Page 70 of Saving Elena

He nodded to Kent as he approached, and they stared at each other for a long time. Kent broke the silence between them.

“Why did Elena give me her cabin?”

“She was grateful you offered to help her.” He couldn’t say ‘marry her’—those words wouldn’t come out of his mouth.

Kent chuckled. “Right.” He took a deep breath. “A cabin is so much better than a wife and kids.”

Aidyn’s jaw clenched. This close he could see the resemblance with Lara. What a shame they didn’t have a relationship. They were siblings.

Kent’s next words came on a whisper. “Are you going to marry her?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes.”

“Well, you’ve made it my business since you’ve shot two of our people, taken our brewer, and the only other person on the mountain who could teach anyone else to brew. You’ve disturbed our way of life in the most profound way, and you stand before me, snarking out some ‘not that it’s any of your business’ bullshit.”

“Your people wouldn’t have been shot if they hadn’t shot at us first. Elena and Grace didn’t want to stay up there and if you’re placing blame, blame your president for trying to force a marriage and kids on a woman who has always done what was asked of her. Talk about punishing someone who never did a cross thing to you. So, no, I am not to blame. Your president and his hate are to blame.”

Kent inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. “I know you’re right.” He brushed the hair from his eyes by dipping his head and using his bicep to move it. “I tried talking to Craig. He’s blinded by rage now. Though we all know up there that he wanted his father to step down so he could govern. He’s a conundrum. And he’s feeling desperate. Now, his desperation is at an all-time high. We have nothing to trade now.”

“It seems you need to remove him as president since he’s not rational.”

“We’ve never done that.”

“First time for everything.”

Kent’s jaw tightened. “I don’t know if Gerard will do that.”

“Who’s Gerard?”

Kent took a deep breath once again. “Gerard Weston is Craig’s brother-in-law and the vice president. Craig and Hanalore don’t have children, so Gerard was named as Craig’s closest relative. Jasiah Weston, Gerard and Lilianna’s son, is secretary.”

“Are they filled with hate as well?”

“No.” He shook his head. “They want peace like the rest of us.”

Aidyn’s eyes widened. “You want peace? You made Lara’s life a veritable hell last fall.”

“I know. I was frustrated.” Kent dipped his gaze as he spoke. “But, after it all shook out...my parents are dead now, I don’t want all of this hate. I came back because I love the mountain life. We were peaceful, but I wanted to make life better. My dad said he’d send me to college to learn how to do that. I hated it at college. But I stuck it out and learned. When I came back, Lara had her bakery, and I was back on the mountain with nothing.”

“It seems like you have nothing now. You had parents before. For the record, Lara didn’t have that much. Her father was gone up on the mountain with you and your mom. Lara’s mom was addicted to the elixir and Keaton kept her addicted, so he had a reason to come up the mountain and see you and your mom. Lara didn’t have all you thought she had.”

“Yeah.” He nodded slowly.

Someone hollered down from the woods. “Kent, let’s go.”

He called back, “I’ll be up in a while.”

Aidyn lowered his arms. “Now what?”

Kent swallowed. “I don’t know.”

ChapterForty

Elena sat on the sofa, her mom next to her. There were three large matching sofas in this room. Plush brown leather and soft as could be. Still, she couldn’t get comfortable. Tate and Adelaide were in the office and she couldn’t go back to bed until she knew Aidyn was alright. Her stomach was a mess. Lara offered her food, and she just couldn’t. She did sip the water from the weird plastic bottle, though. She was used to working all day every day and today, or yesterday as it was now close to five in the morning, she hadn’t done enough physical labor. She’d have to find something to do around here if they stayed.

She stood and paced again for the fifth or sixth time. Lara saw her from the kitchen.

“Elena, do you want to help me make breakfast?”

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