Eli Fletcher: The Golden Orb

Chapter Twelve: David's Past

Chapter Twelve

David's Past

Fiona and I head back inside and find Grace sitting at the kitchen table. She won't make eye contact with either of us. That isn't normal for her. Even if she felt a little awkward from being around me and Fiona together, she always puts on a smile and pretends like she doesn't care. I wonder if she's done trying to just be my friend and be happy with that.

"I need to get home," she says without look up at us.

"Okay, I'll go wake Jason and we can take you home," I tell her and start heading for my room to get Jason.

"No," she says, finally looking at me.

I stop in my tracks, nearly stumbling over my feet.

"I already called my dad and he's on his way."

"Oh, okay. How long until-" I'm interrupted by a knock on the door.

"He was already out, so he said he'd be right over," she explains as she gets up and answers the door.

"Good morning," her father says with a smile.

"Good morning, Mr. Smith," I say smiling back.

"Let's go, Dad," she says and walks past him.

Mr. Smith looks at me confused and I shrug.

"Grace, why don't you go wait in the car," he says handing her the keys. She rolls her eyes and takes the keys from him. "Eli, why don't we chat a bit?"

"Um, okay," I say confused. He jerks his head towards the courtyard and I follow.

We follow the same path that Fiona and I just walked. When we're at the far end of the courtyard, away from the front door, he stops and faces me.

"First, Eli, I want to thank you for saving my daughter. I don't think I totally understand everything, but my wife seems to and she tried explaining it all to me last night. It was a lot and I'm not sure I was able to wrap my head around it all. But, I do know that Grace was in danger and you saved her. Thank you."

"You're welcome, sir," I say, looking up at him. The sun is in my eyes, so I have to squint to look at him.

"Second, she really likes you. Seeing you with Fiona is harder on her than she lets on."

"I..."

"It's not your fault, Eli. But, I just thought you should know. I think it might be best if you two didn't see each other so much. You're both so young and don't need to be dealing with such drama. Besides, from what my wife tried to explain about what you do, it doesn't seem like you need the added stress of a little love triangle."

I can't deny that. A little less stress to deal with would be great, but would cutting Grace out of my life really take stress away?

"I guess you're right," I say.

He grasps my shoulder firmly. "I knew you'd understand," he says and then pats that shoulder before turning to walk away.

"But, I can't just not see her, Mr. Smith," I say before he gets three steps away.

He turns back towards me again. "Why is that, Eli?" he asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Because your family has been targeted by demons," I tell him.

His mouth opens but no words come out for a minute.

"It's a lot to explain, sir, but by saving your daughter, I pissed the demons off more. They were going to use you all as leverage to get something from me, but I destroyed what it was they wanted."