Saying goodbye to them both, Stephen turned and joined his friend outside.Ella breathed an enormous sigh of relief. Wanting to ensure her well-being, Stephen showed kindness.Her rudeness and sharp manner were so unlike her. However, their friendship was forever changed. She knew it was silly, but she could never trust him not to hurt her again. It wasn’t so much their engagement had broken up; it was how it had ended and that everyone knew in town. She didn’t want to be pitied. Even if they try for some sort of friendship now, Ava just wouldn’t allow it.Ella was pleased and stupidly angry that Nick remained unaware of the presence of his mysterious woman.Swinging around to her friend, Ella found Em leaning against the counter, looking at her. Waiting.“Well, safe for another day.” Ella rushed out.“Yes! But is that really what you want?” Em questioned“Why wouldn’t I? I don’t want anyone to find out.”Emily reasoned, “Maybe deep down, babe, you do. There must have been something b
Tate saved her. “Ella, why don’t you come to the kitchen with me to help Sally bring in the appetisers?” Gratefully Ella smiled and followed Tate out of the room. She moved around Nick, being sure not to touch him or make eye contact on the way past.The kitchen allowed Ella to get her raging heart under control. Seeing Nick being around him made her heart race and her body flush. It also gave Tate the time she needed to vent.“……I still can’t believe Stephen is marrying her instead of you.”Ella walked over to Tate, touching her shoulder to get her to turn around. “Tate! Honey, while I love the fact you feel the need to fight my battles. This isn’t a battle I want to win.” Leaning against the table.How to word this to not upset Tate. “Stephen and I should never have been more than friends. We just let everyone push us along to get married. It really made everyone else more happy than we were. I loved your brother, but not in a way that a wife should love her husband. When you meet t
Ella felt like the universe was working against her. Ella observed Nick was seated on her left. Tate occupied the seat on Ella’s right. Across from her was Ava, with Stephen sitting opposite Nick. Leaving her dad sitting at one end of the table with the two men and Mary at the other, with Jenny sitting next to her.Maybe it was better that Nick was beside her, rather than in front. He was less likely to see more than her profile throughout the meal.They received their creamy soup almost straight away. Mary was talking softly to her mother.“So Nick, we will see you at our wedding, correct? Being a good friend of Stephen’s, you can’t possibly let him down.” Ava said loudly.Nick looked up from his soup. “As I told Stephen, I would do my utmost to make it to the wedding. But unfortunately, until I get home, I will not be sure if I can get back.”“You have your own wedding to get ready for, I’m sure.” Ava replied pouting, because she would like the exposure and press coverage that it wo
After getting off the phone the next afternoon, Ella felt depressed, hearing her mum complain. About how Tate had spoken so rudely to Ava last night and how Ella herself should have stood up for Ava.Also, how Ella herself had embarrassed everyone there, the way she clung onto Nick. Monopolising his time when the night should have been about Ava and Stephen. Making a spectacle of herself with a man who would get married to someone else soon. It made her look cheap.Ella couldn’t help but notice the irony. Her mother was raging at her for something Ava had done not so long ago by setting her sights on Stephen when he had been engaged to Ella. But she hadn’t seen it that way.Ava had fed her a story about star-crossed lovers. Ella knew the words coming out of her mum’s mouth were Ava’s. Even so, had mum been there last night? None of this was true. It hurt. That her mother thought so little of her.Ella had done none of those things. It was actually ridiculous. Her mother really believe
Ella froze. Why hadn’t she thought of that? She could be pregnant, or worse yet. Have caught some disease. If he went around having unprotected sex with women. He could have given her something that could change her life forever. Ella felt like slapping herself in the face.“Well, thanks for that. Just give me something else to worry about.” Why hadn’t she thought of it before? She was a grown woman. She should have made him use something.“I didn’t tell you to make you worry. I want to let you know. It won’t be your problem alone.”Ella laughed bitterly. “Is that how you see a child as a problem?” Not wanting to think about anything else like an STD.“No, of course not. The child would be my heir.” Nick looked frustrated. He took a step as if to move around the pond.“Stop!” Ella pleaded.Nick stopped. “I’m not letting you get away from me again. What is your real name?”“I’m not telling.” Ella sounded like a spoilt child.“Why did you run?” Nick counted.“Because it was time to leav
Ella brooded. Nick was gone! She had wanted him gone... right? Yes, she did…. Didn’t she? Ella rubbed her face. She was making herself crazy. Nick had gone home to his soon to be wife. Was he sleeping with her? Was he enjoying it?“Stop it.” Ella chided herself.Ella looked around her at all the packed boxes in her living room. She had found a job in London at a boarding school that offered a small living quarters. The money wasn’t great, but she wouldn’t have the living expenses of a job in a day school.It hadn’t taken long to find. Three weeks after Nick had left. She was starting two days after Stephen and Ava’s wedding. She hadn’t told her parents yet. But with Ava living at Blackmore manor, it wasn’t like they would miss her. Her parents are still very young in their 50s. They didn’t need her. Then why did she feel so guilty?Maybe because she was holding off telling them. Ella was expected at their home tonight to help create the gifts for the guests at Stephen and Ava’s weddin
Nick surveyed the garden, having spent an hour here. He had been observing Tate and Ella grilling on the family bbq and serving food onto the long table for everyone’s enjoyment.When he looked around him, they were not with everyone else lined up to grab some of the food. He noticed they were at the back fence, taking advantage of the moment when everyone’s back was turned, sneaking out the back gate.He had been trying to shake Ava off for most of the last hour. She was always near, or one of her friends. Touching him or invading his personal space. It all made him very uncomfortable. He didn’t want Stephen to get the wrong idea. Because he wouldn’t touch the woman with a 10-foot pole.Smiling to himself, Nick moved to the back of the line and when no one was watching. Grabbed a bottle of wine from the cooler and followed the two women who didn’t care about him being a prince, who just thought of him as Nick. He enjoyed being around them.As he stepped out the back gate, Nick found
The afternoon raced by after the wine and food was gone. They could still hear the party going on in the Conner’s backyard, none of them showed any interest in returning.Tate and Ella had slid down and rested their head on the pillows and Nick grabbed an extra one the girls didn’t use. Observing the blue sky, he reclined beneath the willow tree.“How long do you think they will party for?” Tate asked sleepily.“With Ava, who knows?” Ella didn’t really care. She was having a great time. In both Nick’s and Tate’s company.“I don’t care as long as I don’t need to go back in there. Her friends a like Piranha.”Tate giggled, “Scared of a few girls, Nick.”Nick grinned, looking over at Tate. “Of Piranhas. Yes.”His eyes drifted to Ella’s laid out form. Her arms lay across her flat stomach. She looked so different relaxed. Ella’s glasses had moved down her nose. Her lips looked even fuller than they normally did when she was resting. Her glasses really took away from her face. Had she ever