CHAPTER 14 – SAFE HARBOR #2
She appears in the doorway, blinking like she’s just landed in a different time zone.
She’s wearing one of my button-down shirts and nothing else, bare-legged, face scrubbed clean, eyes still swollen from last night but a hundred times more alive.
Her big breasts press against the white fabric, and those lush thighs tempt me, but I keep myself in hand.
I need to feed the woman I love before mauling her curvy figure.
“Morning, Commander,” she says, voice rough. “What time is it?”
I smile.
“Gone 6 a.m. sweetheart,” I reply. “Hungry?”
She nods, then sips the coffee, expression going blissed-out. “You make it so strong. I can feel my cells vibrating from the caffeine.”
I pile food onto two plates, set them on the counter, and join her. For a few minutes, we eat in silence. I watch her demolish the bacon, barely pausing for breath. Her appetite is biblical.
She finally slows down and looks up. “Did I snore?”
I shake my head. “Only a little, but I liked it.”
She laughs, a real one, then leans in and kisses my cheek, grease and all. “Thank you for last night. For welcoming me with open arms. I know I was a mess. I still am.”
I shrug. “You’re the bravest person I know, Eliza. You stood up to your parents, to the world. That’s more than most people ever do.”
She goes quiet, picks at the edge of her toast.
The silence grows, but not in a bad way. She’s thinking, and I can tell she’s still trying to put herself back together.
After a while, she pushes away from the counter. “I have to call my friend Tara because she kept texting me last night, and I wasn’t responding. She’ll be worried.”
She takes her phone to the living room, curls up in my old recliner, and dials.
I can hear the muffled ring, then her friend’s voice coming through, way too loud even from here.
Eliza’s words are soft at first, then louder as she tries to explain.
“No, I left. No, I’m at Jack’s.” Pause. “No, he’s not a serial killer.
He’s making me breakfast. Yes. No, my parents wigged out when they found out. It was bad.”
She laughs, then her voice drops. “They said I’m dead to them, Tara. I don’t know if that means forever, or just for now. I think my dad hates me.”
Their voices go on a while more, but I don’t listen. It’s girl talk, and I have breakfast to attend to.
After a while, Eliza hangs up, comes back to the kitchen. She’s less wrecked now, more in command of herself.
“Sorry about that,” she says. “Tara’s a buddy of mine from way back when, and she’s the only person I’ve told about us. And the camming. She’s known about that from the start.”
“Don’t apologize,” I reply. “It’s good to have friends. It’s good to have someone to talk to.”
Eliza shoots me a lopsided smile. “You say that now, but you haven’t met Tara in person. She’ll drink all your whiskey and try to arm-wrestle you. She’s a menace.”
“I was Air Force,” I say, deadpan. “I’ve survived worse.”
Eliza giggles a bit, and the room feels lighter.
I clear the plates, rinse them in the sink. My girl perches on the counter, swinging her legs, and for a second it’s like we’re a couple who’s been doing this for years.
“You should take the day off,” I say. “Call in sick. Get your bearings.”
She shakes her head. “I can’t. I need the distraction. Besides, my boss is an asshole, and if I miss another day he’ll replace me with a robot. AI is crazy good these days, and we’re all getting ready to lose our jobs at the firm.”
I lift a brow. “Maybe it’s better that way.”
Eliza merely smiles. “Maybe. But I need to get ready.”
With that, the blonde goes to the bathroom to shower, and I watch her go, memorizing the sway of her hips. When she’s done, she emerges in a cloud of vanilla steam, wearing a button down shirt and nice skirt. Her hair’s in a neat bun, and she shoots me a wan smile.
“How do I look? Normal, hopefully?”
I study her: clear-eyed, determined, a little bruised but not broken.
“Like someone who knows what she wants,” I say.
She gives me a look, then grabs her bag. At the door, she stops.
“I’ll be home by six,” she says, and the word “home” makes my heart swoop because this is what I want. I want Eliza to see my home as her own. I want my bed to be her bed, and I actually love the domestic life with her. But I merely smile.
“Text me if you need anything,” I say.
She nods. “Love you.”
“Love you, too, sweetheart.”
She leaves, and I stand at the window, watching her car pull away. The house is instantly quieter, emptier, but her presence lingers—the hair tie on my nightstand, the scent of her shampoo in the hall, the lipstick print on her coffee mug.
I clean up the kitchen, then go about my day, waiting for the next sound, the next knock, the next sign that she’s coming back.
It’s not the life I ever pictured. But for the first time in a long time, it feels like one I want to keep.
I’m halfway through chopping onions when the outside security light stabs through the kitchen window.
Then, headlights pull into my driveway like laser beams, and there’s only one person in this town who brakes that hard.
Sure enough, the engine rattles off, a car door detonates, and a heavy, burly silhouette launches up my walk with the posture of a man who’s about to either file a lawsuit or break my nose.
I wash the knife, wipe my hands on the towel, and check the hall. Eliza’s on the couch, curled around her phone, thumb scrolling. She just got back from work, and I don’t want to disturb her peace, but unfortunately, it’s inevitable.
The doorbell rings, three times in rapid fire. Even the chime sounds angry.
Eliza looks up, already pale. “Who is it? Is it—?”
I nod. “Yeah, it’s your dad.”
She shrinks a little, pressing the phone to her chest. “I can’t. I can’t see him right now, Jack. I’ll lose it.”
“I’ll handle it,” I say in a low tone. “Stay here, okay?”
She nods, face drained, and disappears into the corner of the couch.
I open the door but step outside, pulling it tight behind me so Eliza doesn’t have to hear what’s coming.
Gerald’s standing there, hands balled into fists, breath steaming in the cold.
Up close, his rage is palpable, and in a way I don’t blame him.
One of his oldest friends is fucking his beautiful, nubile daughter. Any man would be aggravated.
“Jack,” he says, voice low and vibrating.
“Evening, G.”
He shakes his head like he can’t believe I’m using the old nickname. “Don’t. Don’t pretend this is normal.”
“I’m not pretending anything,” I reply, calm. “Let’s talk out here. Eliza doesn’t need another round tonight.”
He glares, eyes red-rimmed. “Is she inside? I see her car.”
I nod.
He starts for the door, but I block him with one broad arm. “Let’s keep it civil, bud. We’re talking out here.”
He stops, but barely. “You’ve got some balls, motherfucker.
After all I’ve done for you. After all we’ve—” He can’t finish the sentence, his voice snagged on years of friendship and barbecue and weekend fishing trips.
“She’s my daughter. My only daughter, and you’re—” His face crumples in, like a soda can crushed from the top down.
“I know,” I say. “It’s not what you wanted.”
He barks a sharp, ugly laugh. “What I wanted? I wanted you to be my friend. I wanted you to look out for her like a goddamn uncle. Instead, you’re fucking my little girl! You’re—” His mouth works, searching for a word, but there’s nothing that covers the depth of his disgust.
“I love her, Gerald.”
He recoils. “You love her? She’s half your age, asshole. Do you think I’m stupid?”
“Eliza’s not a kid. She’s a grown woman. And she’s the most incredible person I’ve ever met. I didn’t plan it, but I won’t lie about my feelings, either.”
He gets close, so close I can smell the sweat and raw fury. “Did you groom her? Is that what this was all along? You always showed up whenever you had leave. You bought her that bike—”
“I never touched her. Not until she came to me first. And she’s always been legal. I swear on my life.”
He’s not listening. “You could have any woman you want. But you had to go for my daughter?”
I don’t flinch. “I didn’t ‘go for’ anyone. We fell in love, Gerald. That’s it.”
He stares at me, chest heaving. “If you care about her, you’ll send her home. She’s not thinking straight.”