She was surprised that she’d slept the whole night through. Sleep could be a challenge for her a lot of the time. She usually struggled to fall asleep, and most nights, she woke up at least once, only to struggle to fall asleep again.
Feeling buoyed by the realization, Arianna moved quickly into the bathroom since a night without waking up meant she really needed to use the toilet. Afterward, she went to the small kitchen to get herself a cup of coffee so that she could sip on it while she got ready. Not that her preparations for the day ahead were anywhere near as complex as when she was in LA.
Usually, unless she was one hundred percent certain she wasn’t going to be seeing anyone that day, she made sure she had her hair and makeup done. This day, however, she was fine with pulling her hair back in a ponytail and applying minimal makeup. Just enough to even out her skin tone and to make sure her lashes and brows didn’t disappear completely because of her blonde coloring.
Okay, so she wasn’t able to go completely without makeup knowing she’d be seeing Eli…people…soon.
After eating another of the muffins she’d gotten from Norma with her second cup of coffee, Arianna pulled on her jacket and left the cabin. The day was overcast, which meant that the morning air felt even colder than it had the previous day.
Shoving her hands into her jacket pockets, she walked quickly to the cabin where they were to be working that day. Eli’s truck was already parked in front of it, and she heard voices as soon as she opened the door. It seemed that Eli and Leah were in the midst of a heated discussion, but it stopped abruptly when she walked in as they both turned to look at her.
“I can, uh, come back later,” Arianna said, gesturing over her shoulder. “If I’m interrupting something.”
“You’re not interrupting,” Eli said with a look at Leah. With a sigh, he went to the cloth covered table and opened a can of paint. “Are you okay with doing the bathroom again in this cabin?”
“Sure. I’m good with whatever.” Arianna had a sense that despite her help with the cabins, Leah still didn’t like or trust her. Or maybe it was both.
It was a strange feeling since she usually had no trouble winning people over. She’d found over the years that showing an interest in someone’s work or finding common ground about something often helped to make a connection and smooth over any awkwardness. Unfortunately, that hadn’t worked with Leah...yet.
“Did you need me to tape it off first?”
“Oh yeah.” Eli seemed distracted as he put the lid back on the paint can while Leah disappeared into the bedroom. He pulled a thick roll of tape from a bag sitting on the table. “Here you go.”
“Are you sure it’s okay for me to be here?” Arianna asked, keeping her voice low as she glanced to the bedroom where Leah had gone.
“Yeah, it’s fine. Leah can just be…challenging at times, but don’t worry about her. She’ll get over it.”
“Okay. As long as you’re sure,” Arianna said. “I’m not here to make things difficult for anyone.”
“You’re not making things difficult for Leah,” Eli said with a huff. “She makes things difficult for herself.”
Taking the tape from Eli, Arianna decided that making herself useful—and scarce—was probably the best thing she could do. “I’ll get to work then.”
The next few days passed in much the same way for Arianna. Aside from making a quick trip to a neighboring town to set up a PO box, she’d spent the time working at the cabins. Each day she’d had dinner with Eli and his family, then returned to her cabin to tackle the emails that had come in that day. That routine meant long days for her, but at the same time, she wasn’t dragging since she was sleeping better than she usually did.
That surprised her, given what was going on in her life in LA. She continued to steer clear of social media and hadn’t checked Social Blade to see if her subscriber count was still in the red. As she’d worked on the cabins, she’d tried to come up with other video ideas since she knew she needed to post something again soon. She didn’t want it to be another video related to her scandal, but given that she was away from home, she didn’t have a lot of options.
She couldn’t do an unboxing of the PR products that had been sent to her by companies hoping she’d mention them since it was all being sent to her business address in LA. She didn’t want to do a vlog because that might reveal where she was, and that was the last thing she wanted.
“Thanks again for your help.”
Eli’s voice brought Arianna back to the present. She glanced at him as she finished cleaning the brush she’d used on the trim in the bathroom of the third cabin. “You’re welcome.”
“We won’t be working here for the next couple of days,” he said as he checked the lids on the cans on the table. “I have some other things I need to do tomorrow, and we always take Sundays off for church and rest.”
“Okay, sounds good.” And it did because she had some other things she needed to do as well.
“We’re making great progress and wouldn’t have been able to do that without your help,” Eli said as he took the brush and tray from her. “It’s made things a lot less stressful for Mom, too, which I really appreciate.”
“I’ve been happy to help out.” Arianna smiled at him. “It’s been fun.”
“Well, if you’re on vacation, I can’t see how it would be fun,” Eli said.
Arianna sighed as she dried off her hands. “I’m not really on vacation. I needed to get away from a situation at home, and this has ended up being a good distraction.”
“I’m glad it has helped you out as well then.”
Arianna appreciated that Eli didn’t press for details, but there was a part of her that longed to share them nonetheless.
A knock on the door of the cabin drew their attention, both of them turning in that direction before Eli went to answer it. From where she stood, Arianna could see a young woman standing in the open doorway. Instead of inviting her in, Eli stepped out onto the porch and shut the door.
It took everything within Arianna not to edge her way over to the door to listen to their conversation. She didn’t though, because it was none of her business. Instead, she busied herself shoving the tape she’d peeled off the walls and the plastic cloths they’d used to protect the floor into the black garbage bag Eli had left on the table.
“Where’s Eli?”
Arianna looked up from the bag to see Leah coming toward her, painting paraphernalia in her hands. “Someone came to the door. He’s out on the porch talking to her.”
“Her?” Leah put the stuff on the counter then went to the window that looked out over the porch. Apparently, she had no compunctions about spying on her brother. “Oh. Josie.”
Arianna couldn’t tell from Leah’s tone of voice whether Josie was someone she liked or not. Although, considering the cold shoulder she continued to give her, Arianna was beginning to wonder if Leah liked anyone. No matter how she tried to connect with the third McNamara sibling, Leah wasn’t having it.
She’d decided that she was going to keep persevering, however. The day Leah smiled at her would be one she celebrated. It felt weird having someone be so aloof—and even distrustful—around her.
The door opened, and as Eli walked back in, Leah said, “What did Josie want?”
Eli glanced at his sister as he made his way back to the kitchen and what he’d been doing before the knock on the door. “I have been ignoring Coral’s calls.”
“So she sent Josie,” Leah stated flatly.
“Yeah,” Eli growled. “I hate when she does that.”
“And that’s why she does it. She knows you’ll be more receptive.”
Eli didn’t say anything in response, leaving Arianna super curious about what was going on. She had to literally bite her tongue to not ask about it. Not wanting them to feel like they had to explain anything to her, she went back to what she’d been doing without saying a word.
They finished at the cabin in silence, then the three of
them left, each going in a different direction. Leah headed for the lodge while Eli jumped into his truck and drove in the opposite direction where Arianna assumed his house was. She enjoyed the short walk to her cabin with the leaves that had begun to fall off the trees crunching beneath her shoes. The crispness in the air held the scent of earth and nature in a way she’d never appreciated before.
Even if she wasn’t considering staying away from LA because of the scandal, the draw to stay in the Pacific Northwest as fall rolled in was strong. She couldn’t help but wonder what Christmas would look like in New Hope Falls. Would the town be decked out like a Christmas tree with lights and ornaments in the same way it had been decorated with huge baskets of fall flowers for autumn?
Maybe she’d be around to see…maybe.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Eli just barely managed to keep from stomping up the stairs that led to his porch. He jerked the front door open and experienced not a whit of the peace he usually felt when entering his home.
He stopped in the kitchen and rested his hands on the counter, his head dropping forward. Would he never be free of that period in his life? Would it ever stop being a cloud of darkness over him? Apparently not, if Coral had anything to do with it.
After a few minutes, he pushed away from the counter and pulled his phone from his pocket. Without hesitating, he opened his message app and found his conversation with Coral. Or rather, her conversation with him, because he certainly hadn’t been holding up his end of it in the past week or so. He’d been stupid to think that Coral would just let things go if he didn’t respond to her texts.
He didn’t bother to read through all of Coral’s messages before tapping out his response to the message Josie had brought him.
Coral, I won’t be attending the event this year. I have come to feel that my presence there detracts from the purpose of it.
CT: You HAVE to be there. You don’t have a choice.
Eli stared at the message, trying to figure out what Coral was trying to say.
Uh…not sure why you think that. I do have a choice, and my choice is to keep my distance this year.
CT: You owe it to us to be there.
Eli blinked at her response then rapidly typed out his reply, not even stopping to think about it.
If you truly feel that way, then I think it’s clearly time I stepped back from this event. Had I realized this was how you felt about me, I would have done this a long time ago.
Instead of waiting for Coral’s response, he closed the app and went to freshen up for dinner. He had no idea how the woman would react to that. It was clear that she was becoming a little more unhinged each year that her daughter’s disappearance went unsolved. Not that he blamed her for being unable to let it go, but this wasn’t the way to handle things.
His mom had encouraged him to put some distance between himself and Sheila’s family, but early on, they’d shared a loss no one else in the town had understood. Of course, in the beginning, the Thompsons had been convinced he’d had something to do with Sheila going missing, but then they’d accepted the police clearing his name. Or at least he’d thought they had.
In the middle of it all was Sheila’s younger sister, Josie, who’d been born when Sheila was eight years old. Even all these years later, Eli could remember how excited Sheila had been when she’d found out she was going to have a baby sister. Unfortunately, the fascination with her younger sister had worn off by the time Sheila hit her teens. Josie’s desire to follow her all around had become a nuisance to her older sister.
By the time Sheila went missing, she and Josie had had very little to do with each other. Eli had had a front-row seat to the family dynamics where he’d quickly discovered that Sheila had always been her mother’s favorite, mainly because they had been so much alike in personality and appearance. Outgoing and bubbly, Coral had always spoiled Sheila. Josie, on the other hand, had been much shyer and reserved in personality, and she’d taken after her father in appearance. Her hair had ended up somewhere between blonde and brown, and Coral had constantly harped on Josie about the extra weight she carried.
Eli felt bad that the young woman had ended up in the middle of things between him and her mother. And as Leah had pointed out, Coral knew what she was doing when she’d sent Josie to him earlier. He just hoped that Coral wouldn’t take out her frustration about his decision on Josie.
As soon as he walked into the kitchen at the lodge a short time later, Eli knew that Leah had been blabbing about Josie’s visit.
“What did you tell that woman?” his mom asked as soon as she saw him.
Eli let out a sigh as he glanced around the kitchen, relieved to see Anna wasn’t there yet. He didn’t really want to have this discussion when she was around, which was partly why he’d tried to get there a little earlier than usual.
“I messaged her and said that I wouldn’t be attending the event this year.”
“Finally!” His mom threw her arms into the air. “I’ve been telling you to do that for ages now.”
“I know.” Eli took a deep breath and let it out. “You were right, Mom.”
“Thank you!” She came to stand in front of him, concern replacing the satisfaction on her face as she gazed up at him. “Your misplaced guilt has always motivated you to be there for her, and that’s not right. If you had wanted to attend those events because of your own personal motivation, that would be one thing. But I think we both know that wasn’t the case, at least not after the first couple of years. You were there because Coral emotionally manipulated you into attending.”
Eli couldn’t argue with her. He was well aware of his motivation in attending the event each year. While he hadn’t been responsible for Sheila’s disappearance, maybe if he’d agreed to go with her instead of hanging out with his friends, she wouldn’t have made plans that no one else knew about and that had resulted in her disappearance.
“She shouldn’t have sent Josie,” Leah muttered as she walked by him with dishes for the table.
“Josie needs to move out of that house,” Sarah chimed in. “Every time I see her, I tell her that.”
“It’s hard for her to move out,” Eli said. “If Coral managed to guilt me into doing things, don’t you think she emotionally manipulates Josie too?”
“She does,” his mom agreed. “I’ve heard it.”
“We can’t solve Josie’s problems for her,” Eli said. “When she’s strong enough and has a way out, she’ll make the move. And I’ve told her that when she’s ready, if she needs my help, she only needs to ask.”
“I hope she follows through on that,” Sarah said. “She deserves to be happy, and she’ll never be that living with her mom and in the shadow of Sheila’s disappearance.”
At the sound of the front door opening, they all fell silent and exchanged a look that needed no interpretation. The subject was dropped. Eli let out a sigh of relief because, for some reason, he didn’t want Anna to hear about it. Although, if she hung around the town long enough, especially this time of year, she’d eventually hear something.
Anna gave them all a sunny smile as she walked into the kitchen. She immediately jumped into helping with the final preparations for supper, doing whatever his mom asked of her. She was still a mystery to him, though she gave the appearance of being an open book. Reconciling the woman who drove the super expensive car with the woman who’d had paint smeared on her face and clothes just an hour ago, was a real conundrum.
“Do you have plans for the weekend?” Sarah asked once his mom had said a prayer for the meal.
“I’m going to go into Everett tomorrow to run a few errands, I think.”
“Well, you’re welcome to come to church with us on Sunday, if you want,” his mom said.
Eli glanced over at Anna as he handed Leah the bowl of salad. Leah let out a huff of air as she tugged the bowl from his fingers. It wasn’t uncommon for Leah to not warm up to someone, but after everything Anna had done for them, he would have thought she�
�d make an exception.
“I’ll be honest,” Anna said, “I haven’t attended church recently, so I’m not sure.”
“No pressure,” his mom said with a smile. “Just if you do want to, you’d be more than welcome.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Eli had thought maybe Anna would be made uncomfortable by the invitation, but he supposed she’d already figured out that they were a religious family. She’d even prompted the discussion, asking about the plaques his mom liked to put in each of the cabins. However, attending church appeared to be a step too far for her.
The meal unfolded like most meals had since Anna had arrived. Sarah happily shared about her progress on the project she was working on along with new projects that were in her future. His mom talked about the women’s meeting she’d attended at the church that morning. The discussion around each of those subjects was drawn out by Anna’s questions. Except for Leah, of course. She ate in silence that was only slightly less sullen than it had been the first time Anna had joined them.
He could tell that Anna was perplexed by Leah’s refusal to lower her walls, but his sister had her reasons. Still, he had to admire Anna’s perseverance, and he’d come to the conclusion that if anyone could breech Leah’s walls, it may well be Anna.
After they finished dessert, they all pitched in to clean up then Sarah and Leah left for their small group while his mom headed into town to spend the evening with her sister. He planned to spend the evening in his shop once again, but for the first time in quite awhile, he itched with the urge to do something different.
“Any big plans for the evening?” Eli asked as he walked down the steps with Anna.
“Work stuff,” she said with a shrug.
“So you’re still working even after painting all day?”
“Yep. I did take off some time before I got here, so I’m kind of playing catch up.”
A Love So Real: A Christian Romance (New Hope Falls Book 1) Page 11