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that but never allowed the fear to take hold? “Yes, he’s coming back. So don’t think of moving in on his territory,” she volleyed, irritated by the reminder.
    “Hey, I’m just being a friend. And I’m seeing someone now, anyway. So don’t get all high and mighty like you’re the only girl in the world. Yeah you’re cute and all, but still,” he said, the sparkle in his eyes giving away his lighthearted mood.
    Ella was glad to see someone who wasn’t sunk in the muck. “Who is she? This other girl,” she said, teasing back.
    “Lori Cooper. I met her at my sister’s bakery. She started working there a few weeks ago,” Cameron said, pulling out his wallet to dig out a photo. “Here, that’s us. My sister took it before we went out the other night. She thinks we look good together.”
    Ella looked at Cameron’s smiling face in the picture with his arm around a petite woman about his age. The close-up shot revealed her light gray eyes and pretty dark blond hair, streaked by the sun. Even Cameron looked sharp in his crisp white dress shirt; he’d even combed his hair.
    “So, is it serious?” Ella asked.
    “I like her a lot,” he replied, and then frowned.
    “But what about you, Ella? A long-distance relationship only goes so far. Absence does not make the heart grow fonder. That’s a myth.”
    “Yeah, I know. I just wish I knew when he was coming back. We talk on the phone—you know that video phone he got me? But he still won’t tell me everything. I think he’s trying to protect me…from something. I only wish I knew what it was. I’m tougher than he thinks.”
    Cameron grinned. “You’re tough, all right. But I feel bad for you, Ella. I think this guy has really gotten to you. I mean, you look depressed, sorry to say.”
    Ella couldn’t argue with that. Since Adam was gone, her interest in her new wardrobe had waned. Likely, she’d gone back to her plain-Jane look. It was probably obvious to everyone how down she was. Not good, but she doubted she had the strength to care. All her focus was on Adam.
    “I guess ‘depressed’ would describe it,” she agreed. “I hate to pull everyone else down with me. I don’t want to be this way. I just can’t help it. I never thought I’d care about anyone this much. I didn’t think I could. But, Cam, it’s like he’s the other half of me. I’m only half alive at best without him. If he doesn’t come back, I just…” Her words drifted away.
     

Chapter 4
     
    Ella was frequently alone in the apartment when Kaiyla spent the night with Steve, the love of her life. Filling the void was a struggle, but Ella found that working on her novel helped. The romance was filled with the ups and downs of the relationship between her characters, and brimming with heartache. Writing someone else’s story was therapeutic.
    As the novel progressed, weeks dragged by, with still no definite date as to when Adam would return, leaving her adrift and overcome with sadness. Ella still had no real connection with her sister, Julianna, away at San Diego State working on her art degree. The emails between them did little to repair the relationship, and Ella considered that her sister might never forgive her. Being the oldest, she’d left home first, leaving Julianna in a bad situation. However justifiable that single act was, it may have caused irreparable damage.
    Ella’s mother never made the effort to call or get together. If Ella didn’t originate the conversation it didn’t happen, and in her current state of mind she had no interest in calling Jeanne Dufort Walker, just to be rebuffed. The emotional scars from her mother’s neglect were most likely permanent, as she was unable to imagine having a better mother/daughter relationship.
    The luster vanished from Ella’s life when Adam left. Yet she couldn’t resume life as it had been before, now that Adam had touched it. In his absence, old feelings of inadequacy resurfaced, and despite her agreement with