Chapter Twenty
Ellie spent most of the following week working and settling into her new apartment.
Other than not seeing Jack, who’d mostly finished his work at Hampstead House, it made for a busy but exciting few days.
Seeing the murals take their final shape, seeing her possessions turn her empty apartment into a home—the concreteness of it was beyond satisfying.
Getting to spend the weekend with Jack, complete with a jaunt to Grumpy Old Goat on Saturday morning, made her feel like a legitimate adult. And a cool one at that.
Clover gave her a big hug. “I’m so glad you came.”
“Wouldn’t miss it.” She’d actually been relieved when Clover said that both Maddie and Kathleen had prior commitments.
She liked them both, but being the newbie in a gaggle of friends could be tricky sometimes.
Besides, after Jack’s disclosure about Clover’s relationship leanings, Ellie wanted to feel her out.
Not as a potential partner for Rhett, necessarily.
Just as a fellow queer poly person in a place where there probably weren’t too many.
“Now, you’re not super serious about your yoga, are you? I don’t want you to be disappointed in the caliber of the class.” Clover shrugged. “It’s mostly about the goats.”
“Rest assured, I’m not super serious about much.” She’d given that up a long time ago, after deciding it was a sure-fire way to wind up disgruntled or disappointed.
“Oh, good.” Clover hooked her arm through Ellie’s. “Let’s go set up our mats.”
They did, and Clover left Ellie to make friends with Delilah—one of the half dozen goats wandering around—while she went and saw to getting the other students and instructor situated.
Ellie scratched the Nigerian dwarf under her chin and surveyed the space.
It was a large room, with a high ceiling and exposed beams. Not a full-on dairy barn vibe, but close.
She contemplated talking up other people in the class but thought better of it. This was a moment to center, and to relax. Oh, and to love up on some goats.
Class started and, despite Clover’s warning about it not being overly serious, it covered the essential bases of moving, breathing, and holding poses that tested her muscles in both strength and flexibility.
But with comic relief. Like when she came into a cobra pose, only to have her chin licked by one of the kids.
She smiled. He bleated and bounced away.
By the end of class, she’d managed to break a sweat and have a good time, even if the meditative state she usually tried for remained elusive. But movement was movement, and she’d downright giggled at one point.
“So, what did you think?” Clover asked, wiping her face with a towel and scratching Delilah behind the ears.
“Definitely the most chaotic yoga class I’ve ever been to.” Ellie lifted a hand. “But I mean that in a good way.”
Clover laughed. “Could you please put that in a Google review?”
“Um, yeah. I could. I could probably say it nicer though.”
Clover shook her head. “No, no. We believe in truth in advertising here.”
“Fair enough.”
“Do you have to run? We’re doing a pseudo brunchy thing in the tasting room if you wanted to stick around.”
Other than doing some laundry—and maybe doing Jack—she had nothing on her agenda. “I’d love that.”
“Yay. Go find a table. I’m going to touch base with the instructor, and I’ll be there in a minute.”
She’d barely settled when Sy came over and offered her a big smile. “Hey, Ellie. Can I get you something?”
“Hey. I’m just waiting for Clover.” The second she spoke the words, Clover appeared. Ellie waved, though the room was small enough that she probably didn’t need to.
Clover headed over but was stopped twice on her way—once by a group of women who’d been in the class and once by an older gay couple who fawned over her and the tasting room and the food.
“I’m going to go rescue her,” Sy said. “Or it could be a while.”
Ellie smiled. “You two make a good team.”
“I like to think so.” Sy’s voice held affection. “If I don’t catch you before you leave, I hope we can all get together soon.”
“We should.” Even as Ellie agreed, she wondered if all was code for the three of them.
Or perhaps Sy meant a double date with Jack and Maddie.
Either way, she was game. She liked Jack’s family, his friends.
She didn’t quite think of them as her friends yet, but it didn’t feel like a reach. That was nice.
“Sorry I kept you waiting.” Clover slid into the seat across from her. “I forget how many people know who I am now.”
“It’s such a tradeoff, isn’t it?”
Clover looked around and let out a happy sigh. “Technically, yes. But it’s a freaking fantastic one.”
She let Clover pick some items from the menu.
Nothing fancy—bagels and pastries from the Sugar Shack, some locally smoked salmon with Sy’s version of cream cheese, and a quiche of the day with micro greens.
It covered the bases, though, and having both a mimosa and a fantastic cup of coffee made the experience downright indulgent.
As they ate, Clover studied Ellie. Ellie, knowing full well what came with that sort of scrutiny, braced herself for the well-intentioned interrogation. Clover abandoned her bagel and circled the rim of her mimosa glass with the tip of her finger. Ellie smiled.
Eventually, Clover said, “So, your friend, Rhett. Is she open to dating?”
Ellie barely held in a laugh. Not the interrogation she was expecting. Still, she noticed Clover’s choice of phrase. Not “single” or “seeing someone.” Not what their relationship status was, but what they might want it to be. “She’s getting there.”
Clover raised a brow. “That feels like a loaded answer.”
“She went through a pretty traumatic divorce, and I don’t think I’m betraying any confidences when I say she’s still licking her wounds. But I think she’s thinking about it.”
Rather than looking put off, Clover shook her head, all sympathy. “Divorce can be such a nightmare. It’s one of the reasons I have no intention of getting married to begin with.”
“Never?” Ellie asked, more curious than surprised.
“I’m what you call solo poly. I like forming deep and intimate connections, but I’m not looking to get married or nest with anyone.”
She chuckled before she could help herself. “Rhett’s the opposite. She craves the companionship of a primary partner but doesn’t feel like committing to someone has to be at the expense of all other connections.”
Clover tutted. “Perhaps not my type after all.”
“I hope you two can be friends, at least. She picked Bedlington on a whim, and I think she’s missing having a friend group and sense of community.”
“I’m always happy to offer both to a fellow queer. You should give her my number.” Clover winked. “And encourage her to use it.”
“I will.” Rhett likely wouldn’t, not because she hesitated to make the first move but because she was afraid of making any moves at all these days, even of the platonic persuasion.
But it didn’t mean Ellie couldn’t orchestrate some casual run-ins.
Again, not playing matchmaker, just helping Rhett get back on her feet as a cool, outgoing artist in a community of people who were primed to embrace her exactly as she was.
“Good.”
“I confess I expected you to needle me about my intentions toward Jack.”
Clover laughed. “Oh, no. Maddie might if she was here. Big sister prerogative and all. Me, I generally expect people to behave like mature adults with integrity unless they’re displaying signs to the contrary.”
“Ah.”
Clover lifted her chin. “I’ve got my eye on you, though.”
It was Ellie’s turn to laugh. “I’d expect nothing less. And for what it’s worth, I’d do the same.”
Clover seemed to consider that. Whether she was doing so in the context of their earlier conversation about Rhett, Ellie didn’t know. Either way, Clover gave a satisfied nod. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Thank you for the invite this morning. It was fun.” And nice to break out of her routine of spending all her non-work time with her mother, Rhett, or Jack.
“I’m so glad you came.” Clover glanced at the clock over the bar. “I hate to eat and run, but my weekend help called in sick and I’ve got some stalls to muck before evening milking.”
“Not all fun and games, is it?”
Clover canted her head. “The good stuff never is, right?”
She’d never have said it like that, but Clover’s words resonated. About work, about relationships, about so many things. She gave one of those slow, deep truth nods. “Never.”
* * *
“You want to get married here?” Maddie asked the question Jack was pretty sure everyone was thinking. Even though Rich had literally just said as much.
Rich’s face dominated the screen, like he was sitting too close to his own laptop. “Cherry loves all of you. And she’s decided a New England summer wedding would be much nicer than waiting until winter down here.”
Jack looked at his parents’ and siblings’ faces rather than his uncle. Dad looked incredulous while Mom seemed amused. Maddie seemed suspicious, but she often did when anyone behaved in a way she didn’t expect.
“What exactly did you have in mind?” Mom asked.
“Backyard, close friends and family. End of July, after the worst of the biting flies have come and gone.”
“Is this really Cherry’s idea?” Dad lifted his chin. “Or is it your way of saving a few bucks?”
Rich rolled his eyes, more exasperated than offended. “It’s all her. She insisted I talk with you without her on the line so you could veto it without having to hurt her feelings to her face.”
Jack didn’t care one way or the other—aside from what Rich’s decisions said about his grand plan of cashing out his share of the business.
That said, he couldn’t help but have a soft spot for the woman his uncle had fallen head over heels in love with in a matter of weeks.
The whole family had been dead set on disliking her, and she’d turned out to be one of the sweetest humans any of them had ever met.
“Of course you’ll do it here, if that’s what the two of you want.” Mom shot Dad a stern look. “And we’ll do it at our house since the yard is bigger.”
Rich blustered. “Cherry had hoped for that, but she didn’t want to impose.”
“Nonsense. She’s going to be family. There’s no such thing as imposing.” Mom gave the sort of nod that settled things—decisions, arguments, and all manner of things in between.
“I tried to tell her, but she was all in a tizzy about it.” Rich shook his head. “I’m going to have her call you to talk details. You know all this wedding planning business is over my head.”
Everyone laughed because it was true. And because it was just the sort of thing a boomer getting married at sixty could get away with.
They moved to the actual business of the meeting.
Mostly updates on jobs and leads on new ones.
Rich had been zooming in since he and Cherry had gone back to Florida, but it remained to be seen if that was his way of reengaging or keeping tabs.
As far as Jack was concerned, every week Rich didn’t bring up selling his half was another week they had to figure out how to buy him out with the reserves they had on hand.
He and Logan had looked into refinancing the duplex.
Maddie had sold her house to move in with Sy.
They were in better shape than they’d been six months prior, but it would still be a stretch to buy Rich’s share outright.
Maybe with his bride-to-be so enamored with Vermont and the Barrow clan, it wouldn’t come to that.
He didn’t like to count on things working themselves out in the end, but it didn’t hurt to put good vibes out into the universe.
When Rich logged off, Jack debated heading to Hampstead House to check on the punch list or trailing after Maddie to a basement refinish in town.
He and Ellie felt a little bit like ships in the night lately, with Ellie racing to finish the murals and him pretty much done with the electric and focused on other jobs.
They’d managed to spend a couple of nights together, but even those consisted of late dinners and tumbling into bed exhausted.
The exhaustion didn’t prevent them from getting up to all manner of hot sex, but it made mornings inevitably brutal.
The cumulative effect had him longing for a weekend with nothing but low-grade project puttering and time with Ellie.
Jack decided to text Ellie as much, then head out with Maddie. She responded immediately. If you trust Rhett to watch Dot and Sophia, I want to make you dinner at my place. Followed by: Yes, I already asked her. She’s happy to, in general but especially for hot dates.
He wasn’t in the habit of using the phrase “hot date,” mostly because it implied a cool factor he didn’t even pretend to aspire to.
But Ellie’s playful tone—the same one he would have found grating only weeks before—made him smile.
It must be all the sex. That would make anyone a little softer around the edges.
Not that he made a point of being unnecessarily hard, but he had enough self-awareness to know this was a departure from the norm.
As was relying on people who weren’t family.
But Rhett was a great tenant, and they’d become friendly if not full-on friends, a distinction he made mostly because Rhett was Ellie’s best friend, and he knew a thing or two about boundaries.
In any case, everything about Ellie’s offer felt good and, curmudgeon or no, he wasn’t in the business of shutting down anything that sat safely in the realm of good. Sign me up.