“Katie said six o’clock.”
“Do I have time to shower?” He looks at his watch again. “Are you almost done with that?” He points to the second bowl of potato salad I’m still working on.
“Almost. Why?”
He reaches over and turns the music up loud again, and then he kisses my cheek, lingering just a beat too long, grins at me, winks, and goes to shower.
My heart thuds in my chest as I watch him walk away.
When I met Eli, he was a lanky boy of sixteen. It seemed like his arms and legs were too long for his body, and he tended to trip over his own size fourteen shoes way back then. Through the years he has grown into his body to the point where women notice him in the street. He’s tall, still thin but not skinny, and the pepper at his dark temples has been replaced with salt. He doesn’t have that lock of hair that used to fall in front of his eyes anymore, mainly because his hair is thinning. But to me…
God, to me he is still the most handsome man I’ve ever met. I watch him walk away, his gait full of confidence where once it was hurried and unsure. He’s not the same boy I knew way back then, but at the same time he is.
I’m not the same person either and that is the part that scares me the most. I haven’t liked who I am for quite some time. Can I really expect Eli to like me?
I finish the potato salad, top it with some cling wrap, and turn the music down just as Eli walks back into the kitchen. He’s wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a t-shirt, and my eyes roam up and down his body. I can still remember the lines of his torso, and the mole just below his left nipple.
“Stop it,” he says crisply.
“Stop what?”
“You’re undressing me with your eyes,” he says, a fake warning in his gaze. He makes a vee with his fingers and points to his eyes. “My eyes are up here!” He pretends to pout, which makes me bark out a laugh. “What?” he asks. “What’s so funny?” He stalks toward me and pulls me against him, his fingers digging gently into my sides as he tickles me. I laugh and squirm to get out of his grip. “You think this is funny, huh?” He tickles me until I go slack in his arms, and then he just holds me.
I look up into his handsome face and smile.
“I like you,” he whispers, his voice no more substantial than a wispy cloud in the sky, and just as intangible.
I cough to clear my throat. “I like you too.”
He kisses the tip of my nose. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yes.” I pass the bowl to him and slide into my flip-flops. “I’m ready.” He reaches for another beer, opens it with the opener on the side of the counter, and we start walking up to Jake and Katie’s together.
“Hey, what did your boss say?” he suddenly asks.
I smile. “He said I should take all the time I need to get my family stuff in order.”
“Family stuff.”
“Yes. Family stuff.”
“You told him? About the kids?”
I shake my head. “No, but I told him about us.” I suddenly feel like my insides are exposed, and it makes me feel squirmy. “I told him that my marriage is falling apart, and my best friend is dying, and I want some personal time to work on those two things.”
“And he was okay with it?”
I rock my head back and forth. “I’m not sure okay is the right word. But he allowed it.” I hold up one finger. “He did ask me if I could still do payroll, so I told him I could. It’s not a big deal.”
“So, you’ll work part time?” Eli asks.
“No more than ten hours a week for the next two weeks. But it’ll ease his burden and it won’t feel like such a pain having me gone.” I look at him. “Is that okay with you?”
“Since when have you had to clear your schedule with me, Bess?” He snorts out a laugh. “Whatever you want is fine with me.”
“Well, if it becomes a problem, I’ll reevaluate.”
“Sounds good.” He grins at me. Then he suddenly sobers. “Does this feel weird to you?”