Love Letters: A Rose Harbor Novel (35 page)

“Your mother?”

Ellie nodded. “She came by … she was in the area.” No need to explain further.

“How’s it going with the two of them?”

“Good, I think. They discovered that they’d written love letters to each other after they separated that neither of them ever received.”

Tom walked down the three steps leading to the concrete walkway. Ellie stepped away from the curb. They met halfway between the house and the car, and while it was a short distance, Ellie felt like each one of those steps was a mile in length. She walked with the care of a soldier traversing a minefield.

“Did you get a chance to have Dad answer any more of your questions?” Tom asked.

“A few.”

“He always loved you, Ellie, always, but he was afraid you’d been brainwashed against him.”

Tom said that as if it explained everything, only it didn’t. “He could have at least tried.”

“You’re right, but the fact is, your father has a lot of baggage from his first marriage.”

“We all have baggage,” Ellie argued.

“But some more than others. The longer one drags it around, the heavier it seems. I’m hoping you’re willing to look past that disappointment and appreciate how hard it was for him to meet you, knowing that you might possibly hate him.”

Ellie didn’t see it like that. It seemed wrong to hear Tom defend her father, but then she realized Scott was a safe subject. Discussing the older man’s fears and doubts made it easier to avoid talking about their own troubles. Ellie found it interesting that her father had defended Tom. It hurt that Tom had such a strong relationship with him and she didn’t.

“Can we not talk about my father?” she asked.

Tom agreed. “Fine by me.”

Silence followed, as though they were each afraid to venture beyond to anything else. Finally, Ellie couldn’t bear the tension any longer. “You hurt me,” she whispered. “You took my feelings for you and used them for your own selfish purposes.”

“I know, and I’m sorry.” He didn’t deny it, didn’t make excuses.

“Sorry,” she repeated slowly, thinking it was such a weak, insipid word.

“I take that back.” He stood directly in front of her now. They were both on the sidewalk, facing each other. Tom reached out and gripped her shoulders.

“You’re taking back your apology?” She tried to break his hold, but he wouldn’t let her go.

“I don’t regret contacting you, reaching out to you. Okay, you’re right, my original purposes were less than stellar. My intent was to introduce you to the father you’d never known in a casual, nonthreatening way. I assumed that after the first few days I’d nonchalantly mention I happened to be Scott’s stepson and let the conversation go from there.”

“Why didn’t you?” The words were more accusation than question.

“Because I was afraid that once I told you who I was that you would block my name and I wouldn’t be able to talk to you again. It was a risk, but one I was willing to take for my dad’s sake, and for yours, too.”

Although privately Ellie was pleased, she felt obliged to say, “That’s not a good excuse.”

“Maybe not,” he agreed, with some reluctance, his eyes pleading with hers for understanding. “But, Ellie, I found it increasingly important to keep you in my life.”

Ellie had felt the same way, too, although she wasn’t overly keen to admit it. Hearing from Tom each day had become progressively more important as their friendship developed. By the time they’d moved on to emails and phone calls, she was half in love with him.

“You have to remember my intentions were good,” he said, as if that was enough to wipe out all the hurt this entire mess had caused her.

“No, they weren’t. You used me …”

“You had a right to know your father,” Tom argued. “A right to know that he loved you and regretted the past. It didn’t take me long to realize that you’d been fed nothing but lies about the man I’d only known to be decent and good and honorable.”

“My mother was looking to protect me.”

“By keeping your father out of your life?” he demanded.

“She … I think it was a matter of several unfortunate incidents that kept them apart.”

“I didn’t want that to happen to us, Ellie. You have every right to be upset with me; I understand that. But look at it from my point of view. I wanted to bring a father and daughter together. Yes, I made mistakes, and yes, I was insensitive to you both, but I couldn’t think of any other way to go about it.”

“I wish you’d been honest with me from the first.”

“Would you have let me in your life if I had?” he asked.

That was the real question, and one Ellie wasn’t sure she could answer. “I … I don’t know.” She’d like to think she would have welcomed the opportunity to meet her father, but she couldn’t be certain, couldn’t be sure. Besides, if Scott had wanted to be part of her life, wouldn’t he have reached out of his own accord instead of letting his stepson do it for him?

“That’s just it,” Tom went on to say. “I didn’t want to take the chance of losing you, and then I realized by going about it the way I did I’d basically guaranteed that once you discovered the truth I was in a no-win situation. That’s why I asked you to trust me, no matter what happened this weekend.”

“If Scott hadn’t come to the inn, you would have,” she whispered. She’d been angry and determined, and even now she wasn’t completely sold that she should let Tom back into her life again.

Exhaling slowly, Tom leaned his forehead against hers. “Tell me you’re here because you’re willing to give me another chance.”

“I’m here because my parents urged me to talk to you.” As of right this moment, Ellie wasn’t sure of anything. Then it hit her. As she said
parents
, she realized that this was the first time in her life that she’d ever referred to her mother and father as parents,
her parents
, because they were together and in agreement with each other.

“I’m glad you’re here, no matter what the reason,” he whispered, and ran his hands down the length of her arms. “More glad than you know, and I promise if you give me a second chance I won’t blow it.”

The warmth of his touch chased away the chill that had come over her from that morning on the water and all that had happened afterward.

“The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you. If you believe nothing else, believe that.”

“My father said basically the same thing,” she confessed, with a sigh, and accepted that loving someone left her heart open and vulnerable to hurt and to so much more, including love and joy. “I do want my father in my life, and I believe he wants to get to know me, too.”

Tom kissed her forehead and then her nose and the curve of her chin before asking, “What about me … in your life?”

His kiss made it difficult to think clearly, especially as he eased his way toward her lips. “That has yet to be determined,” she whispered suggestively.

He settled his mouth over hers in a lingering kiss that left her weak in the knees. “Does that help you decide?” he asked.

“I … it helps.”

“Good,” he whispered, and kissed her again, with even more intensity. Ellie clung to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and standing on her tiptoes as she felt her heart opening up to him.

When they ended the kiss they were both breathing hard.

Still, there were things Ellie had to know. “What would you have done if I hadn’t driven here to talk to you?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

“I don’t know, but I can tell you this—I wouldn’t have left matters as they were. You’re too important to me to let you walk away without putting up a fight.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

Ellie sighed and felt herself weakening. She was being drawn into his arms, and it felt as if this was exactly the place she was meant to be. It would be too hard to live without him now.

“Are you willing to give me another chance?” Tom asked, drawing back enough to be able to look her in the eye.

“That depends on if you have any more surprises to throw at me.” She held his gaze, willing him to level with her.

“Some women like being surprised.”

“I’m not some women, I’m me.”

“Okay, no more surprises.”

Ellie laughed and, looping her arms around his middle and pressing her face against his chest, said, “Then we’re in business.”

Tom laughed, too, and hugged her close for a long time. He released her but reached for her hand, intertwining their fingers. “I think both your mother and Scott would like it if we stopped by the B-and-B.”

“You mean … now?”

“No time like the present,” Tom suggested, keeping her close to his side. “And later you can tell me more about the love letters they wrote to each other that you mentioned a bit ago.”

“Okay.”

Ellie’s mood lightened considerably as they drove in separate cars back to Rose Harbor Inn. Standing outside the inn, she filled Tom in on the letters and what each of her parents had learned about the other.

“It seems your grandparents have a lot to answer for,” Tom said when she’d finished.

Ellie agreed, but at the same time she understood that they, too, had been motivated by good intentions. “I believe my grandparents assumed Mom would marry again. They had someone else in mind, but it never panned out.”

“Why not?”

Ellie had never been sure until now. “She was in love with my
father. At one point she swallowed her pride and went to him, but it was too late. He’d already married your mother.”

Tom tightly gripped her hand. “I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t be. I believe that life flows the way it was meant to be. We’re in charge of our own futures, but only to a certain point, and then God takes over, and that’s for the best.”

“You have a forgiving nature,” Tom said, “and I for one am grateful you do.”

“If Mom and Dad had reunited when I was a kid, there’s every likelihood that we would never have met,” she reminded him.

Tom mulled that over for several moments and then agreed. “Your father is a good man, Ellie, and once you get to know him you’ll learn that for yourself. He made mistakes in his life; we all do. I have and you have, but we can’t allow ourselves to get bogged down by errors in judgment.”

Ellie hoped that was the case with her parents.

Tom took her hand as they walked toward the front steps. Rover was at the door to greet them, but he didn’t bark or put up a fuss. Instead, he wagged his tail as if to say how pleased he was to see that they were back and that they were together.

Virginia Reynolds glanced up when Ellie and Tom came into the living area. Her gaze went to their linked hands and she smiled.

“Did you two work everything out?” she asked.

“We’re getting there,” Ellie explained, sitting down on the sofa next to her mother. Tom took the chair beside Scott. They hadn’t discussed the future. That had yet to be determined. For now, it was enough that they’d cleared the air and decided to move forward. She didn’t know what the future held for the two of them, but she sincerely hoped they would have one together. Time would tell.

“It seems to me,” Scott Reynolds said, “there are plenty of reasons for a celebration. I’d like to treat us all to a wonderful dinner at DD’s on the Cove.”

Virginia looked to Ellie as if seeking her permission. “I think that would be lovely,” Ellie said.

“It’s time I got to know my daughter.”

“Time I got to know my father,” she returned.

Virginia shifted and looked a bit uncomfortable. “Perhaps it would be better if I stayed behind.”

“Mom, no,” Ellie insisted. “I want you to come. It wouldn’t be the same without you.”

“But …”

“Ginny,” Scott said evenly. “I invited you as well. I’d like it if you’d join us.”

“I’m going,” Tom told her. “I don’t want to waste a minute of the time I have with Ellie before she heads back to Oregon.”

Virginia glanced from one to the other and then agreed. “All right.”

Ellie knew her mother well enough to recognize that she wanted to be talked into joining the group. She read subtle hints that told her that while she’d been away her parents had talked and, she hoped, cleared the air. As far as she was concerned, it was twenty-two years later than it should have been. Still, it pleased her immensely that they were able to communicate now.

“S-o …” Tom said, dragging out the word and looking to his stepfather. “Are you two … talking?”

“We’re talking,” was all Scott would say.

But Ellie noticed that her mother blushed ever so slightly. “We’re talking,” she concurred. “There’s been a lot of hurts and a lot of misunderstandings. I fear I misjudged Scott terribly.”

“Your family …” Scott said, and then bit off the rest of what he intended to say. “Like we agreed, what’s done is done. This is a brand-new day.”

“It’s early evening,” Virginia corrected.

Scott chuckled. “You always were a stickler for details, Ginny. All right, it’s a brand-new early evening. I have both my daughter and the son of my heart by my side, and my ex-wife and I are talking.”

“Just talking,” Virginia reminded him.

“Just talking,” Scott agreed, “but that’s a vast improvement.”

A vast improvement, indeed. Ellie’s gaze met Tom’s and he winked, and, smiling, she winked back.

It was a start for them all, and for that Ellie could only be grateful.