Page 47 of Worthy of Sunsets and Second Chances

“Do you want me to help you sell them now?”

“No, I want you to have them.” Nana pats my hand.

“What!” I put my other hand to my heart in shock. “Why?”

“Sometimes we need a place to put our pain so we don’t have to carry it around all the time. You did the therapy thing before and after your mom died, and that was smart for your father to do—but I think you need something else this time. I think you need something that makes you feel and something that you can get lost in all at the same time.” Her gaze sees too much, as usual.

I thought I could come here this summer and put on my mask and have the week to hide inside with her. But my nana knows me too well to let that slide, to let me sit in so much pain alone.

“Do you want to tell me why you are only here for a week this year? What happened last summer and after last summer? You know you can tell me anything, Kendra.” Nana patiently waits for me to decide on my answer.

Sighing deeply, I say, “You remember Eli Hargrove, right . . .”

36

Eli

Isettle Kendra on the couch in my living room. Pulling out my phone I fire off a text to Danny and tell him he needs to get his ass over here. They might have that son of a bitch in custody, but Danny’s going to be adding charges to his rap sheet for the damage to Kendra’s studio. The most significant thing Cross is already going to be charged with is aggravated malicious wounding; that’s a Class 2 felony and has a punishable sentence of twenty years to life, plus a huge fine. Not that Kendra gives a shit about the money part. Knowing that evil man will be behind bars unable to harm her or anyone else is the most important thing.

Setting a glass of water on the end table next to her, I carefully take up a spot next to Kendra, mindful not to bump her. Her already petite frame somehow looks even smaller since crumpling to the floor in the ruins of her hard work. There is no magic wand that can make it all better, and it’s not like she can even get out there creating anything new with her broken arm, broken ribs, and recovering from surgery. She has a long road to healing, and the studio space is now an extension of that.

“What am I going to do?” Kendra whispers to me.

“You are going to rest. I’m going to clean up the mess, but not until Danny comes and gets what he needs for evidence.” I tuck a pink-streaked strand of hair behind her ear, and she leans into my hand.

“I mean. Yes, I know Danny has to come, but, Eli, I can’t even walk into my own home. It’s my favorite place. Those walls have always been where I have felt the most safe, and now he’s taken that away from me. Ever since Nana passed I’ve been slowly changing things room by room, but it’s the same house. I still felt the same peace every time I came back through the door—until today.” She wipes the one rogue tear that slips past her defenses and rolls down the apple of her bruised cheek.

“We can make it feel like that again. He doesn’t get to take away what you love.” I lace my fingers with hers, unwilling to be separated from her, needing to be closer to her in any way I can.

“I was planning on remodeling the kitchen next, been saving for years. How am I going to do it when I can’t even walk back in the door and stay more than five seconds? And the living room . . . the whole room makes me feel like I am spinning.” Kendra dips her head, trying to hide her emotions from me.

“Sweetheart,” I say, and she sucks in a sharp breath, but I keep going, “I will tear that kitchen and living room apart with my bare fucking hands so you never have to look at it like it is now. I will erase every flicker of that night from your mind when you come home if that’s what it takes to make you feel safe there again.”

Kendra’s tears stream down her face freely and she gently leans in, pressing her sore lips in a kiss on my cheek. “Thank you.”

“I told you, I’m here. Not going anywhere. You have me, for whatever you need.” I look deep into her eyes, hoping she knows I am not bullshitting her or just saying this because I promised Lainey I would look after her.

“Well, I guess I am going to have to stay with my dad for a while.” She leans back into the couch with a sad slump. She looks at the new phone in her lap that Lainey and Rem set up for her while she was still in the hospital to replace her smashed one.

“That’s not happening,” I tell her.

“What else am I going to do? I can’t go into my own place, Eli. I have nowhere else to go.”

“You can stay here, with me.” Not only do I want her to be here with me, I need her here, especially after everything that has happened.

Originally I had planned on bringing her home, to her own house, and checking in on her no less than ten times a day, being her practical shadow. I wanted her to have her own space and time to get used to the idea of there being an us again, of having me in her life, of working through the shit that happened in the past and giving me a second chance. Now, that isn’t an option, and there is no way I can have her moving far away, out of sight, out of reach, away from my protection even if Cross is behind bars.

“Eli, you have Wren. I can’t just move in here,” Kendra protests. “I don’t want to confuse her.”

“She’s an infant, I don’t think she will be confused. Plus she loves you.” Emotion rocks Kendra’s expression at my words, a ripple of something I don’t know how to read, especially with the way her face is still marked from the attack.

“I don’t know . . .”

“And we can start on the house renovations. You said you had planned on a contractor coming out right? I can help them with the demo, but if you are right next door you can still keep an eye on the project and stay updated, but you won’t ever have to go in the house until you’re ready.” I do my best at trying to convince her that this is her smartest option.

“The cabin,” Kendra corrects.

“Huh?”