Chapter 12
“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!”
“Katie, calm down.” Ellie chuckled as her sister raced into her room, holding her phone. “What’s the matter with you?”
“Look!” Katie held out her phone.
“I can’t see anything—you keep moving it.”
“I can’t believe it. He seemed so into—”
At the abrupt end of sentence and the way Katie bit her lip, misgiving stole through her. “What’s happened?”
“It’s Ethan.”
Her heart thudded as fear shrieked inside. “He’s not dead, is he?”
“No. But … Oh, Ellie. I’m so sorry.”
She tugged the phone from her sister’s grasp and finally read the post. Short and snappy, the “I said yes!” coupled with a diamond ring and a picture of a heavily lashed woman being kissed could only mean one thing.
And the fact that man looked awfully like the man who had kissed Ellie on the cheek a week ago could only mean another.
Her heart crumpled. “Oh my gosh.”
Far from the genuine Christian man she believed him to be, Ethan seemed as much of a user as she had suspected Jason of being.
And while Katie and Jason seemed to be going great guns—he’d taken her to dinner at Doyle’s at Sydney’s Watson Bay on a seaplane—this picture only confirmed what yesterday’s no-show had suggested.
That Ethan was the player, and she, sensible, practical Elinor, had been played.
She pressed her lips together, feeling the intensity of her sister’s scrutiny.
No way did she want to deal with Katie’s sympathy.
Let alone her mum’s. Their emotions were always so big, their pity would be awful.
So the best thing she could do would be to pretend this didn’t hurt like the soul-crushing weight it was. Lord, give me strength.
She drew in a steadying breath. “Huh. Well, there you go.”
Katie blinked at her. “There you go? Are you serious? That’s all you’ve got to say?”
Nope. She had a lot more she could say, would like to say, but it probably wasn’t wise. With a Herculean effort, she shrugged and kept her face blank. “I was obviously wrong about him.”
“I’ll say,” Katie muttered, quickly adding, “I mean, we were all wrong about him. Even Jason thought Ethan was really into you.”
“I didn’t know my relationship status—or lack thereof—was of interest to Jason.”
“Of course it is. You’re my sister, so of course he’s interested.”
Huh. That was a surprise.
“You’ve misjudged him.”
Maybe she had. “I’m—I’m glad you are having fun with him.”
“Oh, I am. He’s so sweet and thoughtful.”
“Do you have plans to go out again?”
“He said something about a party this weekend in Sydney. I thought I’d try to stay with Emma-Jane again, so you don’t need to worry.”
“I trust you.”
“Really?”
She nodded.
“Oh!” Katie encased her in a huge hug, toppling her back onto the bed, before laughing as she got up. “Sorry. I forgot you don’t like hugs. But I was just so glad to hear you finally say that.”
“I’m sorry if I–I’ve been judgemental. It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just I don’t trust a lot of people out there.”
“And with people like Ethan out there, saying one thing then doing another with this Lucinda chick, well, it’s no wonder, is it?”
She forced a weak smile, a pitiful attempt to rein in her emotion. Oh, there was so much to wonder about here. How could she have been such a fool? How could she have been so gullible to have trusted this man? Why hadn’t God given any internal red flag warnings?
Her gaze fell to Katie’s phone, where the image of betrayal stared up at her.
Lucinda. She of the perfect pout and overly heavy eyelashes some called eye brooms. Well, now she knew who he’d meant to go to the mountains with.
Lucinda was his “friend.” One whom Wayne had known about.
One whom everyone must have known about.
Then they had seen her with him and must have thought her such a fool!
She wanted to cringe with embarrassment, crawl under the blankets, and not appear for a year.
But even that luxury was denied her as Katie kept going on about people who were prejudiced and how easy it was to be manipulated by some men who might have the appearance of goodness but had none within them.
“I’m so sorry, Ellie. I know this must be hard,” Katie sympathised.
She could hear feet coming up the stairs. Her parents must be back from lunch with Jordan Knight’s parents. Oh, she really didn’t need her mother weighing in on this.
“Hello, girls! What’s going on?” She frowned at Ellie. “Why are you looking woebegone?”
She instantly hitched a smile on her dial. “I’m not. I’m tired.”
“Tired of loser guys pretending to be the real deal when they’re not,” Katie said, before launching into what had happened with Ellie’s Ethan. “Obviously he’s not her Ethan, because he’s with this Lucinda chick. They’re engaged!”
“What? And he was leading you on? Oh, Ellie. It’s okay to cry.”
“I’m not crying. I’m fine.”
“Yes, but you’re allowed to admit you’re sad.”
She’d never been one for too much makeup or artifice.
She’d done a couple of terms of drama classes back in year eight, and somehow those long-ago skills she’d learned seemed to have prepared her for this moment.
She gritted her teeth and smiled. “I’m actually very fine.
And look! Isn’t it great that Katie and Jason are getting on so well?
I think you should be concentrating all your efforts on this one, Mum.
That, and Liv’s wedding,” she added, knowing that was enough to throw her mother off the scent.
Sure enough, Mum brightened and instantly launched into how pleased she was that at least her youngest child had found happiness. “Oh! And I got a message from Liv saying she and Liam are happy to host us all there for the wedding. How wonderful is that?”
Ellie nodded and smiled, and somehow, through the stream of rapid chatter and excitement of plans, and Katie’s comment that they should get on a video call immediately and talk to Liv, the shock of the dagger thrust of that Facebook post was numbed by noise and distraction.
It was only much later, when everyone had settled down and she was finally released to have a shower, hop into her pyjamas, and go to sleep, that she was finally quiet enough to hear her soul’s wail.
And wonder what was wrong with her, and whether any man would ever see past the blue hair and sensible attitude and love her anyway.
“Ellie, have you got a minute?”
“Of course.” She saved her work and went to Nicola’s office, where her boss gestured for her to take a seat.
“Look, I’ll get straight to it. I’ve received a very odd request from a client.”
“Odder than when you had to design a giant bunny head topiary for a wedding?”
Nicola grimaced. “Odder than that.”
She shrugged. “Well, I can do with something odd.” Anything to distract from this hollow feeling inside.
“Yes, I’ve noticed you’ve seemed a little flat the past few days.”
Hmm. Apparently her acting skills weren’t working well at work.
“Our new client is having a party at her ‘estate’“—Nicola rolled her eyes—”and asked me to attend.”
“Really? That’s unusual.”
“Right? She said it’s because she wants me to get a sense of the vibe of the place so I can tell where the garden features should be maximised and lighting installed, and it would be easier to have us attend than try to describe it herself.”
Ellie paused. “You said ‘us’ attend.”
“Mm-hmm. Then when I said I was busy—because hello, it is short notice, seeing it’s this weekend, after all—I said I could see if you could go, and she nodded and said that would be ideal. Weird, isn’t it?”
“Very weird.” She frowned. “We are talking about Francine Dashwood, right?” She was the only one who talked about her “country estate” in that way.
“The daughter of the state opposition leader, yes.”
“Really? Huh. I didn’t know.”
“Well, that’s not important. What is important is: Can you go?”
“When is it?”
“This Saturday. Seven p.m.”
Ellie scanned her memory, but nothing popped. “I think I’m clear.”
“Great! And thank you. I know it’s a lot to ask, especially on the weekend, but Mrs. Dashwood is an important client and extremely well connected. I’d hate to lose her business.”
“I didn’t think she liked me.”
“Well, she must like you enough to insist on you attending. Don’t worry. We’ll add your hours of attendance to the bill.” Nicola winked.
Fine by her. “Is there a dress code? Do you know what the party is for?”
“She mentioned something about fancy dress.”
“You mean wear a fancy dress or go in costume?”
“I’m not sure.”
“It’d be good to make sure. I don’t want to embarrass you or the firm by being dressed inappropriately.”
“Just wear a nice outfit. I gather you’re to go there more as a fact-finding mission than anything else.”
“Okay, then. Fine.”
“Thanks, Ellie. You’re a lifesaver.”
“That’s me.”
Saving lives. Making a difference. Shining a light in the world. Even if it was only figuring out where in the rich woman’s garden lights should go.
Then Annabelle’s words bobbed back to memory. Actually, she did have a role to play, and her attitude was important. So she smiled at Nicola, genuinely this time. “Thanks for trusting me, Nicola. I appreciate the opportunity.”
“I know you won’t let me down.”
She nodded and pushed back her shoulders.
Some people might let others down, but Ellie could always be relied upon.
Even to show up at a party of a rich person who she struggled to like.
At least God loved her. Which reminded her that she was supposed to demonstrate God’s love to Mrs. Dashwood too. Even if Ellie didn’t like her.
She went back to her desk, slumped in her seat, stared out the window, and prayed. “Looks like You’re gonna have to help me with that too.”