Page 33 of Those Who Are Bound

Elliott dropped her gaze as though he were standing in front of her. He was right. She didn’t have a wide circle. He was it. “I shouldn’t have called.”

“I didn’t say that. Don’t hang up. But you know you’ve isolated yourself since Gage died.”

“He didn’tjustdie,” she barely whispered.

“Goddamn it, Ellie.” The ache from over the ether—across the miles—was evident. He let out a sound of frustration, then said, “I’m glad you have friends and that you’re meeting people. How’s the space coming along?”

Elliott looked at the building. “I’ve hired someone again, an event planner. Her first day was today, so we’ll see.”

“That’s good.”

“And yes, I’m running a background check on her, although she looks like a model. Her only crime will probably be that she mismatched her Garanimals when she was a kid.”

He chuckled. “That’s good, too—the background check.”

Elliott smiled.

“About this guy, Els, what will you tell me about him? Other than he’s from Oregon?”

Elliott shrugged, knowing he couldn’t see her. “He’s… so open and honest. He’s not like anyone I’ve ever met. And he’s into outdoor sports.”

“Hunting?” The word was asked with slight tension. Elliott knew that hunters, in Becks’s world, could mean something quite different.

“No, more like adventure sports, along the lines of rock climbing and white water rafting.”

A non-committal grunt, then, “Can he give you what you need?”

Elliott’s heart stuttered. Leave it to Becks to go for the jugular, but in the back of her mind, she knew that’s why she’d called him. She shook her head. “He’s good, Becks. And I want this. I want to see if I can do this. So, no, I don’t want him to know about that—to do that. I don’t want to ruin him.”

There was a heavy silence between them.

Elliott bit her bottom lip: the words not spoken were how she hadn’t given Becks that chance or that choice—she’d simply done it. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that, like that… I’m sorry, Becks.”

He chose to ignore it. “A man who can’t handle you or your past doesn’t deserve you.”

She flicked a gnat off her knee. “He almost said the same thing.”

“That’s a positive sign; sounds like a good man.”

Elliott looked at the sun again. “Well, he doesn’t know my secrets, so it’s an easy thing to say.”

“What do you need from me?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I needed to be grounded for a second.”

He was quiet again before he rasped, “I don’t ground you.”

Tears borne of hopeful desperation sprung up. “But you can tell me if I can do this or not.”

The silence dragged on. She heard him take in a few deep breaths. “How long has it been?”

“You know how long it’s been.”

He made a barely perceptible sound and then cleared his throat. “You can do this, kid. If you really want this, you can do it.”

Elliott looked around the property again, but no one was there to share her burst of optimism at his encouragement. “I do. I never thought… I just, I’m so hopeful that it scares me.”

“He better deserve you,” Becks said sincerely, a hint of warning in his voice.

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