“I’m sorry.”
“Because somehow that makes everything okay? She was the only real mother I had.” He pulled his gaze from hers. “Sometimes, sorry isn’t enough. Sometimes, too much time has passed. Sometimes…” he said, lifting his gaze to hers once again. “Sometimes, someone is too broken for sorry to mend them.” Elijah stepped back, realizing he’d said far more than he ever intended. “Make yourself at home. I have work to do.”
He strode out of the study and didn’t stop until he hit the second-story landing. Where had all that come from? One minute, he was fine, and the next, he was both wanting Taylor in every way possible and wanting to run away so fast that all the pain would be buried in the dust. He was too out of control, and he needed to get a grip.
Leaning his backside against the wall, he braced his hands against his knees. That sort of outburst wasn’t going to work if Taylor was going to be staying with him. He needed to figure out a strategy that would keep his head on straight and his heart out of the line of fire.
This is what he did for a living. If he relegated Taylor to a client, put professional distance between them, and maintained that distance, he could manage it. She was just a woman who needed his help. Their history was just that. History. That’s where it needed to stay, and that’s where he’d put it.
Elijah straightened. He compartmentalized everything. His role in the military. His missions. His captivity. This was just another thing he needed to organize and fit neatly in a box where he could store it away. He could do that. No more outbursts. No more feelings. Just a client and his job. That’s all this was.
* * *
Making her way to the sofa, Taylor slowly sat on the edge. Of course, Elijah wasn’t doing this for her, and now she’d heard as much from his own lips. She hadn’t missed the hurt in his eyes either. The way his voice broke when speaking about her mom. Or the pain that laced the words when he said he was too broken to mend.
That night after Taylor’s graduation party, Ruth was inside Taylor’s home, waiting for Elijah to show up. She listened to their entire conversation from the other side of the door, not trusting Taylor to go through with it, and she didn’t want Elijah figuring out she was behind all of it. Plus, they both knew that when Taylor didn’t show up at their spot, he’d come looking for her.
Sure enough, an hour after she was supposed to be there, Elijah showed up on her doorstep, wanting to know what happened. At that moment, it was the worst thing to ever happen to her, other than finding out her mom had cancer.
She’d said the most horrible things imaginable, and she’d done it as he’d looked her in the eyes. She told him she’d changed her mind and graduating made her realize that settling down at eighteen was stupid. That he needed to respect his dad and take over the company. That statement had gotten her in trouble with Ruth after Elijah left. It didn’t sound like something Taylor would say, but he wouldn’t give up. She was using everything she knew to push him away.
Never in Taylor’s wildest dreams had she considered she’d wake up to find Elijah gone. Vanished, so to speak. Her mom never told her about his visit. Never told her about the letter.
That letter. What could it possibly say? When had her mom written it? Before or after his visit? Answers Taylor would probably never get because Elijah wasn’t likely to share it with her.
Her phone buzzed in her hand, and she put it to her ear. “Hello.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to be in town?”
Taylor nearly sighed with relief. “Julie? Are you in town?”
Her friend laughed. They’d been friends all through school. Anytime they managed to find themselves in town at the same time, they’d plan a date to meet and catch up on what was happening in their lives.
“I’ll be in town tomorrow. It’s Mom’s birthday this weekend.”
Taylor groaned and palmed her forehead. “Oh, girl, I totally spaced.”
Julie grunted. “Well, I bet you did. My mom said your house burned down. Is that right? Are you okay? What happened?”
Over the next hour, Taylor spilled everything that had happened since darkening the door of her childhood home. From going to Ruth’s funeral, to seeing Elijah, to the reason her house was ashes. Not to mention that she and her family were now being guarded by Elijah in his house. By the time Taylor was done, she was emotionally spent. In the span of five days, her whole world had been turned upside down.
“Geez, Taylor. I don’t know what to say.”
“It’s okay.”
“I’m coming over when I get into town, and I’m not taking no for an answer. I’ll just tell Mom what happened, and then I’ll have the whole night free.”
Taylor knew that was most likely not true. Julie’s mom would have plenty of activities for them leading up to the birthday extravaganza. “That’s okay. I’ll be fine. It’s just a lot to take in.”
Julia scoffed. “I’m coming over with snacks and my iPad loaded with movies. We can totally do the girl thing tomorrow night and talk until we’re falling over.”
“Uh…”
“Elijah’s not going to mind me coming over. I’ll even let him frisk me.” She giggled.
Taylor tried to hold back a laugh and choked. “Fine.”
Julie laughed harder. “It’ll be fun and just like old times.”
“Okay.” Taylor ended the call and leaned back on the sofa.
It had been a while since she’d seen Julie, and the girl always had a way of making Taylor smile. The day after her breakup with Elijah was the worst day of her life—well, until a month later when she lost her mom.
Julie was the one who had come over, stayed with her while she cried, and did her best to cheer her up. Of course, Julie also thought Elijah had broken up with Taylor. That was the only reasonable explanation anyone could come up with for him leaving her behind without so much as a goodbye.
To have said otherwise would have opened up the door for questions, and Taylor couldn’t have risked that. If it had gotten back to Ruth, there was no telling what she would have done to Taylor’s family. No, once she’d agreed to that deal, her choices were made. Her tongue was tied, and her future was set. The one that didn’t include the love of her life.
Rolling her head, she looked at the entrance to the study. She would need to watch herself with Elijah. He had every right to be furious with her. The fact that he’d invited her into his home was a testament to his character.
She needed to stay out of his way. It was the least she could do when he’d been so kind to her and her family. For that, she’d be forever grateful.
Chapter 10
It wasn’t surprising to Elijah that Noah had worked so quickly. When someone’s bank account had the number of zeros he and Noah had, people moved mountains to get things done. At least being wealthy came in handy for once. However, part of him wished Noah’s quick work hadn’t started so early in the morning. Elijah hadn’t enjoyed the most restful sleep the night before.
As he was standing outside the next morning, overseeing the cameras being installed, Taylor’s dad and brother joined him. Her dad whistled. “That’s a lot of fancy equipment.”
Elijah nodded. “Well, it seems a little excessive, but this will let me know if anyone steps foot on the grounds. Someone set your house on fire with your daughter in it. I think it’s a good idea to cover my bases.” He smiled.
Joseph patted Elijah on the back. “I sure appreciate this. It’s above and beyond what I expected.”
“You were more like a dad to me than my own, and Momma Mabrey was definitely more like a mom. I consider you family, and I want to keep you safe.”
Lucas crossed his arms over his chest. “I called Captain Durant just a few minutes ago. They still have investigators working on how the fire started. He said the house and contents are destroyed.”
“Did he say anything about Taylor’s laptop?”
“Yeah, it’s melted flat. I’m not sure anything can be retrieved.”
Elijah exhaled sharply. “Mia needs access to her computer. If anyone can find out who is doing this, it’s Mia.” He tapped his chin. “Or maybe she just needs the website address and podcast information. Maybe she can trace it from there. I hadn’t thought of that. Computers aren’t exactly my area of expertise.”
Lucas nodded. “I’m okay with them, but that is outside my wheelhouse.” He paused. “How did the person even know Taylor was in town? It’s not like she had a parade or something.”
That was a good question. Something Elijah hadn’t considered in all the chaos. It irked him too. That he could get so distracted by Taylor that he missed things. “I need to check her car. There’s a possibility a tracker was put on it. And that’s another reason we need her computer. Someone could have been shadowing her online. From the way Mia talks, it’s not that difficult for someone to do.”
“I have a desktop at home in Roswell. There might be answers on that,” Taylor chimed in.
Elijah looked toward the entrance of the house. Despite his pep talk the day before, his heart pounded. Just a simple jeans and t-shirt, and Taylor could be a runway model. Beyond that, before she’d broken his heart, he would have said she was the kindest person he knew. No doubt her mom had passed that trait to her.
She wasn’t the typical pretty-girl, stuck-up snob. She was friends with everyone. Was kind to everyone. Nothing about her had been cliché. That was the reason he’d loved her. Her heart.
Then she’d thrown him. That night. Looking her in the eyes. The cruelty in her words. He could still feel how sick he was to his stomach.
Elijah nodded. “All right. We should probably make a trip to Roswell, then. Mia can access it remotely, and it’ll give me a chance to look around. Maybe there will be a few clues at your home.”
Taylor chewed her lip as she trotted down the steps. “Uh, sure, but it’ll have to be tomorrow. Julie will be in town today, and she wanted to come over tonight. I hope it’s okay. I would have told you yesterday, but…”
Elijah had avoided her as much as possible. He’d needed the time to get himself in the right frame of mind. “Julie’s coming over?”
“Yeah, so we can talk and catch up.” She stuffed her hands in her pockets as she stopped a foot away. “But that’s only if it’s okay.”
Julie was Taylor’s best friend in high school. Elijah had spent enough time with her to know she was harmless. He’d do a background check anyway, but unless a red flag went up, he saw no reason to keep her from spending time with Taylor. “It’s fine.”
“Are you sure? Because I’ll call her and tell her it’s not.”
“No, it’s fine.” He squared his shoulders. Client. Taylor was a client. “How long will she be staying?”
“I’m guessing the night.”
“Okay,” he said and turned to Joseph and Lucas. “We’ll go to Roswell tomorrow after she leaves.”
Her dad shook his head. “I can’t. I need to get back to the shop. I trust my guys, but I think a little normalcy is what I need.”
Lucas nodded. “I have a meeting with a client, so I can’t either.”
Alone? With Taylor? For three hours each way? It was a foxhole with incoming grenades. How was he going to navigate that? “I can’t exactly protect you guys if you’re not with me.” Elijah grinned. “But it’s pretty obvious you two aren’t the target. They waited for Joseph to leave the house before setting it on fire.” He took a deep breath, wishing that wasn’t true. “I’ll let the police know you both need to have extra patrols by you. I think you’ll be okay. But do me a favor and go nowhere alone.”
“That’ll be a little hard for me,” Lucas said. “I can’t meet clients with someone in the room. There’s privilege involved.”
“But the office won’t be empty, will it? You don’t have to go to lunch alone, right?” Elijah asked Lucas.
“Sure.”
“Okay. Uh, all right. I guess it’ll be me and Taylor, then.” Or maybe he could convince Julie to tag along. It would make the six hours in the car much easier.
For a second, he thought he saw the color drain from Taylor’s face, but he was sure it was just his imagination. She’d dumped him, and she didn’t love him.
She gave a small smile. “Okay. What time do we need to leave tomorrow?”
“I’ll be out of the house by eight,” her dad replied.
“Yeah, me too,” Lucas said.
“All right, eight it is.” Elijah crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ll make sure to get a key made and give you the alarm code to the house.”
At least he’d have the rest of the day to prepare for an entire day spent alone with Taylor. Maybe she’d be up late talking to Julie and sleep most of the ride. That way they wouldn’t have to talk. He didn’t want to hear her apologies or whatever she had to say. All he wanted to do was honor her mother’s memory and protect her family.
* * *
Right at dusk, the doorbell rang, and Taylor raced down the stairs. She’d missed Julie, and with everything going on, she needed a friend. She hit the first floor and skidded to a stop, nearly bowling into Elijah.
“Sorry.” She shrank back. Since their little kerfuffle in the study, she’d done her best to stay out of his way. If only she could find a way out of spending the next day with him, but of course, her luck had eloped with Murphy. She had no idea how she was going to survive six hours trapped in a car with him.
Without replying, he walked to the door and opened it. “Hello, Julie.”
“Wow. Elijah…holy cow.” Julie stepped inside carrying a large grocery bag and looked at Taylor. “I was kidding about the frisking, but suddenly, I’m totally open to it.”
A soft pink colored his neck and traveled to his ears. The tiniest of smiles played on his lips. And what it did to Taylor’s pulse was unfair. He was too cute for words. “I’ll leave you to talk. My home is yours.”
“Wait,” Julie said, and Taylor braced herself. She’d seen that flash of mischief before. Her friend lifted an eyebrow. “Would you like to tell me why you broke up with Taylor? I think we’ve all been dying to know.”
Elijah cut a glance at Taylor, and it could have sliced through diamonds. “I should have known you’d lie to everyone.” He stormed off without another word.
Julie’s eyebrows knitted together. “Lied? What’s he talking about?”
Taylor waved off the question. “Nothing. Let’s go upstairs.”
They made it to just inside the door before Julie turned on Taylor and shut the door. Her friend eyed her and set the bag of goodies down. “You never outright said Elijah broke up with you. I just assumed, and you never corrected me. Did he break up with you or not?”
Taylor’s heart was in her throat. She didn’t need this line of questioning. All she wanted was frivolous girl talk. “Can we not? It was a long time ago. It’s over. I’ve moved on. Elijah has moved on. There’s nothing between us anymore.”
Julie took a deep breath. “You’ll spill, or I’ll go talk to him, because this is a mystery that needs to be solved. You two were inseparable. You were talking about marrying him, and then all of a sudden it was over. What happened?”
“Julie, please, drop it. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay.” She turned and opened the door.
Taylor grabbed her arm and pulled her back in the room. “Stop.”
Julie lifted an eyebrow. “Are you going to tell me?”
What other choice did she have, besides kicking her friend out? And Taylor really didn’t want to do that. “Yeah, I’ll tell you, but you have to promise—I mean swear—you will never tell anyone else. Do you understand? If you can’t, then I won’t tell you.”
Her friend tilted her head. “Okay, I promise. But what on earth could be so serious?”
Taylor walked to the bed and sat down. “Elijah didn’t break up with me. I broke up with him.”
Julie joined her on the bed. “But why?”
With a sigh, Taylor sai
d, “Ruth.”
A small gasp. “Now that makes sense. What did she do?”
“She wanted me out of Elijah’s life so he would focus on taking over the company. At first, she offered to pay off all our medical bills. We were already in serious medical debt from Momma’s cancer the first time. When they found the second spot, the bills just kept piling higher and higher. We were on the verge of losing our home.”
“Okay.”
“I told her there was no way. I loved Elijah, and he would never in a million years believe that I’d break up with him.”
“I know. That’s why it was so crazy when you two split. No one understood why. But you told Ruth no. What happened to make you change your mind?”
Taylor sighed. “Nothing, the choice was taken from me.”
Julie knitted her eyebrows together. “How?”
“Remember that experimental trial my mom was in? She’d only been in it a few weeks.”
“Yeah, and it was working. Your mom was doing better.”
“She was, but Ruth was the one who got her in. She knew the doctor running it, and she’d bribed him to let my mom in. Only, she told me that she’d made it look like my dad did it.”
Her friend’s mouth dropped open. “No way.”
Nodding, Taylor said, “Oh yeah, and she said that if I didn’t go along with her plan, she’d have my mom kicked out and my dad arrested.”
Julie slipped her arm around Taylor’s shoulders. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
Taylor wiped her eyes. “I felt like it was a death sentence for my mom. People in that trial were showing signs of being cured. My mom was doing great and had felt better than she had in a year. Granted, she was still in the hospital because of the trial, but they were talking of letting her come home if her progress continued.”
“So she blackmailed you? Couldn’t you have just told Elijah?”
Shaking her head, Taylor let out a sharp laugh. “No, because it was fraud, and she’d set my dad up to take the fall. She showed all of it to me. The paperwork, the signatures…somehow, she even had a call log of my dad talking to this doctor. How much money it would take to get her into the trial? How to pay? I have no idea how she managed that.”
The Ranger's Forgiveness (Army Ranger Romance Book 5) Page 7
