Page 35 of Unbroken (Poplar Springs #2)

THIRTY-THREE

FIONA

“ W hat’s got you in such a grumpy mood?” I whispered in Eli’s ear. I couldn’t help but relish the warm, spicy scent I caught as I leaned closer to him.

We were waiting in line at the Bite and Brew with Patrick, and Eli was barely talking to me, answering questions only in monosyllables.

He’d been quiet all day at the ranch too, but we didn’t have any rides on the books, so he’d kept himself busy in the back fields, helping Josh with a fence repair.

I’d been surprised when he’d invited me to join him and Patrick for dinner but was happy to accept, grumpiness or not.

I loved spending time with the two of them, and I loved the restaurant, which rivaled some of the better places I’d eaten at in Denver.

“Nothing.” He shook his head. “I’m fine.”

“Liar,” I said, locking eyes with him. “Tell me.”

Patrick wandered away to the massive glass-front dessert display, giving us a few seconds of privacy. Eli glanced around the other waiting patrons and seemed to determine that none of them were eavesdropping on him.

“I had an argument with my dad last night. Talked to him about Patrick’s stomachaches.”

Suddenly his sour mood made sense. I could only imagine how heated the conversation must have gotten.

“How’d he take it?” I asked, frowning.

“He disagreed that he was at fault, of course, but he agreed to stop harassing Patrick about needing to be perfect, so that’s a start. Assuming it sticks.”

It looked like Eli was about to say something else, but he stopped talking abruptly when the hostess came over to tell us there was a table ready for us.

Twenty minutes later, we were up to our elbows in amazing appetizers while Patrick regaled us with stories about the frogs he’d found while at his grandmother’s house that day.

I looked around the table and tried to focus on the happiness beaming from Patrick, because his father’s smiles seemed forced.

He’d said the conversation with his father went okay, so why did it seem as though he was still under a black cloud?

I glanced around the room and noticed that people were watching us.

But of course they were! Even though it had been several weeks since word about our relationship had gotten out, the gossips were still in full swing.

It’d be a while yet before talk moved on to other matters.

If it was still before times, before we’d given in to the powerful attraction between us, I would’ve amped up the show for the room.

Laughed a little louder and touched Eli a little more frequently.

But now, in the sensitive after times when we both knew what happened when our bodies connected, I felt a little unsure of how to act around him. Especially with him in such a funk.

“Grandma said we can raise tadpoles!” Patrick exclaimed in a loud voice, causing me to focus on his stream of consciousness chatter again.

“How fun, monkey,” I replied. “Soon enough, you’ll have frogs hopping around.”

Patrick reached for another mozzarella stick and froze with his arm outstretched, his eyes wide and staring ahead. I turned to see what he was looking at and saw none other than Samuel Carter striding toward us, his fake pastor smile plastered on his face.

“Incoming,” I said softly to Eli, flicking my chin toward the approaching drama. I watched Eli register what was about to happen and saw his face harden.

“Well, hello there, family!” Samuel boomed so that the entire restaurant could hear. “Isn’t this a wonderful surprise?”

Samuel looked around the table expectantly, as if he were waiting for us to match his level of enthusiasm, but Patrick had shrunk in his seat and was staring at his feet, while Eli glowered at the man silently.

I realized that if we wanted to avoid making a scene and generating the next topic of gossip right here and now, it was up to me to carry the conversation. We were now the center of attention.

“Nice to see you, Mr. Carter,” I offered with a convincing smile.

“And you,” he replied in a tone that sounded far from sincere. “You’re looking lovely, as usual, Miss Cafferty.” He turned to Patrick. “And how’s my clever grandson doing? You filling up on appetizers so you won’t have enough room for your meal?”

“He can eat what he wants to eat,” Eli said in a strained voice that didn’t match the cold fury on this face .

“Is that how it works these days?” Samuel shook his head and smiled. “Times sure have changed. Back when I was a boy, you had to clean your plate, but I guess that’s old-fashioned now.”

I noticed that Patrick had shrunk even lower in his chair. I reached out and clasped his knee. “This kid is growing like a weed, and he’s always hungry! Right, monkey?”

Patrick nodded but didn’t look up.

Samuel turned his attention back to me. “You’ve been spending quite a bit of time with these two. Like a barnacle on a boat!” He laughed, but it didn’t take the sting from his words. “Can’t get rid of you.”

“Dad …” Eli said through gritted teeth.

“I’m just joking around, ‘barnacle’ isn’t accurate. Miss Cafferty is far too pretty to be a barnacle.” He paused and appraised me through narrowed eyes. “You’re natural. Not like Charlotte. That woman wore more makeup than a clown!”

Patrick’s eyes went wide, and he looked between Eli and me to see how we’d react.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Eli glowered. “Charlotte is Patrick’s mother and he loves her very much. You will not disparage her in front of him—or me. She’s a phenomenal woman and doesn’t deserve your scorn.”

I tried to keep my reaction in check. Phenomenal?

Either Eli was laying it on thick or I’d misjudged how he felt about his ex.

Did he still have lingering feelings for Charlotte, despite everything he’d told me about their breakup?

It would explain why he’d felt distant lately.

I wanted to make our fake relationship feel more real now that everything had changed between us, but Eli seemed reluctant to open up to me.

Maybe the real reason behind that was that he wasn’t truly ready to move on .

“She’s a great mom,” I offered, shooting a comforting smile at Patrick. I realized that I needed to redirect the conversation, stat. Letting Samuel choose the topics of conversation was only leading us further into murky waters. “So what brings you to the Bite and Brew tonight, Mr. Carter?”

“Please, call me Samuel,” he corrected. “I’m here with that lovely couple in the booth in the corner. I’m officiating their wedding, and we’re taking care of some planning.”

“Oh, how wonderful,” I answered, craning my neck to try to see them. “I hope they’re on solid ground so they can get through whatever gauntlet you have planned for them.”

Samuel looked confused, unsure if I’d given him a compliment or an insult. “Yes, uh, premarital counseling can be challenging.”

I nodded my head as if I agreed. “True, true. Well, hopefully their relationship is up for whatever you plan to throw at them.” I tilted my head and aimed for my best innocent smile.

“Uh, right. Anyway, I should get back to them.”

“Yup, good,” Eli said, staring at his father as he bit down on a French fry. “Later.”

“Nice to see you,” he replied, oblivious to Eli’s curt dismissal. “And hey, champ?” Samuel leaned down to try to catch Patrick’s eye. “I hope we can have a special day together soon. Would you like that?”

Patrick seemed to shake where he sat and I wanted to shove Samuel as far away from him as I could.

“Yeah, I think you already know the answer to that,” Eli said. “Bye now.” He waved in an exaggerated way, to drive home the point that his father was no longer welcome at our table .

Once he was gone, Patrick seemed to come out of his shell again a little. Enough to talk, at least, even if the energy and enthusiasm from earlier was gone.

“Daddy, I don’t want to be with Grandpa,” he said in a quiet voice, fiddling with the food in front of him. “Don’t make me.”

“Oh, bud, never. If you don’t want to hang out with him, then you do not have to.”

“Promise?” He said it so quietly, it was all I could do to keep from tearing up.

Eli reached over and gave Patrick’s shoulder a squeeze.

“I promise.” The pair shared a moment of connection, smiling at each other.

I could tell that they’d already had a long conversation about the things Samuel had said about needing to be the best. Even though Eli had grown up in a toxic environment, it hadn’t shaped him as a father.

He was a wonderfully devoted and demonstrative parent, and watching it in action made me feel warm inside.

“What?” Eli demanded.

He’d caught me watching them.

“Nothing! I was thinking about those tadpoles, that’s all. And wondering if our entrees are ever going to come. Who’s hungry?”

“Me!” Patrick yelled, raising both hands in the air.

Eli laughed and seemed to lighten a little.

“And who’s still going to have room for dessert after they clear their plates?” I asked.

“Me!” Patrick cheered when Eli said it in unison with him.

I raised my hand. “Me too. ”

We laughed together, and the tension of the exchange with Eli’s father seemed to dissipate. It felt so natural to be with them, so effortless. Eli had to feel it too. There was no way to ignore the connection we had.

So why did it feel like he was putting up walls with me?

Patrick started coloring on his placemat and singing to himself, so I took the opportunity to check in with Eli.

“Are you okay?” I asked softly.

Eli’s mouth drew into a frown, and he stared at the tabletop for a minute. I could tell that the conversation with his father still had him rattled. It didn’t matter that he was a grown man with a son of his own, a small part of him would always be the boy under his father’s thumb.

“Yeah, I am.” He glanced at Patrick. “Did you see how he reacted?”

I nodded. “I did. I think it’s going to take a while before things shift between them. But there’s hope, right? People change.” Obviously not everyone did and given that Samuel kept his head in the sand with his own family problems, I wasn’t holding out hope, but that didn’t mean Eli couldn’t.

Eli chuckled. “I sure hope so.”

He glanced up at me, then looked away quickly.

“Are you sure nothing is wrong?” I probed. Patrick was fully engrossed in his coloring, so it felt safe to push Eli a little. “You don’t seem like you.”

He shifted in his chair. “Yep, just got a lot going on, and the stuff with him didn’t help.” He jerked his head toward where his father was seated, pretending to ignore us all while he kept glancing our way.

I wanted to ask if we were okay since everything felt so strange between us, but the waitress reappeared with our meals .

We ate in silence until Eli’s phone started dancing around the middle of the table.

“Daddy, your phone,” Patrick said with a full mouth. “But you can’t be on it at dinner. That’s what you told me.”

“You’re right, bud.” He reached out to silence the alert and paused to look at the screen. “Okay, now hold on a second.”

I watched him smile and wondered what was up.

“What is it, Daddy?” Patrick asked.

“Nothing,” Eli replied, still smiling. “Your daddy just got some good news, that’s all.”

Patrick went back to eating and I mouthed “ What ?” at Eli.

“Half Moon,” he replied. “It’s time for next steps, if you know what I mean.”

The job. He’d must have gotten to the interview stage, which meant the job was as good as his.

I knew exactly what happened when people met him for the first time: women swooned and men wanted to be his best friend.

There was something about his calm aura and good looks that made everyone like him, and once they heard about his ranching experience and his success kicking off the trail program firsthand, he’d be a shoo-in anywhere he applied.

Eli was practically glowing as he shoveled cheesy cauliflower into his mouth.

He was clearly excited about the opportunity, ready to move on and start over.

And given how his father had gone out of his way to be an ass—in public—tonight, I could understand his desire to see Poplar Springs from his rearview mirror.

So where did that leave us?

I needed to prepare myself for the inevitable and protect my heart.

I wasn’t ready to cut things off, but I certainly wasn’t going to invest too much of myself into a relationship that clearly had an expiration date.

Seeing how happy he was to be leaving was enough to convince me that no matter how good being with Eli was, and how right it felt to be a part of his world with Patrick, it was only temporary.

He was leaving without me.