Page 53 of Chasing Elliott
The waiter came over and took our order before grabbing the menus off the table. We sat there in silence for a minute before I realized her mother looked like she was holding back tears.
"I'm sorry," she apologized as she used the back of her sleeve to wipe at the tears on her cheeks. "It's just hard knowing that the ten-year anniversary is approaching."
"I know, mom. But we'll get through it," Kara said as she wrapped an arm around her mother. I swallowed the lump in my throat, trying to ignore the guilt that was building up in my stomach.
"I just wish I knew why he did it," her mother sobbed as she put her head in her hands. Iquickly pushed myself away from the table, desperate for some fresh air. Kara looked up and gave me a weak smile and I returned it before heading toward the front door.
Walking into the warm afternoon air, I placed a hand on my forehead as I tried to catch my breath. Yearning for someone to talk to, I pulled out my phone and hovered over Cooper's contact info before deciding against it. This wasn't something I wanted to talk about over thephone.
Suddenly, like a bad omen, I looked up and saw my mother walking down the street with a little girl holding her hand. My eyes grew wide as I tried to dip back into the restaurant beforeshe saw me, but the sidewalk was too crowded.
"Elliott?" I heard her yell over the bustling noise of the street. Sighing, I slowly turned around before fast walking over to them so they wouldn't be seen through the window of the restaurant.
"You need to get the hell out of here," I seethed as I grabbed her arm and dragged her back the way they were walking before.
"Well hello to you, too," my mother said harshly as she ripped her arm out of my hand. Turning around with narrowed eyes, I folded my arms over my chest. "Is that any way to greet your mother? I haven't seen you in almost ten years."
"There's a reason for that," I pointed out as I looked down at the young girl clinging onto my mother.
"You should really come over tomorrow, it's your little sister's nine and a half birthday. We're having a party," my mother said excitedly as she looked down at her daughter.
"A half birthday party? Really? And she's not my sister," I said through gritted teeth as Iavoided eye contact, the anger starting to bubble up inside me. My mother narrowed her eyes at me as she took a threatening step forward.
"She may not be your full blooded sister, but that doesn't make you two any less related."
Scoffing, I rolled my eyes as I sucked my bottom lip between my teeth. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes for a minute before opening them again.
"You need to get the hell out of here before Kara sees you," I told her as I brushed past them. "Unless you would rather be paying for a coffin instead of a birthday party."
Not giving her a chance to reply, I turned around and pushed past the crowd. Taking quick steps back into the restaurant, I walked over to the table and forced a smile on my face as I saw Kara and her mother laughing.
"I love you, mom," Kara said as she hugged her mother outside the restaurant. The rest of lunch had gone rather well and thankfully neither of them had spotted my mother.
"I love you, too, sweetie," her mother said before she turned to me. Accepting her hug, Itried to make it brief as the guilt from my earlier encounter was weighing heavily on me.
"It was good to see you again," I told her as I pulled back and threw on a fake smile. She nodded her head in agreement and gave Kara one last kiss to the cheek before she disappeared down the street into the crowd.
Releasing the breath I was holding, I turned to look at Kara and saw her standing therewith her arms folded over her chest and an eyebrow cocked.
"Where the hell did you run off to earlier?" She questioned as her eyes instinctively narrowed in on me.
"I just wanted to give you two some privacy," I lied as we started walking toward her car. "Thought it was a mother daughter moment."
"Well, you are practically her daughter, El. You didn't have to vanish like that," Karainformed me which only made me feel more guilty.
Sliding into the car, I kept my eyes trained out the window as I felt them start to well up. I could feel the pressure of the lies starting to weigh me down but there was no one who could help pull me up for air.
We drove in silence back to the townhome and when we pulled into the lot, I noticed Cooper's bike was still there. Biting my lip, I tried to reign in my disappointment before sliding out of the car. At this moment, all I wanted was some time alone, but it looked like that wouldn't be happening any time soon.
Following Kara up the sidewalk, we stopped outside the door when she noticed the notetapped there. Peeling it off, a large smile came to her face before she turned to look at me with an apologetic look.
"Looks like I've got someplace to be," she said as she showed me the paper with an instruction on it. "You two have fun. We'll see you tonight."
Not giving me an opportunity to respond, she took off back to her car. Sighing as I closed my eyes tightly, I tried to relax before I threw on my fake smile and opened the door. What I saw there caused a genuine, surprised laugh to escape my lips.
Cooper was standing in the kitchen in front of the stove, shirtless, covered in flour. Mia laid on the floor by his feet with flour in her fur as she stared up at him intently. The kitchen looked like a tornado had hit it and Cooper turned around once he heard me, but Mia was moreinterested in the possibility of food falling to the floor.
"Hey, baby," he greeted with a smile as I walked over to the island. "How was lunch?"
