Page 31 of Loving My Enemy

Sheryl noticed me first. “Are you all right, honey? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

“There was a guy … he attacked me.” Before I could finish, she wrapped me into a warm, comforting hug.

“Oh, honey, it’s all right.” She rubbed my back and I wanted to cry because no one ever held me like that, except Austin. I stayed there for a long minute, soaking it up before I had to step back. Go home. Maybe run away in the middle of the night.

“Thank you, Sheryl. That was just what I needed.” I took several deep breaths and let them out slowly before marching through the door and outside. Three feet away was the last damn person I wanted to see.

“That’s her. I want to press charges. That bitch tried to blind me!”

Correction. Make that the lasttwopeople I wanted to see. “Well,” Antonio barked in my direction. “Do you have anything to say?”

“No, I don’t.” He was already on that jerk’s side and nothing I said would make a difference.

“Now you wait just a minute, Antonio. That man accosted Elka and she asked him to leave her alone. I heard it with myown ears.” Betty Kemp folded her arms, chin notched high in the air, daring the deputy to contradict her.

“I heard it too,” Doreen Brinkley said. “She gave him fair warning and he still put his hands on her.” She smacked her lips and shook her head. I wondered how the guy didn’t wither and die under the weight of her disappointment.

“And me. I heard it too.” I didn’t recognize this woman but she had blond hair and very familiar hazel eyes. If she wasn’t the deputy’s mother, she was his aunt or older sister. “The girl was protecting herself, plain and simple.”

“Doesn’t matter,” the greasy guy spat. “I know where you are, so now they will too. You can’t run forever.”

If that was supposed to terrify me, he was sorely mistaken. My parents didn’t want me—they ever had. And even if they’d had a miraculous change of heart in my absence, they were too late. Too damn late. There was too much hurt, too much anger between us. “Then maybe you should have taken your fee and gone the hell away!” He sneered and I was beyond caring what he thought about me. What Antonio thought of me. Hell, whatanyonethought of me.

“You won’t get away with this!” He was practically foaming at the mouth, which only made me slightly curious to know what my parents told him about me.

“You have no clue who I am or what I’m capable of and neither do they, but if I see you around my house or in my personal space again, I will end you.” There was nothing more to say and, finally, I was able to walk away without anyone stopping me.

“Good for you, girl!” Betty Kemp applauded behind me, drawing a tiny smile from me. She was a tough old woman and I hoped I was just like her when I grew up.

“Elka, we need to—”

I whirled around at the sound of Antonio’s voice, the feel of his hand wrapped around my bicep. “Don’t ever put your hands on me again!” Without thinking, I yanked out of his grasp and ran away as fast as I could. It was only when I got home that I realized all my packing materials were still on the bench outside the post office.

Whenever I think a great day is ahead of me, fate cruelly steps in and reminds me that I don’t get great days.

Aim lower, indeed.

The first batchof chili hadn’t turned out so well. I used too many jalapeno peppers and not enough salt. Or garlic. The second batch with lamb and raisins had the perfect amount of spice and it still simmered on the back burner while I worked on the third batch. This one would be perfect. I took recipes from the top ten award-winning chili makers in the country and took a little bit from each one. I was no chef, but I just had a feeling about this one. And if it sounded a little bit pathetic to get so excited about making chili, well that was also true. Dammit.

There was a knock at the door but I was determined to hide away from the world for the next twenty-four hours. At least. Instead of choosing silence, I cranked up the music and hummed along to a song on my own playlist I vaguely recognized.

The knocking grew louder and more persistent and there was only one person that knock could belong to. Determined to get rid of him without losing my cool, I sucked in a long breath, held it for ten seconds, then blew it out for twenty. “Okay. Ready.” When I opened the door, it wasn’t Antonio, but the woman who was somehow related to him. “Yes?”

“I’m Liz. I volunteered to bring your packing materials to you. Going somewhere?”

I was torn between wanting to be alone and not wanting to be rude. Manners took over and I stepped back and waved her inside. “At the moment, no. This is for my business.”

“What kind of business is it?”

Okay, so this wouldn’t be a short conversation. I motioned for Liz to follow me and told her about my business. “Some look at it as aromatherapy and others as holistic accessories, but to me it’s work. Thank you. I wasn’t looking forward to going back for them.” I just had a feeling that no matter when I went back, Antonio would be there. Ready to arrest me. “Tea?”

“Yes, please. And is that chocolate cake I smell?” The woman wasn’t subtle, that much was certain. “The key is to never let them see how much it bothers you.”

“I’m working on that, actually. That’s what this move was all about.” It hadn’t been long, but I already felt changed. Transformed but still imperfect.

“Finding yourself?”

I knew what that tone meant. I’d heard it plenty whenever I expressed an interest to my parents in anything that might cause an injury. Soeverything.“Something like that. This is a Guinness cake I’ve been working on.”

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