“Apparently, that’s not good enough.” She opened the door.
He hesitated, gave a single nod, and walked through the doorway.
Ellie wanted to slam the door behind him, but she slowly pushed it shut. Then she slid to the floor, tears rolling down her cheeks. Hailee settled close to her, and Ellie scooped her up in her arms
Tucker had just torn her heart apart and walked out of her life. He wanted everything, leaving her with nothing but what he wanted.
She had friends who were stay-at-home moms, and they loved it. Ellie admired them. But that wasn’t for her. She’d want to be with her kids as much as possible, but that didn’t mean she should let go of her dreams. She didn’t know how to balance the two, so for now, she’d have to focus on her career. One day she’d figure it out, but today was not that day.
Thoughts of being in his arms and the wonderful times they had together made her heart hurt. It was all gone, vanished like so much mist.
There had to be something else she could do that would help her get Tucker off her mind.
She wiped tears from her face with her hands, set Hailee on the floor, and stood. A project in Japan had been offered to her. Maybe she’d go ahead and take it, if she could fit it into her existing schedule.
A Kleenex box perched on the end table, and she grabbed a tissue. She blew her nose, tossed the tissue, and searched for her phone. She’d call her agent and see if there were any other offers she could take.
Her chest ached, like a fist had slammed into her ribcage. She loved Tucker so much, and now he had walked out of her life. She’d known he was the one, but now that was gone.
It was time to pick herself up and move on.
16
Over the next week, thoughts of Ellie consumed Tucker. He loved her so much, and he had just let her go. Worse, he had stomped all over things that were important to her, just because he wanted her to be something she was not.
Finally, he came to a decision, and he needed to see Ellie again.
He traveled to Scottsdale and called Ellie’s cousin Leeann to ask her a favor. Leeann was cool to him, which told him Ellie had told her what had happened.
It took some convincing, but Leeann finally agreed to his request.
After he left Scottsdale, he drove straight to Ellie’s home. He lightly rapped his knuckles against her front door.
A few moments later, the door opened, and Ellie’s beautiful face had a surprised expression. She looked fabulous, as if she were stepping out for a magazine shoot.
He swallowed. “You look amazing, Ellie.”
She tipped her chin up, her expression calm. “I’m about to leave.”
He gave her a little smile. “For dinner with Leeann?”
Ellie furrowed her brow. “How do you know that?”
“Because she set up a dinner for us.” He wanted to touch Ellie, to draw her into his arms, but he had to hold himself back.
Ellie frowned. “Why would she do that?”
He looked into her beautiful blue eyes. “May I come in?”
She hesitated then opened the door wider for him. This time he sat on the couch. She started to sit in the armchair, but he patted the cushion beside him. “Please sit next to me.”
Hailee jumped into the chair across from the couch and watched them.
Ellie looked wary and confused. After a long moment, she moved to the couch, but put about a foot of space between them and faced him, her hands in her lap, waiting for him to speak.
He cleared his throat. “I’ve given this a lot of thought over the past week. I’d like to see if we can come to a compromise.” He hurried to add, “Please give me a minute to explain.”
“All right.” She gave a single nod. “Explain.”
