Scoffing, Eli dug her toe into the ground and dragged Bridget farther down the outside wall of the building and away from prying eyes. “We have been through this. We know why it ended.”
“Yeah.” Bridget moved to stare directly up at Eli. “But what if it didn’t?”
“Where is this even coming from? Two years is a long time to just suddenly up and change your mind.”
“My mind?” Bridget’s voice rose.
Eli shushed her. “Yes, your mind. My mind’s been made up for quite some time.”
Bridget rubbed her lips together, and then suddenly, she stepped forward, her hands coming out to grasp Eli’s, twining their fingers together. “I still love you.”
Eli’s heart stuttered. Did she still love Bridget? Yes. Would she always? Probably. But that didn’t mean they should be together or that it was in any way a good idea for them to start back where they left off. They left off for good reasons.
“I’m not doing this.”
“Because you have someone new?” Anger laced Bridget’s voice.
“Excuse me? Is that what this is all about? You’re jealous? Let me remind you, Bridget, you broke up with me. You refused me, and you did it in a spectacular fashion, so don’t come here thinking that I have moved on with my life just to try to get you back. I don’t want you anymore.”
“They why do you still look at me like that?”
“Like what?” Exasperation filled Eli’s chest. This was what she had hated about dating her. The twisted words and comments, the assumptions. They’d grown up together, and Eli should have been smart enough to remember elementary school. Bridget hadn’t changed at all.
“Like you want to kiss me.”
“Holy shit. I do not, under any circumstances, want to kiss you.”
“You sure about that?” Bridget stepped closer, and Eli realized all too late their hands were still entwined. She tried to move away, but her foot caught on something. She looked down to see what it was, and when her gaze moved back up, Bridget was there, their lips mashed together, a hand sliding behind Eli’s neck and holding her still.
“Eli?” Sarah’s voice was a welcome relief.
Eli pulled as far away from Bridget as she could get, and when Eli turned fully to face Sarah, all she felt was complete calm and ease. Sarah raised an eyebrow in their direction.
“That round’s over.”
“Already?” Eli asked as she stepped away from Bridget and down the sidewalk toward Sarah.
“Yeah.”
Eli wanted to reach her hand out to grasp Sarah’s, to take it and have some kind of human contact that wasn’t manipulative, that wasn’t dangerous, but was calm and soothing and would center her. She’d have to figure out why she thought of Sarah that way later, but for now, being closer to Sarah would have to do. Sarah, instead of opening the door and going inside, stopped when Eli reached her.
“You ready to go?” Sarah asked.
“Yes.” Eli let out a sigh, all the tension in her shoulders vanishing. “Let’s go.”
When they got into the truck, Eli turned the lights on and sighed, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose. She wasn’t quite sure what to say to Sarah, if anything, for the rescue. When Sarah remained quiet, Eli pulled out of the makeshift grass parking lot with a curt “Thanks” on her lips before heading toward the highway. The rest of the drive was made in silence.
Chapter 12
Sarah hadn’t talkedEli since they’d gotten back from the bingo game last night, and surprisingly, Eli had remained utterly silent for the entire drive to the house. Eli wasn’t always the biggest talker, but it was rare they were in complete silence. She usually shared a story or two about the houses and farms they passed.
Eli had gone out early that morning with the sunrise, and Sarah hadn’t seen her since. She also hadn’t slept much since then. The image of Bridget pressed up against Eli—who was obviously uncomfortable stuck between the woman she’d been avoiding and the building itself—would not escape her mind.
She had seen how tense Eli had become within an instant of seeing Bridget, felt how she’d morphed almost entirely into someone else. When Bridget had beckoned Eli over and Eli hadn’t even hesitated at the silent communication, the pit of Sarah’s stomach had done something funny. It wasn’t anxiety she had felt, per se. It had been an intense need to protect—which was odd, considering she barely knew Eli.
Sarah sipped a cup of hot tea and stared out the large bay window in the den to the fields below. Her chest had tightened like she’d expected it to, but it wasn’t for any reason concerning herself. Her entire being had been focused on Eli and Eli’s needs.
Sarah hadn’t taken long before she’d abandoned her bingo cards on the table and went to find Eli, and she’d been glad she had. Again, the image of Eli struggling to get free—her tense shoulders, her set face, her fingers clenched at her sides—plagued her. The thought of Eli with Bridget made her chest hurt to the point that she rubbed the spot in the center with the heel of her hand and closed her eyes.