Page 69 of Elijah's Hope

“Coffee black is fine.”

I smiled. “That’s the first order for plain, black coffee I’ve had all day. I don’t even need my pad for that one. What about your son? Is he a black coffee drinker, too? I can just bring over both mugs now.”

Her smile faded a bit then. “The sad truth is I don’t know how he takes his coffee. You see, we’ve recently been reunited.”

“Oh. Well, I suppose, then, it’s a good thing you’ll get to know each other all over again.”

“I hope so. Right now, he’s been sad. You see, he fell in love with this woman, but he messed it all up. Now she thinks he could never really want her, and he doesn’t know how to convince her otherwise.”

I swallowed hard and tried not to think about how similar that felt to my own story. Every day since I had told Eli to go, I wondered if I had made the biggest mistake of my life. And every day, I wondered if he would do what he said and come back.

Not that I should expect that. Not if he realized I was right. And my past wasn’t something he could get over.

“Well,” I said, trying to maintain a level of cheeriness. “I hope it works out for him. I really do. Someone should get a happily-ever-after ending.”

“I think so, too. And I also hope it works out between them, because I learned that this woman was actually the one who encouraged him to reach out to me. I would like to thank her for bringing him back into my life.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that, especially as she was looking at me like she was in on a secret I didn’t know about. I heard the door behind me open again.

“Speak of the devil,” she said.

I turned around and gasped.

“Eli,” I whispered. “You came back. Again.”

He had a determined look as he approached us. Like he had something to say and wasn’t going to be stopped and this time I wasn’t sure I could push him away again.

Then I glanced at the dark-haired lady at the table who was smiling like she had just gone and eaten the canary.

Wait. Her son.

“Shelby Whitmore, this is my mother, Maria Martinez. Mom, this is Shelby.”

“She’s as lovely as you said, Elijah. Now, I think I’ll just walk around the corner and get my black coffee from that fast food place and leave you two to work this out. Come find me when you’re done fixing this, Elijah.” She turned to me and took my hand. “Shelby, I meant what I said. I do thank you very much. And I think you deserve your own happily-every-after ending.”

She left, and I was too stunned to tell her that the coffee at that other place was dreck compared to what we served.

“That was your momma,” I said, unbelieving what was happening.

“Yeah. I had to make things right with her before I could come back and do that with you. Because that was the thing you said to me that really hurt. That I wanted someone who was the opposite of my mother. The truth was I had always admired how strong she was. How life had tried to beat her down, but she kept getting back up on her terms. Even if I didn’t like what those terms were. So Shelby, if you’re like my mom, then hell, that’s just another reason to love you.”

I gasped again and could feel my heart pounding out of my chest. Then he reached for my right hand, the one I wore my angel on, and smiled. “How is that pushing-me-out-of-your-heart stuff working out for you?”

I glanced at my silver angel, the one I was never going to let go of. “Not so great. Seems you’re a bit stuck in there.”

He cupped my cheek in his palm. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re stuck in mine, too. And I like that. Can you believe I mean that?”

“Yes,” I said. Because I’d just met the mother he thought he couldn’t have a relationship with. The man who would do that, who could see who she really was beyond the surface, could see who I really was, too.

“Good. Then we’re going to go on another date,” he said.

“Really.” I smiled. “Where to his time?”

“Anywhere, but here’s the catch. We have to take my mom.”

We both laughed then he hugged me, and I thought I was never letting go. Ever. “Eli Martinez, I would be happy to go out on a date with you and your mother.”

“I love you, Shelby,” he said roughly in my ear. “I had no idea what the hell I was going to get when you walked off that plane. But I got you, and you are all I want.”

I beamed up at him. “Looks like miracles happen after all.”

* * *