Finding Ellie (Complete)

Chapter 2

Two days. 

Ellie had been in Ireland for two days and the only thing she had done was explore her home away from home from the inside out. The old Inn had six bedrooms in all and, from what Ellie could see, each room was decorated a little differently but all were very charming. Downstairs there was a sitting room and library filled with beautiful, well-worn, comfortable furnishings for the guests to use at their leisure. Throughout the house you could find paintings and old photographs, perhaps of the owner’s family, decorating the walls and hallways. Dinner was served every evening in the dining room promptly at seven o’clock, if you wished to have a home cooked meal. The dining room was not a large room but it had a beautiful, wooden table with eight matching chairs. A Hutch and buffet sat at each end of the room no doubt holding many treasures and memories. The room had all the pieces of a formal dining setting but it was always warm and inviting. And, finally, the back part of the house was used by Mrs. Callaghan as her living quarters.

It turned out Ellie’s room was the last door on the left after she got up the rickety staircase and down the hallway with its cream colored walls, dainty painting and black and white photographs. The old floors were neatly polished to a gleam and covered with a brightly colored runner that would dull the sound of your footsteps and creeks from the whining floorboards. Once she brought in her belongings she stood, simply, in the middle of the room taking it all in. The old, wood floors throughout the B & B were present in her room as well. There was a double bed and a handsome, mahogany armoire stood against the wall across from it; there was even a small television set. The walls were painted a nice, pale shade of yellow and made the little, blue flowers from the beautifully, handmade quilt jump out. Finally the soft and fluffy, blue throw pillows, begging to be cuddled, brought it all together and made the bed, and the room, very inviting and cozy. Delicate, lace curtains hung at the bay window with its plush sitting area begging to have you hunker down with a good book on a rainy day; better yet perfect for some writing. When she looked outside Ellie had been delighted to see she had a view of the garden. The winding paths would make for a lovely afternoon discovering the various flowers that grew there.

Turning around, she saw a door and opened it, fully expecting some sort of closet. Instead she whooped with joy when it revealed to be a bathroom. Although it was not very big it had all the comforts of home. The pretty claw-foot tub with its old faucet and shower mounted to the outside of the wall finished off with a soft and cheery, floating curtain matched the pale yellow walls of her room perfectly. The gleaming, white subway tiles stood in contrast to the wooden vanity with a white sink and antique faucets. It was all so perfect and much better than the detox retreat Poppy had suggested. Ellie could not wait to soak in that tub. She couldn’t have been happier with her choice of accommodations.

***

On the third day, after eating her breakfast and starting to get comfortable with her routine, Ellie was making her way back to her room when she was stopped by Mrs. Callaghan.

“I’ve packed you a lunch.” The older woman handed Ellie a small basket and pushed her to the front door. “You’ll not be spending any more time in your room. You came to Ireland for a reason now go find what you’re looking for.”

            Ellie stood on the stone porch, basket in hand, not really sure what had just happened. It seemed, however, there was no fooling the old woman or Ellie just wasn’t as good at hiding her emotions as she had thought. When the door opened again she couldn’t help but smile when Mrs. Callaghan silently handed her an umbrella.

            It was a nice, ten minute walk from the B & B down to the shops of Doolin. The day was unusually sunny with birds chirping although the slight breeze coming in from the Atlantic was a bit chilly. In any case, Ellie was going to enjoy it. It wasn’t like she was going to lock herself in her room for a month and not do anything, she thought as she sauntered down the road admiring the small shops and cottages. It was just that, well, she was comfortable. And that was part of the problem wasn’t it? Just like how she knew she should have left Chad a long time ago but she had been comfortable. The only risk Ellie had taken in the ten years they had been together was write that first book despite having zero support from her husband then going behind his back to submit the manuscript. It ended up being the greatest risk she had ever taken.

            Yes, it was a nice day however the memory that pushed its way through as she walked was anything but pleasant.

            “I have some great news.” Ellie held a piece of paper in her hand. She was practically beaming with joy. This was the start of a new career for her and she couldn’t wait to share it.

            “Make it quick, I have a meeting to attend at our office uptown and, with this traffic, it will be a nightmare.” Chad responded, sharply, not even glancing at his wife. He instead, busied himself with straightening his tie and gazing in the hall mirror to make sure no hair was out of place.

            Ellie faltered but gathered her courage. “They want my book!”

            Chad’s hands stopped what they were doing and he slowly turned to Ellie. Before he could say anything, she pressed on knowing she wouldn’t get another chance.

            “I sent it in but hadn’t heard anything from them so I figured they weren’t interested.”

            “You sent in that ridiculous thing.” Chad’s eyes revealed his anger. Had he not been clear regarding his thoughts about her silly, childish garbage? Had he not forbidden her? What would this do to his reputation? The wife of a respected and admired attorney writing story books for a living. It was simply not acceptable.

            In defeat, trying to hold back the tears, Ellie answered, “Read it, it’s good.” Too late, Ellie thought, he hated when she cried, it showed weakness and she didn’t want to but it was too late. The tears came, carving a path down her cheeks.

            “Stop crying.” Chad spat, and roughly grabbed the suit jacket she had been holding for him. “I told you what my feelings were on this yet you went on ahead.”

            “Please, if you’ll just listen,” she called out, feebly.

            “Don’t wait up.” He slammed the door shut behind him making Ellie jump slightly. She brushed the tears away and sadly went to call Poppy with the great news. At least there would be support from her best friend.

            That was a long time ago, Ellie thought, and took a deep breath. If she had let Chad’s bullying get to her back then, she wouldn’t be the author she was now. Ellie was ashamed to admit she had allowed him to manipulate her on many occasions but she had stood her ground when it came to writing and listened to her heart and, Poppy, of course, had encouraged her to follow her dreams. It was true that Poppy could be a little crazy at times with her ever-changing hair color and off-the-wall ideas, much like the time they had gone to the little lake-side cabin with Poppy’s family. She had managed to convince Ellie that they were quite capable of building a raft to cross the lake. It turned out they really didn’t know how to build a raft which ended up being a blessing in disguise when they realized the lake was infested with leeches.

Suddenly, Ellie crashed hard into something and stumbled back when a stray rock rolled underneath her foot. Strong hands shot out to steady her. She looked up and was instantly lost in a pair of cool, green eyes. Ellie could feel the flush creeping along her neck and up to her face. She opened her mouth.

            “Watch yourself.” The man hissed not allowing her to utter a single word. Before she could regain her composure he left her standing there as he marched away angrily.

            “Jerk” She nearly yelled out but whispered it under her breath instead.

There would have been no point, he wouldn’t have cared if she had yelled out and it wasn’t like she would ever see that i***t again. Instead, she dusted herself off and kept walking, with her little basket in tow, until she reached an outcropping of large rocks – limestone, she had been told – and decided to set up her picnic there. When she opened her basket she was surprised to see so much food.

            “How many people did she think she was feeding?” she murmured, as she spied an overstuffed chicken sandwich on sour dough bread, two apples, a small bag of carrots, crackers accompanied by a soft goat cheese and a bottle of water. There was also a container of freshly baked oatmeal cookies hiding in there. It all looked mouthwatering and smelled even better.

She positioned herself on the flatter part of a low boulder and hoped no one was watching her talking to herself. A nasty habit she had tried again and again to squash without much success. Chad had hated it when he had caught her whispering to herself a few times. Of course he had and, now that she thought about it, she didn’t think there was much Chad had liked about her. How could he? It had been all about image for him, never really about love. He had been proud to introduce her as his wife, the journalist, at the beginning of his career. But when that didn’t pan out and she started writing children’s books he became cold and distant. Ellie wondered, not for the first time, about the woman or women he had cheated on her with. Wondered what they had to offer that she didn’t to advance his career and improve his image.

She kept an eye on an ominous looking cloud as she munched on her sandwich and found herself getting all kinds of ideas for books. Taking out the notebook she never left home without she started jotting down those ideas. Sure she was a successful, children’s book author but being in this beautiful country sparked her imagination for romance. Ellie snorted and recognized the irony of it considering her own failed marriage.

She sat there for a long time before the first drop of rain had her scrambling to put away her notebook and what food she hadn’t eaten. It was then she realized she had no clue where her umbrella was. She had it with her when she had stopped to eat didn’t she? The search up and around the boulders didn’t bring up anything. And now as the rain drops were coming down quicker she wasn’t going to contemplate it any longer. Basket in hand, she ran for it quite sure she was a sight to behold. Her poor feet got soaked immediately as she ran through puddles there was no way to avoid. She fled past shops and finally decided to stop under the canopy of a pub just ahead. Panting, she reached her destination grateful for the small cover.

She didn’t see him, he knew that right away. It was the same woman who had ran into him earlier; the slender blonde with the dark blue eyes. He had noticed, he was a man after all, but that didn’t mean he cared. He shook his head at the way she was dressed. Long sleeve t-shirt, dark jeans and trainers; so obviously a tourist who had no idea how to dress for the inclement weather of Ireland. He figured he should give her the umbrella that had fallen out of her basket but he held onto it as she backed up toward him.

Before she could run him over again he cleared his throat. “Do you usually make a habit of mowing people down?”

Ellie was cold and soaked to the bone but she recognized the gruff voice right away even though he had only said two words to her before. Not that she had counted. She turned around, stunned at how close she actually was to him; even more stunned at his height. He was a good head taller than she was. The same, cool green eyes looked down at her, his brows drawn together, his dark hair sitting there in an organized mess. His light colored, long-sleeved shirt fit perfectly over his broad, muscular shoulders. Ellie could only imagine what was hiding under that shirt. He wore dark jeans that sit low on his waist, fitting snuggly at just the right places. Finishing off his outfit with what she could imagine was an Irish must have - a pair of brown, worn leather boots

“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you.” Ellie stuck her nose in the air. He had such an air of arrogance it made her dislike him right away.

He shoved his hands in his pockets, pursed his lips and gave her an once-over. She was standing there with her wet hair dripping down her flushed face, her soaked shirt clinging to her petite frame and jeans topped off a very soggy looking pair of joggers. She was a sight that was for sure.

“An American by the sounds of it.” He smirked.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ellie scowled. He didn’t even know her. How could a person be this rude to a complete stranger?

“Just that it doesn’t surprise me.”

Then he took a deliberate step back, gave her a lop-sided grin and handed her the umbrella.

“You’ll be needing this.”

Ellie grabbed the umbrella from him, opened it up and stomped off, mumbling under her breath. The nerve of that guy, what a jerk, a damn good looking jerk, she thought. She hated clichés but she would have described him as tall, dark and handsome. For a second, she had stood there just looking at him wondering how a man could be so beautiful. For a second, she had irrationally wanted to run her hands through his dark, untamed hair. Then that second ended when he opened his big, stupid mouth. And be damned the dimple that winked in his right cheek.