Page 29 of Love Unwritten

I take a seat at the counter and wait as she sets herself up behind the barstool.

“¿Dime lo que está pasando?” She picks up the spray bottle.

“I let Ellie go.”

My aunt aims the nozzle at my face and shoots at my eyes.

“Hey!” I wipe the droplets away with a scowl. “What was that for?”

“How could you do that to her?”

“How could I do that to her? What about what she did to me? And to Nico?”

Her brows rise. “What do you mean?”

I explain everything that has happened in the last twenty-four hours while my aunt combs through my hair. When I finish, I peek over my shoulder.

“You’re right. She shouldn’t have kept Nico’s condition a secret.”

¿Dime lo que está pasando?: Tell me what’s going on.

I didn’t realize how much I needed my feelings validated until now because, with Nico treating me like public enemy number one, I was questioning if I made the right choice.

“I know,” I say with a sigh.

“Pero…” She lets the sentence hang.

“Don’t tell me you’re defending her now,” I mutter under my breath.

My aunt swaps the comb for the pair of scissors and shoots me a knowing look. “No. What she did was wrong, but I’m sure she had a good reason to risk her job for a secret like that.”

I shake my head in disbelief. “No reason will ever be good enough.”

“For you, no, but for Nico, it probably was, which is why he asked her not to say anything.”

I sit with my aunt’s comment for the rest of the day and question why my son hid the truth from me in the first place, and worse, why Ellie agreed with him.

The Kids’ Table group chat I share with Julian and the Muñoz sisters chimes from three new text notifications. I consider ignoring them and taking my horse out on the trail like I had planned, but curiosity wins.

I pat Penelope’s side and ask her to hold on a few minutes before pulling out my phone.

Pero…: But…

LILY

You fired Ellie?!

DAHLIA

What? No way.

LILY

Yes.

ME

Who told you?