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Eli sighed. “You need to be a bit more specific.”
“You’re not here,” I whispered. I climbed underneath Vera’s sheets. They were colorful and bright, like Vera, with different patterns that looked like suns and flowers. Oranges, reds, yellows, and pinks blanketed me in warmth as I snuggled the phone.
“I can be there in an instant.” Eli’s voice sounded strained, even through the smothered phone connection.
“You can?” I said, my voice teasing. “You can teleport now?”
“For you, anything, Grace. Always.” Eli’s voice had taken on a somber, almost reverent nature. It made my insides reach for him. My mouth opened, silent words calling out to him. Once again we were locked in tacit tension, our breaths keeping us tethered. Just as I was about to break it, I heard the front door unlock. My heart jumped out of my chest.
“Who’s there?” I called out, putting my hand over the phone. I kept myself nestled under Vera’s blankets. They were my shield. My fluffy armor.
“Gracie?” Eli asked through the phone. “Gracie, what’s going on?”
“It’s Chad,” Chad called back.
“I have to go,” I said into the phone.
“Grace, wait, don’t go.”
“Eli…” His voice threatened to pull me back. I felt my stomach flip for him and my thighs tighten just at his low, slow breathing.
“Stay, Grace,” Eli demanded. “Talk to me. Tell me what you’re thinking.”
I was thinking of him. I was imagining Eli in bed with me, his strong arms wrapped around me. I was smelling his scent. I was hearing the sweet things he said close to my heart, his lips trailing down my ear. It had been so long, but my body would always be Eli’s.
“I can’t.” I heard Chad getting something out of the fridge. If the police hadn’t contacted him yet, then I needed to tell him what was going on.
“I’ll make it worth your while…” Eli murmured. I imagined his lips whispering that against my ear and shivered despite the sheets covering me. “Do you know what you do to me?”
“Probably not half of what you do to me,” I said, hanging up.
The police had looked into Chad, full name Charles Whitmore, and he was nothing more than a college student scamming the student housing system. He’d used Vera and I to get money off of his free housing. The school put him on probation and I got kicked out.
I was homeless.
The police assured me they were following every possible lead, but what leads were there? It was like a ghost had come in and taken her. Who would want to hurt Vera? She was like the sun itself. You don’t hurt the sun. You hurt the sun and everyone dies.
Sitting in the coffee shop where I worked, I couldn’t help but remember where it had all begun. I was at a coffee shop just like this one when I met Vera. What would have happened if she hadn’t come into my life? I probably would have gone home with my tail between my legs, but Vera had come bursting into my life like a fireball and had lit up everything.
I couldn’t believe she was gone. It was an impossible thought.
I took a sip of my coffee, contemplating my next move. Thanks to my employee discount, this time I was able to afford a coffee while I thought about my homelessness. Months ago I’d sat on a similar chair wondering what was to become of me. Then Vera, like a guardian angel, had shown up.
Now Vera was God only knows where with Satan only knows who. Eli had returned. My brother and I were still a couple Christmases short of family. And I was homeless.
A lot had changed and yet nothing had changed.
I took a sip of the coffee, the bitter taste finding camaraderie with my soul.
There were only a few numbers programmed into my phone: Vera, Work, Emergency, Lennox, and Eli. Eli had made it abundantly clear where he stood. A part of me—no strike that, all of my being wanted to call Eli. It felt like I was tying up my soul with chains by not calling Eli.
I knew he would take me in, but I also knew how it would end. Eli and I had so much history it would take a battalion of historians to navigate it. There was a graveyard miles long between us, bodies piled up that we hadn’t even begun to bury.
Was it possible to bypass that stuff and move forward?
“I’m so glad you called me! You’ll stay with us until you get back on your feet!” Lennox grabbed the bag off my shoulder. Even after being in Santa Barbara for a few months, I only had enough stuff for one backpack. I watched as she slung my entire life over her shoulder, ushering me into her and Vic’s apartment.
“If it’s too much…” I trailed off, still feeling uncertain about the arrangement. I didn’t have much of a choice, though. After sipping the rest of my coffee, making sure to go slow so I didn’t have to make my decision, Marci had come out and made it for me.
