We followed Celia out the back door. Martha had strung sparkling fairy lights among the trees, and they twinkled throughout the back garden. Standing heaters made the patio toasty despite the fall chill. Several tables had been arranged around the cobblestone courtyard below, and I was surprised to find Drew’s family in attendance as well.
My eyebrows rose as they each waved or winked at me.
Drew slipped an arm around my waist and pulled me close. He pressed a kiss at my temple and whispered, “They were invited the other day at Glamma’s Yard Games Extravaganza. They came tonight to support you.”
My throat tightened with unshed tears and I did my best to throw them all grateful glances.
I don’t deserve them.
You deserve everything,Bad Eleanor spoke up.And maybe she wasn’t so bad. Afterall, she was me, and I was her. And it was time I decided to make sure I didn’t accept the bare minimum when it came to the people in my life.
We ended up seated at the far end of the table near Drew’s family, and I was happy to be at a distance from mine.
Martha, Goldie, Gladys, and Glamma served the first and second courses. As we ate, Celia cued up the slideshow of her and Kyle. My stomach rolled as most people around us oohed and ahhed over the images of them looking blissfully happy.
How many of these were taken while he was with me?I wondered. For the first time, that thought didn’t sting like it used to.
“Celia,” our cousin Joan called out. “How did you and Kyle get together? I’d thought he’d been dating?—”
“For me it was love at first sight.” Kyle took Celia’s hand and kissed her fingertips.
My spine went rigid.Here we go.
Celia nodded and snuggled into his side, playing the role of smitten bride perfectly. Neither of them acknowledged what we all knew Joan was about to say.
I was pretty sure it was Grace who made a gagging sound.
Auntie Betty, my Mom’s cousin, turned her attention to me with genuine love in her expression. “So, Ellie, what have you been up to?”
This was my opening. I sat up straighter, feeling Drew’s hand settle reassuringly on my lower back. “I’ve been really busy working for Drew,” I paused, gathering my courage. “And I’m writing a book. A romance novel.”
Auntie Betty’s face lit up. “Ellie! That’s wonderful. I had no idea you were a writer. I’m so proud of you for pursuing that.”
Pride washed over me, warm and unfamiliar. For so long I’d kept my writing a secret, treating it like something shameful. But that shame wasn’t mine—it belonged to the people who’d made me feel small for having those dreams.
Celia laughed, the sound light and tinkling—a forced merriment that set my teeth on edge. “Oh, Auntie Betty. Don’t encourage her.”
The rumble that emanated from Drew’s chest was both protective and dangerous. Grace gasped. Their mother, Laura, opened her mouth, likely to defend me, but I beat her to it.
I’m not letting her get away with this.
“And why wouldn’t she encourage me, Celia?” I kept my tone neutral, as though acting genuinely curious, not accusatory.
Let her explain herself on camera.
“Oh, well, you know … ” she practically stuttered over each word.
Our mother shot me a warning glare across the table.
I ignored her. “No, I really don’t. Please explain it to me.”
“You’re writing smut, Ellie. It’s not like romance is ‘real’ literature.”
The words hung in the air like a slap.
What in the actual hell?
Heat crawled up my neck—not from embarrassment, but from anger. My sister really was a piece of work.
