not that great, Tina, but I’ll take the compliment.”
“You are. You went to Wharton and won over the admin thingamajig! That’s you being you.” Tina stabbed at her salad. “Next time, don’t lie to us about your future.” Elizabeth heard that lecture over and over.
Tina went on, talking about the diner and how Buck Mathews mentioned Ella’s during an interview that was just published, and the phone’s been ringing off the hook. Elizabeth listened with yearning as she talked about Inside NashVegas coming to do a piece on the diner. “And on me, Tina Danner, how about that?”
“You’ll be great,” Elizabeth said, again with the sensation of missing out. As if she was letting go of something she loved. “Text me when it airs.”
“So,” Tina began, sitting back, sipping her iced tea. “How did you leave things with Ryder?”
“Same as always. Hello, goodbye, stay in touch.”
Tina made a face. “He loves you. I can tell by the look on his face.”
“He told me.”
Tina sat forward, dropping her glass to the table with a thud. “And what did you say?”
“I don’t know…Nothing.” Tina knew about the Epstein–Barr as it pertained to food safety, but perhaps not about kissing. “I can’t let him kiss me or anything. What if I’m infectious and don’t know it?”
“What? You didn’t kiss him because you might be infectious? But you’re not infectious. Otherwise, you’d not be in my kitchen.”
“I know, I know, but?—”
“You used it as an excuse?”
“And a pretty darn good one.”
Tina let a long sigh be her reply. “I never met anyone who fought love so hard.”
“I’m not fighting. I’m staying focused.”
“I know, and I just praised you for it. However, I’m a sucker for love. Yes to Wharton and a big fancy job, but make room for love, Beth. Don’t be the woman who loses herself to a big fancy job that requires all her time, energy, and heart. No one wants to go home to a beautiful apartment with big windows overlooking city lights and eat alone.”
“I’ll go to dinner with friends.”
“You mean colleagues and you’ll talk work all night.”
“So? That’s how I grow, learn, network.”
“Okay, okay. I’m team Beth. But…” Tina yanked a napkin from the caddy and shoved it toward Elizabeth. Then she took a pen from her pocket.
>JF>When does love get a chance?
