42. Elijah
Imight have bribed Lucas to be elsewhere this evening. It was worth it so we could get some alone time together. I wasn’t pushing for anything specific, I just didn’t want to have to share Charlie’s attention with anyone else. I don’t care how selfish that sounds.
Theo falling asleep early was an added bonus I wasn’t expecting. I grabbed the coffee she had made me and leaned against the counter next to her. She knocked my mug with hers in a mock cheer.
“Can we do things like today more often?” she asked, leaning into me. “I’ve always wanted to be the kind of person who does family picnics.” I smiled, thinking back to my thoughts yesterday about wanting family walks together.
“Of course we can. I better arrange with Theo to go fishing otherwise he’s going to pester me till the end of time.” She threw her head back with a laugh.
“He will absolutely love that.” I put down my cup and turned so I was facing her. Her arms came around my neck and I leaned down to kiss her. My intention was to be soft, but I quickly found myself getting carried away. This was first moment we had properly been alone since the gala. I lifted her onto the counter, our lips still exploring. Her hands tugged at my shirt as she lifted it up and over my head. My hands slid down, resting on her legs before I hesitated.
“Don’t stop,” she said breathlessly.
“Are you sure?” I was conscious of her comment yesterday. “We don’t have to rush into anything.”
“I’m one hundred percent certain, Elijah.” Her mouth met mine once more.
* * *
I woke up before Charlie the next morning, our bodies intertwined in my bed. My mind kept playing reruns of last night. I didn’t make a habit of sleeping around, but I wasn’t exactly celibate, either. Being with Charlie was different. For the first time, there were feelings wrapped up in it. Usually, I favoured one-night stands purely to satisfy mutual needs, but this was different. This was more than just sex with her. I felt her start to stir next to me as her eyes slowly opened.
“Morning, Officer Sunshine,” she said, adjusting herself to be closer.
“Morning.” I placed a kiss on top of her head. “How’d you sleep?”
“Like a log.” She chuckled lightly. “I guess I was pretty tired last night.”
“I wonder why,” I quipped. She blushed at my words.
“We should probably get dressed; Theo will be awake soon.” I groaned, but she was right. I forced myself out of my comfortable position, searching my drawer for an outfit to put on. “What time are you going to work?” she asked as made her way over to her bag.
“In a couple hours.” It was her chance to groan now.
“Don’t feel like calling in sick today and spending the day with us?”
“I hope you’re not planning on being a bad influence on me, Charlotte.” She laughed as I kissed her, pressing her against the wall.
“I know you have to work, I’ll just miss you, that’s all. I feel like we are just getting used to being around each other.”
“What are your plans for today?” I ask in an attempt to slightly change the subject. I was genuinely worried that if she carried on, I would in fact call in sick.
“Not a lot, I need to go back to my place, really.” I gave her a look in an attempt to say no you don’t. “I need some more clothes!” She hit me playfully. “There is also a lack of toys around here and Theo needs more than just cartoons to keep him occupied.”
“Would you rather I came to yours tonight?” I hadn’t really accounted for the fact that this house wasn’t exactly equipped for a three-year-old. I made a mental note to have a look at buying some things for Theo to play with whilst he was here. Besides, it wouldn’t be fair of me to kick Lucas out for a second night in a row.
“You think we are going to spend tonight together, too?” She folded her arms over her chest. I felt a mild sense of guilt that I had just assumed we would spend the night together. I didn’t particularly want to sleep alone again. “I’m kidding, I’m happy for you to come over tonight. Only if you don’t mind, that is.”
“Of course not. I’ll pack a bag now and come straight from work.” She kissed my cheek before leaving the room to check on Theo. Pancake breakfasts were seemingly becoming a tradition in my house now. I wasn’t sure it was a sustainable breakfast to upkeep forever, but they were sacred to me now. A couple hours later we were saying a begrudging goodbye as I headed into work and they headed home. Knowing I would be coming back to them later was the only thing getting me through today.
Daines had the stupidest grin on his face when I walked into work that afternoon. Although, I also had a pretty big grin on my face, too, after my day with Charlie and Theo yesterday.
“So, when’s the wedding?” he teased. I know he was joking, but the thought of marrying Charlie one day made my heart pound. Nobody had ever made me feel like this before. I was obsessed with how happy she made me feel.
“Shut it.” I elbowed him as I walked past, prompting a laugh from him.
“She makes you happy?” he asked more seriously now.
“Very.” Daines always knew exactly how much to pry and when to leave it alone. He didn’t ask me any more questions after that and he didn’t push me for details. I was grateful for it. He knew better than anyone that I would talk about it when I was ready.
As we finished the pre-check, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket.
Lucas: I had to listen to Ma ask me about my dating life all night. I hope you made the night of the house to yourself worth it.
Elijah: Very.
I laughed as I put it back in my pocket, Daines raised an eyebrow at me.
“I asked Lucas if he could give me the house to myself yesterday.” Daines interrupted me with a wolf whistle. “He was just saying Ma was giving him grief about his dating life. She can be a bit much sometimes.”
“Hey!” he said sternly. “Your mother is a great lady. Don’t you boys give her any grief, you hear me?” I held my hands up defensively. Daines had unintentionally seemed to step into a father figure role for us siblings. He’d always been close with my dad and our family, but my father’s death seemed to bring him closer. He lost his wife a few years after dad died, too, and I think he needed us just as much as we needed him.
“I think because she was married young, she is impatient for all of us to get married.” I shrugged as I got into the car with Daines climbing into the driver’s seat.
“I guess retrospectively it wasn’t a bad thing they met young,” he said softly. “In the end, it meant they got more time together.” I’d never really thought about it that way before. It was hard to talk about my dad, but I felt more comfortable talking about him with Daines. He knew my dad more or less his entire life, it helped me feel closer to him. We sat quietly for a second as Daines started to pull away for a drive round.
“Do you think he’d be disappointed?” I don’t know where I found the courage to ask, but I found myself wishing I could take the words back.
“Of you?” he asked and I answered him with a nod.
“Your dad was my best friend in the whole world, Eli. I loved him like a brother.” He sniffed. “So, you better believe me when I say, all your dad ever wanted was for you three kids to be happy. He would be so damn proud of the man you are.” I tried to choke back my tears, but a few strayed down my face. Daines hand landed on my shoulder as he pulled into a layby.
“I am so proud of the man you are,” he said, squeezing my shoulder. “I asked to be your partner not because you were my best friend’s son, but because you are the bravest person I know. You were fifteen and you ran straight after that guy who killed your dad without a second thought. If you had cowered in the corner, I wouldn’t have blamed you, but you didn’t you fought back. You’re a fighter, Elijah, just like he was.” He cleared his throat in an attempt to hide the emotion in his voice.
“It was my fault.” I wasn’t able to hide the emotion in my voice as I bit back a sob.
“How was it your fault?” I looked up at Daines, there was genuine confusion in his face.
“I heard the noise downstairs, but I ignored it. I had a gut feeling something was wrong, but I didn’t go. I got scared.” I could feel my breath getting unsteady. “If I had gone down when I first heard it then it would have been me who spooked the robber and got shot instead of Dad. I couldn’t even catch him after.”
He was quiet for a moment and I searched to see if I could see the disappointment in his face.
“It wasn’t your fault, Elijah.”
“It was—”
“No. It wasn’t.” He sighed. “If you tell your ma I told you this, I’m going to be in a load of trouble.” I looked at him confused. “That man wasn’t an ordinary robber; your father was working on a big case against an organised crime group. That intruder was a man they sent; he never had any intention of letting James live through it. If you had gone down first, we would have lost both of you.”
I let his words sink in for a moment. I tried to wrap my head around the gravity of the information I had just been given. I knew my father was a criminal defence lawyer who worked big cases in the city, but I never paid much attention to the cases themselves.
“But they never caught the guy who did it? How would they know he was sent by the gang?” He had slipped my grasp and the rest of the Rosehaven PD. It had bothered me for years that the man who killed my father was still out there.
“They didn’t need to catch him to know. James had been receiving threats for weeks. I told him to report it or drop the case, but he wouldn’t.” Daines sighed again. I could tell it was painful for him to relive, but I was glad he told me. I still held onto some guilt, but I felt a small weight lifted off my chest knowing that there wouldn’t have been anything I could have done to stop it. At the same time, I felt frustrated that there wasn’t anything I could have done about it.
“Your father was a good man, but he died because of a poor decision he made. He would be devasted if he knew that you had been blaming yourself all of these years. If Lucas came in and told you he felt responsible for your father’s death because he heard the robber and was slow to respond, what would you say to him?”
Daines had me there. “I’d tell him it wasn’t his fault.” I sighed.