“I think I should talk to her, too.” Daphne set the pots back on top of the pile in the laundry basket and stalked inside her daughter’s town house. Sure enough, the couch and chair she’d tried to talk Ellery out of financing had been replaced by a faux-leather monstrosity that Fiona was wiping down.
The woman paused and watched Daphne as she ascended the stairs.
Anger, shock, and hurt increased with each step she took. Her daughter was moving to Seattle? And she forgot to mention that little detail in her letter of resignation? And how about not bothering to mention it when she told Daphne not to expect her for Thanksgiving or Christmas this year? How dare Ellery think she could up and move away and not even let her own mother know. Who did something like that? After all she’d done for Ellery, this was how her daughter treated her?
With each step she grew more and more aggravated at her immature, spoiled daughter.
Daphne rounded the corner and entered Ellery’s bedroom, but it was empty. A bed frame sat propped against a wall, little bits of paper were scattered across the floor, and a few boxes marked with the name Fiona sat stacked in a corner. The bathroom was bare, hooks hanging from the shower-curtain pole. Her daughter had indeed moved out and left nothing of herself behind.
When had this happened? Why had she done such a thing? To punish Daphne? Or was the broken engagement actually that humiliating? She had no clue why her daughter was doing this.
“Mrs. Witt?” Fiona called from the doorway. “I’m Fiona. We met before.”
Tears threatened to choke Daphne. “I remember.”
Fiona walked inside the room. “I’m sensing you didn’t know that Ellery moved out?”
Daphne shook her head. “I don’t understand why she didn’t tell me. Rachel said she was going to Seattle. I have no idea why she would do such a thing.”
Fiona paused for a few seconds. “She’s young, and Gage is easy on the eyes. After getting her heart broken, maybe it’s not such a bad idea to start over in a new place with a new guy.”
“But she and Josh broke things off just a little over a week ago,” Daphne said, turning a full circle in the empty room. “And who the hell is Gage?”
Fiona’s eyes widened. “Uh, she met him in Texas. At the vineyard?”
“Evan’s nephew Gage?” Daphne asked, her voice rising with each syllable. She felt as if she were in an alternate universe. Her daughter was running off with Evan’s nephew to Seattle? It didn’t make sense. “This is ridiculous. Do you know where she is right now?”
“I’m not sure. I think she went to Texas yesterday. Rachel said she was staying at the vineyard for a day or two before making the drive.”
Daphne brushed by the woman. “Sorry. I have to go.”
She ran down the stairs, nearly knocking over Rachel in the process. “Sorry. I have to find Ellery and stop her before she does something idiotic.”
She hurried to her car, pulled out her cell phone, and sent Ellery a text.
Call me. Now!
Then she called Rex as she turned the car toward the interstate. He answered on the third ring. “Hey, Daph.”
“Did you know that Ellery is running off to Seattle with some man she barely knows?”
“What? Running . . . Seattle?” Rex’s voice rose in alarm.
“Yes, Seattle. I just went by her house because I’m sick of this silly silence between us, and two of her coworkers were moving in. They said she had gone to Texas, and that from there she was going with Gage, a bartender from the vineyard, to Seattle.”
“You’re joking. A bartender?”
“I wish I were,” Daphne said, driving west, hoping she could get to One Tree Estates before Ellery left. She had to talk sense into her daughter. Obviously the events of the last few weeks had driven her to lunacy. Quitting her job, running away with a virtual stranger, going to a place where she had no job and no support? She’d lost her damned mind.
“What are we going to do?” Rex asked.
“I’m going to Texas to stop her.”
“Do you want me to go with you?”
“I don’t have time. I’ll call you when I get there. I don’t know what is going on with our daughter, Rex. I think I’m responsible for this.”
“No, Josh is responsible for this. Don’t blame yourself.”
Daphne shook her head. This was partly her fault. Her actions had kept her