Chapter Thirty
Monday, March 26th
The alarm brought Eleanor out of a deep sleep. She sat up but wanted to lie down again. Her head pounded. She couldn’t breathe through her nose, and her throat felt raw.
After dragging herself from bed, she turned her shower on high to create some steam and sat on the toilet. Her period flowed heavily. “Ellie, you’re doomed today.”
Her cheekbones hurt from the sinus pain. Cleaning herself up, she climbed under the hot spray and let it beat down on her. After a few minutes, her head cleared.
She climbed out of the shower and cursed. She’d forgotten to prevent her dressings from getting wet. “Shit.” The dressings were soaked and easily pulled free from her skin. She patted the wounds dry and got dressed.
A knock on the door made her jump. She checked the peephole to see Gwen standing there with two containers of coffee.
“Morning,” Gwen crunched her brows, “you alright?”
“No. I’m a hot mess,” Eleanor confessed and explained her morning.
“C’mon, we can stop at the clinic. They’ll redress your wound and get you some Tylenol and a decongestant for your head. Then, you’ll eat something.”
“Gwen, are you always this organized and protective?”
Gwen looked up to her left. Something about the question bothered her. “It’s my job. C’mon.”
Eleanor was sitting with Gwen in the cafeteria, freshly bandaged and drugged with sinus meds, when Wes entered with his staff, Kieran, Kip, a man with salt-and-pepper hair, and Lance Starr. The second she made eye contact with him, he hung his jacket on the back of a chair and walked toward her.
Gwen stood and put herself between Eleanor and Lance. “May I help you?” Gwen asked.
“No, I’m going to sit and have a chat with Ellie,” he said.
Gwen held her ground. “Ellie, this man wants to sit with us. You good?”
“Gwen, this is Lance. We go back a few years.”
Gwen stepped to the side to let Lance sit at their table. “You can go. Ellie and I need to talk,” he said.
Eleanor watched as Gwen looked toward the table where Wes’s group was sitting. Kieran Chase was the one who gave a quick shake of his head.
“I’m sorry, sir, but I need to be here,” Gwen said sweetly.
“Fine. What’s one more?” He sat and turned to Ellie. “How are you, kiddo?”
“As good as I can be, considering,” she answered.
He swiped his face. “We need to take that trip.”
There it was. He wanted her to leave. And leaving meant she’d have to give up everything: her home, her career, the Center and Wes. She’d refused before, and Witsec made her an accommodation. She doubted they’d make another.
Eleanor chewed her lip. She looked across the room at Wes, who placed his right palm over his heart. His expression gutted her.
“I will always be grateful for the Wests taking scarred and frightened teenagers into their home. But think about it. It wasn’t until I went to college that I had friends they didn’t research or push away. God forbid I look at a boy. They made me think something was wrong with me, something I needed to overcome. Were they afraid they’d look at my scars and push for the answers they told me never to discuss? I lived a life built on secrets and lies. And then you came. Did you support me as I figured my life out? No, you never let me get my feet underneath me. And then…Lindy and I…”
Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m thirty, and Wes Crockett was my first kiss. He was the first man I went to bed with. And when I showed him those scars, he wanted to know, if he touched them, would it hurt me? He was kind and gentle.”Was it real?“I am so mixed up. I can’t figure out what I’m feeling. I spend every workday helping other people sort their feelings. But certain things became crystal clear to me today.”I’m falling for him.
“Ellie, that’s not all true. Everything I did was to keep you safe,” Lance insisted.
Wes said that too.“Safety at what price?” She held her head between her hands.
Aaron Bain ran into the cafeteria, heading toward Eleanor like a charging bull. Gwen pulled her weapon from her hip, and as she raised it, Bain blurted out, “Ellie, it’s Mr. Pruet. He decked his companion and ran into the corral. He has a knife.”
