Chapter 12 Ella
Chapter twelve
Ella
As she and Beatrice rode toward Dietrich, a carriage, a woman, and two girls, Ella seethed.
Had he really set her up like this? Was this the way she was going to meet her sisters—at an event she had no knowledge of?
She wanted to pummel him into next week.
How did he think it was okay to spring this surprise on her?
She glanced over at Beatrice, who was looking guilty.
“You knew?” she asked. She had expected this from Dietrich, but not Beatrice. She thought Beatrice was on her side.
“I’m sorry,” Beatrice said. “I didn’t want you to say no.”
“Yeah, he probably didn’t want that, either,” Ella muttered.
“He doesn’t know that I didn’t tell you,” Beatrice said. “I didn’t want him to have to make that decision.”
Ella frowned at Beatrice, who shrugged a little.
“I love Dietrich, but he doesn’t always make the best choices,” Beatrice said simply. “I thought perhaps it was best if I just made the decision for him. I’m sorry if that was the wrong decision.”
Ella sighed. She couldn’t be mad at Beatrice, even if she wanted to. And she definitely wanted to. But Beatrice’s intentions were pure.
“Will you forgive me?” Beatrice asked with a smile. “I would hate to know that you are upset.”
“I am upset,” Ella admitted, “but I will forgive you anyway.”
The real question was whether she should forgive Dietrich for organizing this behind her back without asking her if she was ready to meet her sisters.
She was inclined to say no. He had no right to spring this on her, and she wanted nothing more than to turn around and leave. But she wasn’t sure she knew how to turn around. She’d never ridden a horse before, and she was going to have difficulty getting down from here.
She sighed. Of course, when Beatrice had suggested they ride, she hadn’t thought it would be difficult. It was her own fault. She had been too stubborn to admit to Beatrice that she didn’t know how to ride and that perhaps it would be wiser to choose a different mode of transportation.
But now, here she was, on a horse, not knowing how she would get down—or if she would be able to move again. Her leg had already started to lock up, and she could only imagine how sore she was going to be very soon.
This was all Dietrich’s fault.
They reached Dietrich and the others, and when Beatrice pulled her horse to a stop, Ella’s horse stopped too—which was fortunate, as she didn’t know how to stop it herself.
“Hello,” Beatrice said, looking at the woman wearing a fine dress as Dietrich stepped up and helped Beatrice down. “Thank you,” she said politely before making her way to the other woman.
She could only be Duchess Regina Vaughn, Ella’s real stepmother.
Ella’s stomach churned at the thought. These were her stepfamily. She could only hope this experience would be better with them than it had been with her first.
“I am Beatrice Dunham,” she said, taking the duchess’s hands in hers. “It is so wonderful to meet you. I have heard wonderful things.”
“I’m Regina Vaughn, and given that my husband is the only one here who knows me well enough to be saying things about me,” the duchess said with a smile, “I’m going to assume it is all very biased, and you should only believe about a third of what has been said.”
Beatrice laughed and led the duchess away, allowing Ella a moment to speak to Dietrich first.
She was a good friend.
Dietrich moved closer to Ella. She glared at him, and he let out a chuckle.
“I deserve that, I know. Will you forgive me?” he asked.
“I’m inclined not to,” she said. “You seem to make a habit of doing things you think are good for me.”
He grinned. “I should apologize,” he said, “but I think you’ll find that I did a good thing with this one, and I am not inclined to apologize for that.”
“You should apologize anyway, instead of asking if I will forgive you without actually apologizing, which seems rather backward.”
Dietrich grinned. “Ella, I am sorry for inviting you on a picnic under false pretenses. Will you accept my apology and forgive me?”
Ella sighed. “If I must,” she said.
“May I help you down?” he asked.
“I don’t suppose I have another choice,” she said, though if the choice was between Dietrich and the men standing near the carriage, she would always choose Dietrich.
There was a twinkle in his eyes as he closed the distance between them. Did he realize that she was stuck on the horse?
“I promise I won’t let you fall,” Dietrich said.
He reached up, placed his hands on her hips, and helped her slide down.
As he lowered her to the ground, holding her firmly, her heart pounded in her chest from the close proximity.
He didn’t let go, keeping her steady, even after her feet were firmly planted on the ground.
“Wouldn’t want you to lose your balance,” he said, his voice husky.
“I don’t think there’s any danger of that,” Ella said, her voice catching.
“Just to be on the safe side,” he murmured, his gaze dropping to her lips.
Ella fought the sudden urge to press up on her tiptoes and kiss him. She shook herself and stepped back before she gave in to the impulse. Kissing Dietrich was not something she should be doing.
“Come and meet the young ladies,” Dietrich said, stepping back and applying gentle pressure to her lower back as he ushered her forward, catching her horse’s reins in his free hand as they walked.
Ella took a deep breath, her steps slow and halting.
Her heart had been pounding earlier from her nearness to Dietrich, but now it raced for an entirely different reason.
What if her sisters didn’t like her? What if her new stepmother was just as bad as the old one?
What if, instead of finding a family who loved her, she found more ridicule and hatred? The thought was almost unbearable.
She froze only a few feet away from them.
“This is my friend, Ella,” Beatrice said, raising a hand to urge her forward.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Duchess Vaughn said with a warm smile.
“The pleasure is mine, Your Grace,” Ella said, dipping into a curtsy. Beatrice had taught her how, and she no longer stumbled or fell over attempting it—an improvement over two days ago.
“I did not realize you would be joining us,” the duchess said, looking between Beatrice and Ella with a gentle laugh.
“When my husband told me the girls were going for a picnic to enjoy the sunshine, I thought it sounded so lovely, I couldn’t let them go without me.
So here I am. But how pleasant to make new friends, too. ”
Her laughter was musical—completely different from Tabitha’s calculating cackle.
For the first time, Ella felt hope stir in her chest. Was it possible this family could be better than the only one she’d known until now?
It seemed hard to believe there were truly kind people in the world, but someone whose laughter sounded like that couldn’t possibly be cruel.
“I’m very excited to make new friends here in the Northlands, and I hope you’ll count me among yours,” the duchess continued.
It took everything Ella had not to burst into tears. Dietrich must have sensed her emotions because he stepped forward.
“Let’s see what deliciousness the cook sent, shall we?” he said, ushering Ella gently forward with slight pressure on her lower back.
At first, his touch had felt like he was pushing her toward something she didn’t want, but now it felt comforting. Perhaps he had been right to arrange this after all. All her reasons for waiting paled now that she had met Duchess Vaughn.
As they rounded the carriage, Ella spotted a picnic blanket spread out on the grass. Two young girls sat on it, chattering excitedly.
“May I introduce my daughters, Celeste and Colette,” the duchess said warmly.
Ella smiled as the girls bounced to their feet and hurried over.
“Hello,” the older one said, dropping into a curtsy. “I’m Colette.”
“And I’m Celeste,” her sister added.
“I am Beatrice,” Beatrice said, smiling. “And this is my friend, Ella.”
Ella was grateful Beatrice handled the introductions because her throat felt tight.
She couldn’t speak as she took in the sight of the two girls.
They looked so much like she had at their age—though their hair was darker, likely inherited from their mother’s beautiful brown locks.
Their dresses were finer than anything Ella had ever worn, but their eyes.
.. Their eyes mirrored her own, and it was like looking into a reflection of her younger self.
Her knees felt weak, and she stumbled back slightly, grateful for Dietrich’s steadying hand.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she managed to choke out when the girls turned to her expectantly.
“I’m so excited for our picnic!” Colette said, bouncing back to the blanket.
Ella’s throat tightened further as a memory flashed through her mind: a similar day, with a similar blanket and a similar basket, but with an entirely different woman.
For the first time, she remembered her mother.
Her eyes filled with tears, and she turned toward Dietrich, who looked down at her with quiet understanding. He didn’t say anything, but he reached out and squeezed her hand briefly before letting go and stepping toward the blanket, a basket in hand.
When had he exchanged her horse for a picnic basket?
Beatrice urged Dietrich to join them, and the young ladies joined her until he gave in, giving Ella a sideways glance as he sat next to her on the only open place left on the blanket.
“Come join us, Ella,” Beatrice said quietly, sounding rather like a mama duck encouraging her duckling to jump in the water.
Ella took a deep breath and joined her family on the picnic blanket.
She didn’t want to waste another moment with them. She’d already spent far too long without them.