“She thinks I put her life in danger because I didn’t tell her something. Fuck, maybe I did. I don’t know anymore,” I said as I threw back my last glass of scotch. “I thought I was doing the right thing. Maybe I was or I wasn’t. The only thing that mattered was Ellery thought otherwise and she left me for it.”
Sarah put her hand on top of mine, and I looked at her. “We had some good times, you and I. There was even a moment once when I thought maybe we could become something, even though it would be breaking your rules. Then Ellery walked into your life, and you instantly changed. I’d never seen anyone change as fast as you did. All those years, you were never the person you were meant to be until you met her. You’re a good man, Connor, and this is only temporary. I don’t know Ellery that well, but from what I do know, and from what I’ve seen, she’s a forgiving person and she’ll come around. Just give her some time,” she said as she got up and hugged me. “I’m with someone here, so I need to go and find them.”
I hoped Sarah was right and that Ellery would be back soon, but until then, I drank my sadness away. I lifted my hand as I saw my waitress walk by. “Bring me three more doubles,” I yelled over the loud music.
Chapter 37
Ellery
The house felt empty without Connor. I heard Julia cry, so I walked upstairs to get her from her crib. It had been over a week since I’d seen or talked to Connor. Every second and every minute of each day was killing me slowly. As I took Julia from her crib, she looked at me and smiled. I bundled her up in her jacket and took her down by the water just as the sun was getting ready to set.
“Listen carefully, Julia, and you’ll be able to hear the whispers of the ocean.”
The soothing sound of the waves lapping against the shoreline made me think of the special times I was with Connor at the beach. My mind traveled back to when Connor proposed to me in California. When I first told him about my past after the autism charity, and when I ran to the beach in the middle of the night before I got the final results of my last treatment. But the most special memory was when Connor asked me to marry him. The ocean held so many memories for me, not only with Connor, but with my mom. The sun was starting to set and, as I pointed to it, I told Julia to look up.
“The sun setting over the ocean will be one of the most beautiful things you’ll ever see. Your daddy proposed to me on the beach, just as the sun was setting. He made sure everything was perfect.” I smiled.
Julia screeched and then looked at me and put her hand on my face. She knew I was sad, and I could tell how much she missed Connor. I sat down with her and let her run her hands through the sand. The beach, the ocean, and the sunset, would become as special to her as it was to me.
“He misses you, and he’s not doing good,” I heard a voice say behind me.
I turned around and saw Denny standing a few feet away from us. I smiled and held out my hand for him to sit next to me.
“What are you doing here? Should you even be here?” I asked as I kissed him on the cheek.
“I’m fine. Dana drove. She’s in the house, talking to Mason. I don’t want to talk about me. How are you doing?”
“I’m okay,” I said as I looked out into the ocean water.
“No, you’re not. I know you, Ellery, and you miss him just as much as he misses you.”
“I’m so mad at him, Denny. How could he do that to me? How many times do I have to tell him not to keep things from me before it sinks into that thick head of his?”
Denny smiled at me and then looked at Julia. “Sometimes, we don’t always make the right decisions under pressure and stress. Need I remind you of a few times you didn’t make the right decisions where Connor was concerned?”
I laughed and shook my head. “That was different and we weren’t married.”
“You may not have been married, but you were a couple and you loved him. Listen to me, Connor is Connor, and he always will be. It’s how he’s wired. His love for you is so powerful that it clouds his judgment sometimes. The only thing he saw when he made the decision not to tell you about Phil was keeping you safe.”
“You’re always defending him,” I said as I looked over at him.
“Not always. I had a talk with him too. Believe me, I yelled at him and pretty much called him every name in the book. I think he got my point. The two of you can’t even be apart for one night, let alone an entire week. Everyone makes mistakes, Ellery.”
I glared at him with knitted eyebrows. “Okay, some more than others.” He smiled. “Should I remind you about how you lied to Connor and went and saw Ashlyn?”
“Just another thing he didn’t tell me,” I said as I rolled my eyes.
“And for a good reason. You could have gotten yourself killed. You know that girl is crazy,” he said.
It was getting chilly and the winds were starting to pick up. “Let’s go inside.” I smiled as I picked Julia up and looped my arm around Denny’s.
As soon as we walked inside, Dana came over and took Julia from me. “Why don’t the two of you stay here tonight and then we can all head back in the morning?” I said.