Stay With Me, Contemporary Romance (Last Frontier Lodge Novels Book 5) (4 page)

Cliff grinned. “Even if you had dented his truck, it would’ve been hard to find.”

Eli laughed and shook his head. “No need to give my truck a hard time, or Jessa.”

Cliff put his truck in gear and grinned again. “All in fun,” he replied. “See you a few minutes before seven tomorrow.”

Eli waved as Cliff drove off. He turned back to Jessa, pulling a set of keys out of his pocket. “I should get going.” He paused for a long moment. “Any idea how long you’ll be in Diamond Creek?”

His question zoomed right into the center of her uncertainty about the shambles of her life. She mentally shook herself and aimed for a casual shrug. “I’m not sure right now. At least for a month or two.”

A month or two? You have no idea what you’re doing or where you’re going next. You can’t even afford to drive back to Seattle. Unless a miracle happens, you’re stuck for now.

Unaware of her mental machinations, Eli nodded, his eyes considering. “Don’t suppose you’d want to try a trip out in the bay?”

“You mean like on a boat?” The moment the question left her mouth, Jessa mentally kicked herself.
As if there’s another way to get out there.

He smiled slowly. “Exactly. If you can handle the fishing part of it, you might like it.”

“Would I have to fish myself?”

“Oh no. Just thought I’d give you an open invite to come out sometime with us. We run trips almost every other day, so if you’d like a chance to see the far side of the bay, let me know.”

Before she realized it, she was nodding. The truth was, she was a vegetarian, but she’d never been too dedicated. It was more for health reasons and due to her concerns about mass meat production, not because she was queasy about eating animals. Outside of places such as Alaska, it was near impossible to routinely eat animal products that weren’t part of the chain of mass production. The other truth was she’d give just about anything for more time in Eli’s company. She’d also love to see the far side of the bay where a glacier shimmered translucent blue under the sun.

Eli graced her with another of his roguish grins, his green eyes locking onto hers. She was surprised sparks didn’t fly up in the air around her when he smiled. Her body hummed with need.

“How about you let me know when you want to come with us?” He pulled out his phone, tapping the screen. “Give me your number and I’ll text you our schedule.”

She quickly recited his number and fumbled for her phone. “Let me get your number…”

“Just texted you. You’ll see it,” he replied quickly.

They stood there for several more beats, simply looking at each other. Just when Jessa was beginning to think she needed to get some kind of grip and behave normally, Eli took a step back and started to turn. “I guess I’ll see you when you’re ready for that boat ride.”

E
li pulled
up in front of Game to Fish. It was going on midnight, but his store’s alarm system had sent him an alert that there was motion outside the store. When he first got the alert, he’d surmised the motion sensors had been tripped due to wildlife walking by, likely a moose or a porcupine, the most frequent visitors in the downtown area at night. After a few minutes, the alert repeated itself several more times. As of yet, none of the sensors for the windows or doors had gone off, leading Eli to assume no one had broken in yet. He’d dragged himself off of his couch to come down and check because he didn’t want to risk someone actually breaking in. His retail store held a number of high value items. Beyond the pricey outdoor gear he stocked, he sold guns and fishing equipment, items that cost plenty of money and were in high demand in tourist rich Southcentral Alaska.

He turned his truck off and glanced around. Nothing appeared amiss. The outside lights were on, keeping the parking lot bright in the darkness. He stepped out of his truck and quietly closed the door. He let himself inside and did a quick tour, finding nothing out of the ordinary. As he walked from his office back toward the front of the store, he heard motion outside. He moved swiftly, stepping through the door and moving around the building to the source of the sound. When he came around the rear corner of the building, he stopped when he saw a tent tucked into the trees. His store was on a downtown street where a small cliff rose up behind it. Spruce trees were scattered on the level portion of the ground behind his store. Whoever had set up the tent appeared oblivious to his presence as a flashlight beam bounced erratically around inside the tent. Eli figured it was the flashlight that kept setting off the motion sensor on the back corner of the building. He waited a moment to see if the person would come out before striding over to the tent and pausing outside its entrance.

“Hello?”

“Oh shit!”

The return greeting, if that’s what it could be called, didn’t engender a friendly welcome from Eli. Alaska was filled with campers, so it wasn’t a complete shock someone threw up a tent, but the back of his store was a rather odd place to select. Eli listened while whoever was in the tent rustled around. The sound of a zipper came as the opening was slowly unzipped. A young teen poked his head out. “Eli?”

Eli tilted his head to the side, a strange sensation rolling through him. This kid felt familiar, but he didn’t know why—until the kid scrambled out through the tent opening and stood up. Eli found himself staring into a pair of green eyes almost precisely like his. A queasy feeling coiled in his stomach.

“Ryan?”

The boy nodded, his messy brown hair falling over his eyes. He brushed it back quickly. “It’s me,” Ryan replied.

Eli’s mouth fell open, and he took a step back. Ryan was his little brother who he hadn’t seen since he left Juneau ten years ago when Ryan was four years old. He’d done what he could to make sure Ryan didn’t share the same fate he had under his father’s roof by pretty much bribing his father to move out and leave his mother and Ryan in peace. Thoughts tumbled rapidly through his mind as he considered why the hell Ryan was here. The old guilt that he couldn’t quite shake rose inside.

Ryan was all arms and legs at fourteen. He stood in front of Eli in the light cast from the back corner light on the store building, his eyes uncertain and almost pleading. Eli forced himself to take a breath and eyed Ryan. All this time he’d been gone, he’d tried to manage his guilt and worry about Ryan, telling himself he’d done the best he could to give Ryan a shot at a life that didn’t involve the misery of their father.

Norm Brooks was a run of the mill jerk on a good day. On a bad day, he was verbally, emotionally and physically abusive to those in his orbit. His favorite target was their mother, Beverly, although he didn’t shy away from taking his frustrations out on Eli once Eli was old enough to talk back. Norm’s physical explosions were few and far between, but he constantly emitted a simmering anger and frustration, lashing out verbally over every little thing. When Eli could, he mostly stayed in his room, but the small apartment made it hard to avoid his father. When Eli realized he was close to giving his father a dose of his own medicine, he’d made the only decision he could and left Juneau. He was determined never to become like the man his father was—constantly angry and swinging that anger around like a wrecking ball to smash into anyone within his radius. Eli had known for years his father stayed with his mother mostly because she could pay the bills with her job as a manager at the local grocery store. Meanwhile his father could barely hold a job down, getting fired again and again after being insolent and a generally crappy employee. Eli had made a deal: his father moved out into an apartment Eli paid for and left his mother and Ryan alone.

Norm, being the loser he was, had sworn up and down, but he went along with it. Eli knew the offer would be appealing because Norm often left for days at a time anyway. His returns led to explosive fights with their mother. To this day, Eli didn’t understand why she would be hurt that his father was gallivanting from bar to bar and picking up other women, but she was. Eli figured paying for his father to stay away was the only way Eli could leave. He still felt guilty, but he had to leave. He’d been worried he’d end up turning on his father with the same kind of violence his father had doled out for years.

Eli’s mind rolled through these thoughts as he stared at Ryan, wondering why the hell his little brother was here in Diamond Creek by himself in the middle of the night. “What are you doing here?” Eli finally asked.

Ryan shuffled on his feet, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, and tucked his hands in his jean pockets. “I, uh, was hoping I could visit for a little bit.”

Eli nodded slowly. He knew without a doubt there was a lot more to the story than that, but now wasn’t the time. Ryan’s eyes held that same guarded quality Eli knew so well, and it scared the hell out of him. He forced himself to keep his mind right here, right now. “Okay then. If you’d called ahead, you wouldn’t have to set up your tent here in the dark,” he said with a wry grin, aiming for a light tone to ease the tension emanating from Ryan.

Ryan smiled nervously. “It’s okay?”

“Of course. Grab your stuff and let’s get to the house.”

A while later, Eli watched Ryan practically inhale a heated up frozen pizza. Ryan probably wouldn’t admit it, but Eli was willing to bet he hadn’t eaten all day. He opened the freezer and grabbed another pizza to throw in the oven. By the time Ryan had eaten a pizza and a half by himself, he finally leaned back and looked around. Eli lived in a spacious home about ten minutes away from downtown Diamond Creek. He was on the East side of town up a winding hill that offered a spectacular view of Kachemak Bay when it was daylight. He’d hesitated to purchase this home, in part due to its size, but he’d always been a sucker for a good deal and the home had been for sale at a crazy good price since its owners had run out of money and hadn’t quite finished it. Eli had purchased it and finished most of the work on the home, including the siding, most of the plumbing and installing a boiler. He had an amazing view, privacy and four bedrooms, only one of which he needed and ever planned to use.

The main living area had a cathedral ceiling with windows stretching from floor to ceiling. The kitchen sat against the back wall with an island dividing it from the living room area, which was sparsely furnished with a sectional and a coffee table and not much else beyond a few lamps. A television was mounted on a side wall. Ryan’s gaze scanned the room and landed back on Eli who was seated on a stool at the kitchen island, nursing a beer while Ryan ate.

“Do you own this house?” Ryan asked, his eyes wide.

Eli nodded and took a swallow of his beer. “Yup. Bought it for a killer deal and finished it.”

Ryan fiddled with his unused fork and looked down at the table. “Is it okay if I stay for a little bit?”

“Sure. Mind telling me if Mom knows you’re here?”

Ryan’s eyes whipped up, fear flashing in them. “Um, no. I kinda just left.”

Eli’s stomach turned. “You left?”

Ryan nodded, his hair falling in his eyes when he did.

“Have you called Mom at all since you left?”

Ryan nodded again. “I don’t have a cell phone, but I used my friend’s phone and told her I was with him. I didn’t tell her I was coming here though.”

“How come?”

Ryan’s eyes flicked to Eli and back down at the table. He was clearly nervous. “Because she would have asked me not to. Can we talk more about this tomorrow?”

Eli thought for a moment and finally nodded. Much as he wanted to know what was going on, it was the middle of the night. They wouldn’t be able to resolve anything at this hour. He moved on. “How’d you get from Juneau to here?”

“I hitched a ride with my friend and his parents all the way to Whittier. They were going fishing there for a week or so.”

“And?” Eli prompted, circling his hand.

Ryan looked down, flipping the fork back and forth between his fingers. He mumbled something.

“What did you say?”

Eli could see Ryan take a deep breath, his skinny shoulders rising and falling along with it. “I hitchhiked from Whittier the rest of the way here,” he finally said. He lifted his eyes to meet Eli’s, a hint of defiance glimmering within the worry held there.

A rush of anger, born out of concern, rose inside of Eli. He started to say something and then snapped his mouth shut. It wouldn’t help to swear at Ryan when he’d made it here all in one piece. Eli drained his beer and ran a hand through his hair. “Not the safest plan, but I suppose you’re here, so it’s not worth giving you a hard time about it now.”

Ryan slumped in his chair and sighed, a wobbly smile stretching across his face. As they sat there, it occurred to Eli that while he’d thought about Ryan with frequency over the years, he barely knew him. Ten years was a long time in the life of a child. The little boy Eli had known before he moved away was on his way to being a man. He had enough grit to find his way to Diamond Creek all on his own. Eli had so many questions about why Ryan left, he didn’t even know where to begin. Another glance at Ryan, and he realized his questions would need to wait. Ryan was barely keeping his eyes open.

Eli pushed his stool back and stood. “Let me show you the bedroom.”

Ryan stood quickly and snagged the battered backpack he’d brought with him. Eli led him up the stairs, which graced one wall and led to a balcony hallway. Over the railing, one could share the same view as from downstairs while four doors flanked the hallway, three leading to bedrooms and the fourth to a shared bathroom. Eli used the master bedroom, which was downstairs and had its own bathroom.

He gestured to the only room up here he’d actually put a bedroom set in. He’d questioned the point, but since the room would have remained empty otherwise, he’d figured it made sense. “Here you go. It’s all yours. The bathroom’s right beside you. I’m downstairs, so you’ve got the space up here to yourself.”

He flipped the light switch on while Ryan dropped his backpack on the floor and looked around the room. His jeans were dirty and his t-shirt was faded and worn. Eli’s heart clenched looking at him. Eli doubted Ryan had much more than the clothes he wore. “Do yourself a favor and shower before you go to bed.”

Ryan’s head whipped up again, a mottled flush crawling up his neck.

Eli chuckled. “Hey, I’m as bad as you after a day on the water. I sleep better when I’m clean.”

At that, he turned away and headed back downstairs, calling out as he did. “I have to head out early for a fishing charter. If you want to come along, be up by six. There’s an alarm clock by the bed.”

* * *

E
li stood
at the kitchen counter and grabbed a granola bar out of one of the cabinets. He glanced at the clock above the stove, wondering if Ryan would try to get up in time to go fishing with him. He wasn’t too comfortable leaving Ryan to his own devices the first day he was here. As he was stuffing his backpack with water bottles, he heard movement upstairs and then water running. A few minutes later, Ryan came walking downstairs. Even after a short night’s sleep, he looked worlds better than he had last night. His hair was damp from his shower and dripping onto the shoulders of the same t-shirt he’d been wearing last night.

“Morning,” Eli said with a grin. It was good to see Ryan, so good it was disconcerting for Eli. His almost-stranger brother carried himself with a friendly awkwardness.

Ryan nodded. “Morning. Thought I’d try to make it in time to go fishing if that’s okay.”

“Of course. Glad to have you. Hang on, let me grab a few things.”

Eli walked past the kitchen into the small alcove that led to his bedroom suite. He walked immediately into his closet and snagged a clean t-shirt and a windbreaker. His jeans would be too big for Ryan, but he hated to see Ryan starting the day in what was probably his only ratty t-shirt. When he returned to the kitchen and tossed the t-shirt to Ryan, Ryan flushed.