“What dirty details are you talking about, Ella Marie?”

“Um . . . hi Mom,” she said weakly.

Never one to let a subject be changed easily, her mother repeated, “What dirty details?”

“Oh . . . well, it’s just a television show that Beth and I both watch. She didn’t get a chance to see it tonight so I figured she was calling to see what happened.” You big fat liar. Why didn’t you just tell her the truth? I’m sure she would be all for her baby girl having sex with a bad boy. She couldn’t imagine her mother’s reaction to that news. She would have grabbed her dad and they would be at her apartment before she could hang up the phone. They were still holding out hope that she would marry their pastor’s son who, incidentally, hated Ella because she laughed when he fell off his bike when he was ten. For someone whose father preached forgiveness weekly, he certainly knew how to hold a grudge.

With a loud sniff of disapproval, her mother said, “Honey, I have told you not to watch those trashy shows. There is nothing but smut on nowadays and a young, impressionable girl doesn’t need to see that.”

“Mom, I’m twenty-eight years old. I haven’t been a girl for a long time. You watch the cooking network all of the time and those women dress like s—”

“Ella! What has gotten into you tonight? I think you need to come home next weekend and spend some time with your father and me. Everyone at church has been asking about you. It’s gotten rather embarrassing to keep making excuses as to where you are.”

Ella wondered if her mother could see the irony of lecturing her about going to church while she admitted in the same breath that she lied about why she wasn’t there. She was smart enough not to mention that particular thought out loud though. She had learned years ago that things went better if you didn’t argue or make waves. Now, she tended to avoid these types of conversations with her mother altogether if she could. “Mom, it’s getting late and I need to get to sleep.”

Luckily, her mother wasn’t one to question it when you pretended to be sleepy at eight thirty. “Okay, honey. You know if that place is too much for you, your father could find you something that is less stressful. I don’t think those people there are very good influences on you anyway.”

Ella picked up the fork still sitting on the table from dinner earlier and pretended to stab herself with it. Why must her mother be so judgmental about everything and everyone? All she seemed to care about was how people in her church and the community viewed her. Appearances were everything to Dorothy Webber and she seemed willing to go to any length to keep them up. She couldn’t even imagine what her mother’s reaction would be when—and if—she met Declan. Only one word came to mind—horror. There was no way she would ever want him to sit at her dinner table.

She had tried her best to raise her daughter to be a doormat and constantly nagged now because it wasn’t working anymore. By moving out and getting a job on her own, Ella had successfully cut the apron strings and her mother didn’t like it one bit. Until Ella knew if there was any kind of future with Declan, she needed to keep them apart. She didn’t want to subject him to the disapproval and she didn’t want to put herself through the hell that would surely follow. For now, it was best to keep her parents in the dark and not let them realize that their daughter was finally starting to live her life on her own terms.

At lunch, Ella put her hands over her ears as Beth squealed at the top of her lungs, “Yesss! I knew Declan would come around. I thought it might take a few more dates, but I knew it would happen. Of course, I also had a little insider tip from Nick.”

Suzy slammed her glass of iced tea down on the table and demanded, “Why am I just hearing about this?”

Ella’s glass landed next to Suzy’s as she asked, “Shouldn’t that be my line?”

Claire held up a hand for silence and said, “Alright everyone, let’s give Beth a chance to explain what she knows and why she held out on us and then we will go after her!”

Cringing Beth said, “Thanks, Claire . . . I think. I didn’t find out till last night and it was too late to call everyone.”

Suzy interrupted saying, “Haven’t I talked to you at least three times today?”

“I’m pregnant,” Beth defended. “You know I have a lot of issues right now. First there is—”

Rolling her eyes, Suzy said, “Okay, okay, no need to start with all of the bodily function things you’ve got going on, just tell us what you know.”

Ella squirmed as Beth took an unusually long time to settle back in her seat before she began. “Well, Declan came by Nick’s office yesterday and was pissed off that I helped Ella sign up for the dating service. Nick was surprised since they aren’t really buddies. He said Declan was furious and wanted him to tell me to talk Ella out of it. Apparently, his sister was attacked by some guy that she was dating and he is afraid the same thing will happen to Ella.”

“Wow,” Claire murmured, “I had no idea that something like that had happened to Ava. It does explain why she seems so reserved, though. And why Declan is protective toward the women in his life, which is a good quality to have.”

Suzy slung an arm around Ella’s shoulders and said, “So you’ve at least got the man on loan, now what do you plan to do with him?”

“Well, he says he will try the dating thing before we . . . you know.”

Claire chimed in, “That’s a good thing, right?”

“Ella,” Suzy began, “I’m just going to ask what everyone else is wondering—you do know how all of the other stuff works, don’t you? Eventually, you will get down to having no clothes on and then the good stuff begins.”

Ella wanted to crawl under the table especially when the woman at the next table gave her a look of sympathy. “I know. I’m a little nervous about it, but I’m ready.”

“I’m sure Declan has a lot of experience,” Beth offered, “You can just follow his lead. Everyone at this table has been where you are, so don’t be embarrassed.”

Suzy burst out laughing. “No one at this table has been where you are, kid. Yeah, we were all the big V at one time, but none of us were initiated by a stud like Declan. I wanted to cry after my first time. Not because it hurt or anything, but because I was so damn depressed that sex was such a letdown. Of course, now that I’m with Gray, it’s like winning the orgasm lottery every single day of my life . . . sometimes, several times a day.”

Beth groaned, Claire chuckled and Ella tried tapping her feet together under the table and telling herself, there’s no place like home . . . there’s no place like home. Dorothy must have been a liar because that had yet to work for her.

“Don’t sweat it,” Suzy continued, “You have us and we won’t let you suck in bed. Well . . .”

“Stop!” Beth and Claire both begged.

“Please don’t go any further with that statement.” Claire shifted toward Ella and said, “What Suzy is trying to say is that we’re all here for you if you need advice on anything. You shouldn’t worry about it though because it just comes naturally when you’re ready. But Suzy is right, you are very lucky that it’s a man like Declan. That’s bound to make it much more memorable than my first time.”

Ella looked gratefully at each of her friends in turn, even Suzy. “Thanks so much, you guys. I never really had many close friends growing up. My parents scared most of them away.”

“Yeah,” Beth laughed, “We know where you’re coming from there. By the way, speaking of friends, have any of you met Emma Davis? She’s Brant’s assistant.”

“Ugh,” Suzy groaned, “That must be a rough gig. Gray invited him over for drinks a few weeks ago and I thought my eyes would glaze over before he left. You would just expect someone that hot to be more interesting. He might look like Declan, but the man is a bore. I tried to inject some humor a few times to liven things up, and he looked at me like I was from another planet.”