Page 80 of Four Dates and A Forever
“Mom?” she said, surprised to see Faye on her doorstep. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see my daughter on her big day,” Faye said, then she lowered her voice. “I didn’t barge in, did I? Is Susan gone?”
Elsie opened the door wider and waved Faye in. “She left about an hour ago.”
“How did it go?”
“Amazing. I mean, it couldn’t have gone better. I’m going to—” Elsie started to tell her about how she was going to be featured, but stopped. She wanted Rhett to hear it first. “I’m going to hear back from her team this week.”
“That’s fantastic. You must be so proud,” Faye said, and Elsie noticed that she hadn’t said, “I’m so proud.” She considered asking her mom if that pride extended to her but was unwilling to risk a Faye-ism.
Faye must have taken her pause for something more, because she hadn’t budged from the doorstep. “I’m sorry for barging in, but I wanted to give you this.” Faye held out a box—eggshell blue with a white bow.
“You aren’t barging in.”
“I know how you like a little notice before having visitors.”
Faye still held the box and Elsie realized she looked nervous. Her high-powered, take-life-by-the-balls mother was on unsure footing. Elsie didn’t know what to say. It was clear that Elsie’s need for control and order had somehow given her mom the impression that she wasn’t wanted. Elsie knew how that felt and it broke her heart that she’d made her mom feel the same kind of uncertainty when it came to doing things that mothers were supposed to do—like drop by their daughter’s house just because.
“Why don’t you come in. I can make us some coffee.”
Faye took a step back. “It looks like you’re headed out and really I wanted to drop this by.” Faye handed her the box and Elsie looked down. It wasn’t actually wrapped, there was just the bow. So there was nothing to conceal the fact that her mother had brought her a mini-architect building kit. “It isn’t anything big. More of a gag present really. But when I saw it at the art store, I thought that my interior architect of a daughter might get a kick out of it.”
Elsie’s eyes stung at her mother’s words. She hadn’t said decorator or designer. In her own way, Faye was acknowledging what Elsie had accomplished. And while she didn’t voice it, Elsie could tell her mom was proud.
Another first in her life. And one she’d cherish until the day she died.
Chapter Twenty
Dating Tips from Elsie Dodd
Show up and let yourself be seen.
For such a rule maker, Elsie had become an expert rule breaker. And she was about to break a big one. If she could get in.
She stood outside Stout in what had to be a line of fifty people deep. The event had already started. She could feel the bass thumping in her sternum, had heard Rhett introduce two acts thus far. She was still wearing the perma-grin from her meeting with Susan. And a warm lightness from her talk with her mom.
Bouncing on the balls of her toes and rubbing her arms to get the chill off from the crisp summer night, she craned her head to look down the street and take in the never-ending que. At this rate she’d get in after the show was finished and Rhett had performed his new song. Which would be a shame because she really wanted to be there for him, wanted to hear which song he’d picked. There was finally an album-full to choose from. So would it be the one about them or a different, not so personal one? In addition, she really wanted to see the look on his face when she walked in wearing the pair of mile-high heels she’d worn the other night in the music room and her upcycled T-shirt.
Then there were her pants—leather, tight, and fitting her body like a glove. She’d agreed to show up in a strict friend capacity, but her outfit screamed sex buddies. Which broke yet another rule—keeping things private. In fact, the one rule they hadn’t broken was no empty promises. And she knew in her heart that Rhett wasn’t the kind to make a promise lightly.
He’d been careful with what he’d asked of her, what he could offer and what he wanted—which was more time—and that terrified her as much as it secretly thrilled her. But when she’d shrugged off his offer for more—because she wasn’t sure she could do more once he left to go back on tour—he’d respected her decision. Yet now, with mere days before he left for LA, she was wondering if she could go through with it and actually call it quits. She’s never said a man-free diet, she’d said a dick-free diet, and Rhett was as far from a dick as Axel was to husband material.
Rhett was respectful, honest, gentle, and kind. He was also a man of his word. He may have ghosted her ten years ago, but they’d been kids with dreams that would take them in different directions and it had been the right call. Problem was, she didn’t know what was right for them this time around. They both had big dreams—dreams that conflicted and took them in opposing directions.
“Elsie?” a man who looked like Jason Statham with tattoos said, walking on the outskirts of the line and stopping in front of her.
She looked over her shoulder, to see if there was another Elsie standing behind her, because she had zero clue who this guy was. Then she noticed the piercing blue eyes and knew he was an Easton.
“You’re Elsie,” he stated. “I’m Owen, Rhett’s brother. He’s been peeking out the window for the past hour looking for you.”
A combination of excited flutters that he’d been waiting collided with guilt that he’d been waiting. “I’m sorry I’m late.”
“Oh, you’re just in time.”
“I got stuck in line.”
“You were on the list.”
