by Cege Smith
She pushed away from David and wiped her eyes. Then they both realized that everyone inside the shop was doing their best to be completely pasted to the window.
“Oh my gosh! You must be so embarrassed. You end up with a crazy, hysterical woman on your hands and all you wanted was a cup of coffee,” Ellie said, staring at the ground.
David put his hand beneath her chin and pulled her eyes up to meet his. “I came here to see you this morning. I don’t give a damn about the coffee. I want you to be happy, Ellie, and I’m really hoping I can be part of that,” he said.
Ellie’s face broke into a bashful smile. “Thank you, David. You’ve been so understanding about all of this chaos. I’m just not used to it. It means a lot to me.”
“That’s better,” he said, returning the smile. “I really need to get home and get some sleep. But how about I take you out to dinner tonight?”
“I’ve got a better idea,” Ellie said. “How about I cook for you?”
“Great!” he said enthusiastically. “As long as it isn’t any bother.”
“No bother at all,” Ellie said. “I do need to check on Linda’s house tonight, though. Get the mail and things.”
“We can have dinner and then I’d be happy to take you over there,” David said. He was happy to do anything to be around her more.
“Okay,” Ellie said.
David looked at his watch. “Okay, how about I come over around seven?”
“That’s perfect,” Ellie said. She wrote down her address and handed it to David. “Do you have any preferences for dinner? If not, I’ll whip up one of my specialties.”
“Sounds great,” David said. “I’ll eat anything.”
He pulled Ellie close to him again and squeezed tight. She didn’t pull away. Her smell was intoxicating, and he breathed it in deeply. This time, though, he loosened his hold from around her waist and slowly pulled away.
“I’ll see you tonight.” He flashed a smile again.
Ellie smiled back. He kissed her forehead again and then regretfully headed toward home.
Ellie waved as David walked away and then walked back into the shop. Kevin and Jeffrey were busily scrubbing the counter and appliances.
“Everything okay, Ellie?” Kevin said, flashing her a knowing grin.
“Much better,” she said. “Kevin, can you and Jeffrey watch the store this morning? I think I’m going to take your advice and do a little shopping. I think getting a cell phone is a really good idea.”
“Sure,” Kevin said.
Ellie nodded and walked in the back to get her purse. Having a sense of purpose made her feel even more confident. David was right. Worrying about tomorrow wasn’t going to do her any good. She needed to focus on healing today, and making some much needed changes in her life might be the best way to do that.
Waving goodbye to Kevin and Jeffrey, she walked out the door.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Ellie’s car was full when she pulled into her driveway several hours later. Not only had she stopped at the local electronics store and picked out a laptop computer and cell phone, but she had also gone to the grocery store for supplies for dinner.
She got out of the car and went around to the passenger door. She jumped and let out a small yell as Jake stepped out from behind the hedge that surrounded the parking lot.
“Jake, what are you doing here?” She tried to appear calm. She glanced around at the parking lot. Unfortunately, it was just her and Jake; there wasn’t another person in sight. Inside her chest her heart was pounding a mile a minute and her breath was coming in deep gulps.
“Ellie, I need to talk to you,” he pleaded. He stretched his arms out toward her. His aura was a sickly green.
She took a step back. “Jake, I don’t know what’s going on with you. But you are going to get in trouble if you keep this up. We’re divorced and this is not acceptable. You can’t just call me or show up on my doorstep whenever you want to. You need to stop and think about how what you are doing is coming across; you’re scaring me,” she said.
“I don’t want to scare you, Ellie,” Jake said. He took a step backward and ran his hands through his hair. He looked haggard, a significant difference from that morning. “Look. I’m sorry I got so angry this morning. I just didn’t like that guy. I want what’s best for you.”
“That guy, or any guy in my life, for that matter, is none of your business, Jake,” she said. She could feel her own anger bubbling inside, but she needed to be careful. She watched Jake warily. He seemed in control, but she wasn’t going to let her guard down for a second.
“I know, I know. I didn’t like it being shoved in my face. That’s all,” Jake said with a grimace.
A grown man pouting like a little kid who got his favorite toy taken away, Ellie thought. “What do you want, Jake?” Ellie said. In his current state, Jake didn’t appear to be a threat. He looked like a kid who wasn’t getting his way, but not menacing.
“This is really hard for me to talk about,” Jake said, staring down at the ground.
“Jake. If you want to tell me something, then please do. Otherwise, I am busy and it is cold out here. I have things to do,” she said, trying to hurry the conversation along. She wasn’t interested in a heart-to-heart with him, but she felt like she was backed into a corner.
“We could go inside,” he suggested, but then he must have caught the look of alarm on her face. He wisely decided not to push it. He kicked at a rock in the driveway and avoided Ellie’s eyes.
“I’ve been having some bad dreams,” he finally said.
Ellie almost burst out laughing. All of this fuss was because Jake wanted to talk to her about his dreams? She couldn’t control her expression before he saw it.
“Guys can have those too, you know,” he said defensively.
“So you came here to tell me that you are having nightmares?” Ellie said slowly.
“They aren’t regular nightmares,” Jake said. “It’s so hard to explain. But I feel like, no, I know, something bad is going to happen.”
“Jake, you have to explain this better. I’m having a hard time understanding how your bad dreams are relevant to me,” Ellie said.
After a long pause he finally said, “They are about you.”
“Me?” Ellie felt a familiar tendril of fear in her stomach. There was something about the night and dreams and Jake that she felt like she should remember. It was a memory that she couldn’t quite pull out and see, though she felt it twitching just on the edges of her consciousness.
Then Jake’s words came out in a rush. “I have a dream that you are lost in the darkness. I can’t tell where. You are yelling for someone to help you. No one is answering and I can tell that you’re really scared. Then these hands stretch out of the darkness behind you. You can’t see them, but I can.” Jake’s voice dropped to a hoarse whisper and he looked down at his own hands. “These hands have long fingernails and suddenly they just start ripping at your hair and your face. It doesn’t take long before you are all bloody and you just keep screaming and screaming for help. I can tell that you are in a lot of pain. Then the hands finally stop clawing at you and you get all quiet. Your face goes slack and I know that you’re dead. And I just sat there and watched the whole thing happen. I didn’t even try to stop it because I knew that those hands would get me too. There was nothing I could do but just watch you die.”
Ellie felt the blood drain from her face and she backed even further away from Jake. “This isn’t funny, Jake. You need to leave.”
Jake took a step toward her. “Ellie, I’d never hurt you. But these dreams are making me really afraid for you, and there’s more that I need to tell you. That’s why I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Ellie put a hand out to keep Jake at a distance. “I’m fine, Jake. I was getting even better before you started pushing yourself back into my life. I don’t know what kind of sick satisfaction you get out of telling me you’re dreaming about
me dying, but it is wrong, Jake. It’s just plain mean.”
“Ellie,” he said, “please just listen to me. I have to tell you the rest.”
“No, Jake! I want you to leave!” Ellie pulled her new cell phone from her pocket. “I’ll call the police again if you don’t leave.”
Jake’s face twisted and Ellie saw that other Jake bubbling underneath the surface. His aura flared bright red and she let out a little cry of alarm. He appeared almost ready to charge her, and Ellie was just getting ready to run for the house when he spun around instead.
“Fine!” he yelled over his shoulder. “If something really bad happens to you, it’ll be your own damn fault. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. You’ll be sorry that you just acted like the biggest fool on the planet.”
Ellie sagged against the car with relief as she watched him disappear. She flipped open her cell phone and also pulled out the business card of one of the officers that had been at the coffee shop that morning. She quickly dialed the number.
“Detective Morgan?” she asked as the gruff voice came on the phone. “This is Ellie Coulter. From the coffee shop this morning? I want to see what I need to do to file that restraining order after all.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Later, Ellie found herself crying in David’s arms again. It was another personal record; hysterics twice in one day. “I don’t understand why he wants to keep tormenting me. All that time he acted like I was so insignificant in his life, and now I can’t get him to leave me alone.” Her sobs subsided slowly to sniffles.
David stroked her hair and made soothing noises. “He sounds pretty unstable, Ellie. I think that restraining order was a really good idea. Some guys just don’t know how to deal with rejection.”
Ellie slowly pulled away and started smoothing her hair. She wiped her eyes and saw Skipper sitting across the room staring at them, looking miserable. “My poor dog. I don’t think he knows what to think of me. He probably wishes he had a normal owner instead of getting stuck with me.”
“Hey, don’t say that,” David said. He took her gently by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. “You are a strong woman, Ellie. You’ve been through a lot. You’ve got your life together. You are successful and talented and smart. Don’t let your ex-husband take that away from you. You are the one in control now.”
Ellie took a deep breath and felt a sense of peace returning. David’s words were having the right effect, and she wondered if somehow his calming aura was infectious. “You’re right, David. Of course you’re right. It’s not worth it. He’s not worth it. I won’t ruin our evening because of that big jerk.”
“That’s the spirit!” David chuckled.
Ellie stood up, her sense of purpose renewed. “I did manage to get groceries with all the other shopping I did today. I’ll start dinner.”
She walked into the kitchen with David close on her heels. She opened a bottle of chardonnay, poured two glasses, and handed one to David. He looked at her expectantly.
She held her glass up. “To new friends and new beginnings without any interruptions from old ghosts and bad memories.”
“I’ll drink to that.” David clinked his glass on hers. “So what else did you buy? Sounds like you went on quite a shopping spree.”
Ellie pulled the chicken breasts she had been marinating from the refrigerator. She put a saucepan on the stove and put some olive oil and ground garlic in it. She sliced the chicken up thinly and tossed the pieces into the pan to sauté. At the same time she put a pot of pasta on the stovetop to cook. She talked as she worked.
“Kevin and I have been arguing for probably a year now about me getting a new computer system for the store. I guess I’m pretty old-fashioned that way. I like working all of this stuff out in my head. I feel like it keeps me from getting rusty, and I feel like I am really in tune with what’s going on in the shop.” She paused in her work every now and then to glance in David’s direction. He stood against the countertop and sipped his wine. His attention was focused on her. He motioned to her to continue.
She watched the chicken carefully. She started putting together the ingredients for the Alfredo sauce, and then pulled garlic bread out of the freezer and preheated the oven.
“So today Kevin finally won. I went over to the electronics store and told them I needed the works. I was going to resist the cell phone, but after what happened today I am really glad I didn’t say no when they started showing them all to me.” She smiled shyly at David again.
“You need any help getting that computer up and running?” he asked.
“I don’t know a lot about computers. I liked the idea of a laptop because it’s portable. But other than finding the start button and opening an Internet browser I don’t know a lot. I feel like I’m a computer virgin,” she admitted.
“Well, I can help with that,” David said with a flirtatious glint in his eye. “Where’s the laptop?”
Ellie pointed at a cardboard box by the fireplace. “That’s going to be a big help. I really appreciate this, David. I mean about everything,” she said. She felt a lump in her throat and since she didn’t want to cry again she looked at her feet.
Suddenly David was at her side. His hand cupped her chin and he pulled her eyes up to meet his. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the passion that smoldered there.
“I am pretty sure that I would do anything for you, Elizabeth Coulter,” he said. Then he kissed her deeply.
She clung to him and felt something long forgotten stir inside her. After what seemed an eternity, he stepped away, and she realized that her breath was coming in shallow gasps. “Um, wow,” she finally managed.
David seemed entirely composed and his smile was warm. “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.” He shrugged but didn’t look the slightest bit embarrassed.
“Well, you are pretty good at it so feel free to do that any time you want to,” she laughed.
David’s low laugh filled the small apartment. “I’ll remember that,” he said. He returned to the hallway and set the computer box on the coffee table. “I’ll accept payment in kisses for this hard labor,” he said.
“You’ve got it.” Ellie went back to her cooking, pretending not to be watching David, although now she couldn’t stop looking at him. He was sitting in the living room on the couch, his back to her facing the fireplace. His broad shoulders were evident over the back of the couch, and she saw that his thick blond hair had just a hint of wave in the back. She found herself thinking that she wanted to dig her hands in his hair when he kissed her again. She blushed at her thoughts, and tried to concentrate on her Alfredo sauce.
Soon she was draining the pasta and combining it with the chicken breast and sauce. She carefully shook parmesan cheese on the top, and then pulled the garlic bread from the oven. Rich, spicy smells filled the air.
“Smells wonderful.” David’s breath was on the back of her neck as he murmured into her ear, and his arms encircled her from behind. She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Just so you know, I’m a pretty damn good cook,” she said.
“Oh, I had no doubt,” he said.
Ellie lost several moments as they kissed again. David had awakened a completely different appetite inside her. She was amazed how she reacted to him. She had never been like this in her entire life, even with Jake.
When David finally released her lips, she saw that his expression had grown serious. “I meant it when I said I would do anything for you, Ellie. I know we really just met, but I feel like I’ve known you forever,” he said.
Ellie nodded in agreement. He had voiced something that she had felt as well. “Yes, I know what you mean. I can’t even explain how comfortable I feel with you.” She buried her head into his chest and breathed deeply of his scent. She hoped that her clothes kept some of that, so that she could smell him even after he left.
“Okay, mister. We should eat while the food is still warm,” she said with a playful jab to his chest.
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“There are many other things I’d like to do right now,” David whispered in her ear. “But you did such a great job with this that I don’t want it to go to waste.” He kissed her once more, and then stepped back so that she could move again.
Quickly she set the table and had the food ready. She encouraged David to serve himself first. “Guests first,” she insisted.
They were silent as they started to eat. Ellie watched David’s expression as he took the first bite. He seemed delighted, and Ellie was glad that she had invited him over that evening. Life was looking so much better after such a short amount of time that she could hardly believe it.
She told him all about her evening hijinks with Kevin at Linda’s house the night before, and she was delighted when he laughed along with her when she told him how they had acted like teenagers who had been left alone at home for the first time. Ellie never thought of herself as a particularly funny person, so it was a relief to feel like someone would find her engaging.
“I’m having a hard time believing that I just spent time with you for the first time outside of the coffee shop three nights ago,” she said, taking a sip of her wine.
“Things happen for a reason, Ellie.” He reached over and put his hand on top of hers. “I hope I don’t scare you by saying this, but I feel like we were meant to find each other. It’s totally crazy, but this feels right.”
Ellie was touched by his words. She felt like she was being swept off her feet, just like a girl in one of her romance novels. The fact that David was so comfortable sharing how he felt made him even more attractive to her. Jake had always shut her out.
“You aren’t scaring me, David. I don’t think you could with how fantastic you’ve been toward me. But I admit that I don’t know a lot about you. We always talk about me. Tell me something about yourself. I want to know everything about you,” Ellie said.
“Not a lot to tell,” David answered as he continued to eat. “I had two parents who wanted nothing but the best for me. Now I’m a doctor and I enjoy my job. I get to help people every day. I love coffee, which is by far my worst addiction. But I’m glad for it because it led me to you. The end.”