the first step is to stop running from my wife and the next is to make Elisabeth feel like we’re a family.
A family. A twist in my gut. The only family Elisabeth and I had known had included pain. We’ve got to do better. Both of us deserve better.
Another deep breath and I steady myself for battle. My niece will come out swinging, especially after the fight we had last night. I scared her. I didn’t mean to, but I did, and scaring her isn’t going to make her trust me.
I raise my fist and knock on the door. “Elisabeth. Wake up.”
Movement from behind the door, footsteps against the carpet and the sound of the lock on the doorknob being undone. I roll my neck to ease the tension. Yeah, I guess I deserved to be locked out. A squeak as the door opens and my niece stands in front of me with bedhead and barely cracked-open eyelids.
I shove the bag of her clothing and personal items that I grabbed from her aunt’s last night into her hands. “Here. I got your stuff.”
Elisabeth wipes the sleep from her eyes. “What stuff?”
Once upon a time, I had only to narrow my eyes and tilt my head to get her to do what needed to be done. Right now, I need her to accept this bag and not make a big deal out of it. This type of trying is awkward as hell, so I drop the same look as I did when she was four and throwing a fit.
The bag becomes lighter as she takes it into her hands, and I might be hallucinating, because I think she might have smiled slightly. Well, I’ll be damned. Maybe this will work. “I went by your aunt’s and picked up your clothes. That Noah guy was there and he showed me what was yours. I’m sorry if I left anything behind. If there’s something specific missing, maybe I can swing by one day after work and get it.”
Elisabeth blinks several times, looking as if she is trying to translate my words from Chinese to English. “How’s Noah?”
Yeah. Not going there. The kid was hardcore, but I could tell he cared about my niece, and if I give in and tell her that, she might go running back. I’ve made some parts of my life a mess by running. I can’t let Elisabeth do the same thing.
“We didn’t have a heart-to-heart,” I say. “Elisabeth, this doesn’t change any of my rules. I want you to settle here in Groveton and let your old life go. Trust me on this one, okay, kid?”
She starts to nod, but then stops herself like she figured out the movement was traitorous. “I can wear my clothes?”
As much as it kills a portion of my soul because I don’t like the idea of some perverted old man looking at my niece… “Skin has to be covered and no rips in indecent places. Push me on this and I’ll burn every stitch in that bag.” I incline my head toward the kitchen. “Breakfast in thirty.”
She cradles the bag like it’s a baby, and the gesture causes an ache to flow through my muscles. “Thanks.”
The word is stiff, like she’s never formed it before on her lips, but it’s possibly the best gratitude I’ve ever received.
Beth enters the kitchen in a pair of faded blue jeans, a black T-shirt, silver hoops in her ears and a fake diamond stud in her nose. She reminds me a lot of her mother in her outfit, but her mother never had the hop to her step that Beth has now. I make a mental note to send Allison roses today. As a reminder that I love her. As a thank-you for understanding a teenage girl better than I do.
I’m standing near the stove making scrambled eggs. They used to be Beth’s favorite as a child and even though she says she hates eggs now, I have a hard time believing it. I guess this is a test. For me. For her. If she rejects the eggs, I also made enough toast, sausages and bacon to fill her up and I’ll know not to make eggs anymore. If she eats the eggs, then maybe, just maybe, it’ll mean Elisabeth is willing to start working to build a relationship with me, too.
Beth takes a seat at the kitchen island, at the place setting I made for her. Next to her plate and glass of orange juice