Chapter Twenty-One
WHERE ELI’S brOTHERS tended to mind their own business, his mother had no such qualms about inquiring about his private life. Amarie had stayed overnight… again. They knew it. Being that his brothers had different philosophies when it came to women as overnight guests, Noah and Tobias had sense enough to not ask questions or comment.
“Eli, that you?” his mom called to him from the grooming center.
For the next two days the clinic would stay closed with the festival starting at midday on Saturday. The humidity had climbed above seventy while he coked and joked with Tobias and Noah under the pavilion. The work needed to make the Founder’s Day Festival a success was finished, but the fellowship had lifted a burden off Eli’s conscience. Seems the growing bids from the auction had filled the cracks his delay in informing his brothers of their financial situation had caused. He had another reason to thank Amarie when he returned home.
“Yes, ma’am. Got to grab more supplies for Raspberry, Dove, Formerly, Graffiti, and Artist. This will be their first festival.” He’d placed calls to both families interested in cat adoption to cancel today’s visit. Amarie adored the furry tripping hazards, and he couldn’t help but feel like a bad pappa for considering letting them go. He’d adjusted his life to include a basket with a bow on one arm and his lady on the other. Besides, Hiccup had given up the foot of the bed to move in with the kittens in front of the fireplace.
“Don’t leave, I’m done with my cleaning.”
“Momma, I can clean my own clinic. You should be relaxing.” The pungent scent of alcohol disinfectant hit his nose. Turning, he opened the two windows facing the patient parking lot where he’d left his pickup truck. A refreshing burst of clean yet warm air rushed in, diluting the noxious chemicals.
Leah appeared in the doorway. She tossed floppy yellow gloves in the trash. “So,” she exhaled, exhaustion written in her taunt features. “You decided to keep the kitties?”
He nodded.
“Thank goodness you thought better of breaking up the band.” She gestured to the new acrylic QR code display emblazoned with each of their social media handles. Posting them on the counter was another of Amarie’s ideas. “Aiming to keep Amarie happy? Glad to see Momma didn’t raise a fool.”
He chuckled. “It’s free advertising. Plus, you know the old saying. Happy woman, happy life.” He made a substitution for wife. Knowing his mom would call him on it in the next few seconds, he kept flapping his gums. “Besides, it cost me a half gallon of coffee bean ice cream to convince her to remove the mandatory drug testing for the adoption application.”
Not even that earned him a laugh. Eli leaned his back against the counter, crossed his legs at the ankles, and waited.
“You plan to sign the contract? Deposit that twenty-five-thousand-dollar check?”
“Momma, I’m no social media influencer. The only reason I’m doing this plum fool TikTok is to save the clinic. Do you think Dad would’ve been all TikToking and influencing?”
“Seems to me your daddy would’ve done what he could for this family. He did what he could to help people. Don’t matter the how of it, Eli. I loved that about Levi.”
“I know that, Momma. Not a day went by that I didn’t see how much you two meant to each other. But I saw how he managed business. I want to honor him.”
“If you were watching, then you know your daddy made mistakes.”
Eli’s breath hitched. Never had his mother criticized his father, not with him present. And certainly had never had this conversation. “Momma, whatcha getting at?”
“Levi left a lot on your shoulders with the financials the way they are. My husband, your father, wasn’t always forward-thinking. He was stubborn. Hid problems from me to the last minute.” She smiled, but her green eyes, the mirror of his, drifted to a far-off place. “Sometimes I had to pry the words from his mouth. But in the end, we did life together. Best of friends, we were partners.”
“I believe that,” Eli agreed, a faded memory of his father, the sacrifice he made for this land, the secret that Eli would take to his grave. The bond between a father and son that burned fresh enough that he remembered how stubborn his dad could be if he set his mind to something.
“I’m proud of you, Eli. You told me what was happening with the mortgage note and you tried your best to shoulder a burden that should’ve never been yours. Levi and I were so busy scrimping and saving for you boys’ education that we didn’t plan well for our old age. Some months we ate my biscuits three times a day. Levi wanted you not to have to worry about college. ‘No struggling for my sons,’ he would say. He was so proud when you decided to follow in his footsteps.”
“I remember,” Eli mumbled, swallowing back the lump in his throat.
“He wanted you back home after college, but we respected your choice to serve our great nation. Hmm, I miss my partner, Eli. He would brag about you to everyone, even the Pendletons took notice.”
Eli stiffened. “I don’t care anything about impressing that family. They’re rotten to the core. Every last one of them.”
“Thank goodness you never fell for Lourdes. Now, you and Amarie, you’ve found your own path. You are good with people and animals, Eli. Both know they can trust you. I know the TikTok talks and the auction are unconventional, but you made them your own. Not the Calvarys’, not your father’s, but yours. I know you painted on a brave face for me and your brothers. But, even in fear, you have options. Fear can lead some men to abandon everything and run. But you stepped into the unknown to save this family. You made the harder choice, to face everything, and rise.”
Eli swallowed the emotion riding him. His mom believed in his abilities when he’d doubted himself. He hadn’t considered how much of what he believed about his future he’d had to suspend to share his life via a daily TikTok feed. But there was more his mom had to say. Behind the praise, she saw a problem brewing. He could feel the boulder about to tear through the wall and knock him off his feet.
“There’s a but, isn’t there?”
Lips tight, eyes concerned, she asked, “Amarie stayed at your place again last night?”
“You’re not even going to soften me up with a doggie treat before you have me jumping hoops to keep you out of my private life?”
“No. I’m not. I love Amarie like she’s one of my own. I want to see her happy, fulfilled.”
This could signal trouble. Hiccup padded over to his third favorite person. Eli felt pretty confident that Amarie had unseated him from the number one spot. His pup rubbed his head against grandma’s hand, and then in a surprise move, hightailed it through the breezeway leading from the clinic into the house.
“Traitor,” Eli muttered. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he placed the kitten carrier on the reception desk in the vet clinic.
“Me and Amarie, we—we’re happy,” he replied, a big smile on his face. His momma knew Amarie’s comings and goings as well as everyone else’s in town. “I plan on asking her to move in after the festival.”
“Huh.” Leah sighed.
Eli grinned. “Now what’s that supposed to mean? You wanted me coupled up. And now that I’ve found the perfect woman, all you have to say is huh?”
“So, Amarie’s decided to stay in Service regardless of how it impacts her career?”
The question sprung a nerve, one that ached like a rotten tooth. “Of course she has. We got real feelings for each other. So, if you’re concerned about how we started out, don’t.”
“My worry is about you, Eli.”
“Me?” he rasped, gobsmacked by the comment. “You just said you trusted me. Never in a hundred years did I think I’d have a chance with a woman as brilliant, capable, and fierce as Amarie. When Cara left, I believed I could never feel this way for another woman. I’m as consistent as the day is long. You know that.”
“Better than anyone. That’s why I’m doing a pulse check.”
“Momma, you’re worked up about nothing. This is the life I’ve always wanted. All of us, the family, the woman I lo—” He’d almost let the word slip. “—the woman I care about, working and living on Calvary land. That’s what you and Dad had. That’s what I have with Amarie.”
His mom reached up, cradling his face in her hands. They were as soft as he remembered as a little boy. “Eli, Amarie is here now—working side by side with you. But,” she sighed, “you need to prepare yourself for when she starts her own career. What’s your plan for the days to come when Amarie is gone? Away from the vet clinic. Away from Service.”
Away from him. He heard what she dared not say. He pulled away as if she’d stuck a hot poker in his eye. Logic evaded him as the truth of his mother’s words flayed him open. Of course she would have to leave Service if she wanted to work in the nursing field. Landing Falls and Whynot, though larger than Service, were medically underserved areas. The job prospects were limited, he knew.
He supported her dreams, but that still didn’t make it any easier to acknowledge that their working together would end once the exam results arrived. Amarie, brilliant, inventive woman that she was, was sure to pass the exam. He never doubted her abilities. Everything she touched, she improved. Including him. But the old fear: If she was away from him, ventured beyond the confines of the oasis of his idyllic family life, would he and Service lose their appeal? Would she look at his life, a simple veterinarian happy to come home to the same woman every night, as a failure?
While that fear still coursed through him, Eli sought to reassure his mom.
Clearly, she was worried, and he couldn’t have that. “Don’t worry. Amarie and I will find a way. She’s happy here in Service… with us. There’s time to figure this out. Neither of us is going anywhere.”
Eli’s mom had her pointer finger ready to fire off another shot of wisdom. He planned to dodge when he heard the large brass bell attached to the clinic’s entry door jiggle. He and his mother looked toward the entrance simultaneously. There stood a man, older than Eli but younger than forty, dressed in a dark navy blazer over a polo and pressed khakis. Eli hated him on sight. All of a sudden, a gut-churning reaction to this man’s sense of inherent superiority triggered Eli’s defenses. He remembered having a similar feeling when he’d met Cara’s yoga instructor the first time. While the Ivy League debate club captain with a smug expression surveyed the room, in walked an elegant African American woman who smelled and looked like freshly minted money.
“Hello.” The woman moved around the jerk to actually speak to them. “I’m Bethany Walker. My daughter, Amarie, is living here on the property?” she asked, one arched brow lifted in soft defiance. The resemblance between mother and daughter, flawless medium-brown skin, almond-shaped eyes with watercolor-whiskey irises, and defined profiles. This woman was a portrait of his Amarie twenty years into the future.
“Oh,” his mother breathed, clasping Bethany’s hand between hers.
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Walker. I’m Eli Calvary, this is my mother, Leah. And who are you?” Eli demanded of the man who failed to acknowledge any of them.
The arrogant ass strolled forward as if he had been waiting for his presence to be announced.
“I’m Amarie’s fiancé, Dr. Russell Feldman. Already I see signs that she’s taken over your business with her process improvement checklists. She crippled my business and destroyed my social media presence. I’ve lost thousands of dollars because of her. That’s why I’ve come here.”
“For money?” Leah questioned.
“No.” He smirked as if offended. “I came to take her back home, where she belongs.”
The hell he will. Eli brain short-circuited on half the conversation, but he didn’t miss that this man wanted to take Amarie from him. Eli took a step forward. Amarie’s home was in Service, with him. His momma’s hand on his forearm stopped him in his tracks, but not the growl that rumbled through his chest that shook the rafters.