Daylight

Sleeping should’ve been easier since Rome had spoken to his parents and gotten a few things settled, but Ella had had a hard time of it and was up with the first rays of light pouring in through the bedroom window. A glance at her sleeping husband told her that she wouldn’t disturb him if she crept out of bed, so she did, stopping by the closet for a change of clothes on the way to the bathroom.
Even the shower didn’t wake him. When she went back by a half hour later, he was still out cold. She smiled at how handsome he was, sleeping with one arm tucked under his pillow, the other stretched up over his head out straight, and grabbed her phone off of her nightstand, wondering if anyone else was up.
Of course, Lenore was. She always seemed to be awake, no matter the hour. Ella stopped by to tell her good morning, grabbing a piece of fruit and asking her not to worry about breakfast yet since Rome was still asleep, and then headed outside to the patio that faced the ocean.
Settling into a comfy cushioned, wicker chair, Ella breathed in the sweet sea breeze and tried to calm herself. She’d hoped that Rome meeting with his parents would provide answers to their pressing questions. Instead, it just seemed to make things even more unsettled. She hadn’t even gotten a chance to tell him about the artwork she’d found upstairs.
Those paintings had left an impression on her, though. That was for certain. Whoever had painted them had been enormously talented. It was too bad they’d all been left in the attic. Ella didn’t know much about the history of the house, but she wanted to find out as much as she could so she could see if she could determine who F. Ward might be.
On an off chance, she searched for an artist by that name on her phone. Surprisingly, some paintings came up that looked similar to the ones she’d found upstairs. Could this be the same artist?
Ella clicked on a link that took her to a short biography of a woman named Fae Ward. She learned that the woman had begun painting later in life, in her sixties, and had been most well-known for her seascapes. While her work had been popular in the LA area in the late nineties, she’d only sold a few before she quietly slipped back into the abyss of normalcy, never to be heard from again.
That, Ella could relate to. She certainly knew what it was like to fade away into oblivion.
The article was short, so Ella searched for more but couldn’t find anything. She even tried looking for Fae Ward’s name in the white pages but also came up short. If this woman had been a famous artist in the area for any amount of time, surely someone had to know where she was now. Had she lived in this house? Chances were she had. Why hadn’t she sold the paintings in the attic?
Frustrated at her lack of answers, Ella checked the time and saw that it was almost nine o’clock. She had a phone call to make, and even though she didn’t want to do it, she needed to get back to a place where she had more answers and less questions.
The phone rang four times before going to voicemail. Ella said, “Hey, Aunt Gen. It’s me. Answer when I call back, please.” She understood Aunt Gen wouldn’t want to answer a phone call from a number she didn’t know.
Rather than waiting for her to call back, her aunt called her. “Hi,” Ella said in a hushed voice, as if she was the one who might be overheard by someone who didn’t need to know what she was up to. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“No, no. I was just sitting out back having my morning tea. How are you, dear?”
“I’m okay.” She’d called when they’d first gotten back to California to let her aunt know she was safe. She’d called her other aunt, Suzette, in France as well. “How are you?”
“Not well,” her aunt admitted. Ella could practically hear the tears in her voice as she spoke. “God, Ella, I just miss him so much.”
It had been a while since Ella allowed herself to think about Tim, but now that her thoughts had returned to her cousin, she felt tears forming in her eyes as well. “I know, Aunt Gen. I miss him, too.”
“It just all seems so unfair. I wish… I wish I would’ve known how he was feeling so I could have done more to protect him.”
Ella wasn’t sure what to say. Clearly, Tim had gotten irrational about his hatred for Rome’s family or else he never would’ve taken that gun on the boat, the gun he’d insisted was meant to protect Ella against her father, not to use against Rome and his friends. “I don’t think there was anything any of us could’ve done, Aunt Gen.”
“You’re probably right,” she said with a sigh. “Anyway, how are you dear? Are you all settled?”
“Getting there.” She hadn’t told her aunt where they were living because she didn’t want there to be a chance she might accidentally tell her father. “Rome found out about the lawsuits yesterday. I was calling to ask you… why.”
Her aunt was quiet for a long moment. “I’m sorry, dear. Tim’s father… was angry. He thought Rome should’ve been prosecuted for Tim’s death. When the district attorney dropped the charges, he was livid. It was the only way to talk him down from going after Rome himself.”
“So… it was your idea?”
“Yes. I’m sorry, Ella. I hope you can understand. Without being able to tell him the truth… I didn’t know what else to do. If you need money--”
“No, no it’s not that. Rome’s dad paid for it. All of it. I just couldn’t believe….” Ella stopped talking. There was no point in finishing the sentence.
“It was the only way.”
Ella knew her uncle well enough to understand what her aunt was saying and had to suppose that might be true. “Well, if it gave the two of you a little bit of peace, I guess it was worth it.”
“It didn’t. Not me, anyway. No amount of money can bring Tim back. His father… I don’t see him much these days. He’s always working, more now than ever. He’s always busy. Trying to keep his mind off of it, I suppose.”
“I’m sorry, Aunt Gen.” Once again, she was at a loss for words.
“At least you’re all right, dear. Back when I thought I’d lost you both… well, I was ready to go on and join you myself. Have you considered speaking to your father? He’s not well.”
Ella didn’t want to get into that at the moment, even though she had considered talking to her dad. “I don’t know, Aunt Gen. If he’s unwell, I’m sure it has nothing to do with me. He wasn’t too put out when he discovered how I was being treated.”
“He tries to hide it, but I think he feels just terrible about the entire situation.”
The door behind her opened, and Rome walked out. Ella was glad to have a reason to get off of the phone. “I have to go, Aunt Gen. I’ll talk to you later. Love you.” She hung up before her aunt had a chance to say more, and set her phone in her lap, wishing the conversation had gone better. At least she’d got the answer to one of her questions. It had been her uncle who’d wanted the lawsuit, not her aunt.
“Everything okay?” Rome asked, sitting down next to her in a chair identical to hers.
Shrugging, Ella said, “I don’t know. She said it was her idea for the lawsuit but only because Uncle Thomas was ready to come after you physically after the charges were dropped, and she thought that might appease him.”
He raised an eyebrow as he took that in. “Seems harsh,” he said. “But then, I guess if they truly thought it was my fault Tim was dead, it’s hard to blame them for being upset that the DA dropped the charges.”
“I think they just needed someone to blame. It was too hard to blame Tim himself, even though it was clearly all his fault. If he hadn’t shot Mark, the two of you would’ve never fallen in the ocean.”
Rome nodded. He knew that, of course. “Well, it’s over now. There’s no point in dwelling on it. The lawsuit, that is. I don’t expect you to get over your cousin’s death so quickly.”
Ella thought about how long it had been since the incident had occurred. Several months had gone by. Still, she hadn’t really allowed herself much time to think about Tim and what had happened to him. She’d kept her mind preoccupied with trying to make sure she and Rome were safe and keeping the fact that she was alive undetected. Now that she was settled again, she’d have time to remember her sweet cousin and how kind he’d always been to her.
Rome reached over and took her hand. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“No, it’s okay. I’m all right.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded, managing a smile. “I’m fine.”
He squeezed her hand. “I think Lenore is about done making breakfast if you’re hungry.”
Ella hadn’t even eaten the apple she’d brought out with her. It sat untouched on the chair next to her where she’d set it when she picked up her phone to search for F. Ward. She’d have to show Rome the attic later. “I could eat,” she assured him.
He grinned at her and stood, stepping over to pull her up. Ella tucked her phone into the pocket of her white shorts before it could fall off of her lap and hit the porch.
Pulling her closer, Rome pressed her against his chest, slowly stroking her hair. “I love you, Ella. So much.”
“I love you, too.” She meant those words more than she meant any she’d ever said.
He kissed her temple, and she breathed him in, content to just stand there in his arms near the ocean, letting the rest of the world fade away.