by M. Malone
It had occurred to him that perhaps the GPS tracker on her car was malfunctioning. He’d had an image of her at home, completely unaware that they thought she was missing. So he’d driven by her apartment building. Her car wasn’t in the parking lot.
She was somewhere out in the storm.
He couldn’t even imagine what had possessed Kay to go out in this kind of weather. She was a practical, down-to-earth kind of girl. There must have been a good reason for her to drive in this weather, especially when she was supposed to be spending the holidays with her parents.
His cell phone rang, vibrating through the puffy layers of his coat. At the next available opportunity, he pulled over. The previous day’s snow had hardened overnight to form nearly invisible patches of ice on the roads. He’d passed several accidents already. It was hard enough to drive carefully in all this mess, he wasn’t going to attempt to do it while on the phone.
A car whizzed by, sending a spray of snow and ice onto the side of his truck. If people didn’t slow down and drive more carefully, there would be even more accidents.
When he pulled out his cell phone, his heartbeat quickened when he saw Kay’s picture on the screen.
“Kay, where are you?” He answered without preamble.
“Hello? Can you hear me?” Her voice sounded small. There were several shuffling sounds then he didn’t hear anything else.
“Kay! What’s happening?”
It was quiet, then he heard, “Eli, can you hear me?” A second later, she gasped and said, “Oh my god!”
“Kay, where are you?” he yelled. His hands clenched around his phone. If she was in trouble, he had to find out where she was. What if he couldn’t get to her in time?
“I’m on Magnolia Avenue. I’m in a ditch. I’m not sure how far I was before we started sliding.”
“Okay, Kay, I need you to listen to me. Are you hurt? What about the baby?”
The moments she was silent were some of the longest of Eli’s life. He was on the verge of yelling into the phone again when she finally answered with “We’re both okay. I don’t think she knows anything happened.”
Relief surged through Eli. His eyes drifted closed as he realized just how close to insane he’d been worrying about her. A girl that he hadn’t seen in months should not affect him so strongly. But that was a thought for him to examine at another time.
After he’d gotten her to safety.
He straightened up and put his truck back in gear. Magnolia Avenue was just two streets over and didn’t usually see a lot of traffic. Hopefully he could get over to her in five minutes or less. God help anyone who got in his way.
“I’m not that far from you, so I should be there in a few minutes. I’m on my way. Just hold on.”
CHAPTER THREE
THE NEXT FIVE minutes were the longest of her life.
Kay sat completely still and focused on her breathing. In. Out. In. Out. If she thought about things for too long, she’d start to freak out. She was trapped in her car with her daughter. On the edge of a ditch.
“Eli, I hope you’re almost here.”
Kay chanced a look into the back seat. Hope was staring out the window, two fingers in her mouth. She let out a breath. Everything was going to be fine. Eli would get them out.
It was completely irrational, but she always felt like nothing too bad could ever happen when Eli was near. He was strong and confident. Without a word, he could walk into a room and take charge of it. Just talking to him on the phone had made her feel better. All she had to do was follow his instructions and he’d get her out of this mess. Kay put a hand to her lips, not surprised to find that she was smiling.
I am so ridiculous.
She was stuck in her car on the edge of a ditch, but she was smiling because it meant she’d get to see Eli. There was really no reason for her to be happy. It wasn’t as if Eli was going to be happy to see her.
Her smile faded.
He didn’t like her much. She’d always thought it was the case but nothing had pushed the point home like their bungled overnight trip to D.C. last summer. Her friend Mara had wanted Eli to spy on her brother’s new girlfriend, and Kay had somehow been roped into helping out. She rolled her eyes thinking of the crazy group of girls she was now lucky enough to call her friends. Mara had been friends with the Alexanders for years, and along with Eli’s sister-in-law, Ridley Alexander, she’d come up with a surefire plan to force Eli into helping them. Ridley had booked a singing gig for Kay in D.C. so that Eli would have to follow her up there.
Things might have actually been okay if she hadn’t trusted Ridley to make all the arrangements, too. Kay wouldn’t have planned her gig so late, too late for them to drive back home. She certainly would have never booked them into the same hotel room.
They’d both been shocked to see that the room was not only tiny but didn’t even have the usual two queen beds. The look on Eli’s face would have been comical if his look of disgust had been directed anywhere but at her. He’d been horrified at the idea of sleeping anywhere near her. After the initial shock wore off, he’d been a perfect gentleman. He’d offered her the bed and then called the front desk to request a cot, but it was too late. She’d already seen his first reaction.
What had been only slightly obvious before was plain as day when they’d gotten to that hotel room. Elliott Alexander didn’t like her.
She could have gladly lived her whole life never knowing that.
There was a loud rumble of an engine behind her and Kay’s heart leaped. Eli was here.
She could see him in her rearview mirror. He circled the back of her car and then got back in his truck. Where was he going?
He drove his truck directly across the road from her. Then he got out again. She couldn’t see what he was doing from her side mirror, but it looked like he was examining her tires. Kay rolled down her window as he approached the driver’s side door.
“Looks like you really got yourself into a jam this time.” His lips lifted at the corners. Not much of a smile, but about as close as Eli ever came to one. She couldn’t say why but she immediately burst into tears.
“Aw hell, I didn’t mean to make you cry.” Eli looked alarmed at her outburst.
Kay shook her head. “It’s not that. I’m just really glad to see you. Thanks for coming to get me.”
“Anytime. Let’s get you out of here.” He reached for her door handle.
“No! Wait. You have to get Hope first. The car is really unsteady and keeps tilting. Get her out first.”
He immediately nodded. “Okay, I will. Hold on tight. I had some old cables in my truck so I attached them to your bumper to hold you still. Even so, it’s probably a good idea not to move. I don’t want to test how strong those cables are unless we have to.”
Eli opened the back door and climbed carefully into the back seat. There was another loud creak from the front end of the car and Kay tensed. She glanced into the back seat to see Eli examining Hope’s car seat like it was an alien device. She suppressed a nervous giggle. He was a single guy. To him it probably was.
“There’s a metal hook that latches into the top. Release that first.” She waited while he did it.” Now you have to push the big red button on the top to release her car seat from the base.”
He nodded and then pushed the button. Once he was able to lift the seat up, he moved backward slowly, then carried the baby across the street to his truck. He jogged back and unhooked the base from the backseat and set it in the street.
“Now it’s your turn. Grab my hand.”
She placed her palm in his. His fingers gripped and held tight. “Now lean forward and grab your stuff off the seat. I’m holding you so it’s okay to move forward a little.”
Kay wasn’t so sure about that, but she nodded anyway. She took a deep breath and leaned forward to grab her handbag. The car creaked a little, so she quickly leaned back, clutching her bag to her chest.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you,” Eli added.
Kay looked at the front of the car worriedly.
“I need you to trust me, angel. I’m not going to let you fall.” He squeezed her hand. “I’m pretty strong.” His lips lifted again in that maddening half smile.
His words gave her the courage to swing her legs out of the car and stand up.
“See, that wasn’t so scary.”
Kay let out a small breath. She was trembling so hard that he just picked her up and carried her toward his truck. “Eli! I’m too heavy for you to carry.” Her face flamed as she imagined him pulling a muscle or getting a hernia from hefting her around.
Eli grunted. “Hardly. I think I can handle carrying a girl. Do I really look that wimpy to you?”
Kay giggled. He looked so affronted that she’d even suggested that he wasn’t strong enough. But she was just trying to save his back the trouble. She wasn’t exactly a small girl. Not like the girls he was probably used to.
“I’m sure you can carry anything, but you shouldn’t have to. I’m fine. I can walk.”
He set her down. “Okay, as long as you don’t start crying again. I don’t think there’s a man alive who knows what to do with a crying woman.”
Just then a horrible screeching sound pierced the air. Eli grabbed her and turned them away, shielding her with his body. Kay’s ears were ringing but she still registered the firm muscles pressed up against her backside. Heat swept to her face.
She looked up from the cradle of his protective hold. Their faces were so close together. She’d never dreamed a man would put himself physically between her and harm. Even if he was just doing his job, it was more than anybody else had ever done for her.
“I’m sorry about your car.”
Kay looked back and gasped. The cables holding her car had snapped. Now her sedan was completely in the ditch, tilted drunkenly on its side. This time when Eli picked her up, she didn’t protest.
As he carried her away, she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the sight of her totaled car.
* * * * *
ELI PULLED UP to his parents’ house and turned off his truck. He’d already called his mom so she knew to expect them. He just wasn’t sure what to expect from himself.
He hadn’t asked Kay’s opinion about what to do or even entertained the idea of taking her to her parents’ house. His brain had been taken over by some dominant instinct to protect her. That meant he wanted her where he could keep an eye on her.
Kay took her seat belt off and turned to face him. He braced himself. She had every right to yell at him. They didn’t even get along. He certainly had no right to make decisions for her.
“Eli, thank you for coming to get us. I honestly wasn’t sure what I was going to do.” She leaned over and squeezed his arm.
He looked down at her hand in surprise. She quickly took it back. “Sorry. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks.”
After a few moments of awkward silence, he could only respond with “You’re welcome.”
Kay pushed open her door and hopped down. There was a muffled curse as she half slid, then fell. He pushed open his own door and rushed around the truck to help her.
“Be careful. It’s pretty high.”
“Yeah, and I’m vertically challenged. I know.” She shrugged and pulled open the back door. “Can you get her down? I don’t want to take a chance that I might fall while holding the car seat. It’s pretty hard to carry as it is.”
Eli reached up into the truck and unhooked the car seat from its base. When she caught sight of him, Hope’s eyes lit up and she let out a rousing squeal. Eli laughed, unable to help himself. When was the last time anyone was that happy to see him? He tickled her under the chin and lifted her down.
It was still startling to see how much Hope had grown. He was used to thinking of her as “the baby.” But now she was so much bigger, with round cheeks and laughing eyes. Her brown skin was the same warm shade as her mother’s, and her short, silky black hair had transformed into a wild curly mass. He’d always found it fascinating how quickly babies changed. How they looked at birth was usually nowhere close to how they looked just a few months later.
Just as they reached the steps, the front door flew open and his mother rushed out. Eli immediately felt bad. His mom must have been really worried the whole time he was gone. He opened his arms as she approached, but his mom bypassed him completely and enfolded Kaylee into a hug.
“You poor thing! We were so worried.”
Kaylee looked just as shocked as he did, but she allowed his mom to fuss over her.
Eli just shook his head. “Gee, thanks for the concern, Mom.”
Julia just sent him a chastising look. “Oh, hush. I knew you were perfectly fine. Now come in out of the cold.”
As they bustled into the house, his mom shut the door behind them, cutting off the whistling sound of the wind. Julia took Kay’s coat and then pulled her into another hug. After a moment, Kay melted into the embrace and let out a soft sigh. The sound hit Eli right in the center of his chest. It sounded like she’d had the weight of the world on her shoulders and just gotten out from under it.
He’d made the right decision to bring her here. If you needed comfort, there was nowhere else in the world better than his parents’ house to get it.
“Now, let’s get you settled.”
“Thank you. I’m really sorry to barge in on you this way,” Kay said.
“Oh, honey, you’re not barging. You needed help. Everybody needs a little help sometimes,” Julia replied.
Eli set Hope’s baby carrier down gently. “Mom, can you get the baby settled while I show Kay to her room?”
Just as he expected, his mother’s eyes went bright with happiness at the sight of the baby.
“Of course I can. I can take care of this little angel.” She knelt next to the baby and tickled her belly while undoing the car-seat restraints.
Eli grabbed Kay’s hand and pulled her down the hall that led to the bedrooms. He stopped at the first one on the left and pushed the door open. A light was already on next to the bed, casting a soft glow over everything. His mother had probably started tidying the room as soon as he called.
Kay sat on the edge of the bed gingerly. “This is your room?”
Eli shrugged. “It used to be. We all come home for Christmas and stay in our old rooms. It’s nice for us all to be together again.”
Kay picked at a small corner of the blanket. “Sounds nice. Having everyone together like that.”
“Since Bennett lives in a converted barn out back, Mom offers his old room to guests. Mara’s boyfriend surprised her with a trip to New York for Christmas so Matt and Penny are using his room this year. They’re planning to head to Penny’s parents before the New Year. According to Matt visiting his parents as well would have been more family time than he can handle. Last year, my mom’s friend Miss Doris stayed over because her husband was in the hospital during the holidays. Mom didn’t want her coming home to her empty house after visiting him each day.”
“Your mom is wonderful.” Kay crossed her arms, pulling the sleeves of her sweater down.
“Are you cold? I can get you another blanket.” Eli moved to the closet and pulled down one of the spare comforters his mom kept on the top shelf.
“No, that’s not it. I just need to feed the baby.” Their eyes met and she dropped her gaze to her lap. Kay looked faintly uncomfortable. Probably because they were in his small room alone together.
Eli took a step back to give her some space.
“Mom can do that. I’m pretty sure she’s got plenty of baby food here for Jada.” His mother was probably planning on feeding the baby and putting her to bed. It was a good thing his younger brothers were happily married and willing to provide their mother with grandchildren. Eli was willing to do just about anything for his mother, but grandchildren was one thing he couldn’t give her.
He dropped the extra comforters on the end of the bed.
“You don’t want to deprive her of b
aby time, do you? She has to share baby Jada with the other women. Ridley and Raina have been hogging her apparently. They need another baby out there before they start fighting.”
“It’s not that. It’s just—” Her cinnamon-brown skin turned slightly red at the top of her cheekbones. “I need to feed her. You know…” She pantomimed holding the baby to her breast.
“Oh! Right.” Eli backed up so fast he almost tripped. “Uh… I’ll go get her.”
He couldn’t meet her eyes as he left to find his mom. The thought of Kay holding the baby to her breast did something funny to his insides. His protective instincts were always in overdrive around her anyway, but the image of her feeding her baby made him feel like he needed to stand guard and protect her while she was so vulnerable.
Since he was clearly going insane already, it was best if he left to see about getting a tow truck out to pull her car from the ditch. Emotions weren’t his area of expertise, but practical matters—those he could handle.
* * * * *
KAY SMOOTHED HER daughter’s wild curls back from her forehead. A few minutes after Eli left, Julia appeared carrying Hope. She’d nursed the baby for half an hour and then changed her diaper. The house had been quiet when she’d arrived, but she’d heard an explosion of activity in the last ten minutes.
There was music and the sound of pots and pans clattering. They’d come so late and probably interrupted the family dinner. At the very least, she could offer to help Mrs. Alexander clean up.
When she opened the door, she was shocked to see Eli leaning against the wall outside.
“Eli? I didn’t know you were out here waiting.”
“I just got here a few minutes ago.”
He didn’t say anything else, just turned to walk down the hall. Kay followed, cuddling Hope higher on her hip. They walked through the kitchen and into the dining room. The table was set with delicate wineglasses and beautiful white plates trimmed in gold. Julia stood at the head of the table, carving a turkey that looked big enough to feed a village.
