Page 231 of Promise Not to Fall for the Rich & Famous

That sweet assurance stuck with Ellie throughout dinner—a pasta bar featuring all of Rosie's favorites. A new round of guests filtered in—the Emersons, some friends of the family who had boys close to Rosie’s age; they were as kind and welcoming as the Copelands.

Just like Rosie promised, they all took turns reading fun facts the birthday girl had printed up and passed around.

Rosie clapped and cheered between every fun fact read aloud. Things like, female axolotls can lay between 100 to 300 eggs during spawning season. And it turned out the cute little things on the top of its head were actually gills. But the wildest of them all was still in store, Rosie assured, and she’d saved that one for Nash since ‘his name rhymed with last.’

Nash puffed his chest as he held up the final slip. “An axolotl can regenerate almost any lost body part, including its heart." He lowered the slip and looked at Rosie with wide eyes. “Really? Wow.”

Uncle Lloyd piped up from across the table. “That would've come in handy for my brother, Paul,” he said. “Poor guy lost acouple of his fingers in a tractor accident in his youth.” Lloyd looked at Ellie from across the table and gave her a wink. "Not Nash’s daddy, mind you. It’s a different brother."

The comment gave new life to the loss of Nash’s parents. His aunt and uncle had lost a brother and sister-in-law and then taken in their nephews to raise as their own. Thank heavens they’d done that, and thank heavens Nash and his brother had people like this to love and care for them after such a tragic loss.

Ellie took in the faces of Nash’s bonus siblings, realizing they’d each played a role in helping Nash and his brother Wyatt heal during that time. Next, she studied the newcomers. Abbie and Taja, who were both expecting, and Cash, who brought with him a baby he’d agreed to care for. The picture was one of open arms, and it made Ellie believe that maybe, just maybe…if all went well between her and Nash, there was a place for her, too. Copeland Brothers Ranch truly was a magical place, wasn’t it?

The word harmony came back to her, and happiness and home.

It seemed, Ellie decided, as they sang happy birthday to Rosie, that what Grandma C had said was true. This family was one of the best groups on earth to belong to.

And though it wasn't her birthday, Ellie made a wish of her own while Rosie blew out her candles. As childlike as the notion might be, she wished she could somehow, in some way, belong to the Copeland Crew, too.

CHAPTER 15

Nash pulled his truck to a stop in front of Ellie’s cabin.

“Really, Nash,” Ellie said in a fervent tone, “your family is incredible. I can’t believe I was so nervous to meet them.”

Nash couldn’t say he was surprised she’d enjoyed her time at the ranch so much, but boy, was he pleased. It’d been over two years since he’d brought a girl home, and while he assumed Ellie would hit it off with his family, he hadn’t known just how well she’d fit in with the entire crew. Even in recollection, Nash was taken aback by the unexpected emotions that sprouted up in him at the sights and sounds of Ellie with his family.

“And I’m not going to lie—seeing you lasso those calves while you were chasing after them on the horse…” She stopped there and fanned her face.

Nash grinned. “Hot?”

“Sohot!”

He’d hoped she’d like that. Nash hadn’t intended to show off for her per se, but when the Emerson family showed up in time for cake, ice cream, and games, they’d broken out the dummy calf for the kids to lasso, and Ellie said she wanted to see the real thing in action.

“Well,” Nash said, turning to look at her. “I’ve met your pops—through a Zoom call, anyway—I’ve met your manager in person, and you just met my family. I guess we could say things are getting pretty serious.”

Ellie chuckled. “I guess so.” She bit her lip. “I’d ask you to come inside, but Geneva meddles like a mom on steroids.”

Nash grinned. “Yeah, I was going to ask you about her. I think I read somewhere that your mom wasn’t really part of your life. I haven’t wanted to pry about it, but now that we’re official and all, I should probably know a little more about that.” He hated to bring up a painful subject, as he assumed it might be, but they were getting to know each other, weren’t they?

“Yeah, you probably should,” Ellie said. “My mom was never into the whole acting gig. She didn’t want me to be in the public eye, and she fought with my dad about it incessantly.

“Because I was young, and I didn’t see the harm in it, I picked his side, so it was two against one, and my mom finally gave in. Auditioning required a lot of travel, which strained their marriage even more, and eventually, they decided to split. It was amicable. My mom remarried quickly and basically started a whole other family.”

“Wow, really? So you have other siblings?”

“Half-siblings, yeah, but my mom doesn’t really want me to be in their lives. I guess she thinks it sort of puts them in the public eye somehow, so…”

Nash gulped, imagining what that might feel like, being rejected, in a sense, by his own mom. “I’m sorry,” he said, “that can’t be easy.”

“Thanks. It’s not,” she admitted. “I mean, I usually don’t think about it, but when I do, yeah, it doesn’t feel good. I guess that’s why it was so amazing to just get to be around your whole family like that. I mean, they literally welcomed me in with openarms. I wasn’t expecting that.” She sniffed and dabbed her eyes. “Guess it kind of has me in my feels.”

“I know what you mean,” Nash said. A wave of gratitude rushed over him, and for the first time all night, he found himself wishing Wyatt had been there, too. Sure, the group was large enough as it was, and meeting that many new faces could be a lot. But the fact was, Wyatt was the only one in the family who knew what it was like to be thrust into a different home with a new set of parents while mourning the loss of your own.

“It’s weird,” he said, “but at first, I felt guilty for developing a good relationship with my aunt and uncle. Like I was somehow betraying my parents or forgetting them, you know? Wyatt fought against it more than I did. Sometimes, we’d even talk about it late at night…about how we weren’t going to let them take the place of our parents entirely because Mom and Dad wouldn't like that. For a little while there, it almost felt like that wholeus against themmentality. But that didn’t sit right with me. I think it was around that time that I started to realize it was silly to hold back or punish other people for what happened.”

He nodded as something occurred to him. “Seems like that’s when Wyatt started getting upset with me. I pulled away, not wanting to isolate and dwell on what happened, and he sort of stopped being my ally and started picking on me instead. I teamed up with Thatcher, who matched my energy better anyway, and he instantly became my defender. Wyatt teamed up with Wade and had a similar kinship. So, I guess it created a different type ofus against themdeal.”