Chapter 2 #2
She shrugged. She didn’t mind. Helping others gave her joy. A sense of purpose, at least. And if it involved using her creative skills, all the better. Even if EJ had said that helping others pro bono all the time was scarcely the way one should run a business.
Katie grabbed the phone and beamed at Gran. “Hi Gran! I think it’s an awesome idea to keep the celebrations going. And you know me. I’m always up for nice opportunities to do something special.”
Ellie rolled her eyes. “Gran, you really don’t have to—”
“Gran,” Katie interrupted. “I’m really happy if you want to—”
“Now, girls, that’s enough,” Mum said, smiling. “Let Mother do what she wants to do, okay?”
Gran was nodding. “So, I thought, especially considering the terrible journey you had home—”
“I felt like I needed a holiday from my holiday,” Katie complained.
“Well, that’s exactly why I thought you might enjoy a little stay away.”
Ellie’s head tilted. “I beg your pardon?”
“There’s a little something on your beds that your mother printed out for you both. Well, go on. Have a look.”
Ellie hurried to her bedroom and saw an envelope on the bed. Huh. Stealthy Mum. She hadn’t seen that earlier. She snatched it up, then returned downstairs.
“You can open it now if you wish.”
Gran wasn’t one of those people who insisted on Ellie waiting until her birthday to open special somethings.
She used her fingernail to pry open the envelope and pulled out a card.
She smiled. Maybe it made her just as emotionally immature as her sister, but she’d always gotten a kick out of her birthday.
She read the card, even as she could hear Katie shrieking in excitement. Okay, whatever it was, it must be pretty good for Katie to carry on like that.
She glanced up, tapped the card. “Thanks, Gran.”
“You’re welcome, love.”
Ellie blinked as unexpected emotion heated the back of her eyes.
Weird. She wasn’t the emotional one. Ever.
In fact, she’d often felt like the odd duck in this family, with only her father having a personality like hers.
The fact that Gran, of all people, seemed to understand this and accept her, felt … special.
She unfolded the piece of paper that had been in the envelope, then felt her eyes widen.
“What is it?” Liv asked.
She read from the paper. “‘This voucher entitles you to a weekend’s accommodation in a deluxe room at the Hydro Grand Hotel in the Blue Mountains, breakfast included. And an evening meal and entertainment at the Clue-Done-It art deco–inspired murder mystery weekend.’ Oh my goodness!
” Ellie glanced at the screen. “Gran, you didn’t have to do this. ”
She smiled. “I know.”
“But … it’s too much.”
“Not when other family members might’ve decided to chip in.”
Liv grinned. “Liam wanted you to know how much he appreciated all you did. I know you said you didn’t want to get paid for doing the Hall’s website, but this felt like a little way to say thanks.”
“Little? It’s huge. It’s amazing. I don’t know what to say.”
“How about ‘thanks’?” Liv teased.
“Th–thank you. Thank you so much.”
“Art deco is your favourite style period, right?” Gran asked.
She nodded, as Katie’s glee spilled over.
“I can’t wait to do the murder mystery! I’ve always loved those kinds of things, and now we get the chance to do one ourselves!”
“Oh, it does sound like fun,” Mum said wistfully. “I wonder if there are any tickets left?”
“Mum, no,” Liv said firmly. Mum was always inclined to want to join in. “It’s all sold out, anyway.”
“Oh, that’s such a shame. I do love the Blue Mountains. Maybe your father and I could stay somewhere nearby and—”
“Elizabeth,” Gran said. “This is the girls’ present. Besides, who will look after the teashop if you’re off gallivanting as well?”
“Oh, I’m sure Annabelle wouldn’t mind. She’s such an obliging girl, always willing to help.”
“You don’t want to use up all of her goodwill, though,” Liv warned. “Better save some for when you really need her to help out at the shop.” Like when the whole family was planning to go to Liv’s wedding in England at the end of the year.
Mum sighed. “Very well. I suppose there will be other opportunities to stay at the Hydro Grand.”
“I’m sure there will be,” Liv soothed. Then she smiled at Ellie. “Looks like you two will be having another adventure!”
Ellie smiled. “Bring it on.”
Her spirits lifted. Today might’ve had its challenges, but it had ended on the right note.
Ouch! Ethan clutched his face as the basketball fell to the floor with a thud. Looked like today was ending the way it had started. Painfully.
“Ethan! Man, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you.”
He shook his head, trying to clear the stars from his vision. Poor Zac didn’t need to take on more blame in his life. “Wasn’t your fault,” he assured. “I should’ve paid better attention.”
He staggered to the sidelines, wishing he’d tried harder at sports in school. Wanting to earn the respect of teens and playing poorly wasn’t the way. Still, most of the kids here knew he cared about them, so he hoped that counted for something.
The evening continued with a Bible study and prayers, and he made a point of showing Zac there were no hard feelings, listening as the foster kid talked about his new family.
Things that were good, positive. Ethan tried to encourage that as much as possible.
The world could be a pretty dark place sometimes.
Zac knew that better than most. The fact the boy was allowed to come to youth group felt like a major win in his book.
Parent pick-up saw Ethan fending off more gasps as parents collected their children and the youth reverted to their usual language and manners.
Most of them weren’t churchgoers, at least not at this church.
So Ethan was kept busy building what connections he could to help people feel comfortable.
That he was (a) a lawyer and (b) a “churchie” was enough to put off most people.
Except those parents who didn’t mind some free babysitting on a Friday night.
“Looks like you’ll have a nice bruise tomorrow,” Charlene, his youth group coleader said.
“Just how I like to start my weekend.”
She smirked. “I bet Lucinda will be thrilled.”
He withheld a sigh. There was no love lost between Charlene and Lucinda.
Lucinda—she was never Lucy—had got a lot of people offside over the years with her demands that Ethan leave youth early or not show up at all.
And while he’d been adamant that he’d made a commitment, and a commitment was something he kept, she didn’t seem to appreciate that.
But still. He’d grown up with a father who always promised one thing, then did another, so Ethan had determined to live his life just the opposite.
A man’s word was his bond, after all. And broken promises built a reputation that was the opposite of how a Christian should live.
And as Ethan was trying to do his best to reflect Jesus in every aspect of his life, he wasn’t about to let a woman like Lucinda dictate how he spent his Friday nights.
Even if he had an unnerving feeling that he was enmeshed a little too much with her, in yet another promise—or half promise, he no longer remembered—that would likely see his future permanently entwined with hers.
“Why are you looking like that?” Charlene asked.
“Like what?”
“Like you’d rather face a hippopotamus in the Zambezi River than explain what happened to Lucinda.”
He swallowed. Because he figured death would be easier than facing the woman many people thought of as his girlfriend. Even if she didn’t hold that status in his heart anymore.
Had she ever? Maybe. Once upon a time. Until he’d gotten serious about God and realised that Lucinda’s faith was close to nonexistent. Which made life tricky, considering what he’d once promised his mum.
“Oh well. Looks like you won’t have to explain. Look who’s just rocked up.”
He turned and met Lucinda’s ever-widening gaze.
“Oh my gosh! What happened to you?”
“Just a close encounter of the basketball kind.”
Her brows slashed together. “Who did this to you? I happen to know a good lawyer so you can sue.”
“Relax. It was an accident.”
Her face eased, though her frown remained as she glanced at Charlene and nodded.
Charlene nodded back, with that fake smile she used with people she didn’t like.
The nonverbal standoff would likely go on forever if he let it. Charlene had mentioned before how rude she thought Lucinda was, waltzing in with barely an acknowledgement of other people, like she thought herself better than most.
Lucinda turned to him. “So, are you ready to go?”
“I’ve got to pack up these chairs.”
“Oh, can’t someone else do that? You’re expected to do so much already. And for free.” She shot Charlene a glance, then looked back at Ethan. “It’s not like you’re the paid youth worker here.”
Because the paid youth worker earned a fraction of his salary. He’d made it clear when he took on this role that he would do it only on a voluntary basis. “Don’t start again.”
“Start again? I’m simply pointing out facts.” Lucinda huffed. “Honestly, sometimes I get the feeling that you don’t want me around.”
That feeling could be because it was true. But he was loath to hurt a woman’s feelings. Not when he’d seen how his father’s lies had hurt his mother over the years. Until the lies couldn’t hurt her anymore.
“I’ll be five minutes.” He nodded to where a couple of teens waited near the door. “You could always go talk to Cressida and Drew.”
“No thanks.” She glanced at her phone instead, ignoring everyone else, and he gritted out a smile at Charlene, who only rolled her eyes.