Happily Ever After: (A Cinder & Ella Novel) Page 10

  Dad shrugged, and a tiny layer of pink rose on his cheeks. “I’m not quite the aficionado that you are, but I enjoy a good book when I have the time. Janice Bishop is excellent.” He held up the book so that I could see the cover. “She weaves fascinating mysteries, and her knack for detail is unparalleled. You should try them sometime. I know they aren’t your usual read, but they’re good. I’ve got a couple lying around the house somewhere. Murder in Motown is even being made into a movie right now. It comes out this March, I think.”

  I nodded. “I think I’ve seen the preview. I’ll check it out, and maybe I can get us some press passes to see the movie early, if you’d like that.”

  Dad’s face lit up again. “Really? You’d take your old man to one of your special events?”

  There was so much pleasure oozing from his voice that I felt bad I hadn’t offered to take him to a screening before. I hadn’t thought he’d care, but he was almost as giddy as a true fanboy. Ana and Juliette were right about him. And Ana definitely earned her victory in the gift-giving competition this year. “Sure,” I said, shrugging off the slight awkwardness between us. “If you want to.”

  Dad nodded. “I’d like that.”

  “Okay, okay, okay, awesome,” Juliette cut in. “Father-daughter bonding is great and all, but the rest of us want presents now, or I’m going back to bed.”

  Dad laughed and nodded his head toward the tree, which had a mound of presents stacked beneath it. Juliette and Ana both dashed for the pile of gifts and began tossing them to their respective recipients. Presents I’d had no clue were coming my way began to pile up around me. There were multiple gifts from each of them to me—apparently Ana had been lying when she said she hadn’t planned to get me a gift—and there were also a bunch from my extended family.

  My grandparents and my uncle’s family had shipped a ton of gifts down to us after I’d asked to cancel our meeting this year. I’d felt bad for asking them to wait, but I hadn’t known how the sudden fame was going to go, and I didn’t want my cousins exposed to it. My youngest cousin, Mason, was only eight. He didn’t need to be hounded by paparazzi. Apparently, they hadn’t held any resentment for my canceling their Christmas plans, because I had boxes of things from all of them with my name on them. It was more gifts than I’d ever received at one time in my entire life. Maybe more than I’d received combined my entire life.

  For me, growing up, Christmas had always been about baby Jesus and the food. I usually got two gifts. One from Mama, and one from Papa and Abuela. After they both passed, there were two gifts beneath the tree every year. One from me to Mama, and one from her to me. It was small, intimate, and familiar.

  Christmas with the Colemans felt like the opposite. No one had lit a candle, said a prayer, read the Christmas story from the Bible, attended a mass, or set out a nativity. I wondered if Ana and Juliette even knew Christmas was about the birth of Christ. I didn’t hold it against them—I knew they weren’t religious—it just gave the holiday a completely different feel.

  Unable to dig into my gifts the way they all were, I sat back watching them and just took in the moment. It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t. I just needed to come to terms with the differences and accept the loss of my former life.

  Everyone was laughing, smiling, and fawning over their gifts. There were hugs and kisses, along with teasing and banter. It was moving, and yet, none of it was me. It was nothing like any Christmas I’d ever had. These people were a family, but somehow, right then, they didn’t feel like my family. Logically, I knew that they were, and I’d been getting better at feeling as if I belonged, but at the moment, I felt like an outsider. And I really missed my mom. I missed Abuela and Papa. I missed my family and my old life.

  “Ella…you aren’t opening your gifts,” Jennifer said, bringing the room to a halt.

  All eyes turned to me and my pile of unopened presents. I couldn’t speak around the lump in my throat, so I just shook my head. Dad’s head snapped up. “Sweetheart, are you okay?”

  My eyes glossed over, and Jennifer jumped up to bring me a tissue. Everyone waited while I composed myself. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. I couldn’t meet their expectant gazes. “I’m fine.”

  “Sweetie, you don’t look fine,” Dad said. “You’re pale.”

  “I’m okay. It’s nothing.”

  “It’s not nothing, Ella,” Jennifer insisted. “Please tell us what’s wrong.”

  She waited expectantly. As did my father. Juliette looked concerned, and Ana looked at my unopened presents and then at me as if I were nuts.

  “I’m sorry. It’s nothing. I was just still in and out of consciousness last Christmas, so this is the first one without…” Without Mama. I couldn’t say it out loud. “Sorry. I didn’t expect it to be so hard.”

  I totally killed the happy mood, but Juliette immediately jumped to the rescue. “Well, it won’t be different for long. Don’t think I forgot about the sopaipillas you promised to make for me.”

  I barked out a surprised laugh that bordered on hysterical because of the emotions I was struggling with and threw my arms around Juliette. I was eternally grateful for the kindred spirit I’d found in my stepsister. Somehow, she always understood me and knew exactly what to do or say to make me feel better or break the tension that I constantly created.

  At my whispered thanks, she squeezed me tightly back. I sunk into her embrace and let out a breath. I could get through this. I didn’t have Mama, but I had Juliette. And I had Brian. Or, I would in a few hours, when he finally woke up.

  After we broke apart, I felt much better. I took a deep breath and got ahold of myself. “Sopaipillas do sound good. Maybe I’ll go start those.”

  “Don’t you want to open your presents first?” Juliette asked. “There’s one in there I’m dying for you to see.”

  Her excitement was contagious, and I finally smiled. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it can’t top the tickets you got me to FantasyCon for my birthday.”

  “True. That was pretty epic.”

  “So is this,” Ana said, tossing me a box. “You should open it.”

  I had a feeling, judging by the size, shape, and weight of the box, that I knew what was inside it. Ana’s amused smirk confirmed it.

  “Well, there’s not much need for me to open it, is there?” I shook it and heard the faint sounds of material sliding around inside. “The whole world already knows what’s in here.”

  “Whatever.” Ana took the present back with a roll of her eyes. “It’s not really for you, anyway. I should have put Brian’s name on it.”

  “Anastasia!” Dad sputtered.

  Juliette laughed as she tossed a similar-size box to her sister. “I did put Brian’s name on mine.”

  Dad groaned. “You’re both going to put me in an early grave. You do not need to be encouraging that young man.”

  “Dad, relax,” Juliette said. “We’re just giving Ella a hard time. And you don’t have to worry. Brian’s a good guy. Plus, Ella’s got him so whipped he’d probably take the Abstinence Challenge for her if she asked him to.”

  “Which she probably would,” Ana added.

  I stuck my tongue out at her and nearly fainted when she returned the gesture. Dad was just as surprised by the playful banter as I was. I think that’s the only reason he let the subject drop without another lecture on modesty and self-respect like the dozen he’d spouted off since he saw the Erik Clarke video. He simply eyed both gift boxes with a grimace and said, “The Abstinence Challenge is not a bad idea. I think you should all take it. And please, Ellamara, do not open those in front of me.” He shuddered.

  I blushed, but Ana, Juliette, and even Jennifer all broke into fits of giggles. Torturing Dad was one of their favorite pastimes. The poor man was always so outnumbered.

  “Hey, I wonder which one he’ll like better,” Juliette said suddenly. A hopeful look bloomed on her face. “The blue is killing it online. I bet I still have a chance at winning with at least one person.”

>   “No way. Brian was not a competition.” Ana argued immediately.

  Juliette’s grin doubled. “Well, he is now, and I am so going to win.”

  “That doesn’t count. I didn’t even pick the pink one. Erik did. I picked out the blue one.”

  “But you didn’t buy the blue one. I did. You’re giving him the pink.”

  Ana scoffed.

  “I’m so asking him,” Juliette said, whipping out her phone and presumably sending Brian a text about which lingerie outfit he liked better. After she hit send, she gave Ana a smug smile. “You know he’s going to say the blue, and when he does, I so win him. And I won Mom, too, which means I win overall.”

  “You do not. Mom said she liked ours equally, and Ella hasn’t even opened hers yet. Don’t be a sore loser.”

  Dad and Jennifer laughed at the twins, and again, I got the feeling that this argument was an annual occurrence. I couldn’t believe they were getting so worked up over who was the better gift giver. It was amusing to watch them, though, so I joined Dad and Jennifer with the laughter until something else occurred to me. “Hey, wait. What do you mean the blue is killing it online? Did you seriously look up that stupid poll on Erik Clarke’s website?”

  The twins stopped arguing and both shrugged with chagrin. “We were curious,” Ana said defensively.

  Juliette cringed and suddenly blurted, “I totally voted for the blue. I’m sorry! I couldn’t resist!”

  My mouth fell open. “You traitor!” The insult was hardly harsh when I couldn’t stop myself from laughing.

  “Oh come on, you know you planned to look eventually,” Ana said. “And you are going to freak when you see how big of a response it’s getting. It’s huge. Erik Clarke’s video has over 34 million views, and people are going crazy over it. You’re gonna have to do it.”

  “What?”

  “It’s turned into some kind of cause or something,” Juliette said. “People love the idea of you taking a stand and saying that you don’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.”

  When my jaw fell slack again, it wasn’t out of play this time. “Seriously?”

  Jennifer smiled proudly at me, as if I’d had something to do with it. “There are only a handful of people in the world who really fit the media’s idea of beautiful, Ella. With over seven billion people in the world, that’s a lot of imperfect people. Plenty of them would love to see someone stand up for them.”

  I scoffed. “Yeah, I’m one of them.”

  Jennifer smiled, as if she understood, but some of the light left her eyes.

  In the sudden quiet that fell on the room, Juliette’s phone chimed. When she read her incoming text, her eyes bulged, and she slapped a hand over her mouth to cover a laugh. Ana snatched the phone from her hand, read the text, and smirked.

  I groaned internally, imagining all the different answers Brian could have given to Juliette’s question. The possibilities were endless. Before I could ask, Jennifer snaked the phone from Ana’s fingers. Like Juliette, her eyes got really wide. “Well.” She slapped a hand over her cheek, as if to cover a blush. “I think it’s probably safe to say you girls tie for Brian’s gift this year.”

  The curiosity was killing me, so I took the phone. Juliette had texted, Quick question. You must answer truthfully. It’s life or death. Blue or pink?

  Brian’s response was, I couldn’t possibly answer such an important question based on color alone. Nor could such a decision be made quickly. I’ll need to see them in action, and I’ll need to be able to take my time studying them in a very intimate, hands-on fashion in order to form a true opinion. Convince Ella to model them both for me, and I will give you the truthful life-or-death answer you seek.

  My face-palm prompted my Dad to read the text, too. The phone was in his hand before I realized it was gone, and the growl that escaped him had me half convinced he’d turn into a wolf on the next full moon.

  “Oh, relax, Richard,” Jennifer said, swiping the phone from his hand before he crushed it, and handing it back to Juliette. “It wasn’t that bad. And how would you expect a young man his age to respond?”

  “How about with a little respect for my daughter?” Dad snapped. “Ella is too good for that arrogant pervert.”

  The insult had me seeing red, but surprisingly, Jennifer beat me to Brian’s defense. “Oh, please. He may be a little arrogant, which is hardly surprising considering his situation, but you know that man respects Ella every bit as much as you respect me.”

  Dad scoffed. “I would never say something so—”

  Jennifer cut him off. “Would you like me to open up my texts and read you the conversation we had a couple weeks ago when you had to work late and cancel our dinner plans?”

  “Jennifer,” Dad gasped, flushing red.

  To my horror, the color was from an embarrassed blush and not anger. GROSS.

  Ana and Juliette agreed with me and started squealing and screeching in mutual disgust. “I think it’s time to make sopaipillas,” I muttered, rising from the couch as quickly as I could.

  “Good call,” Juliette agreed, escaping the room before I could even make it to the bottom of the stairs.

  Ana was right on her tail. “I’ll help, too.” She shuddered as she ran out of the room. “Ugh.”

  Unfortunately, I couldn’t move as fast, so I had to hear the rest of their argument.

  “He is a normal twenty-two-year-old man with a healthy sexual interest in the woman he loves. There’s nothing wrong with that. You were that age once. You remember what it was like.”

  “Yeah, I do!” Dad roared. “I was just as arrogant he is. I thought I was infallible, too! And look what happened! I was irresponsible. I made the biggest mistake of my life because of my healthy sexual interests, and I have regretted it for the last twenty years!”

  Ouch. It wasn’t really surprising anymore whenever my father accidentally reminded me that he considered me a mistake that he regretted, but it never failed to hurt. I continued my slow ascent up the few family room stairs, ignoring his comment because it wasn’t worth getting involved. He was caught up in his argument with Jennifer and hadn’t even realized he’d hurt my feelings. Pointing it out might make him feel bad, but it wouldn’t keep him from accidentally doing it again in the future. That would be kind of hard, considering he genuinely regretted the fact that I existed.

  “Richard, I am so tired of this argument, and I’m sure Ella is five times sicker of it. You are being completely irrational when it comes to that young man. Don’t punish Brian because you regret your mistakes. Even if Brian and Ella did end up in your shoes—which considering how levelheaded, responsible, and modest your daughter is, is highly unlikely—it wouldn’t be the same. Those kids are not you and Lucinda. They love each other in a way I’ve never seen before in two people so young.”

  Dad barked out a disbelieving laugh. “You honestly believe he loves Ella? A guy like that? With his looks, and his money, and his fame, you really think he’s going to settle down at twenty-two and remain faithful to Ella forever? He’s not the type. Ella said it herself he’s already been with too many women to count.”

  I reached the top of the stairs and made my way into the kitchen where Ana and Juliette were sitting on barstools, waiting for me. They met my grimace with matching awkward smiles. I couldn’t force one in return with my father’s voice still wafting through the house.

  “She’s a shiny new toy to him right now,” Dad continued. “She’s a wonderful girl who makes him feel special. He may fancy himself in love with her at the moment, but it will never last. Heartache and permanent consequences are all she’s going to get from that relationship. I know what it’s like to have to live with that, Jennifer. I don’t want that for her.”

  Okay, that pissed me off, and I opened the fridge with too much force, causing all the jars in the door to clank against one another. “That’s ironic,” I snapped. “Considering he already gave me a life of heartache and permanent consequences.”


  As I started slamming ingredients on the counter, Ana sighed. “Well, I will say one thing, Ella; I certainly don’t blame you. If a guy like Brian Oliver ever fancied himself in love with me, you bet your ass I’d risk permanent consequences. Hell, I’d beg for them.”

  Juliette and I both laughed, but on the inside, I was stunned. Who’d have ever thought Ana would be the one to come to my rescue with a good icebreaker?

  Brian showed up not too long after Dad and Jenifer’s argument. I imagined it was just enough time to shower and make himself presentable after receiving Juliette’s earlier text—which I assumed woke him up. When he buzzed the gate, I’d just set the dough for the sopaipillas aside to rise for an hour and had gone back to bed with Dad’s new book.

  The twins had been right about Dad’s excitement over the advanced copy. It was by far his favorite Christmas gift. I was still mulling over his reaction. He’d gotten all giddy over it the way I do about my favorite books. It was a new side to my father that I’d never seen before, and it warmed me to him in a way I’d never felt would be possible. To be able to connect with my dad over my biggest passion felt like a godsend for our feeble relationship.

  When the doorbell rang, I only had a couple more pages to the end of the chapter and didn’t want to get up. Ana must have answered the door, because my dad and Jennifer had disappeared into their room right after their argument—whether to fight some more or make up, I did not want to know—and Juliette had gone back to sleep once she realized how long the sopaipillas were going to take.

  Brian wandered into my room just as I flipped to the last page in the chapter. He immediately lay down on my bed, snuggling up next to me as if he liked the idea of falling back to sleep. Plucking the book from my hands, he flipped it to the back and scanned the summary. “Serial killers, huh? That’s new.”

  I nodded. “Apparently, Janice Bishop is my dad’s favorite.”

  “Janice Bishop…that name sounds familiar.”

  I took the book back and reached over Brian to place it on the bedside table. He caught me in his arms when I tried to lie back down and pulled me against his chest. I happily nestled in. “She’s pretty big-time in the crime thriller genre,” I explained. “Got several books turned into movies. Dad said they’re filming another one right now. Murder in Motown?”