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The grin on Sarah’s lips set Eli’s stomach tumbling. She locked her gaze onto Sarah’s and smiled as she grabbed a tray, silverware, and a drink. They stepped up into the line. Eli went first, told them she wanted two patties and two biscuits along with the green beans. She saw the Hargraves and headed in their direction, knowing Sarah followed closely. She stopped short when she saw the lanky woman in a Sheriff’s uniform sitting next to Mrs. Hargrave.
Cursing, Eli set her tray down with a heavy sigh as she nodded at her ex, who gave her a curt nod in return. “Bridget.”
“Elijah.”
Eli’s stomach plummeted. The one thing she had wanted to avoid, and now she was stuck sitting next to her. There was no way around it because they had to meet up with the Hargraves to get the keys. With a sigh, she pulled over the bowl of gravy and doused her food with it. She was going to duck her head, focus on eating, and get out of there as soon as she could.
“How were your first few nights here, sweetie?” Mrs. Hargrave focused on Sarah.
Sarah nodded. “It’s been wonderful, thank you. But I’m happy to get to town and see everything that’s going on here.”
Eli kept her mouth shut and focused on the next bite of food she shoveled into her mouth. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to finish it too soon and have nothing to distract her from the situation. She wasn’t paying attention, and Sarah’s hand on her arm surprised her. Glancing up, she looked at Sarah with curiosity.
“Huh?”
“How much rain did we get?” Sarah asked.
“Oh! Fifty hundredths.” Eli shoved another bite of food between her lips as she risked a glance toward Bridget, who stared directly at her and flicked her gaze to Sarah. Eli knew what she was thinking—that she was with Sarah as a date—but she also knew Bridget wouldn’t dare bring it up in a room packed with people. They had a stare down until Sarah broke her gaze again with a hand on her forearm. “What?”
“Nothing,” Sarah responded on a whisper.
“Food good?” Eli asked, trying to find a way back to a normal conversation, but knowing she was doing a crap job at it.
“Yeah. It’s fine.”
Eli shifted in the uncomfortable metal folding chair and stared over at Mrs. Hargrave who had a keen eye glued to Eli’s face. Eli wished she could crawl in a hole and hide, but she wasn’t sure she could get away with that anytime soon. Sarah didn’t touch her again through the rest of the meal, and Bridget excused herself as quickly as she possibly could when she was done eating.
As soon as they got outside the church, Eli released the tension in her shoulders and closed her eyes. The fresh air was welcome compared to the overheated fellowship hall of the church. As she opened her eyes, Sarah reached her small hand out and grabbed her arm again, she saw Bridget drive by in her cruiser, gunning the engine as she went, and glaring the whole while.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Sarah asked, her voice full of concern.
“I’m fine,” Eli answered, swallowing down her hurt and anger, which wasn’t directed at Sarah even though she was bearing the brunt of it. “I’m sorry. I know I...well, I’ve been coming off like an ass tonight, and I’m sorry about that.”
Sarah shook her head. “I don’t mean to pry, but...I’m not even sure how to ask this...”
“Yes, she and I dated.”
“And I take it that it didn’t end well.”
“No.” Eli grunted.
“Who ended up with the broken heart?”
Eli blinked back tears as she stared into Sarah’s worried gaze. Sniffling, Eli ground her molars before she answered. “Honestly? Probably both of us.”
“I’m so sorry. How long ago was it?”
“Too long for it to still be this much of an issue.”
“Months?”
“Closer to two years at this point.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah.” Eli shoved her hands in her pockets and stared at her work boots. She didn’t want to be having this conversation with a near stranger, even if she did know said stranger was batting for the same team she did. It was still too much personal information to be sharing with a guest. She needed to pull herself together.
Sarah scooted in a bit closer to Eli, and Eli’s stomach dropped. She glanced around to see if anyone was there to see what was happening, but when she saw that there was no one in sight, she turned to stare at Sarah, trying to make an easy escape.
