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“Elijah,” I told her.
“Elijah.” She probably caught herself from saying demon or something. Anything was possible with my kid.
“Stop pointing.”
Now that I thought about it, this was usually around the time he left every day. I didn’t know what he did or if he even had a job, but he drove off at the same time, somewhere between eleven and twelve. I knew because I spent the last five weeks spying down at everyone from my window when we weren’t at my parents’.
Elijah must have a job though. He could afford a house and nice truck yet he wore casual clothes out all the time. Dark jeans and plain T-shirts ranging from solid colors to morbid things like demons and skulls. It was kind of odd, more scary than strange though. It matched the permanent arch of his brows and angry glint in his eyes far too well. Sometimes he wore brown boots, other times he wore dark Nikes.
I’d had a lot of days to ogle him.
A few days after I’d come home, I thought about saying thanks, but I was pretty sure I did in the car that night. I figured he’d rather we leave him alone. That was perfectly okay with me. I still hadn’t forgotten how he treated Lucy, but he came in handy that night.
I shuddered to think about what might have happened if I tried getting to the hospital myself or waited any longer for my parents.
“Uh... He sees me.” Lucy squeaked. I glanced up. Sure enough, Elijah was headed directly toward us. “Does he want his chips back? I already ate them all.”
“What?” Now I was the one squeaking as I frowned at my daughter.
“Papaw let me have them,” she told me.
Of course, Elijah would have thrown the bag in the car when he had gotten inside that night. I hadn’t really paid attention. “I already ate them!” Lucy told him as he drew near. He paused, cocked his head at her, and then resumed his long strides toward us. He was a foot in front of me when he glimpsed down at the car seat in my hand. His eyes raked over me slowly, lingering for a moment on my chest before moving over the rest of my body. How dare he check me out in broad daylight? He could have at least offered a proper greeting first.
My face was on fire. No doubt, it was redder than the T-shirt Lucy wore. It only got worse when I saw the moment his gazed stayed on my breasts. His dark predatory eyes widened.
I couldn’t take it another second.
“Oh, my fudgesicle! What do you think you’re doing now?”
Elijah blinked, then blinked again. “Huh?”
Are you kidding me? Did he really zone out while ogling my boobs?
“You’re staring…again.” I didn’t mention the inappropriateness of his actions. He should have known better. I switched Eli’s car seat to my other hand as it got too heavy.
“Sorry.” He grabbed the tips of his hair that fell over his forehead before pinching the bridge of his nose. “I saw you guys and thought I’d check to see how you are.”
Really?
“Why?” My spine stiffened as I sized him up, trying to decipher his intention.
“That was scary as fuck. I thought you would have the baby in the car.” He peeked into the car seat again. “Is it okay?”
“It?” Deep breath, Hadley. “Eli’s a boy, and he’s perfectly healthy.”
“Yeah, that’s good.” He paused. “Wait? Eli? Good name.” He better not be thinking his name was similar to Eli’s. I meant, it was but… I’m sorry Eli, I didn’t want to change your name even after finding out yours was similar to the neighbor’s. Besides, Olivia already had his name embroidered on so many onesies.
“Thanks,” I told him.
Elijah grabbed his head like he was unsure—or completely confused about something before he took a step back. “Then I’ll be going.” He shook his head again as he turned around.
His head snapped to the right where the boys were. “What?” one of them snapped at Elijah’s menacing glare.
“Better not be causing trouble,” Elijah warned them.
“We’re not on your property are we?” The boy hissed.
“That’s not what I was referring to.”
