Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12
C heyenne
Dinner with Eli was exactly what she had experienced with him in the past. He kept talking about himself, his friends, and all the good they were doing over spring break by helping others. But wait, here was a funny photo of him and his friends goofing around.
By the time they got back to the condo, she was edgy and tired.
“Would you care if I come in to use your restroom and get a drink of water?” Eli asked as they stopped in front of her door.
“Eli, you’re right next door.”
“But the team worked really hard today, and I don’t want to wake them up.”
She checked her phone. “It’s only ten-thirty.”
Eli pressed his lips together. “Can I use your restroom and have a drink of water, please?”
Manners had been drilled into her for her entire life, so she shrugged. “Sure.”
They walked inside, and he headed right to the bathroom. She went to the doors that overlooked the ocean. Maybe she would go take a run. She loved the ocean so much.
Eli came out after a minute, and Cheyenne moved into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. She turned around to give it to him.
He was holding the amulet. “What’s this?” he asked, turning it over in his hands.
She rushed toward him and took the amulet, replacing it with the water. “Nothing. Just a knickknack I found today.” She put it into her pocket.
He looked suspicious. “Did that guy buy it for you?”
It annoyed her that Eli acted like he had a right to be jealous. “What if he did, Eli? We are not together.”
Eli took a sip of water slowly. He put the glass back on the counter. “You have made that clear, Cheyenne.”
She moved toward the door. “I’m tired. Good night.”
He passed her on his way out. “I know that there is no you and me, but Cheyenne, just be careful with that guy. Things don’t always appear as they are.”
“What does that mean?”
Eli shrugged. “I don’t know. I just have a feeling about him, and it’s not a good one.”
They said their goodnights and he left. It wasn’t long before Cheyenne was lying in bed, trying to fall asleep for what felt like a long time.
She turned onto her side and grabbed her phone. She noticed a missed text from earlier.
It’s Micah. I think I’ve discovered something. Can you talk?
She froze, then sat up. It was almost eleven-thirty. Should she text him back? Was he still awake?
She texted him. Hey, what did you find out?
She waited for a while but got no response. Maybe he was asleep.
Did you find anything out about another map? she asked, trying again.
It took a minute before she got a reply. Let’s talk about it tomorrow. I’ll see you at snorkeling at noon.
More irritation pulsed through her. She texted back. Okay.
She stared at her phone, but there was no other interaction.
She put the phone down, threw the covers off, and moved toward the window, staring out at the ocean. Why was Micah Jamison such a mystery? He’d seemed so happy earlier today when they were treasure hunting together—so brave.
She paced back to the bed and picked up her phone, hoping that Micah would talk to her more, but there was nothing from him.
As if the universe could sense that she wanted to talk to someone, her phone rang. It was Porter.
“Hello,” he said when she picked up.
“Hey. How are you?”
“Is there anything I should know about today?”
She froze. Wait, had Micah told Trey something? “No.”
“Really?”
She wouldn’t give away new information. “Micah showed up to go parasailing with me.”
“Okay.”
She heard rustling and heard another voice over the line. “So, how was it hanging out with Micah?” It was her sister-in-law, Sadie.
Cheyenne couldn’t help but smile. Sadie was always the one for romance stories. “It was good. Fine.”
Sadie laughed. “Is he cute?”
Cheyenne lay back in bed and rolled her eyes. “I’m not discussing this with my brother there.”
Sadie giggled. “Okay. We love you. Be safe and have fun.”
“Love you guys too.”
“Love you,” Porter said.
She hung up, put the phone back, then closed her eyes, trying not to think about how cute Micah was.
Her phone rang again. She scrambled to answer it but was disappointed to see that the call was from Eli. “Hello?”
“Hey,” Eli said. “I just wanted to touch base with you, because a bunch of us are having a party tomorrow night and I wanted to know if you wanted to come with us.”
Cheyenne sighed. She was tired of this thing she had going on with Eli. “Eli, we are done. You know that, right? It was fun hanging out with you and having dinner, but we’ve talked about this, and there is no future for us.”
There was a long pause. “Cheyenne, I asked you to marry me last year, and if I’m honest, I’ve never gotten over you. I’ve thought a lot about it. If you want a kid, that’s fine. I can do one kid.”
Cheyenne would’ve laughed at the desperation in his voice and the way he acted like a kid was like a puppy or something. They couldn’t put a kid in a kennel when they were gone or when they didn’t want it. “There were a lot of things that contributed to my answer, and you know it.”
“Are you talking about the whole belief in God thing? Because I don’t think that people who believe in God are happy all the time. I sure don’t think that they always stay married. I don’t know why believing in God or not believing in God should be a deal breaker. We have so many other things in common.”
Cheyenne didn’t even know what to say. It made her sad that she’d wasted so much time dating this guy when it never would’ve worked out.
“Are you ghosting me because of that guy? The one you met at a wedding or something? What’s that about, anyway?”
There was no way she was talking about Micah with Eli. “I have to go, Eli. Have fun with your friends this week, and have fun building houses. Best of luck to you.”
He snorted. “So that’s what we are now? The type of friends who say ‘best of luck’ to each other?”
“I’m sorry, Eli. Goodnight. Goodbye.”