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by Dawn Kimberly Johnson

  Eli watched Tony’s face for several moments. “What… what did he say?” he asked softly. Tony hesitated, and Eli saw it. “Tell me, please.”

  “He was angry, Eli. Angry and hurt.” Eli nodded and stared at his hands resting in his lap. “I could tell the thought of Dray touching you made him ill, but we talked for hours.” Tony squeezed Eli’s hand, then reached out and lifted his chin. “For hours he ranted about you, about your stubbornness, your temper, and your selfishness.” Eli grinned, remembering similar conversations with Bennett. “But as we sat there getting pissed, he started talking about your spirit, your energy, your laughter, the way he felt when you looked at him a certain way, and how you knew and understood him better than anyone on the planet.”

  Eli tried but couldn’t stop the tears from coming, and he appreciated Tony pretending not to notice. “Bennett came to the conclusion, drunken though it was, that he didn’t want to be without you. He loved you, Eli. And he forgave you.” Eli welcomed the soothing feel of Tony’s hand on his back as he sobbed silently.

  “Now you have to forgive yourself and fight for your man.” The artist cleared his throat and stood abruptly. “If you’ll excuse me, all this sappy shite is making me itch.” He headed for the door. “Besides,” he said, pausing to smile at Eli, “Lyle still has a piece of his mind to give me.”

  As Tony opened the door, Eli immediately spotted Lyle just on the other side, trying frantically to peek around the artist. “What happened? Tell me what you said,” he heard Lyle say breathlessly just before the door closed.

  FOR the next few days, Eli followed a simple routine: after a night of very little sleep, he got up, got ready, and left to work with any clients he might have. He watched a lot of TV, sometimes with Ilsa and Casey but most often alone, much like he ate his meals—when he ate. He often found himself dwelling on Alec, imagining him with Dray, and then he’d shudder and find something else to occupy his thoughts, his attention. If he just kept busy, maybe he’d outrun that ache, an ache he’d brought on himself.

  Mostly he’d just lie in bed, staring at the ceiling and contem-plating a future without Alec. I told him I needed time, and he’s given it to me. He hasn’t called or come by. Do I want him to chase me? Pursue me? Prove to me he really wants me? That can’t be much fun for him.

  Alec had entered his life and rescued him, dug him out of the hole Bennett’s murder had dropped him in. He brought him back out into the light and steadied him with his arms, his hands, lips, tongue—hang on! Off track. They’d been together nearly seven months and, truthfully, Eli didn’t need rescuing anymore.

  All recent evidence to the contrary, he had no intention of returning to that dark place where Alec had found him. He wasn’t that person anymore. He wanted Alec and, he hoped, Alec still wanted him… his neurotic little pet. Eli smiled. Maybe I should make an effort to show him how much I love him for a change.

  Eli’s door swung inward, slamming into the wall, and the light came on, prompting him to burrow deeper under his covers.

  “What the fuck?” he mumbled.

  “Eli! Get up!” Ilsa commanded. “Now!” She moved about the room quickly: from the door to his dresser to his closet to the bathroom, grabbing clothing, his duffel, and toiletries. She dumped all the items unceremoniously on the bed at his feet. “Let’s go!” Ilsa yanked the covers off of him.

  “What the fuck are you doing?”

  “Mopey time is over, sugar”

  “I’ll be up in a couple of hours.” He reached for his covers.

  Ilsa pulled them off the bed and dropped them in the floor.

  “No! You have to get up right now.”

  “Why?”

  “You have a flight to catch.” Eli rubbed his eyes and blinked at her. “Alec needs you.”

  Chapter 30

  ALEC knelt in the hospital corridor, hugging and kissing his niece and nephew. “I promise you’ll see me later, guys.”

  Stacy wasn’t satisfied. “Bobette won’t be able to sleep without you!”

  “The dog will be fine, dear,” their father, Charles, said as he struggled to get his son, Chuck, into his jacket. The boy was at that age where he had the desire to do it all himself, but he lacked the motor skills.

  “Are you going to be okay?” Deborah asked, looking into her husband’s eyes, a slight smile playing on her lips.

  “I will have them fed, bathed, and pajama’d before you know it, Deb.” He smiled and kissed her good-night. “Might even throw in a bedtime story.” The children cheered at that news.

  “Shush! We’re in a hospital. Inside voices, remember?” The children nodded. “You two be good for Daddy.”

  “We will, Mom,” Stacy said, glaring at her brother, who was oblivious.

  Charles zipped up Chuck’s windbreaker with triumphant finality and sighed.

  “See you later, Alec.”

  “Take care, Charles.”

  “How did the dog end up Bobette?” Alec asked after the family had disappeared into the elevator. “Yesterday her name was Camille.”

  Deb smiled. “Final name change. I promise,” she said, raising her fists in a small celebratory gesture. “Stacy is obsessed with anything and everything French. Before you got here, the dog’s name was Adèle, but last night as I was tucking her in, your niece—”

  “Oh she’s my niece now,” Alec said, laughing.

  “—decided the name should start with a B like her last name.”

  Alec thought about it for a moment. “Bobette Bellamy? I can see her point. It does have a certain ring to it.”

  They shared a laugh as they walked over to a bank of chairs in the waiting area to sit, but Deb continued to stand and pace.

  “She’s started a list of things she wants to do and places she wants to see. Of course France is at the top.”

  “Pretty ambitious for an eight-year-old.” Alec smiled as he watched his sister pin her unruly curly black hair out of her face. It sort of reminded him of Ilsa, which led his thoughts to Eli. He frowned, but Deb didn’t notice.

  “True. I think she’s going to be trouble when she gets older. She’s a terribly curious child.” She finally took her seat and looked into her brother’s eyes. “For instance, she’s asked me when you’re going to get married.” She took Alec’s hand in hers.

  “Does she know about—?”

  “Mom has referred to your ‘condition’ enough times that Stacy finally asked what the hell she was talking about… not in those words, of course.”

  Alec laughed. “I would hope not.” He tried to imagine the look on his mother’s face if her granddaughter had used those words.

  “Mom changed the subject immediately and hasn’t mentioned you in front of her since, but I sat Stacy down and told her what I thought… about you and about her gran’s bullshit—”

  “Not in those words, of course.”

  They both began laughing, and Alec hugged his sister. When the hilarity subsided, Deb grew serious.

  “How are you—you and…?”

  “Eli.”

  “How’s it going?”

  Alec sighed. “It’s a bit rocky at the moment.”

  “Sorry.”

  “We’ll work it out. He’s asked for time, and I’m making sure he gets it.” Alec’s gaze traveled everywhere but to his sister: the nurses’ station, the elevators, and the door of his stepfather’s room.

  “You sound a bit peeved.”

  Alec shook his head. “I’m just… just—kinda tired, I guess.”

  “Sounds like he’s being difficult.”

  “No… it’s—he’s been through a lot.” Alec massaged the bridge of his nose. “I’ve told you about Bennett.” Deb nodded. “Eli’s got—”

  “Issues?”

  “Yeah,” Alec said with a laugh. “Issues, and it’s turned out to be more complicated than I expected.”

  “Do you love him?”

  “Sis, you know my history.” He stared at the nurses’ station again. “What doe
s that really mean?”

  “So it’s yes.” Alec slowly nodded. “Have you told him? Outside of an orgasm, I mean.”

  “Jesus!”

  “Where?” she asked, gripping the arms of her seat and looking around frantically.

  They broke up laughing again.

  “Well, I’m certainly glad to see the two of you are having such a lovely time while your father is in there waiting to die!” Eleanor Sumner had sneaked up on them.

  “The ice woman cometh,” Deb whispered, and Alec chuckled as quietly as he could. He stood and sighed. “Hi, Mom. You hungry?”

  “Yes, you haven’t eaten in quite a while,” Deb added. “You should probably get something in your stomach. You want to be strong for Levi.”

  “You don’t care about him… out here laughing your fool heads off. What if he were to hear you?”

  “Then he would be conscious, and that would be a good thing,” Alec said calmly.

  She looked up at him, her eyes roaming over his features. “You’re such a handsome boy.” She reached for his hair. “I wish you’d trim this some. You look like a hippie. No woman is going to want—”

  “Mom, I think you should stretch your legs.” She moved to sit, but Alec caught her arm, keeping her on her feet. “Let’s take a walk to the cafeteria.”

  He and Deb nodded to each other.

  “No, I don’t want to leave your—”

  “I’ll be with him,” Deb piped up. “I have Alec’s cell number,” she said, wiggling her phone in front of them. “And if I need you, I’ll call right away.”

  She watched Alec practically drag their mother toward the elevators. Deb gathered her sweater and purse to go sit with Levi but saw a nurse enter the room carrying the necessities of a sponge bath, so she sat back down and waited.

  ELI watched the numbers light up as the elevator rose through Cabell Huntington Hospital. He had no idea what he’d say to Alec. Getting here had been a relative blur, with Ilsa the primary force behind his efforts. He was still shaking a bit from his rough ride on that tiny plane into Yeager Airport. He’d seen the runway from the air, and it appeared to be on top of a mountain—a mountain that dropped off abruptly.

  The doors opened onto the fifth-floor nurses’ station, and Eli stepped off. With his stomach churning and his heart thudding in his chest, he reached the desk but didn’t realize how dry his mouth had become until he tried to speak.

  “Pardon me, sir?”

  “I wonder if you could tell me where to find Mr. Sumner’s room.”

  “Are you family?”

  Eli hesitated. “I’m… I’m a—family friend.”

  “Mr. Sumner is in Room 514, to your left. I believe the family is with him.”

  “Thank you.” Eli turned to leave, but he stopped himself. “C-can you tell me how he’s doing?”

  “I’m sorry, sir, we’re not allowed to give out that information.”

  Eli nodded and headed down the hall.

  DEB checked her watch and glanced at Levi’s room again. If her mother and Alec returned, and she was still sitting out here instead of in the room hovering protectively over her stepfather, she’d never hear the end of it. She looked up the hall toward the elevators when she heard the bell announcing the arrival of another car. The doors opened, but only one person exited.

  No sign of them yet, thank God, but—the man exiting was about an inch or two shorter than her brother, with short, dark brown hair and using a cane. He stopped at the nurses’ station and then looked toward her.

  “Holy shit!” Deb sprang from her seat. She’d only seen one photo of him. In one of his letters, Alec had sent her a panoramic shot of the city from the London Eye. Eli was standing in the background, pointing something out to Alec through the window and hadn’t known the picture was being taken. His hair had been longer, more shaggy. In the letter Alec had written, Sis, that’s him on the right, and then drawn a heart.

  “H-hello. Are you… Eli?” He blinked at her with large, beautiful blue eyes. Deb smiled. Oh yeah, you’re him.

  “I’m sorry. You—”

  “I’m Deb, Alec’s sister.”

  His smile lit up the room. “Oh yes! I’ve seen your picture. Alec has a photo of you and your family in his room.”

  They shook hands, and she led him to a seat next to her. “Is Alec expecting you?”

  “Uh… no, I heard about—how is your father… uh, stepfather… uncle?”

  “He’s all those things,” Deb said, laughing out loud. “I see Alec has filled you in on our colorful family history.”

  Eli nodded. “He told me that after your father died, your mother married his brother… that he had always loved her.”

  “True. He’s doing fine, by the way, but don’t let my mother hear you say that.”

  “What? Why not?”

  “He had a bit of heart trouble, but they got him here in time and cathed his artery. He’s just recovering, but Mom is a bit of a drama queen and appears convinced he’s on death’s door.”

  Eli smiled. “I’ll try to remember that and show the proper, bleak concern.”

  Deb laughed softly, touching his arm and squeezing. “Oh, Alec’ll be so happy to see you.” Eli’s expression darkened, and Deb stopped smiling. “What’s wrong? You’re here to see him, aren’t you?”

  “I came because I thought he might need—”

  “He needs you.”

  “We need to talk some things out.” Eli took her hand and squeezed it.

  Deb looked toward the elevators and sighed as she saw Alec and their mother exit. “Yeah, that’s what he said.”

  AFTER forty-five minutes too long with his mother, Alec had ushered her back onto the elevator to rejoin Deb on the fifth floor. He had stopped listening to her by the end of their meal and allowed her continued criticism and advice about his romantic life and “choices” become Charlie Brown’s teacher in his head. By the time the elevator doors opened, he was nodding and smiling as if he’d actually heard everything she’d said. Then he spotted Eli talking to his sister. At least he thought it was him. His hair was so short, but there was no mistaking that face, that smile, and those eyes.

  “Eli?” Alec gaped at him. Deb and Eli stood to face him and his mother.

  “Deborah, why aren’t you in there with your father?!”

  “He’s having a bath, Mom.”

  Eleanor couldn’t say anything to that, even though it was clear she wanted to. She turned her eyes to Eli. “Who’s this?” she asked, stepping forward to take Eli’s hand.

  Alec blinked. “He’s my—”

  “Friend,” Eli said quickly. “I’m Alec’s best friend from London, Mrs. Sumner.” He took her hand in both of his and held it. He looked deeply into her eyes and with a sympathetic expression, he said, “I was so sorry to hear of your husband’s difficulty. I simply had to fly over and see how my friend and his family were holding up.”

  Alec glanced at his sister and saw she was struggling to keep from laughing herself unconscious, but their mother appeared to be buying it all.

  “Oh, well, thank you, thank you so much, Mister….”

  “Burke, Eli Burke.” He led her to a seat and sat next to her, still holding her hand and occasionally smiling and nodding as she recounted the horror of finding her “beloved” husband sprawled out on the bathroom floor.

  “I thought Levi was in the kitchen making a sandwich, Mom.” Deb glanced at Alec, who eventually dropped into a seat beside his sister, still gaping at Eli.

  Eleanor ignored her daughter, apparently finding Eli and his accent distractingly charming. “You didn’t tell me you had such nice friends, Alec.”

  “Didn’t I?” Alec grinned slightly. He watched his mother’s fluttering eyelashes, saw the color rising to her cheeks, and in complete bewilderment, he leaned over to his sister. “Is our mother flirting with my boyfriend?” he asked, shuddering visibly.

  Mrs. Sumner dabbed at her eyes with her handkerchief. “I should really freshen up
before I go back to Levi’s room.” She and Eli stood, and he released her hand. “If you’ll excuse me.”

  “Of course.”

  She walked off, Deb following in her wake after glancing between Eli and her brother. They stood alone now, looking everywhere but at one another.

  “You look tired,” Eli said.

  Alec shrugged. “How was your flight?”

  “Good, good. A bit rough coming into your airport, though.”

  Alec smiled. “Yes, I can imagine.”

  They fell silent again.

  “Your sister tells me your stepfather is going to be all right.”

  “Yeah. The doctor expects a full recovery.”

  “That’s good.”

  “Of course, he’ll have to watch his diet and increase his exercise.”

  Eli nodded and the silence quickly became oppressive. Alec looked around the brightly lit waiting area. “Would you like to meet him?” he asked.

  Eli looked at Room 514. “Uh… okay.”

  They walked over, and Alec knocked.

  “Come in,” the nurse said. He pushed the door open slowly and saw her covering Levi with a blanket, tucking him in and making sure he was comfortable. “I’m all done.” She checked the readings on his monitors and then carried a small basin of water into the bathroom and emptied it in the toilet. “He’s all yours.”

  “Thank you.” Alec said, holding the door for her as she left.

  For all intents and purposes, they were alone again. Alec and Eli stood there staring at Levi Sumner. The only sounds in the room were their breathing and the barely audible conversations coming from the wall-mounted television.

  “I missed you,” Alec whispered.

  “Alec—”

  “I know. Not now.” He didn’t speak for a few moments. “Did Ilsa tell you where I was?”

  Eli nodded and then grinned. “She practically packed my bag and threw me out of the house.”

  “I’m glad she’s not angry with me anymore.”