Page 10 of Unbroken

“Thanks for everything, hon,”—which I meant, at least the “thanks” part. “See you back at the ranch.”

The look of shock on his face lingered, and I widened my eyes at him encouragingly.

“Right, yeah. No problem … babe.” He said the word so woodenly that I almost laughed.

The fake dating charade wasn’t going to be easy, but as I watched him walk away in his form-fitting Wranglers, I realized that it sure was going to beinteresting.

FIVE

ELI

“What do you want to eat for dinner, bud?”

“Dinosaurs!” Patrick shouted as he danced in place in the grocery aisle at Hastings. He’d been going through an extensive fussy phase, and I’d been having a hard time finding foods he was willing to eat consistently. I’d discovered that the frozen breaded chicken bites in various identifiable shapes appealed to him. Nutritionally, they weren’t ideal, but given how poorly he’d been feeling with all the stomachaches, I was just happy he was willing to eat.

“Dinosaurs, it is.” We walked toward the frozen foods section with Patrick pushing a child-size shopping cart and me adding to it as we passed the items on our list. The little carts were a new addition to the general store. The basket section was large enough so that I could grab enough food for three or four days. It took us longer to shop this way but spending time with my son and seeing the joy on his face when he helped with the grocery shopping made it worth it.

I found the bags of breaded chicken. “Okay, bud. Looks like there’s some new shapes. Are you sure you still want the dinosaurs?” Ipointed to the star shapes and a bag decorated with what might resemble deformed circus animals. Patrick raised his arms for me to lift him up and together, we looked at the shelf with all the bags on it until he pointed to the dinosaurs. I nodded my agreement. “Always a good choice.”

“Hellooooo there! Eli Carter, is that you?” I cringed as Mrs. Neuhaus made her way toward us at top speed. I quickly stepped in front of Patrick’s cart in case she didn’t stop in time. She did. Barely. I looked down to see a slight skid mark on the toe of my boot where the cart wheel rubbed up against it.

“Well, look at you two out and about like this.” She scanned Patrick up and down as if she were sizing him up. “Oh my, you sure are growing quick, young man. Why, you look almost good enough to eat.”

Patrick’s eyes widened at what must have sounded like a threat and he sidestepped his way close to me. I placed my hand on his head to reassure him.

“Mrs. Neuhaus, good to see you, ma’am,” I lied. The woman reminded me of an oversized LEGO figure. Her heavily hairsprayed hair sat fixed on her head like she was made of plastic.

“I saw that Charlotte is in town with that new man of hers. It’s so good to see that the two of you can get along for the sake of thechild,” she said in an overly loud stage whisper that was drawing attention from the other shoppers. Before I could respond, she looked at the contents of Patrick’s cart, making an annoying tutting noise. “Well, it looks like you’re out of homemade casseroles. I would be happy to organize another meal train for you.”

“No!” I said more forcefully than I’d intended and she gasped. I let out a controlled breath. “That’s not necessary. We’re experimentingwith different foods to see what Patrick likes. This week, it’s dinosaurs,” I managed to say in a softer tone trying not to grind my teeth in agitation. This woman was one of the biggest gossips in a three-town radius and I did not need her adding to the list of things the townsfolk judged me about.

“Well, if you ask me, you might want to choose foods that are more nutritious for a growing boy.”

Preaching to the choir, lady, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. Instead, I looked at my watch. “If you’ll excuse us, we’re on a bit of a time crunch and we need to get moving before we’re late.” Instead of waiting for her to move, we turned and walked the other way while she huffed in annoyance.

I was over shopping and wanted to get the hell out of there, but we still needed a few more items. I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of knowing that she got to me, so I tried to maintain the same pace we were walking before she interrupted us, but Patrick picked up on my tension and walked faster to the produce section.

I tossed a bag of carrots and a bunch of bananas in the cart and then headed toward the front, eager to get out of there. When I finally managed to get us both out of the store, Patrick into his car seat, and me behind the wheel, I could finally breathe easy again.

As I drove away, I tuned the radio to Patrick’s favorite music station. He bounced his feet when a familiar song started. At least with the music, he wouldn’t hear me destroying my teeth as I tried to release the tension in my jaw. Why was it that every time I thought I was getting away from all the awful stares and whispers from the people of Poplar Springs, someone had to go and stir it up again? Why couldn’t they see that I’d moved on?

Maybe Fiona’s proposal that we fake a relationship was a good ideaafter all At the very least, I wouldn’t have to deal with anymore casseroles.

I shook my head, laughing at the direction of my thoughts. How was it that I was actually thinking that one of Fiona Cafferty’s elaborate schemes was better than my current situation?

SIX

FIONA

Ifelt surprisingly nervous as Eli and I prepared for our first trail ride together. I would never admit it to anyone, but I actually did feel rusty. While it’s true that riding horses was mostly muscle memory, I would be on a horse I hadn’t ridden before and that always came with risks. On top of that, Eli and I were now officially in fake couplehood. We had to find the right balance so that people would believe that we—two opposites—were really together.

“Earth to Fiona. What are you standing around for?” Eli asked, throwing a saddle on a gleaming chestnut horse. “We still have a lot to prep before the riders get here.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Yeah, boss man, I’m fine. I’ll get right back to work.”

He turned his back and I saluted him.

The drive to one-up Eli seemed to be as strong as ever. It didn’t matter if it was grades, athletic achievements, or dumb stunts to impress our friends, it had always been competitive between us. Eli’s approachhad always been stealthy. He wasn’t one for dramatic displays, which suited me just fine. That wasmyjurisdiction.

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