Chapter 43
Wes
When we walk downstairs after Izzy and Elli’s heart-to-heart, it looks like the entirety of the congregation is packed into the living room. Izzy’s down the stairs first, followed by Elli, and then me, and Elli freezes at the bottom so I end up bumping into her back.
She turns to me with her eyes as wide as saucers. “Oh my god,” she whispers. “Packer and his wife are here. She’s the blonde in the blue dress who is obviously pregnant.”
I glance around and spot a guy around our age with brown hair expertly gelled in the front, a clean shaven face, and a snazzy gray suit with his arm around a younger blonde in a blue maxi dress with a baby bump.
Damn, she looks like she’s Izzy’s age. But from what Elli told me, Packer’s bride is only a year older than Izzy so that makes sense.
“Why would he be here?” I ask.
“My mother.” Elli seethes. “She must get a kick out of making me miserable.” Elli takes a deep breath, then when she releases it, she plasters on a fake smile. “Let’s get this over with.”
She grabs my hand and we slowly make our way to the edge of the room and grab empty chairs by the back door. The girl Elli pointed out at the church- Hannah, I think- sits down next to Elli and they hug.
“Hannah, this is my boyfriend Wes. Wes, this is my cousin Hannah.” Elli says, now with a genuine smile.
I stick my hand out to Hannah, who’s looking a little confused, but she grabs it anyway and says, “Nice to meet you. So, um, how did you guys meet?”
I smile, “Izzy’s boyfriend is like a little brother to me, and he asked me to go on a blind date with Elli so he and Izzy could go on a date. I knew after that date I wanted her. It took us a minute to get the timing right, but now we’re here.”
“That’s beautiful.” Hannah says, looking a little melancholy about it.
“Izzy told me you were living with your parents again…” Elli says carefully. “If you don’t want to talk about what happened with Liam, totally understandable. Just know I’m here, and I won’t judge you.”
Hannah gives Elli an appreciative smile, then looks around to see if anyone is listening to our conversation.
“We’re in the process of a divorce. I had a few miscarriages and he said he realized he didn’t want kids.
Which is fine, but I thought we were on the same page, you know?
He also told me he… wasn’t attracted to me anymore.
He said he misses the way my body looked when we first got married. ”
What a fucking asshat!
I am totally devoted to Elli, but I can appreciate that Hannah is beautiful. She’s curvy, like her cousin, has stunning hazel eyes and naturally pouty lips. Her hair is long and golden blonde, and she seems extremely sweet.
“Well, Hannah, I don’t know your ex but I’d guess he was an absolute idiot. You are beautiful, and anyone who can’t see that is probably looking through distorted glasses.” I say quietly so only she and Elli can hear.
Hannah blushes, “Thanks, Wes. That’s nice of you to say.”
Elli places a hand on Hannah’s knee, “Wes doesn’t say things just to say things.
He truly means what he says, and he’s right.
Liam is an idiot. Of course your body doesn’t look the same as it did when you were eighteen!
It’s been eight years. Your body is going to change and that’s okay.
I’m sorry about the miscarriages. That must have been awful. ”
Eighteen?! That’s so young!
“Thanks Elli. I’m glad you’ve found someone like Wes.” Hannah looks at me, “You seem like a really great guy. Treat my cousin right, okay?”
I squeeze Elli’s shoulder, “I plan on it.”
Elli looks at me with a beaming smile, and looks like she’s about to say something when a loud whistle comes from the center of the room.
“Alright,” Elli’s dad starts, “thank you all for coming to see Spencer off. We’re so proud of him and his decision to serve the Lord.
The food is ready to be eaten, so we’re going to have a blessing before we line up and dig in.
” Then he bows his head, as does everyone else, and says another prayer.
Once the “amen” is mumbled by everyone else in the room, all the moms line up with their kids and get them settled with food, and then everyone else joins in.
Once Elli and I have gotten our food, Elli leads me out the back door and to the backyard patio where there are a few tables and chairs set up. Hannah follows us out and joins us at a table and we chat about our lives while we eat.
“Have you heard anything from Emma lately?” Elli asks Hannah during a lull in the conversation.
Hannah nods, “Yeah, we text every so often. She called me when she saw me change my name back on Facebook and we talked for a while. She’s thriving in California.
She’s got a bunch of tattoos, even pierced her nose.
I’m happy for her. I know her mom is pissed that she hasn’t made an effort to come home, but who can blame her?
With the way her family treated her? I wouldn’t want to come home either. ”
Elli turns to me, “Emma’s older brother died by suicide seven years ago, and after that, a lot of her siblings started treating her like she was a nuisance instead of part of the family. She ended up moving out to California with her best friend Jordan and their family.”
I nod, almost positive there’s more to that story, but I won’t be asking about it right now.
Hannah perks up and leans over the table conspiratorially, “Did you hear that Uncle John and Aunt Pam sold their house and moved to a farm outside of Independence?”
“Missouri?” Elli clarifies.
Hannah nods. “Yeah. According to my mom, they’ve joined a different sect of Mormonism and John’s like super important in the organization.”
Elli gapes at Hannah’s gossip, “No shit.” She winces, “Sorry.”
Hannah waves her off, “No worries. It’s not like I haven’t heard worse.”
“Why did they move all the way to Missouri?” I interject.
“Oh, that’s where Mormons believe the Garden of Eden is.” Elli explains.
“Are you serious? They think that it was in Independence, Missouri? Why would it be there?
Elli and Hannah shrug in unison.
“All I know is that a lot of people are moving there because they think the Second Coming is happening soon and that’s apparently the place to be when it happens.” Hannah explains.
“Someone should warn the residents of the city.” Elli says, making Hannah and I laugh.
“What’s so funny over here?” Someone asks, and I look up to see a middle aged couple.
The woman looks similar to Elli’s dad, Kent.
They have similar nose shapes and similar eyes.
This must be one of his many sisters- her family tree is bigger than a live oak.
Next to her is a tall gangly man with only a thin ring of gray hair around his otherwise bald head.
“Hey Aunt Shelly, Uncle Mitch.” Elli says. “This is my boyfriend, Wes. Wes, these are Hannah’s parents, Shelly and Mitch.”
“Nice to meet you, sir, ma’am.” I say politely with a head nod, since I’m too far away to shake hands.
“What on earth would make you want to pierce your nose?” Mitch asks me, glaring at the offending piercing.
“Dad!” Hannah chastises, looking embarrassed.
“No, it’s okay Hannah. It was an impulsive decision I made as an eighteen year old, and I’ve just never taken it out.”
Mitch grunts in response, then sits down on one side of Hannah and Shelly sits on the other side.
“Did your tattoos hurt?” Shelly asks, delicately slicing a piece of strawberry with her fork.
“The ones on my ribs hurt much worse than the ones on my arms.” I say honestly.
Shelly’s eyes widen, then she just nods and continues to pick at her food.
“What do you do for a living? I can’t imagine many jobs would want to hire someone who looks like you.” Mitch says bluntly.
“Dad! Please! That was so rude!” Hannah whisper-yells.
I grin, liking that Hannah feels the need to stick up for me. “I’m actually a music teacher at a private school. They don’t care about the tattoos as long as there’s no gang, drug, or alcohol paraphernalia, or any naked bodies visible.”
“Wes is also a talented musician. He actually just got offered a spot on tour with a popular band.” Elli chimes in, and my heart grows three sizes at the pride in her voice.
“Well, isn’t that lovely.” Shelly says.
“That’s super cool, Wes. Which band?” Hannah asks.
“Keely and the Kissers.”
“Oh! I love them! I saw they were going on tour, and I was thinking about buying tickets since they’ll be stopping in Salt Lake. Now I’ll for sure have to come!” Hannah says excitedly.
“I’ll see what I can do about getting you free tickets. You’re family, after all.”
“That would be amazing.” Hannah turns to Elli, “If he’s stopping in San Diego, make sure to tell Emma. I’m sure she’d love to come see him perform. Maybe you can fly out and see the show with her!”
Elli looks a little sheepish as she replies, “I’m actually going to be joining him on the tour. My job allows me to work from anywhere, so I’m going to follow him around and be his own personal groupie. So I’ll be at the show in Salt Lake and be able to keep you company.”
“Elliana,” Shelly gasps, “a musical tour is no place for a young lady. What does your mother think about this?”
“Mom doesn’t know yet. And I’m an adult who can make my own decision, Aunt Shelly. I don’t need anyone’s permission.” Elli looks to the back door. “It looks like Izzy needs some help with something. Come help, Wes?”
I nod, then look at Shelly and Mitch. “It was nice to meet you two. Hannah, I’m looking forward to getting to know you better.”
Hannah offers me a small, apologetic smile and a nod while her parents glare at me disapprovingly.
Elli leads me into the house, Izzy nowhere to be found, and takes me back up the stairs to Izzy’s bedroom. I got a good look at it when we were here earlier, but I didn’t get much of a chance to ask questions about things.
Elli doesn’t close the door, which must be a habit from her childhood, but plops down on the bed and groans.
“I’m so sorry, Wes. I thought Shelly of all people would be cool around you. She’s always seemed the least crazy. Guess I was wrong.”
“It’s okay baby, nothing I couldn’t handle.” I pause to look at some pictures on the wall, “This was your room too, right?” I ask.
“Yeah, why?”
“There doesn’t seem to be much you in here. It seems mostly Izzy.”
“Well, you’ve met Izzy. She’s got a big personality.” Elli sighs, coming to stand next to me and look at the pictures. “I never really had anything other than these pictures of my siblings and I. I used to keep everything important to me under my bed, and even then, it wasn’t a lot of things.”
I hum in acknowledgement.
“Elliana!” Elli’s mom’s voice cuts through the silence from down the hall. “I need your help cutting the cake!”
Elli huffs and rolls her eyes. “Coming, Mom.” Then she says quietly, “Come on. One more hour and then we can go back to the hotel, okay? I need to get out of this dress ASAP.”
“I can definitely help you out with that.” I purr in her ear and watch as a shiver runs down her spine.
“I don’t doubt it.” She trails a hand down my chest seductively, then leads me out of the room and back to the kitchen.
I stand out of the way while Elli helps Louise cut a big chocolate cake. Louise complains that Elli’s cutting the pieces too big, then too small when Elli tries to correct the error and I’m half a second from stepping in.
“Elli, go get the ice cream from the garage.” Louise barks.
“I’ve got it.” I say, already headed to the door.
“No-” Louise starts, but gets distracted by someone else coming to talk to her.
I walk through the kitchen to the garage and decide which of the three freezers to check first. The first one doesn’t have the ice cream, so I open the second and find a big gallon container of vanilla.
Bingo.