Page 91 of The Fix-Up

“I think I remember hearing about that,” Gil said. “So…you were the stripper. From Miss Tomato Harvest to Vegas stripper. How the mighty fall.”

“I know it sounds dumb, funny even, but it could have ruined a lot of things for him. It was a whole big thing. Anyway, my mom flew out to Vegas, drove me back to LA, and we had a long,long talk. I think I was on the verge of some kind of breakdown. Chris found this place on the coast where I could go and rest and work with a therapist. I was there for a little over a month.”

I chipped off a tiny piece of my pie crust. “It was good for me. For the first time in maybe ever, I had this clarity about life. I stopped drinking, admitted that the whole acting thing wasn’t working out.”

“AfterKangaroo’d Three, it was only down from there.” He squeezed my hand, his thumb making circles on the back.

I huffed a laugh. “Exactly. Then one day, I woke up and realized I didn’t want Oliver to grow up in LA. I wanted him to have more than that. I didn’t want my screw-ups to affect his life.”

“So, you packed up and came here to Two Harts.”

I nodded. “The plan was to go to Oklahoma and stay with my parents for a while. At the last minute, I took a detour. I wanted to meet Mae. But it had been a long drive, so I decided to rest for a couple of days. The next day, I took Oliver to find some lunch and stumbled across the Sit-n-Eat. That’s when I met Ollie.”

“And you never left.”

“Nope, Two Harts is more than just a town to me. I was raised in Oklahoma, grew up fast in Los Angeles, but here in Two Harts is where I’ve become an adult, you know? I’m becoming a person I like, one who makes good decisions and doesn’t beat herself up if she makes a mistake.”

He made a low sound of encouragement.

“This town, the people here, Ollie? They’ve all been part of helping.” I took a deep breath, fighting back an overwhelming urge to cry. “I know it’s just a house and a business and some land for you in some podunk town but not to sound too dramatic here, it kind of saved my life.”

“No one sees you that way, you know.”

“How?”

“They don’t see a woman mostly made of her bad decisions. They see a woman made of joy and laughter and hard work and fierce love. I’m glad I know her.”

A tear slid down my cheek. He caught it with his thumb. Somehow, we’d turned toward each other, my legs trapped between his. The tension, this primitive pull between us ratcheted up to a level ten, and the desire to lean forward and kiss him was part survival. Like maybe I couldn’t survive without it. I licked my bottom lip. He pulled me a fraction of an inch closer.

Someone knocked on the back door, loud and persistent. I jerked away and stood, leaving my half-eaten pie, and possibly my heart, on the counter. “I need to get that.”

It was Teddy. He waltzed into the kitchen, wearing the suspenders I’d given him last month. “Hiya, Ellie.” His brow crinkled. “You okay? You look like you’ve been crying.”

I pressed my hands to my cheeks. “Oh, no. I’m fine. You caught me in the middle of cutting onions.”

Teddy scanned the kitchen where zero evidence of onions or of me cutting them could be found. Eyes narrowed, he straightened to his full height. He was well over six feet but thin as a rail. Maybe once upon a time he’d been big and tall and weighty enough to cause some real concern. Nowadays, he hardly looked strong enough to walk more than a mile. “Someone made you cry. Who is it? I can take care of them for you, if you want.”

“Now who’s lying,” I said.

He pressed a hand to his heart, looking terribly put out. “It’s not about the size.” He tapped a finger to his head. “It’s about the brains.”

I shook my head and smiled. “You hungry?”

“Always.”

“Let’s get you something to eat.” I linked my arm through his. “Ollie’s grandson is here.”

Teddy’s eyes lit up. “Is that so?”

I brought him into the dining area and stopped at the counter. “Teddy, this is Gilbert Dalton, Ollie’s grandson. And Gil, this is Teddy Cane.”

Teddy rounded the counter and shook Gil’s hand like he was getting paid for his enthusiasm. When he stopped, he gazed at Gil carefully. “I’ve been wanting to meet you for a long time.”

Gil’s head tilted to the side. “Did she say your last name is Cane?’

Teddy smiled slowly and looked at Gil expectantly. “It is, indeed. Since the day I was born.”

“Sit on down,” I said. “Tell Gil some of your Ollie stories. Let me go get you something to eat.”

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