“Sure. Then we can go over all these notes I’ve made for you so you can cover for me next week.”
“You are going to owe me so big for that it’s not even funny.”
“So you’ve said, at least a dozen times now.”
“Just making sure you heard me,” Charley said with a grin. “When are you telling him about the trip?”
“Tomorrow night.”
“That doesn’t give him much time to get his shit together.”
“It also doesn’t give him much time to come up with a thousand reasons why he shouldn’t go.” She’d given careful thought to the timing and decided the less time he had to think about it, the better off he’d be. Or so she hoped.
“You really think he’ll do that?”
“I’m not sure what to expect, to be honest. He’s got some sort of issue where the Sultans are concerned. I’m not sure if it’s a big issue or a small one. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow night.”
“What’ll you do—and I’m just playing devil’s advocate here, so don’t shoot me—if he says he won’t go?”
“I don’t know. I’m trying not to think about that possibility.”
“For the record, I think he’d be crazy not to go after you went to so much trouble to arrange the trip and everything.”
“Thanks. I’m hoping for the best.”
“Me, too, Ella. It’s a really nice thing for you to do. I hope he sees that.”
“I hope so, too.”
“I’ll be ready to go at noon,” Charley said. “Maybe we can grab lunch at the diner before we leave?”
“I’d be up for that.”
“Okay, see you then.”
Alone in her office, Ella printed out a brochure for the resort, their plane tickets and some pictures of the romantic settings in Turks and Caicos. She couldn’t wait to see those sites with Gavin by her side, and the thought of it not happening . . . Well, she couldn’t entertain that possibility. She just couldn’t.
At noon, she and Charley crossed Elm Street to the newly renamed Green Mountain Diner, run by their future sister-in-law Megan. They ducked into a booth and Megan came over to them.
“Hi there,” she said with a friendly smile. “Do you guys need menus?”
“I don’t,” Charley said.
“Turkey club and a Diet Coke?” Megan asked.
“You got it.”
“Ella? You want your usual?”
Normally, she went for a salad, but she was absolutely famished today. “I’ll have the same as Charley.”
“Coming right up. Any news from Burlington?”
“Nothing,” Charley said. “I’m dying to know what’s going on. We’re heading over there from here.”
“Hunter should be there any time now. I’m so bummed that I can’t get away with the big Thanksgiving dinner here tomorrow.”
“What’s Hunter going to do about Thanksgiving?” Ella asked.
“He’s coming back tonight to give me a hand here,” Megan said, her cheeks flushing ever so slightly. “I told him he doesn’t have to, but he insisted.”
“He wants to be where you are,” Ella said with a smile for the woman who’d made her oldest brother so happy.
“That’s what he said, too. I’ll get your order in and grab your drinks.”
“Thanks, Megan,” Charley said. When they were alone, she added in a whisper, “I never expected to like her as much as I do.”
“She’s really great when you take the time to get to know her.”
“I can’t believe Hunter is getting married next month!”
“When it’s right, it’s right,” Ella said with a sigh.
“Why the sigh?”
“I guess I’m envious of him and Will and Hannah and Colton. They’ve got it all figured out, and I want that, too. I want to know that Gavin and I are together forever and nothing will ever come between us.” The thought of something coming between them filled her with fear, which was slightly irrational in light of what had transpired between them only that morning.
“Earth to Ella. Where’d you go off to?”
“I was just thinking.”
“About what?”
“If I tell you, you won’t tell anyone else, will you?”