“And here I was picturing you gluing pinecones on wreaths,” Arianna said with a grin.
“I won’t confirm or deny that I may have—at one point in my life—glued pinecones on a wreath.”
“Maybe I should just ask Sarah or your mom.” Arianna moved the Hobby Lobby bags from the couch to the kitchen table. “They’d probably happily give you up.”
Eli chuckled. “You might even get something from Leah.”
“Wow. That must be some story.”
He held up his hands. “Not confirming or denying.”
The way the skin crinkled at the corners of his eyes as he smiled made her heart thump against her ribs. Why, out of all the men she’d come in contact with over the years, was it this man who made her feel things she’d never felt before? It dawned on her as she laughed with Eli that he was exactly the sort of man her best friend had said she hoped to marry some day.
At the time, Arianna hadn’t been able to picture what all the attributes wrapped into one package would have looked like, but now she could. It would look like Eli McNamara. And now she could see why those qualities had been so attractive to Liz. If only Liz had been able to find such a man before she’d passed away. She would have loved Eli.
Pushing down the emotions that began to rise, Arianna said, “I have to say that I’m kind of glad that I never had any siblings. It must be hard to move through life knowing someone holds potential blackmail material on you.”
“Well, see the thing is that for everything they have on me, I have a bunch of stuff on them. So it’s kind of an even playing field, although I do have a few years of extra material on them. If one of us spills, the retribution would be swift and merciless.”
“Sounds…like famililogical warfare.”
“Famil…” Eli raised his brows at her.
“You know…warfare between family members.”
“You made that up, right?” Eli asked.
“Maybe? I’m not sure what else to call a threat of blackmail among siblings.”
“Well, I know what I call it,” Eli replied. “Life with sisters.”
Arianna laughed. “And would they call it life with Eli?”
“No doubt.” A grin lifted the corner of Eli’s mouth. “Hey, do you have plans for dinner?”
“No definite plans. I was actually debating between fixing something here or going to Norma’s.”
“Well, I’m headed to Norma’s, so why don’t you come along?”
“Are you sure?”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t. It’ll be an early dinner though, so I would understand if you’re not up for it.”
“No, I’m fine with an early dinner. I’ve got everything moved over, so it’s not a problem to head out now.” Arianna grabbed her purse from where she put it and smiled at him. “Ready to go.”
“Well, that’s a surprise. I’d expected to have to wait a few minutes.”
She took a step back as she looked down at herself. “Do I look like I should have taken more time?”
“Nope. You look just fine.” He tilted his head toward the door. “Let’s go.”
Arianna followed him out, then locked the door of the cabin. She probably didn’t need to lock up this far out of town on what was essentially private property, but old habits died hard.
As they drove into town, Eli asked about her ideas for her purchases. Since she didn’t have definite plans yet, she just gave him a general idea, leaving out the part about doing it for the millions of people who followed her YouTube channel. She knew she should probably come clean about who she was and what she did, but it was nice to just be treated as a normal person.
In LA, the people she came in contact with the most seemed to always be on the lookout for what other people could do for them. Collaborations were always about someone else gaining more subscribers, garnering more attention. She’d been more selective with her collabs in recent years, choosing to be the one to approach people. She liked to watch smaller channels, keeping an eye out for people who seemed to share her passion and drive for the platform without appearing to use people to get ahead.
For now, she’d keep the information about her job and life in LA to herself, but it was getting harder and harder not to share it with Eli and his family. What she didn’t look forward to was having to explain about the scandal that had sent her running away from LA. To those outside the industry, the situation that had led to the scandal would make absolutely no sense.
All she hoped was that nothing else ever happened to her that would be controversial or cause people to talk about her for the wrong reasons. She’d had enough negative attention to last her a lifetime.
***
Eli held the door open for Anna then followed her into the restaurant. He thought about heading for a booth, but Arianna went to the counter instead. As they settled on the seats there, Missy called out a greeting through the passthrough.
“Do you already know what you’re going to have?” Anna asked as she took the menu his aunt handed them after greeting them both with smiles and hugs.
“Yep. I’m kinda boring when it comes to my food. I have my favorites that I just rotate through.”
“So what are you having tonight?”
“A meatloaf sandwich.”
She turned to look at him, her brows drawn together. “A meatloaf what?”
“Meatloaf sandwich. It’s a slice of meatloaf on a slice of bread, and it’s got a scoop of mashed potatoes on top all covered with gravy.”
“So like an open-faced sandwich?”
“Exactly.”
“Why bother with the bread though? Just serve it with the mashed potatoes and gravy.”
“But then it wouldn’t be a sandwich.”
Arianna laughed. “Fair enough.”
“I take it that won’t be what you order?”
“I was kind of in the mood for chicken, to be honest,” she said, her gaze back on the menu. “Any recommendations?”
“I like the fried chicken or the chicken strips, but if you’re in the mood for something healthier, the grilled chicken with veggies is good too.”
“I think maybe I’m in the mood for chicken strips and fries.”
“Good choice.”
Anna sighed as she put her menu down on the counter in front of her. “I’m usually much more careful about what I eat, and I work out several times a week.”
“You’ve been pretty active while you’ve been here. Painting isn’t a sedentary job.”
“That is true,” she said with a nod. “Working out is just something I’ve done for so long that now that I’m not doing it, it feels kind of wrong.”
Missy came to stand in front of them and smiled. “Meatloaf sandwich for you, Eli?”
“You know it.”
“And what about you?” she asked Anna.
“I’ll have the chicken strips and fries.”
Missy nodded then went into the kitchen to put the order in then returned with tall glasses of ice water for them. “Food’ll be out soon.”
When she headed off into the main part of the restaurant, Eli turned to see how full it was. Some Saturdays it would be packed, but then at other times there would only be a handful of people. That day, it kind of fell somewhere in the middle, and several familiar faces were seated at the tables and booths. A few exchanged curious looks with him, no doubt because of Anna.
And it wasn’t just because Anna was a stranger to them. They were probably trying to remember the last time they’d seen him with a woman who wasn’t a relative. Unfortunately, they’d have to think back as far as Sheila, which was no doubt why they were so curious.
Eli turned back to face the counter, but it didn’t stop him from feeling like their gazes were boring into him. It was a good thing that he was used to tolerating people’s stares. It had been awhile since he’d been subjected to them, but the walls he’d built up years ago had never fully come down. His only concern was how others’ reactions to
them being together might impact Anna. Sooner or later, the rumor mill would churn out his past for her.
Or maybe Anna would read one of the posters that Coral put up around town about the memorial and ask what it was all about. As long as she asked a family member, she’d only get the info that Sheila had gone missing. If she asked anyone else, they’d probably tell her about Eli’s supposed role in the tragic event.
“So when am I going to get to see your work?”
“Hmmm?” Eli said, his thoughts still elsewhere.
“Your woodworking. I’d really love to see it.”
“Oh, I don’t know. It’s really not that exciting.” Eli reached out to grip his glass of water, running his fingers along the smooth cold surface.
“I don’t expect a show,” Anna said, her tone serious. “I’m just so fascinated by people with talents like yours and Sarah’s. I mean, I’m sure anyone could learn how to do it, but there has to be some degree of innate talent there too.”
Eli couldn’t deny that. He knew he’d gotten that talent from his grandfather because he’d been the one to teach him everything he knew when Eli had expressed an interest in working with wood at a young age. Sarah, on the other hand, had been painting sunsets using the cheap paints at school while the other kids had been painting lopsided rainbows.
“Does Leah have a talent that she’s just not sharing with me because she doesn’t like me?”
Eli put off replying until after Missy set their plates down. “Leah isn’t sharing her talent with anyone these days.”
“Why’s that?”
He felt Anna’s gaze on him as he used his fork to push the mashed potatoes out from their perfectly rounded scoop on top of his meatloaf. He wasn’t sure if this was a part of his life he wanted to revisit, but for some reason, he felt compelled to share it with Anna.
“Well, her talent is singing. She has an absolutely beautiful voice.”
“But she doesn’t sing?”
Eli shook his head. “Not anymore.”
“Did she have a bad experience?” Anna asked as she picked up one of her chicken strips.
“No, nothing like that. The thing is, my woodworking and Sarah’s painting fell more in line with my mom’s abilities, but Leah…well, she got her talent and love for music from our dad. He had a great voice too, and the two of them used to sing together all the time in church. They were constantly in demand for weddings and special events even though she was just a teen at the time. When he left, Leah stopped singing.”
“Your dad left?” Anna said. “I kind of thought maybe he’d passed away.”
Sad as it was, that probably would have been easier on their family, especially Leah. “No, he chose to leave us.”
“I’m sorry. Has he been gone long?”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Eli paused, surprised he actually had to calculate how long it had been. At one point, he’d known almost to the day how much time had passed since his dad had gone on a business trip, never to return. All they’d gotten was a letter in the mail that said he couldn’t handle the small town life anymore, and that he felt there was more out in the world for him.
“It’s been a little over ten years.”
While they’d all been negatively impacted by their dad leaving, Leah had suffered the most since she’d been so close to him. As for him, well, he could have used one more person in his corner when everything with Sheila had transpired. He’d already been reeling from his father’s departure when Sheila had disappeared. His mom had done her best to be there for him, even though she was trying to cope with her husband abandoning all of them.
He glanced over and watched as Anna pulled a piece off her chicken strip and dipped it in the sauce before putting it in her mouth. When she was done, she said, “I’m so sorry your family had to deal with that. It must have been really difficult.”
“It was a tough time, for sure, but Leah had an especially rough go of it because she and Dad were so close.” He hesitated then said, “Are you close with your parents?”
“Well, no, not super close.” Anna licked some sauce off her finger. “They’d never planned to have kids, so it was a shock for them when Mom got pregnant. They love me, I know that, but they made no adjustments to accommodate my arrival in their lives.”
Eli turned to face her. “What does that mean?”
“It means that Mom went back to work almost as soon as I was born, leaving me in the care of a nanny. I saw more of her than my parents growing up. When it was time for high school, they sent me to boarding school, so I saw even less of them then.”
“Boarding school? There are still some of those around?”
Anna laughed. “Yeah. If you have enough money to afford them.”
“What was that like?”
“It wasn’t too bad. The worst part was not being in my own bedroom. I wasn’t used to having other people around me all the time, in my space.” She shrugged. “As bad as it sounds, I didn’t really miss my parents all that much. I did see them every few weeks.”
Eli struggled to understand that sort of life. “I couldn’t imagine that.”
She gave him a half-smile as she glanced over at him. “That’s because you have someone like your mom in your life. The fact that none of you have left her says how close you all are.”
“Do your parents live in LA?”
Another smile and a little laugh. “No. They’re in New York.”
“So you moved all the way across the country,” Eli said.
“And you moved less than a mile.” She tore another piece of chicken off and popped it into her mouth.
It had been a revealing conversation, and pointed out, yet again, how different their lives were. If the car hadn’t been the first clue of that, this conversation would have shown it even more clearly. He couldn’t imagine what that kind of childhood would have been like.
“I hope you’re not feeling sorry for me,” Anna said as she shifted on her seat, meeting his gaze for a moment. “Because children around the world have lived through far worse things than I did. My parents loved me in their own way. We spent holidays together. They bought me everything I wanted. We took trips to London. Paris. Dubai. Australia. I never wanted for anything.”
Except for parents who actually wanted to be involved in your life. Eli didn’t say that because who was he to judge how she’d been raised. If she hadn’t told him about it, he’d never have guessed. “You didn’t think it was a…” He searched for a word to describe her childhood without insulting her.
“A weird way to grow up? A strange childhood?”
“Uh…yeah?”
Anna shrugged. “The reality was that most of the kids I grew up with had a similar childhood. They had nannies like I did, and a lot of them went to boarding schools as well. Without any other point of reference, we thought we were the norm. By the time I was old enough to understand differently, I wasn’t going to create problems where there were none. I had grown up loved closely by my nanny and a little more remotely by my parents. It could have been a whole lot worse.”
“Why did you decide to move to LA?”
“It wasn’t to get away from my parents. After all, they could be on my doorstep or vice versa within a matter of hours. Private jet, you know.” She ate a couple more bites of her chicken, while Eli focused on his meatloaf, wondering if she’d answer his question. “By the time I’d graduated from college with my degree in business, I knew that while I might put the degree to work for my own personal use, I had no desire to enter that world on a corporate level. I wanted to be my own boss. Use my creativity to build the business I wanted.”
“And were you able to do that?”
She took another bite before she said, “Yes. For the most part, I’ve been able to achieve what I set out to do.”
“Was it one of your goals to also be able to work from anywhere?”
“Not really.” She gave him a smile. “That is just a bonus.”
“How’s t
he food tasting?” his aunt asked as she swung around the counter to stand in front of them.
“Very good,” Anna said. “And these fries are amazing.”
“Thank you. I’m glad you’re enjoying them. How about you, Eli? Taste okay?”
Eli scoffed. “Like you even have to ask. I would have sent it back if it hadn’t tasted up to its usual standards.”
His aunt leaned forward and patted his hand. “Of course you would have, dear.”
“Well, I can safely say that because I know that will never happen.”
Smiling, Norma said, “Don’t tempt me to test you.”
“Consider yourself tempted.” He shared a laugh with his aunt, knowing that the gauntlet had been thrown down.
“Do you two want some dessert?”
Anna waved her hand above her plate as she said, “None for me. I’ll be lucky to finish all of this.”
“I’ll have my usual.” Eli pushed his plate away. “And a cup of coffee, please.”
“I’ll have a cup too,” Anna said. “I think I’ll still have room for that once I’m done.”
“Sure thing.” Norma lifted two mugs from a tray and flipped them right side up in front of them. “I’ll be back in a bit.”
“So do we start on another cabin on Monday?” Anna asked as Norma left them.
And just like that, the conversation moved away from personal things. Eli was as disappointed as he was relieved. If he could have asked her more questions without having to answer any she might have had for him, he would have guided the conversation back around to that. But he didn’t want to take that chance.
Once they were done eating, Norma returned with a coffee carafe and filled both their mugs. She brought over a small ceramic bowl with creamers in it and put it alongside the glass sugar dispenser. Missy appeared with a plate containing a piece of apple crisp with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on it.
“That looks good,” Anna commented as she leaned close to him, peering at his plate as her shoulder brushed his.
“Do you want some too?” Norma asked.
Anna straightened and shook her head. “Even though it looks delicious, I’m just too full. Next time I come, I’m going to have something lighter so I can try that.”
A Love So Real: A Christian Romance (New Hope Falls Book 1) Page 13