Tip the Scales (Road Trip Romance Book 1)

by A. K. Evans

  Suddenly, all I felt was bitter anger. I pushed up off Max’s chest. “How dare you?” I chastised him.

  Noting the drastic change in my mood, Max sat up. “Ella—”

  “No,” I cut him off. “You don’t get to lecture me a few weeks ago about how I can’t do something nice to thank you for the things you do for me and then tell me you want to return the money I used to get Claire back. That’s the very definition of a hypocrite, Max.”

  “Fifty million dollars is a lot different than plowing a driveway or giving someone a warm place to stay for a few days,” he reasoned.

  “Maybe for other people, but not for me,” I argued. “You just sat here and said you don’t have a problem with me having money. Now, you’re trying to take away the nice thing I did for you and your family. If I didn’t want to give that money, I wouldn’t have done it.”

  “If you don’t let me do this, I’ll never be able to tip the scales in my direction again, darling,” he worried.

  My shoulders dropped. He couldn’t be serious.

  “You can’t possibly believe that’s true,” I tried consoling him.

  “It absolutely is,” he insisted.

  “Max, they’re already shifting,” I shared.

  He pulled his brows together in confusion.

  “Did you see my refrigerator?” I asked. “Claire came here with a picture of her family, Max. I was in that picture standing next to you. She called me Auntie Nora. Do you know what that meant to me?” Tears formed in my eyes and my throat got tight.

  Understanding dawned in Max’s expression. Something clicked for him, and he took my hand and tugged me toward him. “Okay, Ella. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  “I love you, Max. And the more I’m around your family, the more I feel for them. I adore Claire and Julian, and if I had to do it again, I wouldn’t hesitate.”

  “It’s not happening again.”

  My hand cupped the side of his face. As my thumb stroked back and forth, I promised, “No, it’s not.”

  The silence stretched between us. When Max finally spoke, he asked, “Is that really all it takes for you?”

  “What?”

  “Plowing your driveway or pictures on the refrigerator,” he clarified.

  I grinned. “I mean, hearing her call me Auntie Nora was a pretty big deal. But hearing you call me darling is the best.”

  “Good to know.”

  I dropped my forehead to his shoulder.

  “My house or yours tonight?” he asked.

  “Mine,” I answered. “I don’t feel like going out.”

  With that, Max shifted me into his lap, slipped one arm under my knees and the other behind my back. “Ready for bed?” he asked.

  “It’s too early to sleep,” I noted.

  “Who said anything about sleeping?” Max teased.

  I moaned as I leaned forward and kissed him.

  When I pulled back just a touch, I breathed, “I love you, old man.”

  Max smiled against my lips and returned, “Love you, too, darling.”

  Then, Max kissed me again before he carried me upstairs.

  Three weeks later

  My eyes shifted from my computer to where the sound of my phone vibrating was coming from. I looked down at my phone’s display, but I didn’t recognize the number that was calling.

  “Hello?” I answered.

  “Hi, Eleanor?” a vaguely familiar male voice replied.

  “Yes, who’s this?”

  “Eleanor, this is Agent Palmer.”

  My body went on alert. We hadn’t heard anything new about Claire’s ransom case. Max and his family reached out to the authorities a couple times since they’d gotten Claire back home safely, but they hadn’t received any closure. Of course, they were all understandably on edge since the kidnappers hadn’t officially been caught, and their family was specifically targeted. Jim had been doing some investigating of his own as well, but hadn’t had any luck. The whole family had grave concerns about the possibility of it happening again.

  “Agent Palmer, it’s nice to hear from you. Is everything okay? Was there something else I could do to help with the investigation?” I asked.

  “Actually, no,” he replied. “You’ve already done more than enough. In fact, the reason I’m calling is to let you know that we managed to arrest all the suspects involved in Claire’s kidnapping case.”

  That was such a relief to hear. “Are you serious? That’s great news,” I started. “I assume you’ve told her family, right?”

  Agent Palmer let out a laugh and confirmed, “Yes, they are aware. Jim was the first person I called. I merely wanted to reach out to you and let you know that it was the information you provided to Agent Garza that day that ultimately helped us locate and apprehend everyone who was involved.”

  I let out a sigh. “I’m so relieved to hear this, Agent Palmer.”

  “Well, I’m hoping you’ll be even more relieved if we’re able to recover your funds and return them to you. It seems as though they transferred the money into a foreign bank account. Since we’re dealing with international governments and banks, it’s going to be a bit of a lengthier process. Regardless, I have no doubts these guys are going to be ordered to return the money, but you just never know how it’s going to go. It might take some time, but my guess is it’ll eventually come back to you.”

  “I appreciate that, but the money truly does not matter to me. I’m just thrilled that Claire is home safe and happy, and that you and your team managed to find these guys. As long as they can’t ever do this again to another family, I’ll be happy,” I assured him.

  There was a moment of silence before Agent Palmer stated, “Eleanor, I hope you don’t think I’m being too forward, but I think it needs to be said. You deserve to know that Max King, Claire Golden, and their entire family are extremely lucky to have you in their lives. I’ve been doing this a long time, and there have been a lot of situations that didn’t end nearly as well nor as quickly as Claire’s did. And I’ve also witnessed some cases where people who had the ability to do something to ensure the safe return of a family member never stepped up to the plate. You should be proud of yourself.”

  Agent Palmer’s words went right through to my heart. It meant a lot that he saw what I did for Max, Claire, and the family as a selfless act. I wasn’t looking for any kind of praise, especially because my only concern was doing what I could to put a stop to Max’s hurt. Even still, it was nice to hear that what I’d done was appreciated.

  “That’s very kind of you to say, Agent Palmer. I’m certain I’m just as lucky to have them in my life, too,” I told him.

  He hesitated before he agreed, “I have no doubt. Anyway, I’ll let you go. I just wanted to give you the good news.”

  “Great. Thank you again.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  With that, Agent Palmer and I disconnected our call.

  I set my phone back down on my desk and took a minute to replay the conversation in my mind. When I did, the one thing that made me smile the most was that I knew Claire’s family would finally be able to breathe and sleep a little easier at night.

  Max

  Nine months later

  “Okay. okay. I’m ready,” Ella declared as she hurried down the stairs.

  I stood there watching her, not even remotely concerned that we were already late and were about to be even later. It was two days before Thanksgiving, and we’d been invited to go have dinner with Walt and Betty. They were important to Ella and me, and they both wanted to celebrate with us. Given that their kids were going to be visiting them on Thanksgiving Day and that we’d be spending that day with both of our families, the four of us decided that it’d be best to get together a couple days ahead of time.

  Ella landed at the base of the stairs and was about to turn the corner to head in the opposite direction, when she stopped and looked up at me, puzzled.

  “Are you ready?” she asked. “Why are
you just standing there looking at me like that? We have to go!”

  I felt my entire body relax at just the sight of her. She was simply breathtaking, and I’d never felt so lucky in all my life. I tried to keep the tone of my voice neutral when I asked, “Ella, darling, would you please come here for a minute?”

  She just barely dipped her chin before she started to move toward me. When she stopped in front of me, she wondered, “Is everything okay?”

  My eyes roamed over her face. Every time I looked at her I wondered how it was possible that any other man that came before me was foolish enough to let her go. Not only was she incredibly beautiful, but she was hardworking, talented, sweet, and compassionate, too. What I liked most about her, though, was her sense of humor. Other than the one time after she told me about her financial situation and assumed I no longer wanted to be with her, we hadn’t ever had an argument.

  Being with Ella was just easy. And I believed a big reason for that was because we had similar values. Despite both of us having substantial amounts of money, we didn’t need to be flashy. Ella wasn’t materialistic. Sure, she had a beautiful home, but it wasn’t loaded with things. The stuff that was important to her were lasting connections. Ones that resulted in pictures being hung on her refrigerator.

  “Max?” Ella called, snapping me out of my thoughts.

  “You look beautiful,” I offered her a compliment.

  She gave me a smile, pressed up on her toes, and kissed me. “Thank you. You look really good, too. I’m actually kind of happy that we’re only going across the street because we’ll get back here much faster.”

  “And then we can begin the real celebration,” I stated.

  “What celebration?” she wondered.

  I cleared my throat as I took her hand in mine. “Did you know that when I walked up to your door before that storm hit, I never expected the door would open and show me the woman of my dreams?”

  Ella’s lips parted.

  “But there you were,” I added.

  “Max,” she rasped.

  I went on, “From that moment I knew you were going to be someone special. As the days passed during that storm, I fell harder and harder for you. So much so that I began to dread the day you’d have to return to your house.”

  With tears forming in her eyes, she reminded me, “I was so upset about having to come back home, and you acted like it was no big deal.”

  Letting out a small laugh, I explained, “That’s when I knew you were the one for me. I was trying to keep it cool. But the truth was that it felt good to know you were facing that day with just as much trepidation as I was. The thought of not going to bed with you beside me every night upset me.”

  I paused a moment to collect myself because I knew the next thing I said to her was going to send her reeling. “Then, the worst day of my life came when I got the phone call about Claire. And all I could think was that I needed you to be there with me. When we found out why she’d been taken, I thought we’d lose her forever. But without batting an eyelash, you did what you did for a little girl you hadn’t ever met. And that meant everything to me.”

  The tears were streaming down Ella’s face. Even still, I continued, “I know you say that the scales are starting to tip in my favor, but I’m not sure they’ll ever truly be there. It’s not about the money you gave to save Claire either. I just mean that with the way you fill me up every day with your laughter and your spirit, I feel like I’ll always be trying to fill you up the same, and I might not ever succeed. And yet, it’s something I want to try to do for the rest of my life.”

  I slid my hand in my pocket, pulled out the ring, and dropped to one knee. Ella brought her opposite hand up to swipe at her tears.

  Once I was on my knee, looking up at the woman of my dreams, I asked, “Ella, darling, will you be my wife?”

  A sob escaped as she cried out, “Yes!”

  I slid the ring on her finger before I stood up and kissed her.

  “I love you so much,” I shared, holding her close, her cheek pressed tight to my chest.

  She gave me a squeeze and returned, “Finally. He’s finally my old man.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. God, I loved her.

  “It’s beautiful,” Betty declared. She looked up at me and approved, “You did good, Max. Congratulations!”

  “Thanks, Betty.”

  “Ring or no ring, Max did good,” Walt chimed in. He pointed at Ella and explained, “He managed to land that one. No better prize.”

  “Walt…” Ella trailed off.

  “It’s the truth, Eleanor,” he insisted. “And let me just say I’m so glad this finally happened. Betty was driving me crazy from the minute you moved in across the street from us.”

  “I was not!” Betty scolded him.

  Even though we both laughed at the banter between Walt and Betty, Ella repeated, “Crazy? I don’t understand.”

  “The first time she saw you she insisted that with just one look at you, Max was going to be in love. But when you’d been here for more than a month and he hadn’t even made an effort to introduce himself, Betty started losing her mind.”

  I looked to Betty. What she believed was the truth. One look at Ella and I think I knew somewhere deep down that she was the woman for me. But looking at Betty now, I was a bit concerned. She wasn’t even attempting to hide the fact that she was disappointed with me. In fact, she was more than happy to share her disapproval. Shaking her head at me, she scolded me, “This town. The man you are. I couldn’t believe you hadn’t reached out to our new neighbor. So, I had to take matters into my own hands.”

  “Is that why you invited me over for dinner and casually put in that Max was going to be joining us?” Ella asked.

  Betty reasoned, “Somebody had to do it! But then you got sick, and my plan went down the drain.”

  Ella started squirming in her seat. “Um, Betty?” she called.

  “Yeah?” Betty answered.

  “I kind of have a confession to make,” Ella nervously shared.

  Betty’s eyes narrowed, and she didn’t give Ella a chance to confess anything. She guessed, “You were never sick, were you?”

  Ella shook her head. “Not in the medical sense. It was just that I had seen Max and thought he was amazing. I was entirely too nervous to meet him.”

  When her eyes came to mine, I added, “I’ll verify this because when I finally did go over there, she was unable to speak to me.”

  Ella shrugged.

  “Oh, what does it all matter now anyway?” Walt wondered. “They’re together and getting married now. What does matter is that I’ve been smelling this food being prepared all day and I’m starving. When are we eating?”

  Ella and I laughed. Betty gave him a chilling look.

  Five minutes later, we sat down with the matchmakers around their dining room table so Walt wouldn’t starve to death.

  Later that night, Ella and I went home and celebrated.

  It was the day after dinner with Walt and Betty. Ella’s parents had flown in from Florida this morning and arrived only minutes ago. Ella had been bursting at the seams all morning in anticipation of their arrival. The second they walked through the door, she showed them the ring.

  She and her mom, Vivian, had been gushing over the proposal while her father, Dean, looked on and listened. But he had something to say.

  “Nori,” her father said softly.

  Ella immediately got emotional. I could see her struggling not to break down with just that one word from her father.

  “I’ve been worried about you since the day you moved away from home,” he began. “And even though I’ve always encouraged you to do anything you wanted because I know just how capable you are, you’re still my baby. When I saw the news about the storm and then you called me asking about how long the propane in your tank would last, I had nightmares. I’ve never been so terrified in my life. I continued to worry even after you called from Max’s place. It wasn’t until a few mo
nths later when your mom and I finally got here and met him that I knew I could stop worrying like that. I have no doubts about this man and not only his willingness but also his ability to take care of you. I know you can take care of yourself, but I like knowing you’ve got someone who will step up to the plate when you need them to.”

  Ella threw her arms around her dad and hugged him.

  I couldn’t help but smile. It felt good to hear those words. I’d already known that Dean approved of us. When he and his wife came out months ago to visit, I found a private moment to talk with him. I shared my intentions with him, and he visibly let out a breath. It was like he’d been on edge for years waiting and hoping that his daughter would find someone who’d love her for all the right reasons. He gave me his full blessing to propose whenever I felt that we were ready to take that step.

  Pulling out of her father’s arms, Ella announced, “Okay, come in and get settled. We have a lot planned for the next couple of days, so this is the only day you get to rest and relax.”

  As Ella’s parents walked farther into her house and past us, she turned and pressed up against me. She slid her arms up and around my shoulders with a big smile on her face.

  “I finally get it, Max,” she stated.

  “What?”

  “The imbalance,” she clarified, which wasn’t much of an explanation at all. “After Claire’s situation, you felt like you’d never be able to even out the scales. You’ve got to know, I finally understand how you felt. Because right now, they’re so far in your favor, I’m not sure I’ll ever come close to balancing them.”

  “You’ll figure something out,” I assured her.

  Then, I touched my lips to hers before we went in the next room to join her parents.