by Sandi Lynn
“I’m sure she already explained everything to you.”
“All she said was that you put others before her, and you’ve been very distant lately.”
“Why? Because my friends asked me to go to a goddamn game with them?” I raised my voice.
“Don’t raise your voice, Henry. She’s just concerned about what’s going on with you. And frankly, so am I.”
“Nothing is going on with me. I have no idea where this is all coming from, and I certainly don’t need her running to my mother airing our dirty laundry.”
“Calm down. There’s nothing to get worked up about. I told her it was probably the stress of the wedding on both of you. I know planning a wedding is stressful and can take a toll on a couple. Darling, we love Kirsten, and she’s going to be your wife in a matter of a few months. I know you’re busy here at work, but you need to take care of your fiancée as well. Your father never let work get in the way of our relationship.”
I wanted to tell her that was a lie because I knew damn well he was barely home after Abigail died. He practically lived at the office.
“Just make things right and get your relationship back on track. I’ll see you tomorrow. Unless you’d like to come over to the house for dinner tonight since Kirsten isn’t around.”
“I have plans.”
“With whom?”
Seriously? I was thirty years old, and she was still asking me who I was going out with?
“I’m meeting up with Ben and we’re going to Frankie’s art gallery.”
“That’s nice, darling. Have fun and tell the boys I said hi. But first things first. Call your fiancée and apologize to her.”
The moment the door shut, I rolled my eyes. I had nothing to apologize for, and I wasn’t doing it just for the sake of it. I was in a good mood because I was seeing Ellie tonight, and I wasn’t going to let anyone ruin it.
Chapter 8
Ellie
I’d just finished putting some curls in my hair when my phone lit up with a text message from Henry.
“Hi. I’m here.”
My belly started to flutter, and my heart started to pick up in beats. I shouldn’t have been so nervous, but I was. Both nervous and excited. I unlocked the door and when I opened it, I saw Henry standing there holding a bouquet of white lilies.
“For you.” He smiled as he held them out to me.
“Thank you,” I signed. “They’re beautiful.”
I took the flowers and grabbed a large vase from the cabinet.
“You look absolutely beautiful,” he signed.
I could feel the heat rise in my cheeks as my heart beat out of my chest.
“Thank you, I signed as I bashfully grinned.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my door open, and my mom walked in. Somehow, I knew she’d come up. I never should have told her what time Henry was picking me up.
“You must be Henry? I’m Dani Scott, Ellie’s mother,” she spoke and signed to him.
“Hello, Mrs. Scott. It’s nice to meet you.” He smiled as he extended his hand to her.
“It’s nice to meet you as well.”
When she turned and looked at me, she noticed the irritation on my face.
“I was just—Oh hell, I came up here because I wanted to meet him. Is that such a crime?”
I was humiliated as I looked at Henry and he laughed.
“I’m happy you did, Mrs. Scott.”
“Please. Call me Dani. Ellie told me about your sister and that’s why you learned to sign. I’m so sorry for your loss, Henry.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“Well, I guess I better get going. Have fun you two.” She smiled as she walked out the door.
I placed my hand over my face in embarrassment.
“I’m sorry,” I signed. “She can be really nosey sometimes.”
“Don’t be. I think she’s great. Are you ready?”
I held up my finger at him to wait while I grabbed my purse. As we walked out the door, he held his arm out to me, and I happily wrapped my hand around it.
Henry
She was even more beautiful than she was the other day, and I didn’t think that was possible. The moment we stepped into the gallery, Frankie smiled, excused himself from a customer and walked over to where we stood.
“Hey, bro.” He gave me a light hug.
“Frankie, I’d like you to meet, Ellie. Ellie, this is one of my best friends, Frankie,” I signed.
She gave him a bright smile as she signed.
“It’s nice to meet you, Frankie,” I spoke for her.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Ellie.” He extended his hand, and she lightly shook it. “H-E-N-R-Y T-O-L-D M-E Y-O-U—”
“Dude, stop. That’s rude. You can talk normal,” I said as I signed, and Ellie let out a light laugh.
“I’m sorry. I’ve never had a conversation with a—”
Ellie smiled and placed her hand on his arm for a moment.
“It’s okay. I know it can be difficult,” I interpreted for her.
“Where’s Ben?” I asked Frankie.
“Oh shit. I forgot to tell you. He texted me earlier to say he couldn’t make it. His mom is sick, so he had to go over to her place and bring her a few things from the store.”
“I hope she’s going to be okay.”
“Yeah. Me too. Ellie, Henry told me you’re a website designer.”
“Yes, I am,” I interpreted for her.
“I’m looking for someone to redesign the website for the gallery. Can you give me a quote?”
“She said she’d be happy to,” I spoke.
She reached in her purse, pulled out one of her business cards and handed it to him.
“Email me with the link to your site, what kind of design you’re thinking, and I’ll take a look.”
“Awesome. I’ll do that over the weekend.” Frankie smiled.
After a couple hours of talking with Frankie, walking around the gallery and looking at all the artwork and displays, it was time for us to leave.
“There’s this pizza place around the corner that makes an amazing deep dish. Shall we?” I held out my arm to her.
The corners of her mouth curved upward as she gave me a nod and wrapped her arm around mine.
During dinner we talked about many things. She told me about her family, her father’s passing and how close she and her mom were. We talked about Abigail and the relationship I had with her. I rarely talked about her because to this day, I still missed her and it was hard. But with Ellie, I wanted her to know all about Abigail and what a beautiful person she was.
After we finished eating, I hailed us a cab since I’d told Christian to take the rest of the night off.
“Would you like to come up?” she signed.
I knew it wasn’t a good idea, but I wasn’t ready to let the evening end. When we stepped inside her apartment, she turned on the lights and set her purse down.
“I want to show you something,” she signed.
Grabbing my hand, she led me down the hall and opened the door to a room on the right. When she turned on the lights, an array of artwork sat up against the walls and a piece in progress sat on an easel next to the window.
I looked at her with a smile. “This is your work?”
The corners of her mouth curved upward as she nodded her head.
“They’re beautiful,” I signed as I walked around the small room.
“Thank you.”
My eye caught the attention of one painting that sat in the corner. It was of the ocean with a beautiful sunset glistening over the water, and a woman with long blonde hair standing at the shoreline.
“Is this you?” I pointed to the woman in the painting.
The smile on her face grew wide.
“I love the ocean and my dream is to one day live in a house on the beach and watch the sunrise and sunset over the water every day,” she signed.
“That’s a beautiful dream, Ellie.”
<
br /> I stood in front of her and placed my hand on her cheek as our eyes stared into each other’s. This woman had captured my heart in so many ways that it frightened me. Taking my finger, I softly ran it across her lips. I couldn’t hold back any longer and I needed to feel her mouth against mine. The look in her eyes told me she wanted me to, but I was afraid if I did, I wouldn’t be able to stop. The urge consumed me, and I couldn’t stop myself no matter how hard I tried. Leaning in, I brushed my lips against hers. The magic I felt was indescribable. Her lips parted and our tongues met with gratification. The soft kiss I desired instantly turned passionate as my hand wrapped around the nape of her neck. My cock rapidly rose, and I needed to stop before things got out of control. As much as I wanted to take her to bed, I couldn’t. I broke our kiss and placed my forehead against hers for a moment, trying to calm my heavy breathing rate.
“I should go,” I signed.
“You don’t have to,” she signed back as her eyes pleaded with me to stay.
“I’m sorry, Ellie. I can’t stay. Not yet anyway. I’ll text you. Okay?”
She gave me a nod as disappointment filled her eyes. Turning around, I headed out of the room and stopped dead in my tracks when I heard her voice.
“Goodnight, Henry.”
Slowly turning around, I stared at her for a moment. Walking over to where she stood, I placed my hands on each side of her face and pressed my lips against hers. I broke our kiss and held her face in my hands while I gazed into her beautiful green eyes.
“Why am I just hearing your voice now?”
“Because I need to feel comfortable with someone before I let them hear me speak,” she said. “And I feel comfortable with you.”
I swallowed hard as I pulled her into me and held her head against my chest. Hearing her speak and say my name was surreal. I didn’t think she could be any more perfect than she already was.
“You better go,” she spoke in my ear.
Closing my eyes, I tightened my grip around her before letting her go.
“Thank you,” I signed as I gave her a smile. “You have a beautiful voice.”
She reached up and kissed my cheek as she placed her hand on my chest.
“Go, Henry. Before I make you stay.” She smiled.
“I’ll text you,” I signed.
I climbed in the back of a cab and let out a deep breath. I knew exactly what I had to do. I couldn’t marry Kirsten, and she and my parents would have to understand that. Shit was about to hit the fan, and I didn’t care.
Chapter 9
Henry
I arrived at my parents’ house around one o’clock because I wanted to spend some time with Addison before everyone else came over. When I walked into the house, she was coming down the stairs.
“Henry!” She smiled as she ran to me.
“There she is.” I hugged her tight. “How are you?”
“I’m good. How’s my big brother?”
“I’m good.” I hooked my arm around her, and we walked into the kitchen where my mother was.
“Look who’s here,” Addison said.
“Hello, darling.”
“Hello, mother.” I kissed her cheek and grabbed a piece of watermelon she was cutting up. “Where’s Dad?”
“He’s upstairs. He’ll be down in a minute. Addison, can you go outside and tell that man to move the table over to the left more?”
“Sure, Mom.”
“So, how was your evening last night?” she asked.
“It was good.”
“Did you have fun with your friends?”
“Yeah.” I furrowed my brows at her because I noticed a disapproval in the tone of her voice.
She set the knife down on the counter and gripped the edge of the marble top as she looked directly at me.
“Who is the woman you were with last night, Henry?”
My heart started pounding as I stared at her.
“Ron and Linda Gables were walking past Pepito’s last night and saw you through the window with a blonde-haired woman. Linda said the two of you were using sign language.”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I let out a sigh.
“Her name is Ellie Scott. We were communicating via sign language because she’s deaf.”
“No shit, Henry. What were you doing with her?”
“We were just having dinner, mother.”
“You’re cheating on your fiancée?”
“No. She’s a friend. She’s a freelance website designer and I took her to meet Frankie because he’s looking for someone to design his site for the gallery. That’s all.”
We could hear my father coming down the stairs.
“I haven’t told your father about this yet, but we will finish this discussion later.”
“There’s nothing to discuss.”
I walked out of the kitchen and into the living room where I poured myself a scotch.
“Hello, son.” My dad smiled as he walked over and placed his hand on my shoulder.
“Hey, Dad. Scotch?”
“Of course. It’s five o’clock somewhere, right?”
“I investigated that company, and I think it’ll be a good investment. I ran all the projections and there’s definitely a lot of profit to be made with some restructuring.”
“Excellent. That’s what I thought as well, but I wanted your opinion. Get the ball rolling on that as soon as possible.” He patted my back. “It’s too bad Kirsten couldn’t be here with us today. When is she coming back?”
“Tomorrow night.”
“Good. Good. The four of us will have to get together next week.”
Addison entered the living room and my father walked over and kissed her cheek.
“Don’t forget you start work at the office on Monday.”
“I know, Dad.”
When he walked out of the room, she threw herself on the couch and sighed.
“What’s going on, little sister?” I asked as I took a seat on the couch and hooked my arm around her.
“Mom and Dad told me last night they invited someone over for lunch tomorrow they want me to meet, and that I better be here.”
“Who?” I asked as I narrowed my eye.
“I don’t know. Some guy named Carter Colson.”
“Ah. Good ole Carter Colson.”
“You know him?” She laid her head on my shoulder.
“Yep. He’s a big douchebag in the making.”
She let out a laugh.
“I just got out of a relationship, and I’m not looking to get into another one. Especially with someone mom and dad want me to be with.”
“You broke up with Garrett?”
“Yeah. It wasn’t working out. There just wasn’t anything there. You know?” She lifted her head and looked at me.
“Yeah, Addy. I know.” I sighed as I thought about Kirsten. “You never told the parents about Garrett, did you?”
“No. How could I? You know they don’t approve of anyone unless they pick them.”
The barbeque went off without a hitch, and I stayed until everyone left.
“I’m going to head out, Mom,” I spoke as I kissed her cheek.
As I was heading towards the door, she called my name.
“Henry?”
“Yes?” I turned and looked at her.
“If you do anything to screw up your relationship with Kirsten, you will not be happy with the consequences.”
I stared at her for a moment before turning my head and walking out the door.
I stood in front of Ellie’s door. I’d come straight to her place from my parents’ house because I desperately needed to see her. Hell, I didn’t even know if she was home. We’d been texting throughout the day, and she didn’t mention anything about having plans tonight. Holding my phone in my hand, I sent her a text message.
“Are you home?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I’m standing at your door.”
Within seconds, the door opened, and a bright
smile graced her face. She looked beautiful with her hair up in a messy bun and her baggy sweatpants.
“Hi,” she spoke. “Come in. Had I known you were going to drop by, I would have freshened up.”
“You look beautiful exactly as you are,” I signed before wrapping my arms around her and pulling her into me.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
I broke our embrace.
“Everything is fine. I just wanted to see you,” I signed. “Is it okay I dropped by unannounced?”
The corners of her mouth curved upward.
“Yes. I wanted to see you too,” she spoke as she signed.
I could sit and listen to her speak to me all day and night.
“Have you eaten? I ordered a pizza and it’ll be here soon.”
“I ate at my parents’ house earlier, but maybe I’ll have a piece,” I signed with a smile. “It doesn’t have any type of fruit on it, does it?” I arched my brow.
She let out a laugh.
“No. I don’t like pineapple on my pizza. Fruit doesn’t belong there.”
“You’re my kind of girl.” I grinned.
Chapter 10
Ellie
I was happy. Happy he came over, happy he ate pizza with me, and happy that I was wrapped in his arms while we sat on the couch. My insides ached for him, and my skin trembled at his touch as his thumb softly stroked my shoulder. I could tell something was bothering him, but I didn’t want to pry. It was funny how we’d only known each other for such a short time, and I could already sense when something was off.
“Did you catch up with your sister?” I asked as I lifted my head to read his lips.
“I did. It’s great to have her back home.” He smiled.
I wondered if he’d told her about me, and I wondered if he mentioned something to his parents. Most likely not. Guys were different from women. The second we’d meet someone we were interested in, we’d tell everyone we knew. But guys tended to wait longer to make sure the relationship was going somewhere before involving their family.
“What is she studying at college?” I sat up and faced him.
