“Is David still spouting stuff all over social media?” Arianna was afraid of the answer but felt she needed to know. Especially if she was considering going back to LA.
“Ugh. Yes. Posts. Pictures. Videos. He will not let it die. And I usually get a call from him every other day or so, asking me if I’ve talked to you.”
“I’m sorry you’ve gotten caught in the middle of all this.”
Rebecca laughed. “I don’t really care. Every time he calls, I tell him he needs to just man up and move on. He doesn’t like that very much.”
“Well, I guess I’ll be seeing you in a few days. Let’s do dinner while I’m there.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” Rebecca said, her words light. “I just wish you were coming back for good.”
Arianna wanted to tell her that there was a slight—but growing—possibility that that might never happen. Maybe she needed to keep that in mind as she moved forward with any business ventures. She wanted a life with more peace and less stress, and that was definitely what life had been like since coming to New Hope.
Well, aside from the notes and vandalism. But even then, she’d had Eli by her side, making the strain of it easier to bear. What would it be like to have someone she could rely on without question? To have someone she knew would have her back, even as they stood at her side?
It was probably too soon to be thinking of anything like that with Eli, but she couldn’t help herself. It was like a dream she’d never even known she had was coming to life. Unfurling like a rosebud with the potential of becoming something beautiful and fragrant if treated with love and care.
She wanted that dream, and she’d do what she could to have it.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“I have to go to LA.”
Eli straightened from where he was cutting in around the baseboard by the fireplace and looked over at Anna. “You have to go home? When?”
“Next week. There’s a business meeting I have to be there for,” Anna said as she lowered herself to sit cross-legged on the floor near him, the small container she’d been using to do the cut-in work in the bathroom in her hand. “I negotiated for three days.”
“Three days?”
“Yes. They wanted me there for a week, but I said no. I managed to negotiate down to three days.”
Eli wasn’t sure how he felt about the news. Or rather, he did, but he knew it wasn’t his place to feel that way. He didn’t want her to go. What if she stepped back into that world and decided she didn’t want to leave it again? Anything they might have had would be gone because there was no way he could move to be with her in LA.
“I hope that it all goes smoothly,” Eli said, instead of begging her not to go.
Anna sighed. “So do I. My management team isn’t too happy about my decision to stay away, so I have to do what I can to placate them. But first, I need to book a ticket.”
“Are you flying out of Everett or Seattle?”
“I’m not sure. My assistant is usually the one to book my tickets, but I don’t want her to know where I am just yet.” She set the container on the floor beside her and drew her legs up to wrap her arms around them. “I suppose it would be easier to fly out of Everett, right? Since it’s closer?”
“Yes, it would be. I can drive you there.”
A smile smoothed the concern from her face. “I would like that, if it’s not too much trouble.”
“It’s not.”
Leah returned before they could talk further about her plans, bringing with her the lunch she’d gone to fetch. “Mom’s gone into town to see Aunt Norma.”
“Did you tell her we’re almost done with the final cabin?”
“Yep.” Leah sat on the floor near Anna and opened the basket.
Anna got to her feet and put the paint container on the counter before washing her hands in the sink and joining Leah again. “What’s on the menu today?”
“Roast beef sandwiches and chips,” Leah said as she pulled stuff out of the hamper. “Some veggies and fruit. And drinks.”
After Eli washed up, he sat back down with the girls and then said a prayer for the food. As usual, Leah was quiet as they ate, but Anna seemed happy to fill the silence, chatting about places she’d visited and people she’d met. To his knowledge, she still hadn’t mentioned her channel to anyone but him and Kieran. He wouldn’t say anything, since it wasn’t his place to do that, but he hoped that she’d share about that part of her life with his family soon. They wouldn’t treat her any differently—after all, they already knew she was wealthy.
“I’m glad I was able to help you finish all this up before I had to leave,” Anna said as she lifted some grapes from the container in front of her.
“You’re leaving?” Leah asked, lowering her sandwich to her paper plate. “I thought you were booked in for a couple more weeks.”
“I am. I’m not leaving for good. I just have a few things I need to take care of in LA, and then I’ll be back.”
Her words helped calm the unease within Eli, though not completely. After all, she could leave with one set of intentions only to have things change once she got down to LA. He just prayed that wouldn’t happen.
After they had finished lunch, they got back to work. Though he’d enjoyed working on the cabins each day with Anna, he found that he really enjoyed their time away from painting. The time in his workshop had been his favorite of the times they’d spent together. He wouldn’t have thought he’d welcome anyone into his shop like that, but then Anna wasn’t just anyone anymore.
She was rapidly becoming so much more to him than he could ever have imagined, but the looming possibility of heartache made it difficult for him to want to open himself up any further to her. It wouldn’t hurt to put things on hold until she got back. It wouldn’t be easy, but they hadn’t made any definite plans yet, so as long as he could hold off on the date they’d been talking about until she came back, maybe he’d be okay.
Except, in the days that followed, Eli discovered that Anna wasn’t as keen to keep distance between them. Of course, since they were both still living at the lodge, keeping a distance wasn’t exactly an easy thing.
On Saturday morning, she asked if he’d be willing to take some pictures for her. His mom and the girls had headed into Everett to pick up some things for the church’s contribution to the fall festival, so it had been just the two of them at the lodge.
“One of the types of videos I like to do for my channel is a seasonal look-book.”
“What on earth is a look-book?” Eli asked as they sat on opposite sides of the island counter, a large, expensive-looking camera between them.
“It’s when I buy some clothes that are suitable for the upcoming season and then take photos, showing my viewers how they can style them.”
“And you want me to take pictures of you for that?”
“Pictures and videos, actually.” Anna smiled at him, as if by her smile alone, she’d convince him to agree. Which, in reality, probably wasn’t too far off the mark. “I usually have my assistant help me, but since she’s not here, I wondered if you’d be willing to give me a hand.”
“I’m not much of a photographer. I mean, I generally only use my phone to take pictures of my work. Sarah has a nicer camera for taking pictures of her paintings, but I’ve never used it.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry.” Anna picked the camera up and looked it over. “This is a pretty simple camera. I think you’d be okay using it. If you want to, that is.”
Eli looked at the camera for a moment, then up at Anna. He did want to. Even though he’d told himself to keep a distance until she returned from LA, he really did want to do it. Part of it was wanting to be with her, but another part was him wanting to get a glimpse into her world. If this was important to her, he wanted to know more about it.
“Okay. I’ll give it a whirl,” he said. “On one condition.”
Anna set the camera back down on the counter, an expectant look on her face
. “What’s that?”
“You don’t hold me responsible if the pictures and videos don’t turn out great.”
Her face lit up. “I won’t. It really isn’t that difficult. You’ll see.”
“So how do we do this?”
“Well, I want to have a fall background that would suit the outfits I’ll be wearing, but I also don’t want it to be too distinctive. I don’t want anyone to be able to say ‘Hey! I know where that is!’ But it still needs to be close to the lodge, so I can change quickly.”
Eli thought for a moment then said, “What about the back deck? It faces the forest and gives a nice mix of fir and shade trees which are looking beautiful at the moment.”
“Let’s take a look.” Anna got up from the table and picked up the camera. “It would be good if that worked because it’d be nice and close.”
Eli led the way to the deck that ran partway along the back of the house. Because there was a walk-out basement, the deck was elevated to be level with the main floor. He held the door open for Anna then followed her out. He waited by the door as she walked around the deck, lifting the camera every so often.
Finally, she turned to him with a smile on her face and said, “This will be perfect.”
After showing him how to work the camera, Anna handed it to him, then went back into the house to change into her first outfit. Eli lifted the camera and looked through the lens, seeing the trees framed in the distance. He still wasn’t sure how this was going to work, but she seemed convinced it would, so he’d trust her.
When she returned a short time later, she was wearing a pair of dark green pants, a fitted sweater that was the color of a pumpkin, and around her neck was a silky scarf with splashes of fall colors on it. She’d pulled her hair up into a high ponytail, and whatever makeup she’d applied made the blue of her eyes stand out even more than it usually did.
“Ready?” she asked as she stood in front of him with a smile. At his nod, she said, “So I’ll need a few still pictures then a short video.”
She walked away from him to the far side of the deck where she turned and posed with one hand on the railing. After he’d taken a few pictures of a variety of poses, she came to stand next to him to look at the screen on the back of the camera.
With her standing so near, Eli couldn’t keep from taking a deep breath, inhaling a whiff of the floral and vanilla scent that surrounded her.
“Those look great,” she said then walked away from him again. “Now for a short video.”
Eli held the camera still as she struck a few more poses, moving smoothly from one to the next. It was clear this was something she’d done before because she moved with confidence and ease, not at all self-conscious. And the smile she wore…it felt like it was just for him, and he couldn’t help but smile in return.
After she held a pose for a few extra seconds, she told him to stop the video then came over to him again to check it out. Once she pronounced it perfect, she headed back into the house to change into her next outfit.
Over the next hour, the scenario was repeated several more times. Each time, she checked over the pictures and video, and with the exception of one set of photos, she was happy with them all.
As he watched her, Eli was struck by how beautiful she was. Sure, it was something he’d noticed when they’d first met, but in the days since, he’d been more focused on how engaging her smile was. How joyful her laugh sounded. How intelligent she was. How he appreciated her way of taking an interest in those around her.
But being so directly focused on her physical appearance, her beauty together with everything else he knew about her made Anna truly captivating to him. He could see why people found her appealing, why so many of them followed her on her social media platforms.
Though he hadn’t looked her up on social media yet, he wanted to. It felt weird, though. Like he wanted her permission before he looked at her pictures and videos. Or maybe it was more that he wanted to learn about Anna from her directly, not from videos and pictures. Though he wasn’t on social media much, he had heard plenty about how fake it could be from his sisters.
“Well, that’s the last of them,” Anna said as she stood on the deck in her final outfit. “Thank you so much for your help. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“You’re welcome.” Eli handed her the camera. “I hope that all of it turns out okay.”
She gave him a confident smile. “I’m sure it will. From what I’ve seen so far, the pictures and videos look great.”
They walked back into the lodge, where Anna headed up to her room while Eli detoured into the kitchen, greeting Shadow when the big dog came to greet him. After giving him some love, he went to the coffee maker and made himself a cup of coffee, then grabbed a couple of his mom’s chocolate chip cookies.
He was sitting at the counter looking at his phone when Anna reappeared a few minutes later. She’d changed yet again, only this time she wore a pair of leggings and a large baggy sweatshirt. In her arms, she carried a laptop.
“Do you want a cup of coffee?” Eli asked as he got to his feet. “Or tea?”
“Coffee’s fine,” she said. “I’m feeling a bit chilled from being outside.”
“That’s the joy of autumn days here.” Eli moved to the coffee machine and put a pod of the French Vanilla he knew she favored into the machine. “Some of them can be quite chilly. You’re just lucky we didn’t have rain today even though it was a bit overcast.”
“Overcast isn’t a bad thing. Makes it so I’m not squinting at the camera, and I don’t have to worry about shadows.” She settled on the chair next to the one he’d been sitting in and opened her laptop. “Want to see the videos and pictures on a larger screen?”
“Uh…sure,” Eli said as he slid her mug of coffee across the counter then went to get the creamer from the fridge. “Did you want some cookies?”
“Oooh, yes, please.” She took the creamer from him and poured some into her mug. “I love your mom’s cookies.”
“You’re not the only one,” Eli said as he brought the whole container over to where she sat. “The only ones who rival hers are Norma’s and Leah’s, but don’t tell Mom I said that.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Anna said with a conspiratorial wink as she lifted the lid and swiped a cookie.
As they ate cookies and drank coffee, Anna loaded up the pictures and videos and began to click through them. Even though Eli had done exactly as she’d told him, he’d kind of expected the pictures to be blurry or the video shaky, but they weren’t. It must have been a credit to the camera that they were clear, and the colors were so vibrant.
Eli fought the urge to ask her to send him copies of it all, knowing that would be a bit too creepy at this point. “They turned out really good.”
“Very good,” Anna agreed. “They’ll be perfect for the video and blog I’m putting together.”
“How often do you do these?” Eli asked as he picked up his mug and took a sip.
“Videos in general or this type of video?”
“Both, I guess.”
Anna closed the lid of the laptop and pushed it away. “I generally try to do two or three videos a week, but these look-book style videos I only do for a season change, although sometimes I skip over spring and fall and just do summer and winter. This year, however, I couldn’t resist doing a fall one since I’m surrounded by autumn. It’s been awhile since I’ve had the pleasure.”
“You don’t go back to New York at all during the year?” Eli asked. “To visit your folks?”
“Actually, I’m usually in New York for meetings more than anything, though I do try to see them if they have the time.”
“Do you go home for Christmas?”
“Sometimes. My parents were never big on celebrating the holiday. They aren’t religious, and they say the holiday is too commercialized. Frankly, I think it was a cop-out so they didn’t have to worry about buying presents, and not because they were cheap or anything beca
use all I had to do was ask for something and they’d buy it. I think it was just the pressure of having to figure out what I wanted and then hopefully get the right thing.”
Eli couldn’t imagine having a Christmas like that. His parents—especially his mom—always made a huge deal out of the Christmas season. Each of the cabins would be decorated with a small tree and other decorations, and the lodge was decked from the basement to the rafters. There were at least three trees and a gazillion lights along with a couple nativity scenes and a wall of Christmas cards that showcased the ones they received from people who had stayed at the lodge over the years.
Even his place wasn’t spared from his mom’s insatiable urge to decorate. One night at the beginning of December, she and the girls would descend on his place and put up a tree and decorate it. They even hung stockings on his fireplace which was a bit ridiculous since he always spent Christmas Eve at the lodge.
“Do you celebrate Christmas when you’re in LA?”
The smile slid from Anna’s face, and her gaze dropped to the cookie she held. “I decorate my apartment, but that’s mainly because my viewers expect to see that when they watch any videos I film in December. The last time I really celebrated was back when I was living with Liz. We decorated the apartment, but then she also invited me to go home with her to celebrate with her family. I gotta say, that was one lively holiday with Liz’s six younger siblings. It was great.”
“Our Christmases are usually pretty lively here too. We get together with Norma and her family, which gets bigger every year.”
“Oh, I bet the food is great,” Anna said, the smile returning to her face.
Again, Eli wanted to ask her if she’d like to spend Christmas with them, but he didn’t. Too soon, he reminded himself yet again. Until he could see a clear future for them, he couldn’t make any plans like that.
They had moved on from talking about Christmas to summer holidays when the front door opened, and moments later, his mom and the twins came into the kitchen, their hands full of their purchases.
“Did you buy out the stores?” Eli asked as he eyed the bags.
A Love So Real: A Christian Romance (New Hope Falls Book 1) Page 23
