The Secrets of Seduction - Elizabeth Lennox Page 0,3
snorted. “Hardly. I travel, but just so that I can do my job.” And yet, after several years of living out of a duffel bag, Ella had to admit that the idea of staying in one place for a while held some appeal.
As soon as that thought occurred, she banished it. She was a reporter and had to go where the stories were. Ella worked hard to help people understand how an injustice that was happening in one area of the world was relevant to the rest of the world. Everyone needed to help resolve these issues. So far, her stories had helped small towns all over the world build bridges, schools, doctor’s offices, and police forces. By bringing the needs of one small corner of the globe to international attention, Ella had seen wonderful things happen.
She’d also seen horrible things, like tragic, devastating wars and desperate starvation caused by merciless despots. She’d seen people and animals dying due to dehydration after a ruler disrupted waterways, causing impossible cruelty and environmental devastation. But she’d also seen strangers pull together to battle those brutal forces. She’d seen miracles happen when people became aware of an injustice in the world. And she’d seen villages rise up against a seemingly impenetrable force – all because they knew that something or someone had to be stopped, changed, or fixed.
So no, Ella couldn’t stay in one place. She loved traveling and making a difference in the world. Ella was good at her job and it renewed her faith in humanity. Her job was her identity and it was what made her get up every morning with excitement and purpose.
“I am so proud of everything that you write,” Cassy said, lifting her hand to call the waiter. “But right now, I think we need dessert. I haven’t had dessert in months! And I miss our late night ice cream binges.”
Ella laughed and clapped her hands. “Everything?” she asked, her eyes sparkling as she looked at her two friends.
Naya grinned, nodding fervently. “Absolutely! We ordered salads for lunch!”
The waiter arrived, looking delightfully solicitous. “Are you ladies ready for the check?”
Cassy laughed and looked up at the waiter. “We’d like everything on your dessert menu,” she told him.
The waiter looked stumped for a moment. “You’d like to look at the dessert menu?” he offered.
Ella shook her head, offering a grin that transformed her features. In a flash, Ella changed from a serious but beautiful woman, to a mischievous elf, eyes sparkling and her up-tilted nose squinching slightly. “No, we’d like to order one of everything on the dessert menu, please.”
The waiter included each of the ladies in a confused stare. Obviously, no one had ever ordered every dessert the restaurant offered before. But for Naya, Ella, and Cassy, this was a tradition. They were good about their eating habits most of the time. But when they got together, they didn’t care about calories. They loved having a bit of freedom from the stress of their regular lives. Ordering decadent desserts was a small rebellion against the decorum their lives normally required.
The waiter snapped his mouth closed, then nodded and bowed. “Right away, ladies,” and he smiled as he walked away to put in their order.
For the next hour, they laughed and dined on elaborate, decadent desserts that included a citrus mousse topped with candied lemon spirals and lemon cream, a peppermint and chocolate cake with candied frosting, brown sugar caramel pound cake, peanut butter and chocolate pie, and a pear and almond tort. By the time the three of them scraped away the last of the cream and finished off another bottle of white wine, they were laughing as they recalled some of their high school pranks. It was one of the most relaxing afternoons Ella had enjoyed in a long time!
Chapter 2
“Dad?!” Ella called out as she entered her father’s cottage, dumping her messenger bag by the front door.
Silence. “Outside,” she muttered, smiling in anticipation of finding her father in his garden. Tom Fleming loved to garden and had the most beautiful tulips in the spring, the largest and most vibrant hydrangeas and, in late summer, the most glorious roses. He worked at the post office in the mornings, taking the early shift so that he could be home by mid-afternoon to work in his garden. Ella’s father barely took the time to take off his postal uniform before he shuffled off to get gardening. Tom Fleming cooked and cleaned his neat cottage on the edge of