Ella swallowed deeply. She’d seen that hungry look in his eyes before, and now—like then—the ravenousness had nothing to do with food.
They stared at each other, neither speaking, as Ella was overcome by a dawning awareness, a sureness that, despite everything, Maverick was still capable of provoking emotions in her that she’d never felt with anyone else.
“I…” she started, cursing herself for saying even that little. Because she had no idea what to add to it.
Mercifully—and annoyingly—she didn’t have to search for the words. Because another voice cut in, drawing Maverick’s attention away from her.
“Well, hello, stranger,” Roni said as she approached. “I was hoping I’d run into you today.” Roni cast a quick glance at her, and while the woman’s assessing gaze didn’t linger, Ella knew she’d seen enough, including the stuffed cat and the shared cup of fries.
“Hi, Roni,” Maverick said, even as his eyes were still glued on Ella.
“I wonder if I could convince you to help me with something,” Roni said, sidling closer to Maverick, looping her arm through his possessively and basically forcing him to turn his attention toward her.
“With what?” Maverick’s tone was too controlled to be called friendly or rude.
“My cousin, Donna, is on the committee in charge of setting up for the fireworks display later. I said I’d help, but there area lot of chairs to move, and it would go a lot faster with a big, strapping man to help us.”
Maverick hesitated for a moment, before nodding somewhat reluctantly. He was too much of a gentleman not to help women set up chairs. “Sure.” Then he looked at Ella again, and she realized that their time was up.
Which was definitely for the best.
“I should go find Edith and Manny,” she said, also reluctantly. “They’re probably wondering what happened to me. It was nice to see you again, Maverick. You too, Roni,” she forced herself to add.
“Maybe I’ll run into you again sometime,” Maverick said. “Now that you’re sticking around.”
Roni frowned at that information but didn’t say anything.
“Maybe you will.” Ella gave him what she hoped passed for an easy, breezy smile, as Maverick snitched three more fries with a boyish grin, then walked away with Roni.
Ella watched them go, then tried to deal with the aftermath of what he’d unwittingly set in motion inside her. Her mind was screaming at her to forget him, while her body was insisting she convince him to pick up where they’d left off all those years ago.
Her heart, on the other hand, just…hurt, as the pain of losing Maverick was now compounded with the agony of losing Gigi.
In the end, she listened to the hurt, letting it guide her as she turned and started walking the opposite direction.
Maverick was her past, and considering how fucking uncertain her future was, she’d be a fool to let her thoughts travel down paths she couldn’t take.
She’d read once that a person shouldn’t make huge, life-altering decisions following a loss. Since Gigi’s death, Ella had broken up with Silas and taken this extended vacation, all while toying with the idea of selling Gigi’s house and uprooting from Idaho altogether.
So yeah, she was not batting a thousand on maintaining the status quo.
Maverick would be one more complication, and she was already overloaded on those. He was her past. And he needed to stay there. If only for her own sanity.
She made those four words—Maverick is the past—her mantra as she walked toward the food tent and joined Edith and Manny.
She was still repeating them in her head several hours later, when she decided Edith was onto something with the siesta idea. The two of them left the fair, walking back to the house, both in bad need of air-conditioning and a lie-down before the fireworks show tonight.
As soon as they returned to Edith’s, Ella excused herself, climbing the stairs, still clinging to the stuffed cat. Crossing the room, she kicked off her sandals, then dropped down onto the mattress, placing the toy on the other pillow.
Ella looked at the stuffed animal until—drowsy from the food and heat—her eyes drifted closed. But despite being tired, sleep eluded her, as her thoughts slipped back in time to another hot summer day.
“I wishyou could have hung out with me and my brothers at the fair on Saturday,” Maverick said, as they walked into the cabin. He’d spent the entire drive from the library to here recapping all the things they’d done, starting with the parade, to the food he’d eaten, to the stellar fireworks show she hadn’t been allowed to stay and watch. Ella had to admit, it did sound like it was a great time.
“I got to do plenty,” she lied, clutching the stuffed dog she’d won to her chest. She spent a lot of time downplaying how much she wished for more time with Maverick. She feared if shetalked too much about her father’s strict rules, it would remind Maverick how limited their time together was, and he’d decide to find a girl with a normal life and normal parents, one who could go out and do all the fun things with him.
“You were killer at the ring toss,” Maverick said, wrapping his arm around her waist to pull her close. It was one of the first things he did whenever they arrived at the cabin. Probably because this was the only place where they were free to touch each other as much as they wanted without fear of being caught.
Ella wrapped her arms around his shoulders, the toy still clutched in one hand, all but forgotten as Maverick kissed her senseless.
