Page 95 of Perfect Pairing
I nodded, unable to fight off the grin that overtook my face. “Tomorrow night for NYE.”
“Ugh,” Ella groaned. “Thanks for reminding me. Alfie and Iwere supposed to go to a party, and instead, I’m going to sit here crying and marathoning Anne Hathaway.”
I couldn’t help but choke on a laugh, and all four of my sisters glared daggers at me.
“I’m sorry!” I said, raising my hands in surrender. “It’s just… When did we decide Anne Hathaway was the cure for a broken heart?”
There was a beat of silence before we all burst out laughing, and though Ella didn’t stop crying, it morphed from sad to mirthful quickly.
“Anne Hathaway is a national treasure,” Ella said, wiping the tears from her face.
“You’re not wrong,” I agreed, my sisters nodding with me. “But that’s not the point. Now that this happened”—I gestured to Ella—“I’m not even sure I should go.”
My sisters’ dissension was instantaneous.
Ella wagged her finger in my face. “Don’t use me as an excuse.” With something other than her pain to focus on, color returned to her face, and I supposed I could be grateful for that at least.
“You need us,” I replied lamely.
Ella rolled her eyes. “You came when I called and reminded me that Alfie is a jackass who doesn’t deserve my tears. Am I still going to cry? Yes. But truthfully, he and I have been done for a while. He was just the one brave enough to set us free.”
I couldn’t argue with her, not as each of my sisters and I shared knowing glances. We’d all noticed that Alfie hadn’t been around as much the last month or so, and for that, we’d all been grateful. We wanted to support Ella in any and everything, but her relationship with him was something we’d struggled to getbehind.
I hadn’t forgotten the night we’d gone to Birdie’s and he’d fought with my fatherandOwen, who owned the place. Then afterward, after all the drama had gone down with that crazed fan at Lawless, the way he’d shown up and thrown a fit until Ella had left with him… It hadn’t sat right with me or Delia. He’d made her cry more often than not, and I never understood what she saw in him.
Now wasn’t the time to ask—in fact, I’d be happy never to discuss the rat again.
“You guys really think I should go?” I asked softly.
They all chorused their agreement, and Ella reached out for my hand.
“Just because I’m unhappy right now doesn’t mean you have to live down in the dumps with me. This is your chance, Bee. You’ve been gone for that man since the moment you laid eyes on him. I think it’s time to let yourself be happy.”
Chloe, Amara, and Delia made gestures and sounds of agreement, and tears sprang to my eyes as I studied each of them in turn. I was more grateful than ever for them. We’d had our ups and downs as teenagers and in our early twenties, but they were my best friends and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.
“Then what do you say we head over to my place so you guys can help me pick out something to wear?”
I grinned as they squealed and tackled me, the five of us landing in a heap on the floor.
“Ezra?” I called whenI unlocked the door to the winery and stepped inside.
Instantly, I was cocooned in the coziness of the building. Outside, a storm was brewing, and I was grateful for my all-wheel drive keeping me from sliding into the ditch on the slick roads on my way up. In fact, the snow was coming down so thickly, I’d almost called Ezra and cancelled.
Thankfully, not because of Ella, who had been adamant I keep the date, but because travel conditions were growing treacherous.
But I wanted to see him, so I braved the blizzard.
Despite the fact that no Def Leppard greeted me from the direction of the kitchen this time, the sense of déjà vu was as forceful as a gut punch.
On this same day three years before, I’d arrived here for what was supposed to be a simple afternoon of cooking with the super-hot new chef.
What I ended up with was so much more than that.
“In here!” he responded, and I followed his voice to the dining room.
I gasped when I turned the corner and the scene unfoldedbefore me.
The house lights were dimmed, and what seemed like hundreds of candles glowed around the space, atop each of the tables and along the mantle, above the crackling fire lit in the hearth. In the center stood Ezra, alongside a table topped with two domed dishes and a bottle of white wine.
