“Nice to meet you. I’m Ella.”
“You too. How do you guys know each other?” Lexie looks at me. “Just church?”
“Uh, yeah.” I look back to Ella. “ And school and stuff,” I add, trying not to make the conversation awkward for anyone. I’ll tell Lexie later that we dated, but right now, I can’t risk her reaction. The woman’s a bull in a china shop.
“Yeah, we went to school together,” Ella says.
“Nice. So you live close by?” Lexie’s question comes off harsher than I think she meant, but Ella doesn’t react.
“Well, I just moved back actually,” she says, and her green eyes lock on mine, holding a gaze that’s more than just yourcasual glance.
Lexie nods. “Where were you before?”
“Texas. I got my nursing degree. Now I’m an ER nurse at the hospital in Minot.”
“Oh wow, that’s intense.”
Ella chuckles. “Very.”
With the desire to keep the conversation between us going, I jump in. “Where are you living then?”
“Minot. Little apartment building. It’s not fancy, but it’s about two minutes from the hospital.” She laughs. “Can’t beat that commute.”
Ella turns back to Lexie. “How about you? Do you live nearby?”
“Yeah, I’m just outside Bellamy. I rent a duplex near—” Lexie starts, but I cut in, knowing Ella will recognize the place if I explain it.
“Henderson’s property, that little farmhouse at the end of the lane?” I finish.
“Oh, yeah! I know exactly where you mean,” Ella exclaims. “That is such a cute little house.”
I chuckle. “It’s definitely little.”
Lexie shoots me a glare, clearly thinking the opposite, and the air between us thickens for a moment. Thankfully, an older couple approaches Ella to chat, and Lexie and I take the opportunity to quickly wave goodbye before slipping away.
On the way back to my parents’, the cab of my truck has this unspoken tension still between us. I’m trying to figure out how to tell Lexie the truth about Ella and me until she beats me to it.
“So you and Barbie doll?” Lexie scoffs, crossing her arms and sitting back in the seat.
“Barbie doll? You mean Ella?”
“Yeah, her.”
I let out a small sigh. “We went together for a little while back in the day.”
“Ha, I knew it.” She shakes her head.
“She’s been gone ten years, Lex, give me a break.”
“How long did you guys date?”
I shrug. “Few years.”
“Was it serious?”
I swallow. “You could say that.”
“So why’d she move then?” she asks. I don’t want to get into it with her so I decide on short answers.
