When former beauty pageant queen, Ellie Wilde, hears of her grandmother's sickness, she's the first to offer to drive her to her chemotherapy. What she didn't know she was agreeing to was an obnoxiously cheerful blond boy somehow nudging his way int...
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Six days.
They said they may have weeks left with her but instead they had six days—one day shy of a full week.
Knowing her grandma was going to die didn't help to lessen the pain any. It didn't ease Ellie's thoughts to know that there was nothing they could have done to prevent it. She didn't feel at peace when they broke the news that she'd passed away in her sleep, even when they assured her it was the best possibly way one could go.
All she felt was sadness.
Sadness for herself. Sadness for her mother. Sadness for her grandmother, who should've had years left to brighten up the world with her upbeat spirit.
And as she stands here now, staring at her reflection and taking in the countless black fabrics that drape her body, she feels that same sadness. A knock on her door is what finally pulls her out of the staring contest she'd been having with her own reflection.
"Sweetie," her mother says softly, inching her door open with a creak, "Cooper is here."
Ellie nods, letting out a croaky, "Okay."
The journey down the stairs is quick and in no-time she's faced with a familiar boy in a not-so-familiar suit. Her eyebrows shoot up as she takes in his clean appearance, a small smile tugging at her lips as his eyes meet hers.
"You look nice," she says, allowing her eyes to do a once over of his outfit.
"I couldn't have Grandma Wilde judging me from the grave," he jokes, a dry laugh following his words.
"Moretti."
He frowns briefly. "What?"
"Her last name was Moretti, not Wilde."
"Willa Moretti?"
Ellie nods, a sad smile making its way onto her lips. "The one and only."
He stares at her for a while, as if he's unsure what to say in response. Finally, he breaks his gaze and his eyes instead begin raking up and down her body. "You look beautiful."
Her arms find their way in front of her chest, folding over one another self-consciously as she mumbles a quiet, "Thank you."
"Oh!" He says suddenly, his hands patting down his pockets before fumbling inside of them and producing a set of car keys. "I got your mom and you a coffee. I forgot it in my mom's car. I'll be back in a second."
Before she has a chance to say anything else, he's slipping out the front door and heading back to the car. Tired of standing on her feet, Ellie makes her way over to the bottom of the stairs. Her backside only just plants itself on a step when the front door is opening again.
"That was fast," she says with a laugh, glancing over at the front door.
"Really?" A familiar deep voice replies, and in that moment her heart drops to her stomach. "Because it felt like a damn long time to me."
