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The second I saw him, all the blood in my veins turned to ice.
“Hey there!”
My chin dropped. I could feel my very soul shrinking away, retreating deep into my body.
“So sorry about the mess,” the pilot apologized. He rushed forward and swept up as much of the debris as he could. “I guess I came in a little hot, huh?” He smiled charmingly. “But who could blame me? I’m just too excited!”
He took a step in my direction. Tyler however, stood up first.
“Hey man,” he started. “What’s the—”
“My apologies!” the pilot cut Tyler off. He extended an unnaturally smooth hand. “I’m Elijah. Elijah Strong.”
Reluctantly, Tyler took the man’s hand and shook it. It happened again with Luca, and then Jay. Each handshake the pilot gave was almost comically over the top. Full of vigor and energy.
“So great to meet you guys!”
My mouth was so dry I could barely swallow, much less speak. Not that Icouldspeak. At least not at this moment.
“That’s some helicopter,” noted Luca.
Elijah turned and looked over his shoulder, as if seeing the aircraft for the first time. “Oh yeah. She’s a beauty.”
“So you’re a pilot?”
The newcomer smiled, flooding my brain with a thousand unwanted memories. His perfectly-straight teeth looked like big white Chiclets.
“Oh, I’mlotsof things,” Elijah grinned back. He still hadn’t looked at me, but now he threw me a surreptitious glance. “But yes, I guess that’s one of them.”
Stepping forward, he eventually made his way to my corner of the picnic table. The smile on his face grew even wider. He looked like a crocodile.
“Hey, Angel,” he said matter-of-factly. “Long time no see.”
My rapidly-beating heart, which by now had sunk all the way to my feet, felt like I might regurgitate it into my throat.
“You look good,” Elijah said, giving me a once-over.
“Angel?”
Jay’s look of confusion spanned the both of us. Elijah nodded politely.
“Angel’s a pet name, of course,” he said smartly. “But Jenna and I go back a long time. Don’t we, Jenna?”
I coughed once, trying to clear my throat. Finally I stood up.
“What are you doing here, Elijah?”
The words came out cracked and broken. Like my voice hadn’t been used in a year.
“Well I was in the area,” he lied smoothly, “and during our time together you werealwaystalking about Northhold. Saying how beautiful it was, how wonderful the people were…”
His grin was so fake, so plastic, I wanted to punch him in the face.
“So I figured I’d fly on over,” he went on, “see how you were doing. Maybe ask if you wanted to show me around.”
I swallowed once, choking back the bile gathering in my stomach. His presence was making me physically ill.
“And then as luck would have it I looked down and noticed your car, so…”
