Chapter 15
Ellie
M oving into the garage apartment had become a rite of passage for the Mackenzie kids. Mason started it when she moved in there, and Blake spent some time living there when she moved to the Cove. Even her Aunt Walker had lived there for a spell. And now it was Ellie’s turn.
She’d beaten Brayden for it by using logic. He would be going away to college in the fall. Ellie would be living at home. It made the most sense for her to move in there.
Despite Brayden’s complaining, her parents had agreed, which was how Ellie found herself carrying boxes from her bedroom, down the stairs, out the front door, and over to the detached garage. And up yet another flight of stairs.
“We should have hired movers,” Mason groaned as she dropped a box by the top of the stairs. Ellie rolled her eyes as she unpacked a box of books and put them onto the shelf. “How did all this stuff fit into your room?”
“I honestly have no idea.”
The garage apartment was an open-concept design, with only the bathroom behind closed doors. At the top of the stairs was the living room, followed by the kitchen, a small dining room, and the bedroom. It wasn’t a huge space, but even Ellie’s childhood bedroom seemed to contain more than enough things to fill the apartment.
Granted, most of the larger furniture and décor had been in the apartment since Mason lived there. Ellie didn’t mind. Or rather, she didn’t have money to mind. Between school and plays, Ellie hadn’t had time to get a job. She hoped that would change in the summer.
After Cape Cod.
Ellie plopped down on the bed as Mason did the same. The gleam in her sister’s eyes told her she was up to something.
“What?”
“Where’s Sadie?” Mason’s eyes sparkled as she sat up, pulling a pillow to her chest as she crossed her legs. “Why isn’t she here helping you move?”
“Because my wonderful, beautiful sister is helping me.”
“Nice try,” Mason waved her off. “But really. Come on. Spill. What’s up with you and Sadie?”
Ellie felt her stomach fall to the floor as if she were on the Tower of Terror again. Meanwhile, her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. What did Mason know? Why was she asking about Sadie? She hadn’t said anything to Mason about there being anything between her and Sadie.
Because there wasn’t anything there.
Right?
“Eleanor,” Mason dramatically sighed, “come on. It’s me you’re talking to.”
“Yes, the annoying sister.”
“We both know that’s Everleigh.”
“That’s not fair. She’s twelve.”
“And annoying.”
“You just still haven’t forgiven her for that time she stuck a green bean up her nose when you were babysitting us all.”
“And spent four hours in the ER only for her to sneeze it out.”
As much as she teased, Ellie knew her sister loved her and her siblings more than anything, except maybe Chase. But regardless, Ellie knew she still ranked high in Mason’s eyes, and the feeling was mutual.
Of course, that didn’t mean Ellie wanted to tell Mason about her feelings for Sadie. But the look in Mason’s eyes told her she might as well start talking. Sighing, Ellie crossed her legs as she sat across from Mason on the bed.
“So,” she inhaled sharply, “there is a small chance that I might perhaps like Sadie as more than a friend.”
Saying the words out loud made Ellie feel oddly relieved.
Granted, the moment was fleeting.
Mason snorted a laugh. “Well, duh. Tell me something I don’t know.”
“How do you know?” She narrowed her eyes at Mason. “Did Blake tell you?”
“ Blake knew before me ?” Mason dramatically clutched her chest. “And here I was thinking I was your favorite sister. All those years of love and affection to be replaced by the sister who shows up years later.”
“Oh, please.”
Rolling her eyes, Ellie tried to figure out a way to tell Mason how Blake knew without telling her how Blake found out. As far as Ellie knew, neither Mason nor Chase knew about the photo incident. Or if they’d heard about it, they didn’t know Ellie had also been a recipient of the photo. There was no way in hell Mason wouldn’t have brought that up already.
“I knew something was up by the way you acted at the play.”
Ellie blinked rapidly. The play? What had they done at the play?
“What are you talking about?”
“Come on, Elle.” Mason’s arched eyebrow made her look more like Isla than Ellie would ever tell her. “Everyone noticed it.”
Ellie groaned. “Everyone? Even Mom and Mama?”
“Who do you think pointed it out first?”
Mason laughed, but Ellie failed to see the humor. So, her parents noticed something? And Mason? Who else had noticed anything? All they had done was hug after the play.
Okay.
Well.
It was a long hug.
And it was a hug that Ellie didn’t think she’d ever want to let go of.
But she and Sadie were just friends. As of now, anyway. Ellie assumed she knew that Sadie was thinking the same thing, but there was no way to know for sure without asking her. And the mere thought of confessing her feelings to someone made her stomach knot up. In her seventeen years, Ellie had never told anyone she liked them.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Mason reached out, putting a hand on Ellie’s knee. “We’ve all liked friends before and been confused over those feelings. It’s hard to know what to do because you don’t want to mess the friendship up.”
“I don’t.”
“But you want to know if there’s something more.”
Ellie tried to shrug nonchalantly. “I guess. But for now, we are just friends.”
Laughing, Mason stood and tossed the pillow at Ellie. “Yeah, see. Here’s the thing. I lost my virginity right over there to my best friend.”
“Who?” Ellie gasped, then cringed. “ Alexis ?”
“God, no,” Mason scoffed. “Thankfully, I never slept with her. Do you know how weird that would be now?
“No weirder than this current conversation.” Despite not wanting to know, Ellie also couldn’t help but ask, “So, who was it?”
“Morgan Fletcher.”
“Morgan isn’t gay,” Ellie laughed, but Mason didn’t. “Is she?”
“Oh, kid, we’ll have to fix your gaydar.”
Ellie watched as Mason walked over to the kitchen and took two soda bottles out of the fridge. She brought one over to Ellie before sitting back in the bed beside her.
“But take this advice from someone who’s been there. There’s nothing worse than not knowing if someone likes you back. Well,” she shrugged, “I mean, there is , but you know what I mean.”
“I think so.” She nervously tapped the lid of the water bottle. “So, what am I supposed to do? Walk up to Sadie and be like hey, I like you. ”
“That’s a start,” Mason chuckled. “But I saw you two playing pool the other day. It was very Julia Roberts in Mystic Pizza .”
Ellie blinked, confused.
“Who?”
Mason’s brow furrowed. “Julia Roberts,” Mason repeated slower. Then gasped. “Have you never seen Mystic Pizza ?”
“I dunno,” Ellie shrugged. “I don’t think so. Is it new?”
“ Is it new? ” Mason repeated, seemingly stunned. “It’s a classic eighties movie.”
“I was born way after that. And so were you.”
“I’m a nineties baby, thank you.”
“Well, regardless, I’ve never seen it.”
“Wow, our parents really failed you there.” Mason shook her head as she laughed. “Okay, it’s settled. We’re having a movie night. I need to educate you.”
“What are you educating her on?” Chase walked into the apartment carrying a few blankets from the main house. Her service dog, Scout, was by her side as usual.
“Ellie’s never seen Mystic Pizza .”
“Well, it came out before her time.”
“By about thirty years,” Ellie added.
“Eighteen,” Mason corrected. “But I get the point. She’s a baby. I keep forgetting.”
“I’m not a baby.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s right.”
Ellie could tell by the playful tone in Mason’s voice that she was about to tease her.
“Chase, did you know our musings over Ellie and Sadie are true?”
“Oh, God.” Ellie buried her face into a pillow as Chase walked over to the bed.
She was Sadie’s cousin . Ellie didn’t need her to know that information. Granted, if what Mason said was true, Chase already knew it by their hug after the play.
“Aww, Ellie,” Chase sat down on the opposite side of the bed, “that’s sweet. You two would make a cute couple. We all thought so.”
“Geez, thanks.” Slowly, Ellie pulled the pillow away from her face and looked up at Chase. “Was it really as obvious as Mason said?”
“Oh honey,” Chase laughed, “even Everleigh mentioned it.”
Ellie shot a glare at Mason, who held up her hands in response. “What? I told you everyone noticed?”
“But I didn’t know it was so obvious that a twelve-year-old noticed. Ugh!” Standing, Ellie began to pace the floor in front of the bed. “Oh, my God. If Everleigh noticed, that means Delaney and Charlie probably noticed, too.”
“They did,” Chase interjected.
“Great, so now everyone knows I like Sadie, but Sadie. Wonderful.”
Dramatically falling onto the end, Ellie stared up at the ceiling. Is this what having a crush feels like? Is your family always supposed to embarrass you? Ellie didn’t know.
Nor did she know how she was ever going to be able to look Sadie in the eyes again. What if she didn’t like Ellie? Not the way Ellie liked her at least. What if the reason they hadn’t kissed the other night was because Sadie didn’t want to and not because Everleigh showed up. Her mind was racing.
“El, for what it’s worth,” Chase’s voice was soft as she spoke, “I think Sadie feels the same way.”
Chase winked, making Ellie suddenly nervous. And yet she couldn’t stop the smile from spreading widely on her face.