Chapter 21
Little Rock, Arkansas
Ben and Ella spent the first week in Arkansas with Ben’s parents in Searcy.
The plan had been for them to take a few days and find a place of their own in Little Rock.
That plan went up in smoke almost from the moment Ben stepped off the plane.
He got caught up in the whirlwind swirling around his dad’s campaign, which left him too busy to carve out any time to go apartment hunting.
He promised Ella that he would go several days in a row, only to have his day hijacked by one major meeting after another.
Because Ella did not know the city, she was uncomfortable going by herself.
In the end, one of Bennett’s assistants made a call and found them a brand new, three-bedroom luxury condo.
It was gorgeous with views of downtown and an outdoor patio.
The kitchen was outfitted with all new stainless steel appliances.
It had hardwood floors and incredible crown molding throughout.
The closet space was more than triple any Ella had ever seen.
It came with parking and an in-unit washer and dryer, and the complex boasted a gym, pool, party room, and outdoor space.
It was nicer than any place Ella had previously lived—even Ben’s old apartment in Malibu.
On moving day, Ben declared they needed all new furnishings because the sofa and chairs he had brought back from California were too worn out and shabby for such an elegant new space.
Instead of moving it in, he paid the movers to donate it.
Ella was shocked. She could not believe he had paid to have it transported across the country only to give it away.
Such a waste of money bothered her. Honestly, the furniture was in better shape than most of what Ella’s parents had back home.
But Ella did not say any of that. It was Ben’s money.
They had only been married a couple of weeks.
They were still in the honeymoon phase, and she wanted to keep it that way.
If Ben wanted new furniture and could afford it, what did she care?
That thought would come back to bite her on the butt when she realized Ben expected her to take on the task of replacing the old furniture with new, along with decorating the apartment.
Truth was, she had never outfitted a home before and had no idea where to start.
In her world, families came together to set up the homes of young couples.
She had never known anyone who just went out and bought all new things.
She had never felt more intimidated than the first time she walked into the high end designer furniture store the assistant suggested she use.
She felt like Vivian, the Julia Roberts character from Pretty Woman.
She had money, she needed to spend it, but no one would help her.
Or at least that was what she told herself when she came home with absolutely nothing after an exhausting day of furniture shopping.
Ella could tell that Ben was frustrated with her lack of progress on outfitting the condo, but he tried not to show it.
Being Ben, he promised that the next Saturday, they would go shopping and get everything they needed.
Of course, as with all best laid plans, they went astray.
Ben and his dad were invited to play golf at one of the exclusive golf courses in Little Rock.
He had been dying to play it for years, so when the invite came, he had to take it.
Ella nodded and said it was fine, so while Ben had a ball playing golf, she put on her big girl panties and took herself shopping.
Again. Refusing to come home empty-handed this time, Ella managed to find a few pillows, a picture frame, and a throw—but no furniture.
There were too many choices, and the more choices Ella was offered, the less she knew what she wanted.
What Ella really wanted was for someone else to choose for her.
In the end, that was what happened. And in the end, Ella learned a valuable lesson: Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.
The next week, a load of new furniture was delivered, along with a few well-chosen art pieces.
Realizing that Ella was never going to pick anything out on her own and being tired of having nowhere to sit, Ben asked the assistant who scored the unit to furnish it.
He was trying to be helpful. And he was.
Mostly. Ella had to admit she was glad they now had a place to sit and the chore of decorating it had been taken off her.
At the same time, she was irritated that no one had bothered to ask her if she even liked any of it before it was delivered.
Ella should not have been surprised. No one spent a lot of time asking her opinion about anything these days.
She had been sliding down that slippery slope since the past Thanksgiving when no one asked her if she was okay with moving to Arkansas for Ben to do his Poli Sci grad internship.
Or if she was okay with moving 2,000 miles away from her family.
Or if she minded having to find a new doctor to deliver her baby.
Or if she was okay living in downtown Little Rock in a high-rise condo and driving the new Lexus SUV that was so large and boxy that she was afraid to drive it, much less park it.
Nope. No one asked her opinion about anything.
Ella was not stupid or ungrateful. She realized that the life she was living would be considered incredible by most people. But she was not most people.
The two times Ella grumbled to Julia and Sophie about all this, they teased her about how sad it was she was being treated like a princess.
But that was part of the problem. She never asked to be treated like a princess.
She simply wanted to be treated like an equal and allowed to weigh in on the decisions that concerned her life—not be treated like a child or worse an accessory.
However, Ella was quickly learning that her role was to say thank you and be grateful that someone was doing all of these things for her because if she was doing them for herself, it would take much longer and require someone to help her, and no one, Ben included, seemed to have that kind of time.
Instead, she was supposed to just go along with everything and try not to add any complication.
So that was what she did. But with every new decision that was made for Ella, she felt her life spinning more and more out of her control.
While Ella’s life was being taken over by others, Ben’s was consumed by the campaign, fundraisers, and strategy meetings.
The election was just nine months away. Time was of the essence.
For Ben’s dad to win, it needed to be all hands on deck.
Ella would have been happy to help, but all anyone wanted from her was to show up at events and be Ben’s lovely, silent wife.
She was expected to dress up, smile, and say as little as possible.
Thank goodness Poppy had talked Ella into getting those outfits over Thanksgiving.
She could not imagine what she would have worn if she had not.
To the best of her ability, Ella tried to stay out of everyone’s way and go along with whatever they asked—until one day things went too far.
Suddenly, Ella found herself drawing a hard line in the sand of her life.
In late January, Ben’s new assistant, formerly his dad’s assistant who had gotten the condo and arranged for the furnishing, sent Ella a message saying she had made her a prenatal appointment with a leading obstetrician, who happened to be male.
Ella had not asked her to do that. In fact, Ella had already found her own doctor—a female obstetrician because she felt more comfortable with a woman.
But no one knew that because no one bothered to ask.
If they had, she would have told them. When Ella had gotten the message, she called and canceled the appointment.
She had planned on telling Ben about the change, but it slipped her mind.
He did not get home until late that night and every single night that week.
That Saturday night, Ben asked her to accompany him to Searcy for the yearly gala.
His parents could not attend, and his dad asked them to represent the family.
Ella was hopeful they would have time to talk on the drive about her new doctor and update him on her next appointment in case he wanted to go with her.
Ben had promised to be home early. At the last minute, Ben called Ella and told her that George, another member of the campaign team, needed to hitch a ride with them.
He asked Ella to meet him downstairs in twenty minutes with his tux.
She had already packed an overnight bag so they could spend the night at his parent’s house.
Not wanting to get ready there, she quickly threw on her dress for the evening when Ben picked her up.
She had hoped Ben would see her and comment on how nice she looked.
With nothing else to do all day, she had made an effort with her hair and makeup.
However, when she got into the car, Ben and George were so engrossed in their conversation, Ben barely acknowledged her, other than reaching over to give her a quick kiss.
Needless to say, Ella did not bring up her new doctor with someone else in the car.
She hoped they would be able to discuss it later in the evening.
The two men talked the whole hour to Searcy.
Ella had never felt so invisible, at least not until later that night at the gala.