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He hesitated, his eyes narrowing, and then he nodded. “Okay. Thanks, Ella.”
I was glad he hadn’t been pushy, yet as I watched him walk away, I wondered if I would ever really be over Noah Armstrong.
Chapter Eleven
Noah
After I dropped my dad off back at the house and made sure he was comfortably seated in the living room, I asked if he needed anything else. He thought about it and said with a smile, “I need you to get through to that cute Ella.”
His answer stunned me. It took me a minute to respond. “I tried to take her to her favorite pizza place, but I don’t know that she’ll ever forgive me.”
My father patted the chair next to him. I wanted to act like a moody teenager—roll my eyes and tell him I didn’t want to talk. I’d done enough of that yesterday. I was an adult, so I did as he asked and sat.
“Son, from what I’ve seen and observed and felt, that girl is on the precipice of forgiving both herself and you. I’ve watched her over the past couple months, and I’ve talked to your mother about this. The Lord has His own timetable for people.” He winked at me. “For sons to come home. For sisters to forgive themselves.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “True.”
“Just like He has a timetable for you and Ella. Who knows? Maybe if your timetable was different for leaving Refuge Falls, she might want to get that slice of pizza with you.”
“What do you mean?”
“If she knows you’re leaving, she might not want to get invested.”
It made sense. She had said flippantly that it didn’t matter because I was leaving.
My father picked up the remote and waved me off. “Time to go to your old gym and get some rounds out on the punching bag. I can tell you need it.”
I grunted and stood, patting my dad’s shoulder. “You are ever observant. I want to do that, but Mom will kill me if I leave you.”
My father shook his head. “Just keep your cell phone on. Go get some of that energy out. Think about staying for longer than a week, son.” He caught my eye. “I want you to stay. I know your mom does too. Plus, don’t you have a business partner? Can’t you take some time away?”
Bill. We’d texted back and forth when everything had happened, but I’d told him I would stay in touch. Now that I’d been reminded of him, I felt guilty for not calling him back. I waved at my father and headed toward the door. “Okay. I’ll leave my phone on. Call if you need anything. I’ll bring dinner back for you.”
“Okay,” my father said over the blaring TV.
I hopped in the Jeep and drove into town, calling Bill on the way.
“How is your dad?” He didn’t even say hello, just went straight to business.
“He’s great. Well, he’s okay. Doing better. Recovering. I took him to the doctor today, and he’s okay.”
“Wow. Look at you, all domesticated.”
I grunted. “I’m not a dog.”
Bill roared with laughter.
I focused on business. “How are the accounts coming?” At any moment, private investigators could come to us in hopes of discussing a potential job.
“We have our team. You focus on being there.”
Hesitating, I asked, “What if I stayed a little longer than a week?”
Bill snorted. “Take as long as you need. You don’t have to go on these jobs anymore. You just want to.”
He had a point. I’d always insisted on taking a hands-on approach with as many operations as I could. We had a great team of ex-military and ex-police who could handle any op we took and put in private security systems. We had made good money for ourselves the past two years, and I was happy to have a tidy sum in the bank. “Okay, I’ll let you know.”
We chatted for the next few minutes until I got to the local gym in town. To my astonishment, the old gym had been torn down and a completely new facility had been built in its place.
