It was a minor detail, but Zee prided himself on all the carefully crafted touches throughout the space, and a flickering light made the entryway look dated.
She didn’t need any further reminders of being old, not tonight.
Ella shook her head, clearing her thoughts as Madison’s words echoed in her mind.No, she didn’t have experience managing a demanding academic schedule.
Why didn’t she go to music school or write her own album, driven by the pursuit of achievements?
It wasn’t that Zee told her to stay home with the girls.He was always supportive of her going to concerts, of her taking the occasional sewing class to upgrade her skills.
She didn’t want sewing to be her full-time job, and she didn’t care about designing that much either.
What made her happy was being a mom and a submissive wife to her husband.Maybe her daughters would never understand that, but that was enough for her.
At least it had been, for a long time.
The details of that job Annie had shown her filtered through her mind, but it was too far outside of her comfort zone.
Zee wanted to be out there chasing medals and goals and she supported him doing that for years.
Ella glanced at the light again.At least she could try to fix that.
Pushing down her jumble of emotions, she heaved the ladder out of the closet by the locker room, positioned it under the track, and then rummaged through the toolbox.
She could at least take the bulb that was acting up out of the track so it would stop giving off that horrible flickering light.
Ella positioned the ladder right under the track and placed her foot on the ladder.It swayed, she squared her shoulders determined to do this.
Her phone rang from the counter, but she focused on her task, ignoring it, reaching for the bulb.Being short wasn’t always helpful.
Ella shifted her weight, and grabbed the metal so hard it dug into her palms, as the ladder wobbled.
She reached out for balance and the ladder lurched from beneath her feet.
The air whooshed out of her as her body hit the floor.
Pain, sharp and shooting, raced through her.She tried to lift herself off the floor but couldn’t.Waves of nausea made the room spin.It hurt to breathe.
But she had to move.
Like she was trying to escape the pain, she crawled across the floor, realizing her voice was raw from screaming and stopped.
Her whole body convulsed.
She dry heaved as the pain kept rippling through her.
“Ella!”
“I’m sorry.I’m so sorry, Zee.”
She tried to lift herself up but fell abck with the effort.
“Hush, you have nothing to be sorry about, dear heart.”His ear was pressed to his phone, and that’s the last thing Ella remembered before unconsciousness took her, sinking her into blissful relief.
12 ZEE
“Zee,lookatme,please.”
The plea in her tone caused his head to turn to her, to unclench his hands on the steering wheel.
