“Feel better?”
“Not really.”
“Well, third time’s the charm—go ahead, hit it again. It’s only a rental.”
I refuse to laugh. It isn’t just tonight—it’s years of shrinking, of silencing myself to keep the peace. Whitstable made me believe I’d finally mended, but tonight proved how easily the seams can split.
Ellenor rubs my shoulder. “Hey. It will be alright.”
“You reckon?” I ask hopefully.
“Yeah. Jack was probably just running his mouth off.”
“I guess.”
“And as a wise Hogwarts Headmaster once said—”
“Oh my God, Elle—”
“Happiness can be found evenin the darkest of times,” she continues stubbornly. “You just have to back yourself, Lil. Don’t let some wannabe-Willoughby steal your shit.”
“Trying not to.” I fill her in on the details—the gig, my attempted reclaiming of my song, and Jack’s barbed remarks.
She lets out a low whistle. “Jeez. Where do you find these guys? First Toby, now this whack job.”
“At least I find them,” I shoot back, but it comes out wrong.
Ellenor doesn’t say a word as she pulls up in front of the darkened cottage and shuts the engine off.
I’m about to apologise when she says, “For the record, Ihavefound someone.”
That’s when I notice Brandon’s car isn’t here.
“You have? Well, good for you.” Snarkily, I add, “Speaking of Brandon—where is he?”
She gives me a weird look. “What do you mean, ‘speaking of Brandon’? He went to Sean’s after the barbecue. He’s still there. He’s going to stay the night to cool off.”
“And you’re not spending it with him?”
“Huh?”
I fold my arms. “Brandon.I know you two are together, okay? It’s fine.”
She blinks. “I’m dating Sean, you goose.”
“What?”
“I said, I’mdatingSean. And it’s been going well, thank you for asking.”
My brain short-circuits. “Sean, as in Irish pub Sean? When…? How…?”
Ellenor shrugs, a small smile tugging at her lips. “He asked me out the same night we met, right after your warm-up gig. I initially said ‘yes’ just to humour him…and here we are.”
“Bit of a silver-fox situation, huh?” I tease weakly, trying to recover.
“Don’t you sass me, missy. You’ve got your own fox sniffing around.”
Heat floods my neck as I steer the conversation back. “But you and Sean are always arguing.”
