Page 148 of Eleanor & Grey
I wanted to stop running. I wanted to call Eleanor and ask her to come back to me. But then I thought of my girls and all of the healing we still had to find.
“It’s too soon,” I said, shaking my head. “I just need more time.”
“I get that, son, I do. Just be careful to not let the time in the sandglass run out. Our lives are short, and tomorrow isn’t promised. If there is one thing we all deserve, it’s the right to be happy. Perhaps you deserve that even more than most, Greyson.”
Happy.
That’s all I ever wanted, and I was sure I’d get it someday.
Just not now.
57Greyson
Two days later, the doorbell rang, and I stood from the living room couch to go answer it. The moment the door opened, confusion hit me. Eleanor stood there with eyes full of worry.
“Ellie, what are you—”
“Is she OK?” she asked, her voice shaky.
I raised an eyebrow. “Is who OK?”
“Karla. She sent me a text message saying she was in trouble and needed my help. I came over as soon as I could.”
“Oh, I’m fine,” a voice said behind me. I turned to see Karla standing there with a smirk on her face.
“Then why did you text Eleanor?” I asked.
“Because I do need her help. We all do.”
Eleanor looked bewildered, not having a clue what was going on, but I was slowly catching on. My hand brushed against my neck. “Sorry, Ellie. It seems my teenage daughter is acting up.”
“Only because you were being stubborn, Dad. Just face it... you like Eleanor. And Eleanor, you can’t even deny that you like him, too, because you can’t hide your emotions for anything. So you two should just... be together.”
“Karla...” My voice dropped, and I grimaced. “You know why we can’t—”
“Yeah, Dad, I get it. You’re fucked up, I’m fucked up, Eleanor’s fucked up—we’re all fucked up! But we might as well be fucked up together.”
“Language,” Eleanor and I said in unison.
I smiled, she smiled, and damn, I loved it.
More of that, Ellie...
I missed those smiles.
“See? You both are even corny together. So you have to be together.” Karla shrugged. “Look, I get it. I sometimes fall apart and make things hard, but I just want you to know that I want Eleanor here. So does Lorelai. We don’t need to wait until we are perfectly healed, Dad. We can be a team with a few cracks still left to fix. Through the good and the bad. Besides...” She gave Eleanor a hesitant grin. “We made a pinky promise.”
She turned and headed back to her bedroom.
I parted my mouth to speak, but no words came to mind. Because this was what I wanted; Eleanor was who I craved.
I locked eyes with Eleanor and brushed my thumb against my chin. Nerves filled me up as she kept smiling my way.
“Grey, if you’re not ready for this, I—”
“Ellie?”
“Yes?”
