Fireflies From Heaven (14 page)

“Is Saturday
okay?” I suggested, thinking that if Reed didn’t feel up to it then I’d
cancel.
 

“That works.”

He said goodbye
to all of us, and as he walked away I noticed Isabelle’s gaze following after
him.

“What’s wrong,
Ellie?”

Reed’s softly
spoken question pulled me from reverie, and I glanced up to find him watching
me.
 
We were sitting on his deck in
front of the fire pit and had just finished roasting marshmallows when he’d
spoken. I realized I’d been so lost in my thoughts that I’d spaced out on him.

“I was thinking
I should probably let you get some sleep.”

 
“I’m not tired. Besides, I can sleep
during the surgery.”

“Knowing you,
you’ll be up and walking around this time tomorrow.”

Reed grinned.
“Lying around doing nothing is the worst part of being in the hospital.”

“I thought it
was the food.”

 
“That’s a close second.” He was quiet for
a moment, before giving me a knowing look. “You were thinking about more than
me needing sleep.”

“I know, but
that was what I didn’t mind telling you,” I admitted.

Reaching out,
he gently tugged a curl, sliding the strand of hair between his fingers. “Tell
me,” he cajoled.

I thought for a
moment and sighed. “I was thinking about something Amber said last night.”

Taking a deep
breath, he nodded slowly. “Since you don’t want to tell me, I’m guessing it’s
something that upset you.”

I debated
saying anything, not wanting to upset him. While I was thinking, Reed said, “Amber
told you that she came over and brought me dinner last night.”

I looked up at
him and nodded.

He put his hand
on my bare leg and gave me reassuring squeeze.
 
“Ellie, I don’t want you thinking I’ve
got something going on with Amber. We’ve been patient with Isabelle but it’s
time to tell everyone about us.”

“I know,” I
agreed, even though I worried about hurting Isabelle and Amber. “My dad didn’t
get why we were keeping things a secret.”

Reed made a
sound deep in his throat. “Imagine him not understanding that,” he said wryly.
“He probably thinks I’m an asshole. How much did Officer Winston tell him?”
 

“Dad isn’t
going to shoot you,” I assured him, but from the look on Reed’s face I don’t
think he was certain.

 
“That bad, huh?”

I hesitated then
blurted out, “He told Dad that we were making out behind the runway.”

“Fantastic.”
Reed shook his head. “I should probably be encouraged that your dad hasn’t
hunted me down yet.”

“He’s waiting
until Saturday.”

“He’s waiting
until Saturday to hunt me down or to shoot me?” he said with a wry smile.

I laughed. “I
told him we’d meet him for dinner on Saturday. If you’re not feeling up to it,
I’ll cancel.”

“No, we’re
having dinner with your dad Saturday,” Reed insisted. “If we cancel, he’ll
think I’m some loser that wants to keep his daughter a secret and doesn’t have
to the balls to face him.” He glanced down at me. “I’m glad this amuses you.”

“I’m sorry, I
know you’re worried about meeting my dad.” Actually, I thought I saw a hint of
a smile tug at the corners of Reed’s mouth.
 
“You’re not getting out of the hospital
until Tuesday.
 
If we have to
reschedule, he’ll understand.”

“We’re not
cancelling.
 
We’ll meet him and then
we’ll tell Isabelle about us.”

“What about
Amber?” I asked warily.

“I’m not hiding
us from Amber,” he said, looking into my eyes. “It’ll be okay.”

 
“She’s so confident you’ll come back to
her after your done with me.”

“She said
that?” Reed asked, clearly surprised.

“I don’t think
she knows about me, but she thinks you’ll get tired of whoever you’re seeing
and she’ll get you back.”

“What else did
she say?” He sent a cautious look my way.

“Not much.”

Reed frowned.
“You’re upset. Tell me, Ellie.”

“She said she
loved having sex with you.
 
You’re the
best lover she’s ever had.” Why I’d admitted this to Reed, I wasn’t sure.

Reed stared at
me in disbelief. “I’m sorry, Ellie. I don’t why she said that to you.”

“Probably
because it’s true.”

He was watching
me with a wary look in his eyes. “If I’d had to listen to some guy say that
about you, I would have been jealous as hell.”

“I was,” I confessed.
“But I also felt bad for her.”

His gaze was
suddenly warm. “What can I do to fix this?”

“There’s nothing
to fix.”

He didn’t look
sure. Reaching out he brushed the side of my face lightly with is knuckles, and
I shivered. “I won’t hurt you, Ellie,” he whispered.

“I know.” And I
did. Reed would never do anything to purposefully cause me pain. Even though he
didn’t know it yet, my heart belonged to him, but I wasn’t worried in the least
that he’d break it because I trusted Reed as much as I loved him.

We slept in
Reed’s bed and held each other throughout the night. I’d meant to wake up and
leave before Isabelle came by to take Reed to the hospital, but for some reason
my phone alarm didn’t go off. I woke up to the sound Isabelle’s shocked gasp and
shot up in the bed to see her staring wide-eyed at Reed and I.

“Morning
Isabelle,” Reed said easily, as if we were somewhere other than his bedroom and
Reed and I weren’t almost naked.

I hadn’t
realized he was awake, but he sat up, bare-chested, and placed his hand against
my back, offering what comfort he could.
 
My heart was pounding, and I wondered if
Reed could feel it.

“It’s okay,
Ellie,” Reed whispered against my ear. To Isabelle he said, “Can you give us a
moment? We’ll be right out.”

 
Isabelle just stared at us.

“Isabelle,”
Reed replied gently. She started, blinked, and finally she turned and walked
out of the room.

“We were going
to tell her this week.” He cast his eyes my way, as if trying to determine how
I was doing.

 
“I’d imagined this differently.” Trying to
follow Reed’s lead and make light of the situation especially since he was
having surgery in just a few short hours, I suggested, “Maybe with clothes. And
someplace other than your bed.”

“Nah, that
would have been boring,” he said with a smile that made heat pool in my lower
belly. “Think of how funny this will seem years from now.”

I liked that he
implied we might still be together years from now, but I hoped it didn’t take
that long to see the humor in this situation.
 
We got dressed quickly and went into the
kitchen where Isabelle sat still as a statue on a bar stool with her elbows
propped on Reed’s granite countertop.

“What’s going
on here?” she demanded when she saw us.

“I think that’s
obvious,” Reed replied effortlessly. “You want some coffee?”

Isabelle’s eyes
flashed angrily. “No, I don’t want any damned coffee.” Her gaze darted from
Reed to me. “Did you sleep together?”

“Ellie and I
are seeing each other. We wanted to tell you, but you were upset that Amber and
I weren’t getting back together so we decided to give you some time.”

“Isabelle, I’m sorry.
I didn’t mean to hurt you or Amber,” I said, trying to make her understand.

“How long has
this been going on?” she snapped.

“It was two
years ago, but we--”

“Two
years!
 
That night you drove Reed
home from the cemetery?” Isabelle looked livid and hurt.

“Yes,” I
admitted, feeling the weight of her pain.

“The handcuffs
and riding crop, you’re using those with Ellie?” Isabelle cried. “She’s my best
friend, Reed!”

 
“It was joke, Isabelle,” I said
patiently. “I never meant to upset you.”

“You never
meant to upset me?” Isabelle cried. “Because you’ve been lying to me for the
last two years, Ellie! Does Cora know?”

It was in that
moment I realized the extent of my betrayal, and I wasn’t sure that Isabelle
would be able to forgive me. “Yes,” I whispered, wishing I could say or do
something that would make this better.

Isabelle’s
hands covered her face and I thought she might cry.

“Isabelle,”
Reed said softly, putting his arm around his sister. “This is my fault, not
Ellie’s.” Brushing off his arm, she stepped back and glared at him through a
blur of tears, but Reed didn’t let that dissuade him. “We haven’t been hiding
this from you for the last two years.
 
I took advantage of Ellie two years ago.
 
It wasn’t until she came to see me last
month that we got together.”

“He didn’t take
advantage of me,” I told Isabelle, the words rushing out.

Isabelle took a
deep breath, as if trying to absorb everything. “So before last month, you two
hadn’t spoken to each other besides that one night?”

“No, not in
person.
 
There were a few emails.”

Isabelle shook
her head as if disgusted with me. “Is this because Davis is marrying Brooke?
What, is Reed your rebound guy?”

“No! It’s not
like that at all. Reed is everything to me.”

I felt Reed’s
gaze on me, but I was focused on Isabelle, desperate to make her understand.

“I don’t know
if I’ll ever believe anything you say again, Ellie.”

 
“That’s enough, Isabelle,” Reed said
sharply. “I know you’re angry and hurt, but don’t take it out on Ellie. She
doesn’t deserve it.”

“She’s why you
aren’t with Amber,” Isabelle said accusingly, her eyes fastened on Reed. “Her
family took us in and treated us like their own. After all they’ve done for us,
doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

“Of course it does,
but being grateful doesn’t mean I have to sleep their daughter,” he replied evenly.

“Fine. We don’t
have time for this anyway. You have to be at the hospital in half an hour.
 
Do you still need a ride or are you
going with her?”

I winced at the
tone of Isabelle’s voice when she spat, ‘her.’ “Isabelle, I am so sorry,” I
pleaded, begging her to understand, but she wouldn’t look at me.

“Are you
coming, Reed?” Isabelle called, ignoring me.

“Why don’t we
all ride together, and then you can drop Ellie by later to pick up her car,” he
suggested.

Isabelle folded
her arms, and glared at her brother.

Reed sighed.
“Then I’ll ride with Ellie. I’m sorry, Isabelle,” he said quietly.

Isabelle looked
as if she might argue, but then closed her mouth and walked away. Stopping
suddenly, she turned around to face Reed. “I love you,” she told him. “I’ll be
at the hospital when you wake up.”

“I love you
too, Isabelle.”

Reed pulled me
against his chest and held me close while he rubbed my back, whispering
soothing words into my hair. I wanted to cry, but Reed was about to have
surgery and falling apart now would only be selfish.

 
“That didn’t go as well as I hoped.”

“She’ll come
around, Ellie,” Reed said confidently, brushing a strand of hair from my face.
“I don’t want you to worry about this.”

“Funny, that’s
what I was going to say to you.”

“Do I look
worried?” he asked, grinning down at me as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

“I think you’d
say anything to make me feel better.”

“Ellie.” His
tone was tender enough to extinguish my doubt. “You’re a good person and
Isabelle knows that.”
 

“I lied to her
and she thinks I broke up you and Amber.”

“You did what
you thought was best at the time, we both did, and Isabelle isn’t upset because
I’m not getting back together with Amber.
 
She’s not mad that we’re together. Isabelle
is hurt because you didn’t tell her.”

“You’re right,”
I said guiltily.

When I would
have dropped my head, Reed clasped my chin gently between his thumb and
forefinger forcing me to look at him. “No one is perfect, Ellie. Not even you.”
He dipped his head and dropped a kiss on my mouth. “Maybe we made a mistake and
should have told her sooner, but I know my sister.
 
She just needs some time to cool off.”
 

“Thank you,
Reed. Don’t think about any of this today. You should be focusing on getting
better.”

His mouth
tilted at the corners.
 
“I’m going
to be fine. I have a lot motivation to get my ass out of bed later.”

“To referee
between Isabelle and me?”

He laughed
softly. “That and I have to meet your dad on Saturday.”

Reed’s surgery
lasted almost two hours.
 
The
waiting room was full of his friends, some of them I knew, like Jase and the
guys he played cards with, but there were others I hadn’t met yet. Isabelle and
I didn’t talk. She sat with Amber the entire time.
 
Later, Cora came and I was glad to see
her.

When the doctor
announced that Reed was out of surgery and doing fine, I breathed a sigh of
relief. I couldn’t go in and see him since only family members were allowed in while
he was in recovery.
 
Isabelle and
Amber went to see Reed. I guess Isabelle told the doctor that Amber was family.

It wasn’t until
several hours after the surgery that Reed was moved to a room, and I finally
got to see him. Almost everyone had left by then, saying they’d let Reed rest
and be back to visit tomorrow.

“You’re
awake.”
 
I was surprised, expecting
to find him sleeping off the anesthesia.
 

“I wanted to
see you. You alright, Ellie?”

“Me?” I smiled,
leaned over and pressed a kiss to his forehead, careful not to disturb the IV
taped to his hand. “You look good.” He did, crazy-good for a guy who’d just
been through surgery.