Chapter 18
Elias
Today, I missed her.
I’m still trying to process what that means or why that is. She was only gone for a few hours, but I noticed the absence. It felt hollow. Even Clo was agitated. He nipped at me three different times.
But now she’s back and we’re headed up to The Icehouse.
Monday nights are for Bunko. It’s more about showing off who has the coolest dice than actually playing the game.
Tonight, Hattie has the most coveted set.
Hers have been hand-painted to look like mini chocolate chips where each dot normally goes.
Mine are beat metal with stamped dots. They make the most unique sound on the mahogany tabletops.
Nora squeals and throws her arms in the air. Then, she high-fives Hattie. They’re one table over from us and sharing a basket of powdered sugar dusted deep-fried Oreos that Silas whipped up.
“I see she’s growing on you,” Monroe says as he tosses his dice.
Since he didn’t get triples, or any of the number four, he points two fingers at me to go next. I toss mine out and roll a four, a one, and a six. I keep going until I don’t roll anymore fours.
“We’re getting along,” I tell him, not meeting his truth-demanding cop eyes.
“Hattie says she’s great.”
It’s not lost on me that they somehow became fast friends. Must’ve happened while she borrowed my truck. I’m a little jealous I was stuck at home measuring crap with Dad when I could have been eating pastries and sharing town gossip like those two obviously did.
“She’s not as bad as I originally thought,” I admit. But that’s still not the full truth. Monroe knows it, too.
“Why is it so hard to admit you like her?” he asks, not throwing his dice. “Everyone knows it but you.”
This irritates me. “You going to roll or what?”
“Not until you tell me the truth.”
My gaze slips over to her and I’m transfixed. She’s grinning from ear to ear as Hattie shows her pictures on her phone.
“See,” Monroe says simply. “That dopey look on your face is pretty telling.”
I groan and meet my best friend’s stern eyes. “It’s stupid. I don’t know what’s gotten into me. Besides, she has a boyfriend, so it’s a moot point.”
Silas, the nosy drink slinger, hops onto a barstool beside me. “They broke up.”
I snap my head his way. “What?”
“Nora and Denver.”
I’m not sure I want to know how he knows about the breakup or the fact her boyfriend’s name is Denver. Ex-boyfriend, apparently.
“Is that wishful thinking so you can ask her out?” I grumble.
Silas slaps the table and cracks up laughing. “You’re an idiot.”
I glower at him.
“Friends don’t steal their friend’s girl. Bro code, man. She’s yours. It’s been a blinking red light over your head since the day she rolled into town.”
Grimacing, I shoot Monroe a look. “You believe this guy?”
Monroe grunts. “You’ve been a certain kind of way since she got here. Silas is practically family to you. He’s not going to take your girl.”
Their voices are carrying and I cringe at the thought of Nora overhearing this crazy talk.
“She’s not my girl,” I hiss, hoping they’ll keep their volume down.
“Not yet,” Silas says with a grin. “But you’re working on it.”
I am not working on it. Days ago, I hated her guts.
Liar.
You were upset with her and didn’t understand her, but you never hated her.
“How do you know they broke up?” I demand. “Was this gossip from Hattie?”
Silas makes a motion as if he’s zipping his lips, locking it, and tossing away the key. The Calder family are full of flappy-jawed secret blabbers. Always have been. Especially the younger two siblings.
“I’d make a drinking game where whenever you look over at her everyone has to have a drink, but I’m not looking to be responsible for an entire bar full of people with alcohol poisoning.”
“Please don’t make that game a thing,” Monroe says to his brother. “I only have so many officers on duty tonight and I’m not one of them.”
The two brothers continue to rib me about Nora while I keep stealing glances at her. Now that Silas pointed out that I do that, I’m ashamed how many times I look her way.
I slip away to Silas’s sound system and add a song to the queue. When I come back, Silas’s daughter, Reverie, has stolen her dad’s seat while he refills some drinks.
“So, word on the street is you have it bad for the new girl,” Reverie says, boldly pointing at Nora.
I grunt as I push her hand back down. “Don’t be a brat.”
“Uncle Monroe, arrest him.” She smirks at me when Monroe gives me a stern look for calling her a name. “Seriously, though, Elias. What are you waiting for? She’s super-hot.”
I’ve never noticed how nosy this town is until their attention is pointed directly on me. It’s annoying.
“Isn’t your flock waiting, Rev?”
When we turn toward the reserved corner of the restaurant for The Flock, one of the guys lifts his empty glass. Reverie grumbles as she slides off the stool. She hurries over to their table and turns up the charm. Reverie and Silas are good at working their patrons for tips.
Aside from me, that is.
They annoy me and I tip them anyway.
Someone’s playing this game wrong…
A familiar tune starts playing and I hold back a grin.
“That’s my song!” Nora cries out, nearly knocking over her stool in her haste to get to her feet. “Come on, Hattie!”
She drags Hattie to the middle of the bar, that’s most certainly not a dance floor, and begins strutting to “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” by Brooks & Dunn. They both giggle as Nora does the line dance she’s no doubt perfected since childhood.
Silas comes up behind me and squeezes both my shoulders before leaning in. “You’ve got it bad, man. Are you going to ask her out or what?”
His words spritz water on my fantasy, making it sizzle as it goes out. I can be attracted to Nora all I want but it doesn’t change that she’s here short term. It’s not wise to start falling for a woman who’s not here for long. I’m sure as Helsinki not moving to New York.
This town is my home. My family is here. My job. The budgies.
Still, a part of me wonders if a guy like me could make it in a bigger world outside of the one I know. I’m handy at fixing things and things need fixing all over the world.
I give my head a slight shake, thankful Silas has abandoned me again to refill more drinks.
“You can be straight with me,” Monroe says, eyes narrowed on me. “Jokes aside. What are your intentions with Goldie Everhart’s granddaughter?”
“Nothing,” I blurt out, scowling. “I don’t like Nora, remember?”
Monroe winces as if my words embarrass him. It’s then I realize Nora has stopped dancing and is standing close enough to hear me. I shrivel up inside, feeling like a total jerk.
“Oh, hey,” I choke out. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.” Her blue eyes water but she forces a smile. “I’m going to run upstairs and catch my breath.”
As she scurries off, I scrub my palm over my face and let loose a rush of breath. “I’m an idiot,” I growl. “What’s wrong with me?”
My brother decides to show up at that exact moment, having escaped The Flock long enough to chat it up with me. “I’ve been wondering that since the day I came out of our mother.”
Monroe attempts to knock off Corbin’s ball cap but misses because my brother is younger and faster. Fighting fires keeps him agile.
“You kiss that momma of yours with that mouth?” Monroe asks. “Maybe I should give her a call.”
I crack up laughing despite feeling awful moments before. Having the sheriff as your best friend has its perks.
“Don’t call Mom,” Corbin pleads. “I’ll never hear the end of it.”
As they bicker, I slide out of my stool and smack my brother hard on the back. “Behave. Don’t follow me. There’s a woman I need to apologize to.”
Corbin grins wickedly at me. “Elias is going to apologize? Someone call Jessi. She’ll never believe it.”
My siblings are so obnoxious. I slip away even after he continues to toss out jokes. It’s not until I’m in the stairwell, where it’s a little quieter, that I relax.
The Icehouse is fun, but I do love my slow, easy, boring life. Missing my bed right about now, too.
But first, I need to make things right with Nora.
I take the steep steps two at a time. When I reach the landing, she’s not there. But one of the big windows that leads to the balcony has been left ajar.
She’s leaning against the railing, staring out at the bay. I slip out and join her, not speaking at first. A small sniffle tells me she’s been crying.
“I didn’t mean that,” I mutter. “I don’t know why I said it. They were ribbing me and I just blurted it out so they would stop.”
“It’s fine.”
“But it’s not,” I say firmly. “I’m sorry. We’ve been getting along. It wasn’t cool. You didn’t deserve that.”
She turns and peeks over at me beneath her long lashes. “Apology accepted. And it’s not all you. The events of the day are catching up to me.”
I move closer until our arms nearly touch. “Is it about the breakup?”
“Hattie told you?” She frowns in confusion. “When?”
“Silas did. The Calders are the gossip mill. Nothing is secret or sacred with them.”
She laughs but it’s more on the bitter side. “It’s not a secret.” A sigh escapes her. “He called to ask about work stuff. I don’t know what happened. It just hit me. I was done.” She winces. “I quit my job while I was at it.”
That part shocks me to my core. And I’d be lying if I said I don’t feel a little thrill of hope that she’ll stay here.
“There are millions of jobs,” I assure her. “You’re more than qualified.”
“How do you know?”
“Goldie told me.” Heat warms my face and I’m grateful it’s dark aside from the moon peeking behind some clouds. “She told me a lot about you.”
She bites on her bottom lip. “You have an advantage over me then. I know hardly anything about you.”
The wind blows a strand of hair across her face. My fingers itch to move it away and tuck it behind her ear, but she beats me to it.
“What do you want to know?” I ask, voice a rough whisper. “I’ll tell you.”
Nora turns to face me. Her eyebrows are scrunched together, and her nose is wrinkled up. “Do you think Grandma was crazy for waiting on my grandpa all those years?”
“Honestly?”
She nods. “I always want the truth. Not whatever you think will make me happy.”
I read between the lines that maybe Denver was that way. But that would mean she saw me as a future dating prospect. Not sure how I feel about that.
“Truth is,” I say slowly, “I think it’s romantic.” A flash of Goldie’s haggard expression assaults my mind. Some days she was so sad. “And it’s a little devastating. A tragedy. She didn’t just lose Amos, but she lost Sandy in the process.”
Nora’s eyes fill with tears. Then, to my surprise, she throws her arms around me.
My body moves quickly, wrapping her in a tight hug that she so clearly needs.
A choked sound escapes her as she squeezes me in her embrace.
I can’t help but close my eyes and smell her shampoo as my nose drags along her hair.
“Thank you for loving her,” Nora says. “I don’t think I could ever thank you enough. And if I know my grandma, she loved you too. In case you didn’t know that.”
My chest aches at her words and my eyes prickle.
I swear, when the wind blows again, I get a whiff of that old woman’s familiar scent.
Miss you, Goldie. Miss you really flunking bad.