“I’m having insane déjà vu,” Ella says when I open my truck door for her.
She looks great. Light wash jeans, copper-orange sweater, her hair partially pulled back and the rest curled down over her shoulders.
I shut her door and round to my side. Getting in the driver’s seat, I chuckle. “Same truck, same guy, but I do have an upgraded radio—Bluetooth now.”
“Oh, fancy,” she teases and stretches the seatbelt across her body. She has barely aged, still so beautiful, honestly probably even more beautiful than before. Who would’ve thought that would be possible? I sure didn’t.
As I back around to get onto the road, the quick glance I get of Ella when I change mirrors is giving me déjà vu as well. The memories her and I made in this truck… the dreams we shared with each other, the goals we had for our future. I mean, we fell in love in this truck, but we also fell apart.
We no sooner get started down the road and she breaks the silence. “So. Are you nervous?”
“Little bit,” I lie. I can barely breathe. I’m more than just alittlenervous.
“I’m trying to tell myself it’s just dinner and catching up but”—she pauses—“it feels more serious than that.”
“Yeah. I think there’re some things we need to talk about.”
Tucking her hair behind her ear, she swallows hard. “Definitely.”
I catch her hands fumbling together but she directs her attention out the window.
Wanting to lighten the air, I say, “Are you enjoying being back here?”
“Oh, yes. I hated the heat and city life in Texas.”
I laugh. “That doesn’t surprise me. You are nothing close to a city girl.”
She smiles. “You’re telling me.”
We enter the restaurant and get seated in the back, away from the chaos. Sitting across from her feels so natural, so normal. I make sure she knows she can order whatever she wants and that I mean it. Knowing her, she won’t, though.
Throughout dinner, the conversation stays light. We talk about our families, things that have changed, and who’s up to what. I talk about my family more then she does. Which again, reminds me that something is definitely wrong between her and her parents. Trying to get it out of her without making it too obvious, I make sure to mention the dynamic shifts I feel in my family as Dakota Flight continues to grow year after year.While it’s a topic that’s easy to discuss for me, the brief moments of silence between are when I realize she isn’t goingto budge.
After dinner I decide not to take her back to my place to talk. I don’t want her to feel pressure or uncomfortable on my turf. Instead, I decide on parking the truck at one of our old swimming hole spots.
Ella looks out the window, observing the area. “Oh, this has grown up a ton since I’ve been here.”
“I know, it’s wild.”
You used to be able to see the Stettler farm from here, but now with how much the trees and everything have grown, you can’t even see a glimpse of it.
I put my truck in park and pull the key. The sound of the running diesel engine comes to a halt and it’s quiet now. Ella doesn’t look at me, her body is stiff and unrelaxed.
My voice is steady. “Should we just talk about the elephant in the room?”
Waiting for her response has me holding my breath.
Finally letting out a small sigh, she looks to me. “Yeah, I guess …”
Her usually bright green eyes dim with uncertainty as we both brace ourselves to confront the memory of the day that ruined everything between us.
Chapter 8
Ella
Ten Years Ago
The smell of Jesse’s cigarette smoke swirls around the cab of his truck. He has the windows down but the hot summer air is stagnant. He usually doesn’t smoke around me—he actually told me he was quitting—but tonight was different. Tonight, I dropped a bomb on him he didn’t see coming.
