My Deadly Valentine - By Valerie Hansen & Lynette Eason Page 0,67
by locals and tourists alike.
Eli parked and Holly waited for Eli to come around and open the door for her. He did and took her hand to help her down from the truck. “You really do look beautiful.”
His husky voice sent shivers along her nerve endings. “Thanks, Eli.” She grinned. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
They laughed and headed for the restaurant.
Two steps later, she stumbled to a stop. If Eli hadn’t had a grip on her hand, she might have tripped and fallen.
Alex stood on the porch, drink in hand, staring at them as they approached. Taking a deep breath she said, “Hello, Alex.”
NINE
“Holly, Eli.”
Eli fingers had tightened almost painfully on hers. She wiggled them and he loosened his grip. “Alex.”
Holly ignored Alex’s unwavering stare as his eyes followed them into the restaurant. Eli leaned over next to her ear. “Do you want to go somewhere else?”
Anger spurred her. She thought Alex had moved on. Only now here he stood, watching her. “Absolutely not. Unfortunately, this is a small town and Alex Harwood lives in it. I’m bound to wind up at the same restaurant as he is upon occasion. Let’s just go in and forget about him, okay?”
Admiration glinted. “Good for you.”
Ten minutes later, they were seated in a booth. She said, “It’s a good thing you made reservations. I think the whole town turned out here.”
“I figured it would be like this.”
Conversation flowed and Holly managed to relax and enjoy it in spite of the meeting with Alex. He must have decided to leave because she never saw him enter the place.
The steak had never tasted better and Holly didn’t want the evening to end.
She took a sip of tea and leaned back to sigh. “I’m stuffed.”
Eli set his fork on his plate. “I know the feeling.” He nodded in the direction of Buckeye and his daughter. “They came in a little while ago.”
Holly smiled at the man who waved back. Then his brow furrowed and he said something to his daughter who nodded. Buckeye rose and approached their table.
“Eli, I forgot to tell you, you had a phone call today from a Captain Longworth.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, said to tell you congratulations.”
A sick look came over Eli’s face and Holly wondered who this captain was.
Buckeye rubbed his chin. “Asked me to tell you that the decision about the position you interviewed for had been made and you got the job. Said he’d call you back with details, but wanted you to know.”
Holly’s heart splintered into a million tiny pieces. Eli would leave again. This time she knew she’d never be able to put her heart back together again.
Eli’s eyes met hers and he opened his mouth to speak, but the shattering pain coursing through her didn’t want to hear it. She shoved her chair back and grabbed her purse.
Without a word, she walked from the restaurant, eyes straight ahead refusing to let the tears fall. She heard him call her name, but knew she could be well on the way down the road and out of sight by the time he paid the bill and got in his truck.
Five minutes later, a car pulled up beside her and at first, fear flooded her, then she saw who it was.
“Holly?” her lawyer asked through the open window. “You need a ride?”
“Hi, Mr. Parker. Yes, that would be great. Thanks.” Now let Eli find her and try to schmooze her with his numerous excuses. No, thanks. The tears threatened to rival the waterfall at the top of the mountain. Sheer willpower kept them at bay.
“Where are you headed?”
“Home.”
“Are you okay?”
“Not really, but I don’t want to talk about it if that’s all right.”
“Sure.”
He fell silent and Holly watched the scenery roll by. How could she have been so stupid? But he’d seemed sincere. Had even talked about God like he knew Him.
Doubt hit her. Had she jumped to conclusions? Had it been fair to just leave without giving him a chance to explain? But memories of his past actions had assailed her in vivid detail. And the pain. Wow, had anything ever hurt that much? Very few things in her life had caused her that much pain. The death of her dad and her mother’s cancer.
Eli’s betrayal.
They passed the turnoff to her house. “Hey, Mr. Parker, you missed the turn.”
“Oh, sorry.”
He kept driving. Finally, she demanded, “What are you doing?”
The man sighed. “I’m taking you to meet someone.”
“What?” she cried. “I don’t want to meet with anyone. I want to go