Hello again,

Thank you all for reading and reviewing. This is a short chapter but the next installment will be up by Sunday. I hope you all like it.

As I was saying
Just after I took my foot from
My mouth and put it back
On the ground

I don't want to disappoint you
I don't want to disappear
From here or now or you

This is worth saving
Because the sum of us is more than us
If you add us up
Then subtract my lack of sleep

My mind feels crazy
When all these thoughts come rushing in
Should I be trusting them
Or only let them be?

I don't want to disappoint you
I don't want to disappear
From here or now or you

As I Was Saying - Jack Johnson

Tony rushed up the steps of the B&B in search of Ben and Ella. He needed clarification and he needed to sort this whole mess out. He found Ella in the family room rocking baby Carmel. Tony stopped on his tracks as Ella brought her finger to her lips. She whispered she'd be right back and walked to the back of the house, towards the nursery. Everyone made it inside the house during her absence and he noticed Ada head upstairs towards her room, he hoped she was on her way to take a nap. The rest of the group decided to head to their rooms as well and Tony was left alone again in the family room.

Ella came back and offered Tony something to drink. He accepted and followed her into the kitchen. She served them each a glass of lemonade and offered him almond biscotti sitting in a glass jar on the kitchen island. Tony refused the cookie and inquired after Ben just as his friend walked in from the backyard. Ben was in high spirits and inquired about their outing. Tony answered briefly that it had been fine and cut right to the chase with "What did you tell Ada last night Ben?"

"What do you mean what did I tell her?" asked a surprised Ben, not missing the edge on his friend's voice.

"Well, she seemed fine last night and after your little chat she was upset this morning and practically chewed my head off." replied an exasperated Tony.

Ella resolved to stay out of the conversation for the mean time. She knew what Ben had said, he had told her during their discussion about Tony and his "friends". She had warned him Tony would not be happy about it, and she was right, as always.

"I didn't say anything that wasn't true." Ben replied while grabbing a glass and helping himself to some lemonade and an almond biscotti.

"But what possessed you to tell her anything at all? I didn't bring her here for you to meddle with." Replied Tony forcefully.

An uncomfortable silence filled the kitchen as the three friends sat around the island, drinking their lemonade, calculating their next move.

"Why did you bring her?" Ella broke her silence with the question running through all their minds. Tony wondering why he had agreed to bring any of them here at all.

"I didn't purposely bring her. It was only supposed to be me but Lexie suddenly got it into her head it should be a road trip and next thing I know, she had been invited. I couldn't uninvite her." Replied Tony. Then added in almost a whisper, more to himself than the other two, "I didn't want to."

"Lexie seems to be a girl that gets what she goes after, doesn't she?" asked Ella, trying to curb her judgmental tone. She liked the girl, but not for Tony.

"Yes. I'm beginning to see that." replied Tony with a sigh. He needed to extricate himself from Lexie but it felt as if he was stuck in a silly string web. "Look, I'm sorry I erupted on you Ben, this situation just has me a bit out of sorts. But can you tell me what exactly you said to Ada? I need to figure out what upset her so much."

Ben looked at Ella and then turned to Tony, shrugging a bit he said "Well…I just said it was nice to get to know the person you had called your true love. I didn't think that would upset her, I thought she'd be flattered or something. Sorry man, I thought I would be helping you somehow."

"Well, thanks for trying to help, though I'm not sure what you thought I needed help with. But unfortunately, I think Ada thought you were speaking of Lexie."

"Lexie? Why would I be calling her your true love? Didn't you just meet her like two seconds ago?" Replied Ben incredulously.

"Yes, well, I guess Ada thinks there's more going on than there really is." Replied Tony taking a sip of his lemonade.

"Gee, I wonder where she could be getting that from?" Ella's sarcastic tone couldn't be mistaken

"What do you mean?" Asked Tony indifferently "Lexie and I are not dating."

"Really? Well you best tell her that, because the way this girl seems to operate, she might plan your wedding and you won't know it till you're standing at the altar. " Lexie punctuated her comment with a look Tony was sure was patented by all women as soon as they became mothers.

"You're crazy!" replied Tony astonished. There was no way Lexie thought he was serious, they were just having fun. Right?

"Look. You're a grown man Tony, and you can do with your life what you wish. You've known what I think of this whole ordeal, and meeting Ada and talking with her, has only reinforced my belief that you let the best thing that ever happened to you walk out of your life for nothing else than male pride." Ella was usually not one to meddle in people's romantic life, but this was Tony, who she regarded as a brother. She put a hand up to stop him from interrupting and continued; she would have her say and be done with it. "You refused to listen to anyone that told you other than what you wanted to hear four years ago, and now you show up here with Ada and Lexie, playing at who knows what, get upset at Ben for repeating your words and have the audacity to say you didn't do any of this on purpose. The truth is you've been playing the victim all this time, acting like Ada wronged you in the worst possible way when it was you who walked away from her. If you want her back, you need to get your act together and end things with Lexie, who, despite what you might think, most likely does think of you as her boyfriend. That's if you even have a shot at winning Ada back, because if I were her, I would send you packing as punishment for the crap you're pulling." All this was said in an even and calm tone. Ella was nothing if not a lady.

Ben sat very still, dipping his biscotti in his lemonade, watching his wife rip his friend a new one. He'd been on the other end of Ella's temper far too many times to wish it upon him once more. Tony was on his own.

Tony listened to Ella and felt the remains of his wall crumbling. She was right. He knew he'd been a complete and utter fool four years ago by walking away, but the more time that passed the harder it was to swallow his pride and return. He kept telling himself the same words over and over, 'She chose her family over me, she doesn't love me enough'. But he knew deep down it wasn't true. Ella had tried to tell him three years ago when he last visited, his mother had tried to talk to him every time he visited Costa Rica and she visited the states, but he had not listened. He had built a wall to protect himself and unfortunately, he didn't only keep the bad out. All sense was abandoned with his urgency to survive, until he realized the relief he so desired would never come until he confronted his past.

"You don't mince words do you Ella?" Tony asked trying to lighten the mood. He didn't want his friends upset with him, he needed their comfort and support; he needed their clarity.

"Not when it's important; and you are very important to me" replied Ella with a hint of a smile and a pat on Tony's hand.

"So…" chimed in Ben, after having ingested four biscotti, if only to occupy his mouth and stay in his wives good graces, "Do you know what you want to do?"

"I don't know." Replied Tony while he clasped his hands together and leaned on the counter. "On the one hand, I have Lexie, ready and eager, apparently. I like her. She's fun and definitely beautiful."

"But? Because there is a 'but' right?" Inquired Ben, reaching for fifth biscotti and getting a hand slap from Ella.

Tony sighed heavily. He had been thinking about this the whole day, while he walked the aquarium with Lexie, while he encountered Ada in the gift shop. He knew what he had discovered but was afraid of voicing it out.

"What are you afraid of Tony?" asked Ella knowingly.

Tony looked up and met his friend's eyes, and after taking a deep breath replied "I'm afraid she'll reject me again. I don't think I could survive it a second time." He let out a deep sigh and placed his aching head on his hands.

Ella walked around the island and put her arms around her friend. She whispered in his ear "If she rejected you, it would only be the first time because it was you who rejected her by walking away. And she has had to deal with that for four years now." She gave him a kiss on the temple and walked out of the kitchen.

Ben waited for Tony to sit up after Ella walked out. He knew realization would hit his misguided friend soon. He simply resolved to say "I've been married for five years now Tony and I have yet to see Ella be wrong." Tony gave him an incredulous look, surely Ella had been wrong at least once, she wasn't perfect after all.

Ben smiled at his friend and continued "Wrong when it truly matters. I'll leave you to your musings. Choose wisely my friend." He walked out of the kitchen, biscotti in hand, headed in the opposite direction of his wife.

Ada leaned against the wall on the last step, ears ringing, head swimming. She walked back up the stairs, her world turning inside out, upside down and sideways with every step.

Next chapter: Everybody Knows

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