Page 38 of Hot Chicken

Pulling my phone away, I thumb through my call log. “I wonder why she didn’t call to tell me.”

“That’s why I’m letting you know. Jo said she’s practically catatonic. He and Charlene have tried, but she’s inconsolable. I hate to-”

“I’m on my way. Any chance you can pick me up in Key West? I’ll get the earliest flight I can find. If not, I’ll rent a car.” Driving any distance is going to be tough on no sleep, but hopefully, I can make it on pure adrenalin if I need to. “I can try to sleep on the flight.”

“Just get here. Text me with your flight information, and I’ll meet you there.”

“Harry. Where is she now? She’s not alone, is she?”

“No. Char is with her. But she needs you, Matt.”

Harry barely has his truck in park before I’m barreling out the door toward Ellie’s front door. Who was I kidding, thinking I could sleep on the plane? I couldn’t relax, that constant aching crevice in my chest reminding me that my girl was hurting.

Flinging the door open, I dash down the short hallway to her room. I carefully push the door open, not wanting to alarm her. Once inside, I find she’s lying with her back to me. Charlene lies behind her, rubbing her hand up and down Ellie’s arm. Char glances over her shoulder, and the look of relief on her face is instantaneous. She carefully lifts her hand and rolls to sit at the edge of the bed.

“I think she’s asleep. But it was a long night,” she whispers.

Tears well in my eyes hearing this. My strong girl. I’d managed to keep my shit together until now. But seeing her like this is gutting me.

Char places her hand on my arm reassuringly. “Thank you for coming. You’re what she needs right now.”

“Thank you for being here for her when I couldn’t,” I choke out. As tough as long-distance relationships are, the realization that she could be facing this without me had I not given us a chance makes me want to hurl.

Charlene gently closes the door behind her as I carefully lower myself onto Ellie’s bed. I want desperately to hold her but don’t dare wake her now that she’s finally given in to sleep. So I lie on my side, facing her back, as tears tumble down my cheeks. It took a tragedy like this to make one thing clear. I’ll never let her suffer alone again. I’m marrying this beautiful girl as soon as the time is right. Even if it’s at the Candy Cane Key Town Hall and our first dance as husband and wife is toGrandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.

As if my ridiculous thoughts have invaded the calm, I feel Ellie stir beside me. Quickly trying to find a way to let her know I’m here so I don’t frighten her, I discover it’s too late as she rolls to face me. My beautiful, broken girl doesn’t appear surprised I’m here. Had she been awake this whole time? Or is she simply numb to everything around her now?

Ellie reaches out, swiping the remaining moisture from the path my tears had taken. Neither of us speaks at first.

Reaching for her face, I tuck her hair behind her ear and look into her red-rimmed eyes. Despite her anguish, they’re as beautiful as ever. I gently pull her into my arms, placing a chaste but loving kiss on her temple when I hear her voice.

“You came back.”

“I’ll always come back for you, Ellie.”

Chapter 32

Ellie

Six months later

“Is this the last one?” Matt yells from the back of the U-Haul.

“Yes. For now.” It’s time to start a whole new chapter in my life. I’m not entirely ready to let go of Candy Cane Key, but excited to see what awaits in Sycamore Mountain.

I think I cried for a solid month after Pops died. He was my only real family, and now he’s gone. But as he and Grandma Joan taught me, family is what you make it. I consider Salty Jo, Ms. Fletcher, Charlene, Harrison, and of course, Matthew my family now. And Matt assures me his firefighter brothers and the people of Sycamore Mountain will soon feel the same.

I’d saved my winnings from the Best on the Beach contest until I could decide if I could afford to rent the restaurant space in tourist row. But when Grandpa got sick for the last time, I wasn’t in a place to make sound business decisions.

Matt and Harrison helped me to eventually talk through the pros and cons of moving to Sycamore. It wasn’t a hard sell. Now that Pops was gone, I had nothing keeping me here. And I wanted to be where Matt was. We were good together.

Harry helped me to put the farm on the market. He said he’d meet with potential buyers and the real estate agent to get the sale closed when the time came. Matt and I haven’t discussed marriage and family per se, but we both know. It’s just a matter of time. Once the farm sells, we’ll buy an older home in Candy Cane Key we can remodel. That way, we can return to visit Harrison and his mother, as well as the folks I’ve grown to love. We’ll use the new mobile home until we sell and then donate it back to Faith Builders. Matt thinks between the money I’ve saved combined with a rainy day fund of his own, we can open a restaurant in Sycamore Mountain.

Reaching over the newly constructed fence Matt built, I scratch Jimmy Dean behind one of his ears. “I’m going to miss you, old boy. Don’t worry, Jo will stop by to check on you. And we’ll come back just as soon as we can find somewhere in Sycamore you can live.”

“Really?” Matt grumbles.

“Or I can stay here, and your dad can visit us every three weeks like he was doing before.”

---