I glance at Jett. “We didn’t get the chance.”
Alec looks like he’s about to go into cardiac arrest, he’s turning so many shades of red.
“Why don’t we give Ellie and her family some time alone?” Jett suggests to me. I want to throw daggers at him. There’s no way in hell I’m leaving her side. He gestures with his head. I shake him off. ”Get the fuck out,” he mouths strictly. I bare my teeth at him, but do as he says, begrudgingly.
“If you need anything, I’ll be outside,” I tell her family.
“Thank you.” Monica grabs my arm and I flinch. She smiles up at me, but I don’t understand why. I don’t really appreciate her touching me either, even if she is Ellie’s mother and my potential mother-in-law.
“Big daddy Jett.” Juice clasps his shoulders once we’re outside in the hallway.
“Yeah.” He looks like he’s in shock.
“You happy?” I ask him, keeping an eye on Ellie’s room.
“Yeah.” I think that’s the only word he’s capable of at the moment.
“You going to make an honest woman out of her?” Juice asks.
“I was planning to purpose when we got back from Tahiti.”
“Why not while you were on vacation?”
“Too cliché.” he laughs, regarding me.
I flip him the finger. “That wasn’t planned.”
But I’m happy as hell that it happened.
ELLIE HAS BEEN UNCONSCIOUS FORthree days.
I haven’t left her side for one minute. I’ve basically moved into her hospital room. I eat, sleep, and shower here. I’ll live here for the rest of my life if I have to.
We put Alec, Monica, and Tara up in a hotel nearby so they can come and go as they please. Presently, Alec is pacing the hallway. The man doesn’t sit still. I now know where Ellie gets it. Monica is sitting beside me watching Ellie, and Tara is having lunch with Juice. Not sure how I feel about that. He says it’s innocent, but we’ll see. We call him Juice for a reason.
I’ve spent the most time with Monica. Despite my issues with women, matriarchal figures in particular, she quickly grew on me. She’s nurturing and mellow and very non-threatening. All the same traits that drew me to Ellie.
“I remember that night,” Monica says randomly, staring at Ellie.
“What night?”
“The night she was going to meet you. She was so excited, on another level even for Ellie.” Monica smiles. Her dark-brown hair is pulled back in a low ponytail and her bangs are falling into her eyes. I don’t think she’s slept since she arrived. “Tara kept teasing her, and she and Alec were fighting over her dress,” she reminisces.
“He didn’t approve?”
“The man has died seven times over from the girl’s wardrobe alone.” She glances over at me amused.
“Really?” I say intrigued.
“Yes. Those girls drive him nuts. But Ellie is Ellie, and she does what she wants. She kissed us goodbye,” Monica’s eyes water, “then she disappeared.”
Oh, shit.
“She went through a lot,” I say softly, a mix of guilt and impenitence battling inside me.
Monica nods, wiping away a stray tear. “She did. I don’t you two crossed paths again, but I’m glad. I could see how much she liked you.”
“I sought her out,” I tell her truthfully. “I really liked her, too. Now I love her.”
