like it could be

Ellie didn't know what to say when Lonnie told her the news about Steph. She could tell he was excited. She'd never heard him sound like this before. There was this excitement in his voice about the wedding too. She sounded cheerful. Like this was the best news she'd heard in ages.

And then he talked about Charlie. How glad he was that he was OK, and that he was back with Lon.

"I know he missed him so much," Lonnie said. "I felt really bad for him because I know Charlie meant a lot to him. Always has."

She wondered if he knew. Always knew. There was a distinct feeling that he really knew about Charlie and had decided on this so long ago how it was going to be. Ellie didn't say anything about Charlie other than how cute he was.

"So how are you handling all this?" Lonnie was asking her questions.

"I'm learning," she smiled. "He's really sweet and Lon's doing great with him." She looked at Lon who was holding Charlie. She knew she couldn't stay mad a Lon about this. Suddenly, she felt laughter inside her. Really, her life was changing and suddenly she felt she could do this. She always knew she could.