Chapter 14
Harmony
My alarm wails from its place on the bed beside me, and I instinctively shoot my arm out to turn it off.
Rolling over, I cover my head with my plush pillow.
I suppose this is my punishment for pushing Elias into helping me get a job at Cutesy’s where I have to wake up before everyone else has to get to work so they can get their morning coffees.
After tossing and turning all night, thinking—or more accurately, worrying—about if someone is out there, waiting for us to leave the safety of Elias’s house, ready to strike us down. I might’ve slept for an hour. Those thoughts haunted me even in my dreams.
A soft knock sounds at my door. “Are you awake?”
I groan and fling the pillow off my face. “Yes.”
“I have to leave in about thirty minutes. Will you be ready?”
“Yes, I should be,” I say, my voice scratchy from sleep. “Do I have time to take a shower?”
“If it’s fast. I’ll leave a new towel in the bathroom for you.” His footsteps sound as he walks away.
Forcing myself into a seated position, I rub my eyes. Last night was last night. So what if he made me a fantastic dinner and then offered to teach me how to make it. It was probably a peace offering, nothing else. No lingering feelings can resurface.
Staying here in Granite Falls any longer than necessary isn’t an option. It has already been two weeks, and I’ve been missing my mother more and more as time passes.
I groan as I grab my clothes and head into the bathroom.
I’ve gotten too comfortable here. Maybe now that Elias is allowing us to go to Cutesy’s, he’ll consider letting me move back with Serenity.
No, even I know that’s a horrible idea. If there’s even the slightest chance I could bring danger to them …
I cut off my thoughts there. Serenity has enough trouble without me adding to it.
I couldn’t live with myself if something happened.
After I finish showering and am presentable, I leave the bathroom, and the smell of bacon and eggs enters my nose. I inhale deeply, and my mouth waters.
Now that he’s shown me his culinary skills, is he going all out?
When I reach the kitchen, Elias is too busy flipping a pancake to notice me. Soft cumbia music filters through the room, and he moves to the rhythm. Watching him move his hips is intoxicating.
Vicki made sure to teach him how to dance before our junior prom. While all the other boys were anxious and stepped on their dates’ toes, Elias twirled me around like a princess until I erupted into giggles. Butterflies take flight in my chest at the memory.
So, this is what I’ve been missing. If we stayed together and I had moved back right after graduation, I could’ve woken up to this every morning.
Well, crap.
Elias picks up a platter with so much food it overflows.
Scrambled eggs, chorizo and potatoes, toast, tortillas, pancakes, waffles, anything I could ever want.
My stomach grumbles at the sight. He places it on the table and then glances over at me.
“Can you grab a couple of plates over there?” He motions to a cabinet. “And start eating.”
When he notices I don’t move, he raises an eyebrow. “Did you not get enough of me last night?”
“I-I,” I pause before I make a bigger fool of myself. “I wasn’t checking you out then or now. Do you need someone to stroke your ego or something?”
He throws his head back and laughs. My knees almost buckle as it rumbles out of his chest. Get your act together. It’s only a laugh.
“Go get the plates before the eggs get cold.”
I still don’t move from my spot. “I think you forgot that I hate being bossed around.”
He turns his head to face me again, and something lights up his dark eyes. Is it … excitement? No, that doesn’t seem like an appropriate reaction to me standing my ground.
“I’ll accept the challenge then.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I ask, “What challenge?”
“Well, you hate being told what to do, and I am lucky enough to have the privilege of bossing you around as your bodyguard, so one way or another, you’ll finally do as I say without fighting.”
I scoff. “Maybe in your dreams.” Then I walk over to the cabinet to grab the plates. “And I’m not listening to you. I don’t want the food to go to waste when my stomach is about to eat itself, so this is out of pure survival.”
He nods as if he accepts my answer and then opens his annoying mouth to say, “Sure, you can keep telling yourself that. Now let’s eat because we’re already going to be late.”
***
Elias is right. We are about thirty minutes late.
Walking into Cutesy’s is like déjà vu. The same mismatched tables and chairs are scattered around the small cafe.
A huge chalkboard with the menu scrawled in swooping letters is still on the wall behind the register.
Barbara, my old co-worker, who has to be in her mid-sixties by now, still works busily behind the counter.
It’s almost as if this one business was stuck in time.
How many afternoons did I work here in my junior and senior year of high school? Is the vibe different now that there’s a new owner?
A lady who appears to be middle-aged grabs her drink at the pickup and turns toward me, heading to the exit. I step to the side, giving her space to leave.
“Thanks for coming in,” Elias says with a blinding smile.
“Of course. I’ll be back tomorrow, as you know.”
Even before I moved away, I’ve never seen that woman in my life, but apparently, she’s a regular here.
“Oh, Elias, sweetheart, you’re here,” Barb says from behind the counter. She looks up from the drink she’s working on, pauses, and blinks at me. “Is that you, Harmony?”
“Hello, Barb.”
She turns her back to me, and my body immediately feels heavy. I won’t blame her if she’s upset that I left town early, without a word. She celebrated with me when I was accepted into NYU, and then I was just gone.
Placing a drink on the pickup counter, Barb calls out the customer’s name.
She takes off the apron that Elias and I bought her the last Christmas I was here.
On it reads, “You Mocha Me Very Happy.” She comes around the bar and grabs my hands, staring deep into my eyes before drawing me in for an embrace.
Tears prick at my eyes, and I squeeze her.
When she pulls back, she places a warm hand on my face.
Her worry lines are more prominent than before I left.
“I’m so happy you’re back, but that’s my selfishness talking.”
Hearing her say that makes me feel lighter than I have in a while. But what do I say in response? It’s not exactly common conversation to announce that someone attacked me, and I’m hiding out. “Sorry but don’t get too used to it. I’ll be going back to the city after everything is settled here.”
“I’ll enjoy the time I have with you then.”
Before I can respond, more people come inside, and she hurries back behind the bar. Elias signals for me to follow him. We weave around the tables as a line starts to build. I can only hope the job comes back to me quickly or else Barb won’t get much help.
To-go cup boxes rest right inside the break room as if they need the reminder to put them away. The far wall is lined with lockers. I run my fingers across the chipped, navy-blue paint and stop at my old locker. Opening it, a large jacket is already stuffed inside.
Damn. Only a couple of people worked here and they had to take the one I wanted.
Moving on, I grab the locker beside it and stuff all my belongings into it.
I stride over to the sink to wash my hands.
Being back here for the first time, so many memories sweep over me.
Elias and I used to sneak the throwaway blueberry muffins back here, and we’d eat like half a dozen of them.
By the time we were done, my belly felt five inches bigger.
And the first time we kissed was in this very room. His hesitant lips pressed against mine. My heart pounded so fast I was afraid I’d have a heart attack right then.
“Are you done?” Elias’s deep voice startles me.
I jump away from the sink and turn to face him. My cheeks burn, and I pray my face isn’t too flushed. “Yes, you can use it if that’s why you’re rushing me.”
He leans against the wall and crosses his arms over his wide chest. “No, you’ve just been scrubbing your hands for like two minutes.”
“It’s a lot being back here. Nothing has changed.
” I take in the break room again. The fan above us still clacks as it rotates.
A single picnic table rests in the middle of the room, plenty big enough for the few employees here.
Cabinets line the opposite wall of the lockers.
I’m sure paper plates and plastic utensils still wait inside.
“Yeah, we haven’t been able to redecorate yet.
” He pushes off the wall and heads toward the doorway that leads back to the cafe.
“Let’s go help Barb before it gets too busy.
If you don’t remember something or need any help, ask.
I don’t bite.” Then he has the audacity to wink. “Well, not hard anyway.”
My mouth drops to the floor as he struts away. His dark pants hug his ass like a glove. And no matter how hard I try, I can’t tear my eyes off it. Even when we’re at the house, if I see him, my gaze always narrows in on his perfect butt whenever he turns away.
He pauses in the doorway, his frame taking up the entire space, and glances over his shoulder before giving me a cocky smile. “I can feel your eyes on my ass. Again.”
For what feels like the hundredth time today, my cheeks heat. I roll my eyes, trying to play it off. He’s seriously insufferable. “You know you like it.”
A soft chuckle rumbles out of him, but he doesn’t reply.
My heart twists. It would be so easy to fall right back in love with this man. But that’s the worst idea I’ve ever thought up.