Eli's Past

NOTE:  This is the draft of a scene from a larger work in progress - "Fix You."  This particular scene is in Averlyn's perspective.

The last time I was in Sacramento was when I first met Eli’s family.  I was obviously the focus of the entire weekend – everyone wanted to get to know me.  This time, the atmosphere was different.  It was still happy and welcoming, but… I was part of the family now.  That’s what was different.  I felt completely surrounded in love. 

I was also surrounded by Eli’s arms.  Apparently, the ring on my finger warranted Eli and I sleeping in the same bed under the Warner’s roof.  It made me so happy to be able to sleep against his warm body.  When his lips pressed against my shoulder, the clock said 8:41.

“Are you awake?”  Eli whispered. 

I shifted in his arms so that I could face him.  “Good morning.” 

He smiled and kissed my lips.  “I’m going for a run.  I should only be gone for a half hour or so.  And if you want, I can take you around town, show you were I grew up.”

I grinned.  “I would like that.”

“Okay.”  As he climbed out of bed and reached to pull on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, his green eyes never left mine.  “I’ll be right back.  I promise.” 

“What am I supposed to do without you?”  I teased, throwing a pillow at him.

Eli caught the pillow with a chuckle and replaced it on the bed, hovering over me.  He tenderly kissed my lips.  “I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

Before he could pull away, I tangled my fingers in his hair.  “I love you.”

Eli’s teasing smile slowly faded, replaced by a more serious expression.  With the back of his hand, he stroked my cheek.  “Are you happy?”  he asked me.

I didn’t even have to think about it.  “I… have never been happier… in my entire life.”  With the pad of my thumb, I smoothed the little creases that made residence on either side of his grin.  I loved those little lines…

“I love you, Averlyn.”  He pressed his lips to my forehead, his touch so gentle.  “I promise, I won’t be long.”

Mariann didn’t believe in nannies or cooks or maids.  She prefered to raise her own children, cook her own food, and clean her own home.  The entire family tended to pitch in when it came to that, though Randy insisted that since their home was so large, once a month they have a cleaning crew come in and intensive clean everything, so that all was fresh. 

When I walked down the staircase, Mariann was just setting breakfast onto the bar for Abigail and Levi.  She smiled up at me.  “Good morning.  Have a seat, sweetheart, and I’ll make you a plate.”

Mariann held a special place in my heart.  All my life, I spent so much energy upset that Clarissa wasn’t the mother I wished to have, then lo and behold, I’m about to marry into the perfect family.  Perfect to me.

“Where is everyone?”  I asked, taking a seat beside Levi.  Abigail wasn’t exactly the most fond of me, but then again, she treated everyone else in the same angsty manner.

“Randy’s off at work.  Eli and Greg went for a run.  Cate had a doctor’s appointment.”

I nodded and happily received my plate.  “How far did you get last night, Mariann?”

By the time Eli and I went off to bed, Mariann was thick in writing her latest book.  It was nearly midnight, and her fingers were flying across the keyboard like fire.  “I made it to chapter fourteen.  I think this is coming along well.  Jean will be pleased.”  Jean was her agent. 

“Averlyn,” Levi said.  “You were in my dream last night.  Do you want to hear about it?” 

I smiled after chewing on a bit of bacon.  “Sure, tell me all about it.”  Levi didn’t speak much, but I’d been told he was very fond of me.  He was the cutest fifteen year old boy.  Then again, I was biased.

“It was this crazy adventure.  You and I, we were on a boat, searching for Eli in the water.  Except, he wasn’t swimming or drowning or anything.  He was just sitting on this rock in the middle of the ocean.  He was so happy when we found him, but when he made it onto the boat, you were upset because his blue shoes turned green.  Eli said that it wasn’t a problem and we sailed our boat right onto this island.  There was nothing on the island at all, which was really weird and there was nothing to explore but sand.  And then you found this mysterious trap door smack dab in the middle of the island…”

Abigail just rolled her eyes as Levi drolled on.  Mariann had the biggest smile on her face.  Levi never talked this much, so I’ve been told.  Levi was the first sibling Eli told when we became engaged and he said that when he asked what he thought about that, Levi replied that he was excited to have me as a sister.  It warmed my heart that this little guy could love me so much.

Eli winked at me as both he and Greg came in through the back door, drenched in sweat.  Eli grabbed a water bottle from the refrigerator and tossed one to Greg as well.  “I’ll set breakfast out for you both by the time you’re showered,”  Mariann said.

Considering this was only the second time I had been in the house, I still wasn’t used to its vastness.  The Warners lived off Estates Drive on Mystic Lane in Sacramento.  They owned a three million dollar, six bed and six bath, two-story Mediterranean.  It was the only home on the street with stucco exterior and it was incredibly beautiful. 

I was chatting with Mariann when both Eli and Greg came down the stairs, smelling fresh and clean, to the kitchen.  Eli wrapped his arms around to me to give me a quick squeeze before he took Levi’s chair and started eating breakfast.  Both Levi and Abigail had left the house already – Levi went up to his room to work on homework and Abigail got picked up by some friends for a shopping date. 

Eli glanced at the clock on the wall.  “We’ll leave in twenty minutes?” he asked me.

I nodded with a grin.  “Sounds good to me.”

Mariann leaned against the counter.  “Where are you headed?”

Eli had his mouth full, so I answered.  “Eli is going to tour me around the city, show me where he grew up.  We’re going to start at his high school.”

“Oh.  Will the school be open on the weekend?”  she asked.

Eli nodded.  “Most Saturdays, they have practices and meets, so the school will be unlocked.  The security guard will let me in.  Herb knows me.”

+++++

“Welcome to Rio, home of the Raiders,”  Eli muttered as he pulled his Highlander into an empty parking space between a Ford Mustang and a Honda Fit.  “Mom had bad experiences with private schooling and she vowed never to subject her own children to the institution.  I guess it helps that Dad enjoyed his public high school years, so we came here.”

“Did you enjoy your high school years?” I asked.

Eli nodded.  “I have nothing to complain about.”  He opened the front doors to Rio’s lobby, allowing me in first.  He just stood in the middle of the lobby as I wandered toward the cases of awards and trophies. 

I glanced back at him with a smile.  “Are you in here?”  I asked.

He shrugged with a grin.  “Maybe.  Greg’s more likely to be in there.”

I leaned as close as I could without touching the glass.  It looked as if it had just been cleaned, spotless.  I didn’t want my smudgy fingerprints all over it.  My eyes scanned the trophies and medals and certificates.  Warner.  Sure enough, there was Greg’s name etched on a trophy.  Then a few trophies down, Eli’s name.  I glanced back with a big smile.  “You’re in here.”

He slowly walked closer and stood behind me, taking my hands into his.  I felt his lips against my shoulder as I stared through the glass.  “You were quite the athlete,” I commented.  Eli had various awards.

“Mmm.”  Eli rested his chin against my shoulder.  “Just cross country stuff.  Nothing notable.”

I writhed my hands free and reached behind to pull him against my back.  “Don’t be modest.  You were amazing, admit it.”

“Eli?”  The female voice came from the entrance.  Both Eli and I turned our heads.  I didn’t know who she was, but all I could help to think was that she was very beautiful.  She had auburn hair in thick waves and bright gray eyes.  Her fair skin seemed flawless.  She looked like an actress.  When Eli had turned, her lips spread into a big smile.  “Wow… what do you know?”

I looked at Eli for his reaction.  He gave a grin, but I couldn’t detect anything behind it.  “Rachel… how are you?”  He started walking toward her.  I stayed put, unsure of what to do.  Eli held onto my hand, not letting go, and when he realized I wasn’t moving, he glanced back with a look that said, “It’s okay.”  He nodded me along.

So I followed closely behind him.  Who is she?  I asked silently.

“It has… been forever.”  Rachel reached for a hug.  Eli made it brief.

“I thought you hated Sacramento,”  Eli said warmly.  They apparently knew each other quite well, at least at some point in time.

Rachel shrugged, a guilty grin playing about her lips.  “Yeah, I always said that, didn’t I?  I always thought  that the first chance I got, I would get my ticket out of this place, then I ran into Hubbard a few months ago…”

“Coach?”  Eli asked.  “How’s he doing?”

“Good, good.”  Rachel nodded.  “Anyway, I’m coaching girls’ volleyball now.  What are you doing here?”

Eli tugged me forward, his arm wrapping around my waist.  “Well, I was showing my fiancee around.  Averlyn, this is Rachel.  Rachel, Averlyn…”

I reached for her hand with the most polite of smiles.  For some reason, I was nervous.  “Nice to meet you, Rachel.”

“Averlyn… what a pretty name.”  She returned the polite smile.  “It’s great to meet you.  Lucky girl.”  Rachel glanced at Eli.  “Everyone must be dying to meet the girl who snagged this one.” 

“Rachel and I were friends here at Rio,” Eli explained.  Was it just me, or was there particular strain on the word friend? 

“Well, I’d love to stay and chat, but my girls are waiting out in the parking lot.  I was just on my way to get some equipment.”  Rachel turned to Eli.  “It was great seeing you.  Maybe we’ll meet up and talk some more, huh?” 

“Call the house, we’ll see what we can’t do…”  It was an awkward answer, I could tell.  I sensed he really had no desire to see Rachel again.  “Good to see you again, Rachel.”

She smiled in response.  “Likewise.”  Rachel turned her attention to me.  “Nice to meet you.” 

I just grinned and nodded. 

We spent about fifteen minutes walking through the halls that Eli frequented for four years.  We didn’t talk about Rachel.  I didn’t want to bring anything up knowing that she could pop out at any moment.  We kept the conversation light and happy.  I teased Eli about a picture from freshman year that had made it onto one of the school walls.  I held onto his arm, pressing my cheek against his shoulder. 

In the car, I tried to sound as curious as possible without seeming accusatory.  “Did you and Rachel date at one point?”  I shifted my eyes back and forth, as if really interested in my surroundings, less interested in his answer.

One thing about Eli – he was an awful liar and kept honest because of it.

“We dated most of our junior year,” he replied, keeping his eyes on the road.

I laced my fingers in his to be reassuring.  “She’s really pretty,” I said.

“Nothing compared to you.”  Eli brought my hand to his lips.

His compliments always made me blush and grin.  I couldn’t help it.  “Why did you break up?  Rachel seems so… perfect.”  I asked.  My curiosity was getting the better of me.

Eli chuckled.  “You’re too funny, Averlyn.  No one is perfect.”

“Very true.”  Was he avoiding my question?  I didn’t say anything else, but I sensed Eli knew I was waiting for an answer to my original question.

“Rachel… was wasteful.  I guess that’s the best way to say it.  Sure, she was charming and intelligent, energetic.  But… she complained a lot.  Her complaints were unwarranted.  If Rachel had any zeal at all, she would have nothing to complain about.  She let so many opportunities pass her by because she was picky.  I couldn’t stand it, really.”  Eli tapped the turn signal.

“So you dumped her?”

Eli nodded.  “Yeah, pretty much.” 

“Was it a clean break?”  I asked.  I was surprised at my own questions, they just kept coming.

“It was upsetting for a while.  We were each other’s first real relationship.  Of course, Rachel was more upset about it than I was, but I did spent a significant portion of my time with her.  I wasn’t unaffected.  She just… wasn’t who I thought she was.”  His green eyes glanced at me and his lips offered a grin.  “You don’t have to worry about Rachel, Averlyn.  There’s no competition, I promise.”

I leaned toward him.  “I wasn’t worried… just curious.”  I pondered what had been said for the past few minutes.  “You know… you said that about Lillian, too.”

“What did I say?”  I thought I saw Eli wince when I mentioned her name.  I hated to do that, but… we had to talk about it.

“You said that she wasn’t who you thought she was.  Am I who you thought I would be?”  The question sounded funny to me and I hoped it made sense.  I stared at him, awaiting an answer.  Eli tapped his turn signal to the right and we pulled into the parking lot of a drugstore.  He put the Highlander in park and shut the car off.  “Um… what are we doing here?”  I asked, looking around.  Had Eli mentioned stopping by the drugstore for anything?

“I’m answering your question,” he replied, unbuckling his seatbelt and turning toward me.  His green eyes searched my face.  “I wanted to look at you when I answered your question.”  Eli’s lips spread into the familiar grin I loved so much.  He had the most kissable lips.  “And I certainly can’t do that driving, can I?”

I was immediately hypnotized.  “No… no, you really shouldn’t.”

Eli chuckled.  “I’m a lot better judge of character these days than I used to be,” he said, looking down at our fingers intertwined.  “It took a lot of mistakes.  Sometimes we have to make mistakes to learn our lesson.  I should have known better with Lillian, after Rachel… but Lillian was a whole different kind of deception.  And I got hurt.  I wasn’t going to let it happen again.”  His thumb brushed over the back of my hand.  “I admit that initially, I had my doubts about you.  Both Rachel and Lillian had planted this… distrust inside me.  I didn’t like it.  I wanted to trust you completely.  For one, you were pushing me away.  That was an indicator right there.” 

My seatbelt was straining against my chest.  I reached down with my free had to unbuckle it, freeing myself.  I leaned forward, closer to him. 

“And then I realized that you didn’t trust me and I thought, in some twisted way, that was hilarious.”  His green eyes glanced up toward me.  “I like to think of myself as an incredibly  trustworthy person.  And I decided that if I wanted you to trust me… I had to trust you.  As reluctant as I was to give you all my trust, I did it.”  Eli leaned closer to press a soft kiss to my forehead.  “You’re more than I expected, Averlyn,” he murmured against my skin.  Eli pulled away, reaching up to frame my face in his hands.  “I never expected that, as a junior in physics class, I was sitting next to my future.  I never expected that I could be so lucky to find the love of my life so soon.”