Page 22 of Dangerous December
When they were gone, Elana slipped into an empty chair as far as possible from Dev, where the fluorescent light overhead picked out premature silver strands in the long, dark hair she wore twisted into a tight bun.
“I...worry for him.” She bowed her head over her folded hands. “For both of us.”
When Beth looked up and exchanged glances with Dev, she felt her heart falter at the intensity of resolve that blazed in his eyes before he looked away.
He was clearly ready to do battle with whomever Elana was frightened of...but how could he wage war against the ghosts in her past?
Beth hesitated as she searched for the right words, feeling more out of her league than she’d felt with any of the other residents of Sloane House.Lord, help me say the right things here.
“I understand if you want me to go,” Elana whispered into the moment of silence. She shifted uneasily in her chair, as if she were getting ready to flee. “I know Sloane House is not meant for children. I don’t want trouble for anyone.”
“That’s not what we want. Not at all.” Beth infused her smile with an extra measure of warmth. “We want you and Cody to stay. We just want to know what your goals are, and how we can help.”
The woman’s furtive glance at Dev nearly broke Beth’s heart. Just in these few minutes, it hadn’t taken long to guess at what lay in Elana’s troubled past.
“I...I have a job as a maid at the motel. I am saving money so I can go to school someday.” The expression in her eyes turned bleak. “But...it is taking a very long time.”
The motel on the edge of town had seen far, far better days. The wages they offered were surely nothing above the minimum level.
Beth rested her chin on her upraised palm and tapped a finger against her lips. “I wonder if there would be better jobs, for someone like you who is bilingual. Maybe at one of the resorts outside of town, or the bank?”
Elana sat forward in alarm. “No. No—the motel is fine. The hours are good. I take Cody to school and walk him home. Always.”
Dev nodded. “It’s safer that way.”
“Sí...I meanno.” Flustered, Elana’s gaze darted between them as she reached blindly for the battered purse by her chair and started to rise.
“Wait.” There was no mistaking the command sheathed in his gentle tone. And though he hadn’t moved a muscle toward her, she sank back into her chair. “Is this about an old boyfriend?”
She white-knuckled the handle of her purse.
“A husband?”
A single tear slipped down her cheek. “Roberto was no good. He...hurt Cody.”
And Elana too, Beth guessed with growing anger at the man who had gotten away with victimizing the family he was supposed to love and protect. What kind of animal was he?
A muscle jerked at the side of Dev’s jaw, betraying his similar thoughts. “Does he know where you are? Will he try to find you?”
“He went to prison last spring.”
“Because of what he did to you and Cody?”
She shook her head sadly. “Armed robbery, and he wounded a deputy. He got thirty years. I pray he never escapes.”
Yet she still seemed frightened of her own shadow.
Dev turned his chair to face Elana, leaned forward, and gently took her shaking hands in his. “Whatever happened to you in the past will not happen again. Understand? Roberto is gone. You are with friends, Elana.”
She’d stiffened and dropped her gaze when he drew close, but now she shot a brief, wary glance at him.
“You didn’t deserve whatever he did to you,” Dev continued gently. “A man who abuses his family deserves prison for that alone. Forever, as far as I’m concerned. But you don’t need to live in fear—not anymore. Now you can make a good life for you and your son. He can grow up to be a fine man, with a good future.”
Beth watched them, surprised at Dev’s sensitivity and relieved when Elana’s tense shoulders began to relax. “He’s right, Elana. We want to help you achieve that, in every way we can.”
But when Dev released her hands and stood, Elana instinctively flinched, as if none of his words had even registered.
And Beth knew that reclaiming this poor woman’s courage was going to be a long, long road.
