Eli (Mallick Brothers 4)

"Poor Eli," Dusty said in a sad whisper, looking down at her feet. Likely, just as Fee was, struggling to keep composure.

"The part that pisses me off about this," Lea exploded suddenly, like she wasn't able to hold it in anymore, "is that he did nothing wrong! He defended a woman getting her ass handed to her. I know what it is like to have a man bully you. I know that helplessness. I know she saw him as a fucking hero when he stepped in where no one else in her life ever had. He should never have gone away for this."

That was sadly true.

"And then he wouldn't have been sitting in a cell feeling like a shitty person, feeling like he couldn't lean on us, couldn't even speak to us anymore, that he had to be someone else. Who he was before was, ugh," Lea trailed off, turning suddenly, and taking a few steps away. Her hands rose though, pressing into her eyes.

Even just seeing these women struggling for composure was starting to make me lose mine. The sting started at the backs of my eyes, and I had to slow-blink and take deep breaths to keep from crying myself.

I didn't come from a family that loved so deeply. I mean, Peyton and I did as we grew up and grew close, but the rest of our family was just as happy without us.

What an amazing thing it must have been to be loved that deeply by so many different people.

How badly must he have seen himself to push that away?

Poor Eli. Dusty was right about that.

"Look, I get your loyalty is torn here," Scotti said, the only one who was still holding it together. "We're not asking you for his address or contact information. That's not fair," she said, giving Lea a hard look, like maybe Lea had been down with trying to force information out of me.

"Why are you here then?"

"Is he okay?" Dusty asked before anyone else could speak up.

There was no way to answer that without giving them at least a little bit of the truth. "He's... okay. He's adjusting still. It's only been a couple of days."

I could practically feel them say It's been six years.

"We're actually here with a request," Fee said, taking a deep breath before she launched into it. "Helen, Eli's mom, has had a really, really hard time every holiday. It seems to get worse as each year goes by."

I knew where this was going.

Because Thanksgiving was coming up.

"Fee, I..."

"You would be giving a mother her son back," she cut me off, eyes going glassy again. "I'm not sure if I can express just how huge that is. What it would mean to her."

"Fee, we just barely started..."

"But you're all we have," she rushed to stop me. "Even if you're new, you're the only link we have to him. We are begging you, Autumn - and I am not the kind of woman to beg - please, see if you can convince him to come."

God, was there any way to say no? I mean, I wouldn't push Eli; that wasn't my place. I could, however, drop hints, make suggestions, reassure him that he didn't need to kill his old self and start anew. Hell, this morning alone, I had seen sides of Eli that I didn't know existed before. Maybe, the longer he was out, the more he could shake the persona he had needed to wield in prison.

Two weeks wasn't long, though.

He had spent six years creating this mindset.

I didn't have a huge ton of hope that I could undo all that work.

"I can't make any promises..."

"We would never ask for them," Dusty assured me.

"And we aren't telling Helen or Charlie or even our men," Fee told me. "This is just between us girls. So if he doesn't show, the only one who will even know to be disappointed is us. And, please, feel free to come too! Bring your sister. We don't care. We will squeeze closer at the table. Oh and Coop. You know, whatever it might take. Trust me, if you can get him there, Helen will be kissing your feet."

Nothing like a little pressure.

The happiness of an entire damn family on your shoulders.

And here I had been excited all day over something as simple as a date with the man I had been sleeping with.

What a strange turn of events in the course of one day.

"If, and this is a huge if," I said, making sure they knew I didn't have a lot of faith in myself with this task, "I can make it happen, I need a time."

"Dinner is at four, but everyone starts filing in around noon. But I mean, whenever you can get him there," Scotti said.

"I'll try," I said, shrugging, hearing defeat in my voice.