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“Not anymore?”

Flora grabbed a glass down and got herself some water. “She has Elly now. She’s always had me. She has you. She has mom and dad. You’re her dad and you want to protect her. Other people will protect her too.” I told Flora everything that happened and how Elly said she yelled at that mom. “That’s what I’m saying, Dean. Elly punked that mom like Ada was her own daughter. That’s special.”

“I need to go find her. I don’t wanna wait ‘til next week and let this be the thing either of us is thinking about all weekend.”

“You’re assuming she’s thinking about your punk ass at all.”

“Shut up, Flo. I’ll be back. Ada shouldn’t wake up unless she has a bathroom accident, but she’s been doing great since Elly started.”

“Of course she has! Elly is amazing. Go fix your shit.”

Rolling my eyes, I yelled bye and ran to get in my truck. I drove to Elly’s place and rang the bell to her apartment, but she never answered. Her car was parked in the lot, so she had to be home. Maybe she went out and didn’t take her car, I thought. Driving around the neighborhood a bit, I passed some of the stores on the main street and glanced inside shops but didn’t see her.

There weren’t many people out so she would be easy to spot if she were walking. Rounding a corner, I noticed a group of people outside a bar, but there was a woman against the wall and a man yelling in her face. Slowing down to a crawl, I realized it was Elly. My anger ignited until a fuse blew. I pulled up to them so fast, when I hit my brakes, the tires squealed to a stop. TJ and Elly stared at me, wide-eyed. Elly seemed confused and asked, “Dean?” There was relief in her voice, which made me furious, wondering what would’ve happened to her if I hadn’t shown up.

My eyes shot to TJ before I said, “I distinctly remember telling you to keep your fucking hands off her. She’s not yours anymore. Do you remember that?” Walking up to him, he let Elly go and turned to face me.

“Oh, and what? She’s yours?”

Without looking at her, I said, “Elly, get in the truck, please.” When Elly went to move, TJ grabbed her arm again. I warned him, “Let her go…”

“Or what?”

Elly spoke up, “TJ, you’re drunk. Let me go. Go home before you do something you’ll regret.”

TJ looked at her, then back at me. “Fine… whatever. She doesn’t put out, so good luck with her. You’ll be waiting on her to be ready forever.”

Elly gasped and when TJ let go, she ran to the truck. “This is the last time you’ll ever touch her again.”

“Is that some sort of threat?”

Getting in his face, I said, “It’s not a threat. It’s a promise. I’ll break every fucking bone in your body without thinking twice. And no one will miss you. In fact, I’m willing to bet there’s a whole town of people who will be happy your woman abusing shit for brains ass is out of commission, for good.” The look in TJ’s eyes told me that he knew it was true. He sheepishly stood there in silence. Usually, guys like him are all talk when it comes down to it. His face was turning a bit pale.

Leaving that numb nuts standing there, I turned and went to the truck. When I got in, Elly was staring out the window. She didn’t say anything. “Elly, are you okay?”

“Fine. I don’t want to go home though.”

Nodding, I said, “I know a place we can go to reset.”

Chapter 13

Dean

I pulled the truck up to a spot close to the waterfalls so we could walk to them and get some fresh air. It was the only idea I had, and I didn’t know if it was a good one. The Falls are where people go to clear their heads in nature, or hookup, and I hoped she didn’t get the wrong impression.

Elly snapped me out of my thoughts. “You’re not going to murder me in the woods, right? Like being a single dad isn’t some sort of cover up and you actually moonlight as the Falls kidnapper?”

I laughed and asked, “Have you been here before?”

“You didn’t answer the question,” she said calmy.

Giving her an incredulous look, I said, “Seriously? No. I’m not a single dad moonlighting as a midnight murderer.” It was quiet for a moment, so I said, “I just thought…after all of that, you might want to go somewhere quiet to decompress.”

She glanced over at me and nodded. “Thanks, Dean.” We got out of the car and took the small path that led to the waterfalls. The woods were speckled with fall colors. Even though it was night, the wind rustling through the leaves with the moon shining down was comforting. We finally reached the clearing to see the waterfalls. “Wow,” Elly said in a whisper.

“Pretty incredible, huh?” I was still curious, so I asked, “Have you ever been here at night?”

She quietly replied, “I haven’t. I only came once with some friends.”