Just Add Mischief (Everly Falls Book 2) by Heather B. Moore

Author:Heather B. Moore [Moore, Heather B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: An Everyly Falls Novel
Publisher: Mirror Press
Published: 2023-02-27T16:00:00+00:00

THE MOURNERS WERE GATHERED AROUND the gravesite by the time Ian and Brandy walked through the cemetery. Maybe only thirty people were attending this second portion, and Ian recognized some of Ella’s relatives. An aunt and uncle, and a few cousins. Ella’s family hadn’t been large, and he knew one aunt lived on the East Coast, but he didn’t see her among those gathered.

Ian was holding Brandy’s hand again, and he wished they could be doing almost anything else but this. Facing Ella and Pete again was surreal, and it only brought back the emotional turmoil of the past. He didn’t even have to mentally sort through memories of what had happened, what had been said, or all the paperwork and court hearings. His body felt weighed down—almost like he was carrying a physical weight. The warmth and assurance of Brandy’s hand was what kept his feet moving forward, one step at a time.

As they neared the gathering, Ella headed straight for him. She’d reapplied her lipstick, and she smelled like she’d added another dose of expensive perfume. Before Ian could react, she enveloped him in a hug. “I was worried you’d ditched me,” she said with an audible sniffle.

Ian had to release Brandy’s hand if only to keep his balance. He patted Ella’s back a couple of times, then tried to move out of her hold. But she clung to him like a life preserver in the middle of a lake.

“No one knew her like you did, Ian,” Ella continued, her voice shaking.

Despite himself, Ian blinked back burning tears. Valerie had been an amazing woman, and she’d died much too young. Taking a steadying breath, he managed to extract himself from Ella. “She will be missed.”

Ella grasped his arm, not giving him any space. Her eyes were reddened, so maybe her emotion had been genuine. “She missed you,” Ella said. “So much. In her last days, she asked all about you, and I …” She dropped her gaze and wiped at her eyes. “I couldn’t tell her anything about you because it was like you completely disappeared.”

Ian didn’t have an answer for that. They’d finalized the divorce, and he hadn’t prioritized keeping in touch with an ex who’d ripped out his heart and stomped on it.

“Oh, Ian,” she continued in a simpering tone, as if Brandy wasn’t standing two feet away, and just a little farther, every funeral guest could probably hear them. “What happened to us? Why did we give up so easily? We should have gone to therapy. Or taken a long vacation. Something. Anything.”

Ironically, these were the words he’d hoped to hear when things began to fall apart, but she wasn’t interested. Not these exact words, but her pleading tone, her pretty face, her pouty lips. Unlike his early relationship with Ella, he could see past all that now. It was subtle, but it was there, in her eyes. The calculation. The desire to control. The addiction to being adored by another person.

He guessed that Pete no longer worshiped her in the way she wanted.

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