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“Shit,” she hisses. I assume she’s checking her own social media profile now. “Oh, no. Shit, shit, shit. Yeah. The last weekend I was down there with you guys. We had Sunday brunch, I snapped some group photos of us, and… ah, man, Stella is in most of these shots.”
“Let me guess, Elijah follows your social media,” I say.
“Yeah. I didn’t even think about it.”
Noah gives me a sour look. “At least we know Stella’s crummy lawyer didn’t divulge her location.”
“It wouldn’t be in his interest,” Theo says. “The guy is supposed to get Elijah to send those outstanding child support payments, so Elijah definitely wouldn’t be hounding him. No, it had to be from my social media profile. Oh, man, I’m so sorry.”
“There’s nothing for you to be sorry about,” I tell her. “Your social life is your social life. It was only a matter of time before he’d find her, though. He still has parental rights, so one way or another, he would’ve made it down here. It’s okay, Theo, don’t worry about it.”
“How is Stella?” she asks.
“I’ll have her call you later.”
“Please.”
Once I hang up, I look at my brother. Again, I see the same concern I feel deeply etched into his features. “What does this mean?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe he’s here to see the kids. Or to try to win her back.”
“Levi and Beau need to know about this,” Noah replies.
I nod in agreement. “I don’t know what we can do, though.”
“What do you mean? We’re with her. She’s with us. There’s four of us and only one asshole bothering her. It seems pretty easy to me.”
“We both know it’s not really that easy,” I tell Noah. “Let’s not forget who we are and what we’re doing here. Stella is well aware of it, too.”
“Isaac, her ex-husband is out there with her, right now, and we’re in here, twiddling our thumbs.”
“She can handle herself,” I reply. “The minute we step in and start treating her like a damsel in distress, she’ll push back. Think about it, Noah. Stella is an independent woman. It’s difficult enough as it is for her to accept the help we’ve offered. Imagine us trying to be knights in shining armor in front of her ex-husband. Imagine what that asshole will think. There are children involved here. Custody issues. We can’t risk any of that for Stella.”
Noah exhales sharply, the truth finally knocking him back. He takes a seat behind his desk and runs a hand through his hair. “Dammit.”
“I will go out there and keep an eye on her, for what it’s worth. Just in case Elijah gets anything but polite,” I say. “For our peace of mind.”
“Yeah.”
He sounds disappointed, and I get it. I’m equally dismayed by our inability to come through for Stella. I want to. Dammit, I want to be there for her. I want the four of us to be there for her, and not just today. For the rest of our lives. But how would that work? The sacrifices are too many, too great, too taxing to even be considered, and I feel like a piece of shit for thinking this way. In fact, the guilt of these thoughts immediately becomes too much to bear as I brace myself for what awaits beyond this door.
18
Stella
Not wanting a scene, I ask Connie to cover for me while I take Elijah out to the back of the bed and breakfast in the same park where I usually hang out with my kids. Our kids. No, they’remykids. He hasn’t been in their lives for almost a year now. My blood boils as I struggle to keep myself together, my jaw locked as I get us as far away from the back terrace as possible. I have no idea what’s going to happen next, but I do know I’m standing my ground this time.
“You look beautiful,” Elijah says as we stop under one of the ancestral oaks. “You look amazing, actually. It’s good to see you, Stella.”
“I can’t say the same thing,” I reply bluntly, keeping my arms crossed and a healthy distance between us. “Let me ask you again. What the hell are you doing here, Elijah?”
“It’s a long story,” he says, hands in his pockets. He won’t break eye contact, though. “I’ve been through some things, and I’m ready to talk to you about everything. But I do need us to put the past behind us first.”
“I put you along with the past behind me a while ago.”
Elijah’s gaze is filled with pain and longing, but I’m not sure how much of it is genuine. He was well versed in the art of manipulation when we were together. More than once, I fell for it while he was banging another woman and making plans for a new life with her.
“I hurt you. I know that. And words can’t express how sorry I am for everything I did,” he says. “But I’m here now. I’ve finally found you, and I’m ready to work toward fixing everything.” Pausing for a moment, he glances around. “Where are the kids?”
