Page 12 of Elijah's Hope
“Okay. I’m excited.”
I was, too. I liked this feeling. A little too much, I thought.
“I should get going,” I said.
“Where do you live?”
“Our camp is about an hour north.”
“An hour! Oh my goodness, you have to drive an hour? We should have taken your truck here. Now you have to walk all the way back to town to get it.”
“I kind of liked the walk,” I said. “I had good company.”
I paused, and it was in that pause I could see she got nervous again.
“I had a really great time tonight, Eli.”
“Good, but why do I feel like you want to say something right now?”
“You must be a mind reader! What I want to say— I mean, what I need to say is that…I’m sorry. I want to say that I don’t know what you expected—”
“I don’texpectanything,” I said firmly. Iwanted. But wanting was different.
“Anyway, I didn’t know how you would feel about taking things slow. I know I’m only here for a short time, but I’m not the kind of girl who—”
“I get it. I could take one look at you and know you wouldn’t put out just because a guy crooks his finger.”
Her lips quirked up at both sides. “I suppose that’s one way of saying it.”
I moved toward her and knocked a knuckle under her chin. She lifted her face to me and there was an expression in her eyes I couldn’t read. Maybe she was just being guarded, when she’d been unguarded all night.
“Can I kiss you on the cheek?” I asked on a whisper.
She nodded.
I bent down and did just that. My lips to her sweet, smooth, cold cheek. It was enough for now.
“Night, Shelby.”
“Night, Eli.”
I closed the cabin door behind me and as I started the walk into town to get my truck, I realized I was humming.
* * *
Shelby
I could feel the cabin start to grow warm. Eli was right about that stove putting out a lot of heat.
Reluctantly, because it wasn’t that warm yet, I took off my coat and clothes and changed into pajamas. At least I had thought to bring a long-sleeve shirt and sweats. Digging through the bag of clothes, I pulled out the socks and put those on too and was grateful again for what Eli had done.
I looked at the coat I had taken off. I knew he’d paid over a hundred dollars for it, which meant when I got back to the States I should be able to sell it for fifty. I supposed that meant wherever I was going when I left this place, it needed to be warm. I hadn’t settled on a particular city.
I had booked the return ticket to Seattle instead of to New Orleans. But that didn’t necessarily mean I had to settle in Seattle. I could go anywhere.
Just not back home.
I used the bathroom, which was really just a toilet, sink, and tub-like shower sectioned off from the rest of the cabin. Then I took pleasure crawling under the covers of the bed.
