Page 19 of Elijah's Hope
In that spirit, I snorted. “Trust me. After a few days of me, you’ll be looking for the exit signs. And they are there, Shelby. You should know that. The ticket date says two weeks, but we can change that if you need to. Any time you want, I can put you on a plane back to Anchorage. Also, I don’t know if you noticed, there’s not real good cell service up here. Maybe an hour at most during certain times when a satellite passes over us. I don’t want you to feel as if you’re isolated. Zeke has some kind of special setup and can contact anyone you need to contact.”
She shook her head. “I’m fine. I told my parents I would most likely be out of touch and not to worry.”
I smirked. “I’m sure that did the trick.”
“Anyway, I’m not looking for any exits. Unless you are—”
“No,” I insisted. “I’m happy you’re here. Today was everything I wanted.”
Her face fell then. “Oh, are we done for today?”
“Not unless you want to ditch the champagne and French food for more of Bud’s burgers and fries. And don’t be fooled. Sometimes he also surprises us with fried buffalo fish sandwiches.”
“Do you think he’s got mayonnaise, too?”
I laughed. “Vats of it. I assure you.”
“Then lead the way.”
* * *
Shelby
I stared at Eli’s strong back as he piloted the boat back to the dock and thought,shit. This was not part of the plan. Eli was only supposed to be my ticket out. A temporary hideaway until I could figure out what came next.
He was not supposed to fall for me and I sure as hell had no time and no business falling for him.
Only I could see it there. On his face. The way he looked at me as if I was the first woman he’d ever met. He used words likecasualandfun. But his eyes told a different story. His eyes said I was the woman he’d been waiting for.
Only I wasn’t that woman. I was opposite of that woman, and when he found that out, it was going to end this little fairy tale real quick. Which shouldn’t matter to me- but it did.
It was almost ironic, but that was the one lie I hadn’t told him.
I did like him.
Maybe if I was the person I was pretending to be, I could do something crazy and really let myself fall for him. Because I didn’t know why, but I had this feeling Eli was someone who wanted to be in love so badly. A man like him, when he was totally in love with a woman- it would feel like being loved by the sun.
I just wasn’t worthy.
He said it could be my decision. When I wanted to leave. I wasn’t under any obligation to stay the full two weeks. Certainly, I’d never planned to. The reality was I had a life I had to start over far away from home with no money. Not the easiest thing in the world to tackle.
I probably should just get on with it. Tell him he wasn’t my type and leave before any of this could get more complicated. For either of us.
Right. Because not-my-type was large, handsome, sweet and kind.
Maybe it was playing with fire, maybe it was procrastination. I only knew I wasn’t ready to leave yet. The future could wait, I decided.
One more date wasn’t going to hurt.
5
The next day
Eli
“Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness!”
I smiled. We were hiking up a trail that led over some of the lower slopes that bordered the bay. It was another one of my favorite places. The majesty of the mountains in the background, the nearly black color of the water below. Today it was colder and there was a mist over the water that was both mysterious and a little scary. It felt like every five feet Shelby had to stop and marvel at the view.
