I call her back and wait for her to pick up. I’m not sure she will—she sounded pretty angry.
“What?” She growls.
“I’ll drop these guys off and come get you, okay?”
“No, it’s fine. Mason said he could,” she explains, and I’m relieved.
Mason’s nicer than Cody, but I know he’ll still give her a little bit of a hard time too. Being the youngest brother and closest in age to her gives him a lot of opportunity for a jokester relationship. I know she’ll still be fine though.
“Oh, okay, well good.”
“Yeah, thanks.” Her tone indicates she’s still annoyed with me. I feel compelled to try and smooth things out.
“You know I didn’t mean to brush you off, right? I’m sorry if it came across that way.”
“It’s okay, I know you’re out.”
“Yeah, but I’m still sorry,” I insist and clear my throat. “I’ll see you later,” I remind her, and we hang up.
Chapter 3
Jesse
Sitting in the back church pew, Mason’s on my left, followed by the rest of my family, and Lex is the only one to my right. We were almost late; she had to change again. What she had on first was not going to see the light of day.
As everyone stands and starts to sing the opening worship song, I catch a glimpse of a blonde-haired girl walking down the side aisle and stepping into a pew, and my heart skips. My entire family looks down toward me, the same surprised expression on all five of their faces. It’s Ella, my ex-girlfriend, former love of my life.
We dated through high school and a little after, but that was ten years ago now. I still think about her sometimes, wondering if she’s living the life she wanted, if she became a nurse. She never came back after college. I figured she stayed in Texas and got a job there.
I look at my entire family staring at me. “I see her,” I mouth back so they quit.
It’s not like I can go say hi right now, anyway. I’m sureeveryone in the room is going to want to talk to her as well. Her parents were well-known and liked in the community, but like I said, it’s been years since they moved. Glancing over at Lex, I can tell she’s clueless, looking in the opposite direction of Ella.
After the service, Lexie leaves to go to the bathroom, and my family immediately insists I go talk to Ella. I’m hesitant though; things between us didn’t end on great terms. She’s not the kind of person to flip me off or anything, but that doesn’t make it any less intimidating.
“If you don’t go talk to her, I will,” Cody threatens. I laugh and force my legs to make my way over.
“Ella, hey.” My voice is shakier than I anticipated.
Her face lights up when she turns and sees me, greeting me warmly with a hug. “Oh my gosh, hi!” She smiles. It’s the most familiar thing I’ve seen in years. Her scent takes me back in time. How she still smells and looks the same is beyond me.
It feels like nothing but time has changed between us. After all these years of trying to move on and feeling as though I had … hearing her voice, seeing her smile, and feeling her body touch mine stirs everything back up inside of me that I thought I had buried a long time ago.
“Happy belated birthday!” she says with a playful grin, catching me off guard. My birthday was two days ago, not exactly a major event. Around here, birthdays during our busy season mean Mom makes your favorite dinner, there’s cake, and that’s about it.
I smile. “Thanks. I’m impressed you remembered.”
She shrugs it off casually like it’s nothing, while I scramble to recall hers.
“April …” I hesitate, biting my tongue before fully committing. “Sixteenth?”
Her giggle is instant, and just as contagious as ever. “Yup!”
Before I can say much else, I glance across the room. Lexie steps back into the sanctuary, her gaze finding mine right away. I give a little wave over, the nerves that had subsided now returning. I care about Lexie, I really do, but the fact that I’m feeling this way about Ella again makes me question everything. Do I care about Lexie enough to push these feelings for Ella aside?
I place my hand on Lexie’s back when the distance between us closes. “This is my girlfriend, Lexie.”
Ella’s face doesn’t falter too much, and she smiles. For all I know she could be married and have a kid or two. She always wanted kids. We talked about it back then because that was the plan. Get married young and have a bunch of kids together. Funny how life works. Ten years later, none of it has turned out the way we dreamed. I try to remind myself it’s not really up to me. God’s got the plans, and I’ll trust Him to work it all out in His time.
