12. Elijah
After my embarrassing fumble at the café, I was a few minutes late for my shift which was extremely out of character for me. I met Officer Daines who was back from his few days away and performing the checks as I arrived. He jokingly looked at his watch as he saw me come in.
“Sorry, I kind of had a bit of an issue,” I said, pointing to my still red arm.
“Oh, shit, Eli. What did you do? Are you okay?” he asked, his joking tone no longer present as I came closer to him.
“I’m fine, just a hot coffee incident.” I shook my head, trying to play it off. I saw the concern in his eyes as he narrowed his gaze at me.
“Do you need to see a medic?” he asked.
I should have known he wouldn’t have let me leave it at that.
“No, I ran it under some cold water. It’s only still red because it’s fresh.” It didn’t hurt as much now, anyway. He stood and stared at me for a minute. “If it’s still like this at the end of the shift, I’ll get it looked at, I promise.” He sighed deeply but seemed content at my answer. For now.
“How were your parents?” I asked in an attempt to change the subject. He had grown up in this town going to school with my father, but his own parents had moved to Florida to retire.
“They were good. My dad gets on my damn nerves, though, never listening to anything I say to him. Sometimes I think it would be easier without them,” he said, shaking his head. A moment later our eyes met and I noticed the slight panic that came over his face.
“Sorry, Eli, that was completely insensitive of me. I didn’t mean–” I held my hand to stop him.
There were many thoughts swimming around my head at his words, but none I wanted to voice. I could feel the anxiety filling my chest as I thought about my dad. There was a part of me that wanted to yell at Daines, tell him it wouldn’t be easier without his dad. I didn’t, though. We both knew it was just a bad turn of phrase. My father was his best friend. He knew it hadn’t been easy for me, for any of us, since he died. Hell, he was there just after he died, he saw the aftermath of it. He was the one who pulled me back to my senses.
Over the years, especially since we were working together now, he had tried to bring up different elements of my dad. I always shot him down or changed the conversation. I didn’t want to talk about it. Every time he was brought up my chest tightened and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Even now I could hear that faint screaming in my head again. I shook it off and tried to steady my breathing before responding.
“I know what you meant,” I said, trying to give him a small smile, but my lips hardly moved.
I had a lot of respect for Officer Daines. He always kept his eye out for our family after Dad died. I was only fifteen when it all happened. After I finished high school, he helped me get into the police academy. I was pretty adamant I wanted to join the force for years before and he helped me achieve that dream. It was unspoken between us, but I knew he requested for us to be partners. He never told me directly, but I knew. I guess he felt like he owed it to my father to watch over me. In a similar way, I felt that now with my family. Both my siblings and my mother were my responsibility, they had been for the last fifteen years as far as I was concerned. I would do anything to keep them safe. It’s why I liked having Lucas live with me and Alice was back living in town; I could keep a closer eye on them. I guess Daines liked to keep his eye on me, too.
“Have you finished the checks?” I asked after I cleared my the throat.
“Nearly, I just need to do a few more things,” he said, his eyes going back to the clipboard.
“Well, twice in one day. I must be a lucky man.” The voice of Daniel Taylor entering the garage suddenly filled the space. I quickly put my coffee down. I knew he was going to irritate me and I didn’t fancy burning myself again because of it.
“Taylor, Lawrence,” Daines greeted them, his head turning to me. He disliked the two of them as much as I did, although he was far politer than me.
“How’s the arm?” Officer Lawrence asked as they got closer. It almost felt as if there was some care to his question.
“Fine, thanks. Nothing special.” I kept my response short hoping Officer Daines would be done soon and we could be on our way.
“I mean, I’d burn myself if it meant Lottie would touch me, too,” Officer Taylor added with a laugh. Daines stare intensified on me now, realising there was more to the story.
“Who is Lottie?” he asked.
“Beautiful new waitress that’s working at Caffeine Central now,” Taylor fired back. “Clearly Weatherston was quite taken with her since he threw coffee over himself at the sight of her.”
“I did not throw coffee over myself because of her,” I snapped back, the eyes of all three of them on me now.
“Hey, I’m not blaming you. If she keeps sweet talking me like she was today, I might just have to do something about it.”
“She was just being polite. It’s her job,” I countered back a little too quickly.
“Jealous, are we, Weatherston?”
“Of her? Not my type.” That tense feeling grew stronger. I was suddenly very glad my coffee was no longer in my hand.
“Well, if you don’t mind, boys, Weatherston and I need to get on with our work. Some of us have better things to do than daydream about women who are probably way out of your league anyway, Taylor,” Daines added, giving Daniel a light hearted nudge on his way past. He wasn’t wrong there; Charlotte Miller was way out of his league. He didn’t even deserve to be anywhere near her. Without another word I climbed into the passenger side of the cruiser as Daines got in the driver’s side.
“What the hell was that about?” he asked as he started the car.
“Just Taylor being Taylor,” I responded.
“You got a thing for this girl?” My head snapped towards him.
“No, of course I don’t have a thing for her.” My aggravation clear in my tone.
“Okay, don’t bite my head off. It’s okay if you do, you know?”
“Well, I don’t, so drop it.” He looked at me as if he was going to say something else before taking a deep sigh and pulling out of the lot. I rubbed my hand over my face, grateful he had dropped it, but still aggravated about what Taylor had said about her. Hell would freeze over before I let him pursue her.