Stay With Me

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Eli glanced in his rear view mirror and saw Jessa Hamilton standing in the parking lot. Her brown hair blew in a swirl around her face. He stopped where the parking lot met Main Street and watched as she brushed her hair back with one hand and turned to hurry back into her truck. She cradled one arm against her waist, and he wondered why. He turned out and headed toward his shop. He was looking at the road in front of him, but all he could see in his mind’s eye were Jessa’s eyes. He’d never seen eyes like hers before—smoky gray with glimpses of silver.

When he was driving by and saw her start to back up, he didn’t have enough time to stop. For a flash, he was irritated as hell. Between the call from his mother, helping a hapless camper driver back up, and dealing with the general madness of his summer schedule, he’d had to bite back his frustration. Summer was the busiest time of year for him. Owning his own business was great, except for the fact that sometimes he only had himself to count on. He owned Game to Fish, a retail store and guiding business for the hordes of wilderness travelers that descended on Diamond Creek once the snow melted. He’d been up since way too early this morning and didn’t have time to deal with a fender bender. For a split second, he considered driving on past the little blue truck that bumped into him. He’d meant it when he said he wasn’t worried about his bumper, but it seemed a tad rude to keep driving when she pulled forward and started to climb out of her truck.

One look at her chocolate brown hair, those silvery gray eyes, and her lush, curvy body, and his frustration evaporated. He could have cared less if she’d completely bashed his bumper. He forgot that he only had a few minutes to get back to his store. Now, he had to make up the minutes he lost and gunned his truck. Within moments, he came to a jerking stop in front of his store and grabbed the small bag from the hardware store. The doorbell jingled when he walked in, and Cliff Gibson glanced up from behind the counter.

“Hey Eli, did they have the bolts we need?” Cliff asked.

Eli tossed the small bag from the hardware store to Cliff. Cliff caught it and immediately dumped the bolts on the counter. Without a word, he stepped from behind the counter and strode to the front windows to climb on the ladder there.

“Need a hand?” Eli asked, slightly bemused by Cliff. Aside from himself, Cliff was Eli’s primary employee. He had a few other employees, but Cliff was the only one involved in every aspect of his business from the retail store to fishing charters to guided hunts. Like Eli, Cliff had been born and raised in Alaska. He knew just about everything there was to know about fishing and hunting in the area. Sometimes, Eli was amazed at how responsible Cliff was given that he’d only graduated from college a year ago.

Cliff glanced down from the ladder. “I left the bolts on the counter,” he said with a grin.

Eli stepped to the counter and snagged the two bolts. After he handed them over, he watched while Cliff carefully adjusted the display rack hanging from the ceiling and replaced the two broken bolts on one side. Once he was done, Cliff returned the ladder to its storage spot in the back room and immediately got back to work on ordering supplies and gear for several upcoming trips.

Eli walked into his office and looked around. His office was small and crowded. A small desk and chair were tucked into the corner with two chairs on the other side of the desk. The rest of the office was filled with a jumble of fishing and hunting gear, everything from fishing rods and hunting knives to high-end outerwear. He kicked a box out of the way and sat down at his desk, quickly opening his laptop and starting to plow through emails for reservations on guided hunts. As usual, he simultaneously tapped the speaker button on his office phone and started listening to his voice mails. The first two were from customers and the third was his mother.

“Hey Eli, haven’t heard from you in a while. I wanted to see how you were doing. If you get a chance, give me a call.” There was a long pause. He could hear his mother take a deep breath. “I’m doing okay, just so you know. Love you.” The recording held another deep breath from his mother before she hung up. She must have called here before she tried his cell phone.

Eli tried to keep reading his emails, but nothing was registering in his brain. He leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair. His mind circled back to his mother’s call earlier. He’d taken purposeful steps to cut his ties with his family, almost solely due to his father. He hadn’t spoken to his father in over a decade when he moved to Diamond Creek from Juneau. Alaska was such a part of him, he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else, so he moved far enough away to get some distance—literally and figuratively.

The only time his mother called was when she needed money. She only needed money when his father went on a drinking binge and blew through what little she had to get by. Eli wished she would call more, but he knew she didn’t because she felt guilty. Even though he’d done his damnedest to keep his father boxed out of his mother’s life, his father still had access to her bank accounts and she didn’t have it in her to cut him off. Eli kept in touch with his mother and tried to keep tabs on his younger brother Ryan, but he could only do so much from a distance. He was in a much better place than he had been when he moved away, but one thing that helped bring him peace was steering clear of the wrecking ball that was his father. The thorn in that peace was the guilt he felt leaving his mother and Ryan behind.

Eli shook his head sharply and forced himself to focus on work. He confirmed a few reservations and made it through the rest of his emails before walking back out front. Cliff was talking to a few early tourists and issuing temporary fishing permits for them. He glanced to Eli when he rounded the back counter.

“I’m headed to the bank and maybe a coffee run. Need anything?” Eli asked.

“Thought you were getting coffee earlier,” Cliff replied with a grin.

Eli shrugged. “Forgot. How about now?”

“Sure thing. Just get me whatever the house coffee is at Misty Mountain today.”

“You got it. Be back in a bit.”

Eli swung through the bank and transferred enough money into his mother’s bank account that she could get by for a few months. Shortly thereafter, he walked out of Misty Mountain Café, took a welcome gulp of coffee and climbed back into his truck, tucking Cliff’s coffee in the holder while he kept his in hand. As he drove down Main Street, he saw Jessa’s bright blue truck at the grocery store. He found himself pulling into the parking lot and walking into the store, compelled solely by the possibility he might see Jessa again.

Grabbing a cart, he started tossing groceries in as he passed through the aisles. He couldn’t quite believe he was meandering through a store, hoping for an incidental encounter with a woman he’d met for a total of maybe three minutes, five tops. Yet, here he was. He was jittery with restless energy between the jolt of coffee, his call with his mother, and this out of the blue attraction to a woman he barely knew. He practically careened around the end of an aisle, swinging his cart into the next aisle when he bumped into something, or rather someone.

“Ooomph!”

At the muffled comment, he glanced up to find Jessa standing in front of the pasta section. His cart rolled back into him. He took in a few more details this time. She wore a denim skirt over blue leggings with a fitted white t-shirt and a gray fleece jacket tied around her waist. A pair of black cowboy boots that looked beyond worn completed her attire. As his gaze traveled to her face, her amazing silver gray eyes met his. Her hair was tied in a loose knot atop her head with wispy brown curls framing her heart-shaped face.

“I’m sorry! I wasn’t even paying attention. Are you okay?”

She cradled her left hand against her, the same one he’d noticed earlier. “I’m fine,” she said quickly. “Just a little bump. My hip can take it.” Her mouth hooked in a rueful smile at that.

“You sure?” he asked with a nod toward her hand.

She glanced down and then up again. “Oh, you didn’t hit my hand. I, uh, injured this a few weeks ago.” She held it out, and he saw her hand was sporting a gauze wrap. “It’s healing fine, but it seems like I’m always walking around with it pinned to my side. I don’t even think about it.”

All kinds of questions tumbled through his mind. He didn’t know what it was about Jessa, but she made him want to know everything about her. He didn’t think it was prudent to bombard her with questions, so he merely nodded. “Well, I’m glad you’re okay.”

She laughed softly. “You didn’t hit me nearly as hard as I hit you with Blue.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, but that was my truck. This was you.”

One shoulder lifted in a slow shrug. “I’m fine. No need to worry.” Her eyes canted down into his grocery cart. “Wow, that’s a lot of frozen pizza.”

He looked into his cart and saw he’d tossed probably ten frozen pizzas in there, along with an array of snacks. He shook his head and met her eyes again. “Not the best cook. Once I’ve got some fish stocked up, I’ll be eating a bit better. Then comes hunting season in the fall. Usually, I’ve got enough to make it through to summer, but my back up freezer died a few weeks ago, so I lost my stock,” he offered with a rueful smile.

Jessa’s eyes widened, alarmingly so. “You fish? And hunt?”

He nodded slowly. “I do. Hard to find anyone in Alaska who doesn’t.”

Jessa was quiet for a long moment. “Oh.” She fiddled with the sleeve of her fleece jacket, twining it around her good hand. “I guess you don’t get many vegetarians here, huh?”

Eli couldn’t help but laugh as he shrugged. “Maybe a few. We get plenty of people visiting just because they like to fish and hunt though.”

Jessa bit her lip, her teeth denting its plump softness and sending a jolt of awareness through him. “Oh. Well, I’m a vegetarian.” She offered this with a slight smile.

“There’s plenty to do here that doesn’t involve hunting and fishing, but I’d suggest you steer clear of the harbor when the boats are coming in.”

“How come?”

“Because once fishing season starts, when the boats roll in, that means fish,” he offered with a grin.