Take Me Home | ✔

Chapter Forty-Eight

I stood up as soon as it began raining, and all of a sudden Eli started grabbing my hand, leading me back to the house without a word.

Craning my neck, I finally saw Elliot by Terrence's side. He looked seriously handsome in his blue suit. He may not have agreed, but blue was definitely his color. He was laughing with Tess about something when he spotted me, the only purple cocktail-dress wearing person in attendance. Instantly his smile faded when he saw who I was holding hands with. Tess' smile waned instantly.

We were all inside before the real storm began. A chorus of thundering erupted into a loud symphony full of deep booming crescendos and white-hot lightning strikes. The ground shook with such force at one thunder clap, but nobody cared. Everyone seemed relatively chipper and happy, eating the mini pizzas and nibbling on the red velvet cake with delight.

At least we pulled off the food.

Eli and I stood by the staircase, and somehow he had managed to get me a cup of champagne. I didn't really like the taste of it, but I downed it anyway. I kept my eyes peeled for Elliot but the house was so crowded and incredibly stuffy for a ranch house with their own zip code.

Eli suddenly cleared his throat, "As I was saying earlier... I wanted to talk."

"Okay," I nodded. But I could feel my nerves already getting the best of me.

Suddenly, Angie came over with an elderly woman in a bright pink dress. She looked kind enough, not like one of those easily recognizable country club ladies.

"This is her! Mother, this is Vienna Dawson, a dear family friend," Angie started introducing me. "This is the one I told you about, the one who made the pizzas and the cake? It was all her brilliant idea. Wasn't it brilliant?"

She beamed at me but I shook my head, smiling. "Oh, I couldn't have done it without Elliot and Tess's help, that's for sure."

The elderly woman shook her head all of a sudden. "I would never have thought of pizzas fit for a wedding."

I frowned, "Oh...well, I—"

"Maybe because no one has pulled it off quite like you, dear. The food is spectacular," she broke out into a heartwarming grin that I had to hug her. She was such a nice old lady, you couldn't not hug her.

Eli was waiting patiently to the side, but everytime we would get past the small side chatter and get into the deep stuff, Angie was introducing me to all sorts of relatives, along with Tess, who seemed hell bent on making me meet every single person here.

"This is cousin Larry. He owns a bank in Toledo and a grocery store in Alaska. A regular business tycoon!" Tess chirped. "And this is cousin Beth, a selfie addict, and Aunt Dorothy, who's allergic to corn – you guys share a common interest! -- and cousin Livvy and her twin brother Louie...."

I had to be polite and nod and smile to everyone I met. They all carried that same James family charm and kindness that was so rare in some people these days. I actually had no problem meeting them. I was well aware of what Eli wanted to say...and how it would affect us. I had no problem with holding it off. But I could tell Eli's patience was wearing thin. He was waiting by my side, but I could tell he just wanted to tell me something.

When Tess ran out of relatives and distant cousins twice removed to show me, Eli politely excused us both.

"Can we talk, in private?" he told me.

I nodded, feeling my stomach twist up in a knot. "Yeah. Sure."

He went and grabbed my hand again, and it wasn't as familiar as I would think it to be. My hand felt sweaty and clammy in his, but as he walked me to the foyer, I caught a glimpse of Elliot hanging out by the fireplace with some of his guy cousins, laughing and looking busy.