I needed her to stay flat on the ground, thank you very much. I’d seen her in a hospital bed two too many times in my life.
Ellie’s expression gave me sass, but all she said was, “I hope you have a very long handle for that roller, then.”
“As a matter of fact, I do.” I walked around to the side of the couch, where I’d left some of the supplies, and grabbed the extension to show her. “Perfect for very?—”
She lifted a warning finger. “If I were you, I’d be careful about calling me sh?—”
“Capablewomen like yourself, Eleanor.”
She reached out and snatched the roller extension from me. “Capable women who just need an extra foot or so, huh?”
“Nah, that’s not what I meant,” I said to the most perfect woman I’d ever met. “I’ve got all the extra inches you need.”
I tossed her a wink that had her flushing scarlet, and a funny little noise emerged from Ellie’s throat as she turned her attention to securing the roller brush on the handle, twisting it with very little success. I watched, amused but not daring to offer help, as she eventually got it on. And then I watched as she popped the lid off the paint can with a flathead screwdriver and poured theButtermilkinto the tray.
It was a nice color.
We picked well.
When Ellie glanced up to find me sitting back and enjoying the show, she lifted a brow.
“If you’re not careful, I’m going to roll this paint all over you, too,” she muttered.
“You should know better than to threaten me with a dirty time, darling.”
A sharp, amused sound burst out of her, and she was such a delightful shade of pink. God, I just wanted to eat it up. Soak it up.Savor it and her and every second of this. “Oh, shut up,” she murmured, swatting a hand at me. But she was laughing. And smiling as she dipped the roller into the yellow paint.
I stood by what I’d told her while we stood in Bud’s.
She made me happy like no one else could.
And yellow was a happy color.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
sully
WE WERE MAKING QUICK work of the living room. It only took about an hour for us to finish the first half, though we’d definitely have to do another coat. Which was fine. I wasn’t in any particular hurry. I would be happy to spend all night painting with Ellie, and I didn’t want to rush her. In fact, I’d made her sit down twice to drink some water and take a break, which she’d begrudgingly allowed.
Ellie was in charge of the music while we painted. She’d always been the queen of the auxiliary cord in high school and college, and I never complained, even when it meant listening to her mixes filled with random Broadway tunes that she loved belting in the back seat with Natalie or the indie bands that I’d never heard of before. Eleanor always introduced me to new music, and it was no different today.
“I went to her concert,” she said as she began on a new section of wall. “In San Francisco, right after I moved to California. It was in this little theater down by the wharf, and I’d had to fight through a sea of tourists to get there.”
I tried not to picture it, but my brain was too visual and self-sabotaging, and soon, there was an image in the forefront of mymind: Ellie elbowing through a crowd by herself, just so she could see her new favorite artist.
Or maybe she wasn’t by herself.
“Did you go alone?” I asked before I could stop myself.
“No.” She shook her head, and I nodded, trying to act casual. Like I didn’t care about this additional detail, like it didn’t matter to me who she spent her time with when she wasn’t with me. “I went with a girl from work. She overheard me listening to Wednesday Elevett my first week in the office and said she had an extra ticket! It was really nice, but beyond that, we didn’t end up hanging out a ton.”
“Wait—” I did a double take at hearing the name of the artist, glancing at the speaker filtering out music and then back to Ellie. “Wednesday Elevett…you know that Noah’s friends with her, right?”
“What.” Ellie’s roller brush halted midair, her jaw dropping and head swinging around to give me a disbelieving stare. “Are you serious? That was a few years ago, but she’s like,reallybig now. And Iloveher.”
“I’m serious,” I laughed before dipping my brush into the cup of paint I held in my free hand. “She’s married to one of Noah’s best friends, Grayson. He’s a wide receiver for LA.”
“Oh my God.” Ellie dropped her roller into the tray before putting her fingers on her temples, rubbing them like I’d caused her brain to explode. “Oh my God. I need to text your brotherimmediately.”
