by Ranae Rose
He followed her gaze to the curb. A sedan had pulled up behind his cruiser.
“Madison?” The passenger door swung open, and a familiar woman swung her legs out.
The muscles between Elijah’s shoulder blades tightened as she stood with the aid of a cane and began a surprisingly quick march toward the house.
An older woman with steel-grey hair pulled back into a ponytail of spiral curls emerged from the driver’s side and hurried to catch up.
“Mrs. Pavlis?” Peyton sounded bewildered, but when her sister approached the porch stairs, her expression transformed to one of worry. “Madison, is everything okay?”
“Things slowed down at the shop and I was feeling kind of worn out from our busy day. Mrs. Pavlis offered to give me a ride home on her way to the wholesale club down the street. We thought we’d surprise you and Jace with some baklava for an after-school snack.”
The grey-haired woman – Mrs. Pavlis, apparently – reached the top of the stairs and gestured with a takeout box.
The worry never lifted from Peyton’s face – probably because her sister sounded like she was talking around a mouthful of lemon juice. The tension in the air was almost palpable, and Elijah wasn’t dumb enough not to realize he was the cause.
“What’s going on?” Madison demanded, her gaze locking with Peyton’s.
“Elijah stopped by to share some garden vegetables a co-worker gave him.” Peyton’s tone was half-defensive, half-apologetic. “I’m going to try my hand at making rhubarb pie.”
“Thank you for the produce,” Madison said, leveling her gaze at Elijah, “but I don’t think it’s—”
“Mom?” A kid with rusty red hair appeared in the doorway, and he was definitely a student at Shell Point. “Officer Bennett? Hey! Did you bring Officer Rex?”
Madison went rigid as her gaze bounced back and forth between her son and Elijah. “Jace, how do you know this man?”
“From school.”
Madison snapped her gaze to Elijah. “There’s been trouble at his school?”
He shook his head. “No, ma’am. I’ve been temporarily assigned to Shell Point to teach a drug resistance program and to back up the regular resource officers.”
Madison’s eyes went wide, and her voice was barely a whisper. “I can’t believe this.”
“Madison,” Peyton began, but her sister cut her off.
“You didn’t tell me he was working at the school.” She locked gazes with Peyton.
“I—”
“What, you didn’t want me to know? Obviously.” Madison exhaled and squared her shoulders, rounding on Elijah.
“You shouldn’t be working with children. Not after what you did! I can’t believe they assigned you to an elementary school and thought no one would notice or complain.”
An icy feeling expanded inside Elijah’s chest, weighing down his lungs. Each breath was an effort as Madison stared at him with those blue eyes – eyes just like Peyton’s.
She looked … wounded. And angry.
So damn angry.
Peyton stepped forward, laying a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Madison, it—”
Madison shrugged her off so violently that she lost her balance and had to lean on her cane. “I don’t want to hear it, Peyton! And I don’t want him here.”
She turned, redirecting her gaze at Elijah. “This isn’t just Peyton’s home – it’s mine too, and you’re not welcome here.”
“Madison—” A bundle of rhubarb stalks fell from Peyton’s arms, but she didn’t seem to notice.
“No, Peyton! I’m putting my foot down.” Madison was loud enough to be heard across the street – hell, she was loud enough to be heard at the other end of the block. “I told you how I feel about this and you shrugged me off. I can’t control what you do, but I will not allow this man in my own home. And goddamn it, I can’t believe you have the nerve to ask me to!”
Peyton flinched, as if she’d been slapped.
The icy feeling in Elijah’s chest turned to an ache. Every instinct he had urged him to reach out and touch Peyton, draw her close and try to shield her from the hurt written all over her face.
But that wouldn’t be the right thing to do.
There was only one right thing to do, right now.
“Peyton, Miss Brandt, I apologize. I shouldn’t have come by. I’ll go.”
Neighbors were staring, and he was standing there in uniform, looking like a fool.
Feeling like more than a fool – like a goddamned colossal idiot.
Peyton met his gaze briefly, just long enough for him to see the tears welling in her eyes.
The walk down from the porch and to his cruiser felt like the longest dozen steps of his life.
Neighbors were still staring – some standing on porches, and one watching from inside a car, the window down.
Radio silence filled his cruiser, and he could’ve sworn he heard his own chest compressing beneath the weight of what had been said – the weight of reality. Somewhere beneath that heaviness, his heart marched stubbornly on, fueling a life that suddenly seemed to lack meaning.
* * * * *
Elijah didn’t call, and it wasn’t like he needed to in order to cancel for that evening – they’d never even discussed where to meet.
Instead of coming home to prepare for an evening out, Peyton returned to a home that felt like a warzone.
There was a rift between her and Madison, one forged by pain and guilt. Peyton could feel it, could almost see it, it was so real.
And it hurt. Madison lashing out at her felt like the worst kind of wound: a twisted sort of friendly fire.
And the worst part? She deserved it.
Drawing a deep breath, she passed the kitchen and then the living room.
Jace was curled up on the couch watching TV, but Madison was nowhere to be seen.
Her bedroom door was closed when Peyton passed it and slipped into her own room, where she pulled her phone from her purse, drew a deep breath and hit call.
* * * * *
Elijah settled in the sand a few yards out of the waves’ reach. It was late enough that the sun’s heat had faded from the sand, leaving it cool against his bare feet and calves. The beach wasn’t dark, though – just muted.
The gold and blue hues that shimmered everywhere during daylight hours were gone now, replaced by shades of grey and black. The moon cast a silver tint over the water, and it was reflected back by the millions of stars dotting the sky above.
With the universe stretching overhead and the ocean stretching in front of him, he should’ve felt small. But his head was full of problems, the sheer size and scope of which were overwhelming. Even in the face of the universe, anxiety loomed large.
Had things not gone badly, he would’ve been walking the beach with Peyton. Instead, he stretched out in the sand, alone. In a few weeks, the beach would be populated with clusters of tourists, even late at night. For now, the nearest people were the fishermen on the pier a quarter of a mile down the shore.
He used the privacy to contemplate what a fucking idiot he’d been earlier that day.
The vegetables could’ve waited; he’d just wanted an excuse to see Peyton, even if only for a minute. And his selfishness had incited a shit storm.
What was she enduring now – what had he started between her and her sister?
Every time he remembered the look Madison had given him, a pit opened up in his chest, writhing with a raw mix of bizarre emotion.
The defensive anger that came and went was shallow – inauthentic. Whenever he actually thought about why she’d said what she had, he couldn’t bring himself to be mad. Although her accusations had grated, it wasn’t like he could expect her to trust him or tolerate his presence in her sister’s life, and hers by extension.
He’d been in denial before, but he saw that clearly now.
Madison would do whatever she thought she had to to protect her family – the family she believed he was endangering.
> And it would tear Peyton up in a way he could only imagine.
The realization rested on his shoulders, a heavy weight. He felt every grit and grain of sand against his skin as he looked out at the water.
It roared and spread itself thin over the sand, fizzling back into itself and leaving the shore wet and silver. Farther out, the waves were black and edged with the gilt of moonlight, and then black altogether, their darkness stretching much farther than he could see.
Why had he come to the beach?
Even the roaring waves couldn’t drown out the thoughts – the hard realities – weighing him down. There was no escaping the false accusations, and now the fact that familial love and loyalty were tearing the woman he craved right out of his arms.
As beautiful as the Blue Mile was at night, it didn’t hold a candle to Peyton. The sea was so full of energy and life that just being near it always made him feel alive. But existing – having a beating heart – wasn’t enough right now. He wanted his life to matter, to be driven by decisions he’d made, not the things other people had done.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but it didn’t matter – it was dead.
It wasn’t important. Peyton was surely busy dealing with the ugliness he’d incited between her and her sister. It wasn’t like he expected her to call to chat.
He needed to apologize, to find a way to ease the pain he’d caused her. For every bit of anger he’d seen in Madison’s eyes, he’d seen just as much hurt in Peyton’s.
But what the hell could he do that wouldn’t make things worse?
He couldn’t stop his mind from racing in circles. Just like the day he’d first met her outside her shattered storefront, the drive to make things better for her was irrepressible. It was so strong that there was nothing he couldn’t imagine doing for her – nothing besides walking away, anyway.
* * * * *
Dinner sat on the counter, nearly untouched. Peyton had made Jace a plate but hadn’t eaten any herself. Her stomach was a mess of knots and the idea of eating was unfathomable.
Madison had only emerged from her room once since confronting Elijah, and that had been to put Jace to bed.
The house rang with silence as Peyton scrubbed the kitchen sink. She’d returned reluctantly to work that afternoon and had expected Madison to tear into her again once she got home.
The silence was worse. Way worse. What was Madison doing in her room: seething? Crying? Looking through her shoe box full of pictures of her and Billy?
The possibilities raced through Peyton’s mind, making her itch with guilt. What had happened that afternoon on her doorstep hadn’t been fair to Madison or Elijah, but with each hour that passed, it felt more and more like Peyton deserved her sister’s anger and disappointment.
She shouldn’t have allowed Madison to be surprised by an appearance from Elijah, especially in uniform and with Jace present. She should’ve waited until later to see Elijah, shouldn’t have accepted his offer to stop by the house. It’d seemed harmless at the time, but now she saw it for what it had really been: a total disregard for Madison’s feelings.
She sighed and shook Comet into the sink. How was she ever going to reconcile Madison’s past with Elijah’s presence in her life now?
Madison wouldn’t – couldn’t – understand.
“Peyton?”
She jerked and whirled, dropping her scouring pad in the middle of taking her frustrations out on a spaghetti sauce stain.
“Yeah?”
Madison stood at the edge of the kitchen tile, her bare feet planted on the hallway carpet. She met Peyton’s gaze and crossed the threshold into the kitchen, leaning on her cane.
“I think we should talk.” Madison sank down into a seat at the kitchen table, trying and failing to hold back a sharp sigh.
“Have you taken any pain medication?” Peyton asked.
“Some ibuprofen. And I’ve been icing my leg.”
“Want a fresh ice pack?” Peyton glanced at the freezer.
“No, thanks.”
Silent seconds ticked by. Peyton looked back at the sink. It didn’t really need to be cleaned right now, but she itched for something to do with her hands – a distraction from the stress that was making her muscles ache.
She folded her hands on the table and met her sister’s eyes. “I’m sorry I had Elijah come by the house today. It was inconsiderate of me.”
Madison shook her head. “Don’t worry about my feelings. I know I got worked up today, but it’s not really a matter of emotions; it’s a matter of safety. I don’t want him here because I don’t trust him – I can’t trust him, and you shouldn’t either.”
“Madison—”
“Peyton.” Madison reached across the table and seized Peyton’s hand. “Listen to me: I’m not trying to rain on your parade. I want you to be happy, but I don’t believe you’ll be happy or safe with a cop, let alone a cop whose being called out on his use of excessive force!”
Peyton’s head began to ache as déjà vu set in. They were having this conversation again, only this time there’d be no leaving the heart of the conflict on the table.
“I know you feel that way, and I understand. Elijah won’t be coming by the house again, so don’t worry about that.”
Light flashed in Madison’s eyes, chased by darkness. “What about you; will you be seeing him again?”
Peyton held her sister’s gaze.
“Please don’t,” Madison said. “Please don’t give him the chance to hurt you. Damn it, Peyton… There are so many men out there who’d jump at the chance to be with you – men who aren’t cops.”
Peyton’s heart sank beneath the weight of Madison’s gaze, which was raw and intense – she believed every word she was saying, believed that Peyton was in danger.
And that killed.
Madison’s eyes darkened. “I won’t tolerate a violent cop at my home or my son’s school. And I don’t want one touching my sister, either. He doesn’t deserve you, Peyton, and you definitely don’t deserve what he’ll put you through. Don’t be stupid.”
CHAPTER 23
It was past midnight when Elijah got home and plugged in his phone. He checked it out of habit and saw two missed calls – one from Jackson and one from Peyton.
He was about to hit call when he thought better of it. Instead, he sent Peyton a text.
Sorry I missed your call. You still up?
He gave it a good five minutes, and then he jumped in the shower, where he washed the last lingering bits of Blue Mile sand from his skin. There was nothing from Peyton when he got out, so he called Jackson back.
“Hey, man.”
“Hey. Phone went dead and I missed your call while I was out on the beach.”
“Blue Mile?”
“Yeah.”
“Were you out there with Peyton?”
“No, it was just me.”
Jackson paused. “Yeah?”
“Peyton and I were going to go out, but things went south.”
“It’s not the first time, is it? Things not working out with her?”
“Made a mistake by stopping by her house today to drop something off. Her sister came home early from work and was pissed.”
“Why? She catch you two on the couch or something?”
“I wasn’t even in the house. She doesn’t like cops.”
Jackson made a sound in his throat, and Elijah knew the exact facial expression he was making: one of mingled irritation and understanding.
“One of those,” Jackson said. “And she tells her sister who to date?”
“It’s not exactly how it sounds. They run a business together and live together, along with her sister’s kid. And her sister’s husband died years ago because of a wrongful arrest. He was diabetic and an officer mistook him for being drunk. By the time the jail realized what was really going on, it was too late. It was a real clusterfuck.”
“Jesus.”
&nbs
p; “Yeah. So her sister was pissed to see me on their doorstep, and I can’t really blame her. She found out I’m working at Shell Point, where her kid goes to school, and that pissed her off even more. I think she’s gonna complain to the school.”
“You gonna keep seeing Peyton?”
“I want to.”
“You sure? Because it sounds like you’re setting yourself up for trouble.”
“Would you walk away from Belle because of something like this?”
“I wouldn’t walk away from her for anything, but unless you feel the same way about Peyton, you might want to think twice about this. Sounds like her sister’s life has been hell, and she wants to make sure yours is too.”
* * * * *
It was hard to walk into Lieutenant Aldred’s office, mostly because of the heavy weight in Elijah’s gut. This wasn’t going to be good.
His watch read 13:20. He’d been on his lunch break when Aldred had called him away from his post at Shell Point and into the station. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he might not be heading back to the school.
As Aldred motioned for him to pull the door shut behind himself, all he could think of was Madison Brandt: the angry, heartbroken woman whose eyes looked so much like her sister’s.
She’d promised to object to his presence at Shell Point, and he had no doubt she’d done exactly that.
Was he going to be forbidden to do anything as tame as chauffeuring Officer Rex around? What would they do with him now – suspend him?
“I’ve got bad news.” Aldred didn’t bother to sit down at her desk.
Elijah’s gut twisted. “What is it?”
“Someone from the school board called. There’s been some debate over whether you should continue your assignment at Shell Point.”
She met his gaze with eyes that were dark and sober. “It’s not that you did anything wrong – apparently a parent caused a stir over you working there. With the allegations that’ve been made…”
“I understand.” The words were bitter in his mouth.
He understood – probably better than Lieutenant Aldred did – but he didn’t like it.