Page 94 of An Endless Memory

I turned back to the counter and pushed the cooler to the side. I was falling for Lily.

“Whatever you do, Eliot, don’t put your own wants and needs before a woman’s.” Mom’s tsk and sigh rang in my head like she’d told me only yesterday, “Don’t be another Knight to hold a girl back from the life she deserves.”

If I wasn’t careful, I’d end up exactly the guy Mama thought I’d turn into.

Lily

I sat at the island and watched a show on my phone. Eliot and I had eaten all the leftovers. On Friday, when he’d gone back outside, I had run to town and bought groceries, including more protection, and endured the small-town stares all the way through the store.

Did they know I was Eliot’s wife?

Did they know it was a ruse?

As long as Aunt Linda didn’t, did it matter?

On Saturday, I had prepped some quick reheat meals for Eliot for the week. He said most of his employees were returning today, Jasper included.

I checked the time. He’d be back soon. I’d gotten a message that he was taking off three hours ago, but depending on how many potty breaks Cali surprised him with, he could have an hour or two left.

The door opened from the garage. I clicked out of the show and turned with a smile. The guy coming toward me wasn’t Eliot. He was a wiry man with shock-white hair and a bushy mustache. He carried a covered round tin in one hand.

“Oh, you must be the missus. Lily, right? All your siblings have plant names.”

Pleased I was the first to come to mind, I nodded. I might have a few trust issues left over from Carter, but Eliot was a completely different person and didn’t give off those vibes. Yet, I’d be looking for confirmation everywhere for a while.

“Hi, yes. Chambers?”

He shuffled toward me with his free hand out. “At your service.”

I got a hearty handshake before he sidled around me.

He set the tin on the counter and withdrew a couple of forks. Then he dug out two plates. “I didn’t know you were coming, but I’m sure glad you could make it.”

“Jasper helped me figure out a plan.”

“I like that kid.” He uncovered some sort of pie and sliced right into it. “He gets right to work, and the things he can do with spreadsheets can make an old man feel like he was born in the Neanderthal era.”

He scooped a slice of what appeared to be strawberry rhubarb pie onto each plate. He set a fork next to a slice and slid it toward me.

I wasn’t hungry, but I wasn’t about to turn down pie. That was one of the things I’d never really made after I left home. “Thank you.”

“No, thank you. I was worried about that boy.”

“Jasper?”

He chuckled. “No, but also yes. It’s the parent in me. I didn’t like Eliot skipping the holidays. Didn’t sit right with me.” He shoved a forkful in his mouth.

Then I was glad I surprised him. “It was important to him that his employees get time off.”

He chewed while considering me. “We have a rotation,” he said around the food, then swallowed. “The guys know when they work holidays, and when one quits or gets fired, the new hire takes over the schedule. It’s how it’s been run since before Barns passed.”

I left my pie untouched. “I know he didn’t want to be a bother to his siblings.”

“Austen invited him. He was cooking because he and Vienne knew life would get hectic with a new baby under the roof.”

“He was invited?”

Chambers nodded.

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