Page 46 of Forbidden Cowboy
She looked very different from her usual self. Her blonde hair was wet and hanging around her face limply, and all traces of makeup or her fake, bitter grin were gone.
“She’s met men like… your ex before.Youwere the one that made her act older than her years, so why are you so surprised when this stuff rolls off of her?”
Something familiar flashed in Eliana’s eyes, and I knew we were headed for an argument if I kept up the current conversation.
“I’m sorry,” I said, without being sorry. “Take a seat and we’ll talk.”
Placated, she did so, pulling at the hem of the t-shirt she was wearing.
“Anna said you’re scared he’ll come back, but she isn’t. I need you to tell me the truth, Eliana, do you think that man will be a danger to you or our daughter?”
Eliana shook her head slowly.
“I don’t think so—he… he just wanted the bag of powder he’d planted on me, and when I didn’t have it, he got angry. He never hit me, though, when I was with him. He does this, has these tantrums.”
“I see.”
“You’re going to ask me to leave town again, aren’t you?” She asked, her eyes suspiciously shiny. “I don’t have anywhere to go, Wyatt. My parents haven’t spoken to me since Anna was born, and obviously I can’t count on my ex for any kind of sympathy.”
I knew, underneath it all, she did care for Anna in her own, strange way, even if I couldn’t always quantify it.
“No,” I said, propping my knees on my thighs and placing my head in my hands. “You and Anna have been spending a lot of time together, and I wouldn’t do that to my daughter.”
I knew what the obvious answer was. I could open my home to Eliana, give her time to recuperate and get back on her feet. Maybe, after living in a healthy environment for long enough, she’d be able to get a decent enough job to stick around and be a mother to her daughter.
But then there was Sierra. Eliana had already been more than cruel to her, and if I had to choose between the two of them, it would be Sierra every time.
“If I helped you out,” I said, slowly, regretting my words even as they were coming out of my mouth. “Not hugely, just gave you a place to stay and an incredibly modest amount of money to live off—just for necessities—would that help?”
I looked up, and for the first time in all of the years we’d been tied together, Eliana’s eyes were bright with gratitude.
“You would do that?”
“As long as you commit yourself to getting a job, and eventually a place to stay. And you’d have to keep working on your relationship with Anna. That one is the most important. And if I get any whiff of you so much as thinking about drugs again, you’re cut off.”
“Of course!” She cried and barreled into my arms without warning.
“And you have to stop saying horrible things about Sierra. She’s my employee, and deserves to live and work in a harassment-free zone.”
She just nodded, gripping me tighter around my neck.
I sighed and reluctantly hugged her back, wondering what kind of damage I had just done.
* * *
“Can we talk?” I asked Sierra, knocking softly on the open door to her room.
“Yeah, of course,” she said.
Sierra shucked off her blanket, and set down the book she had been reading on the window bench in her room. She really enjoyed having that space, and I was happy someone had finally made use of a room that had gone unloved for years.
“So, Eliana is going to be staying for a while,” I said, rubbing my eyes with one hand. “She’s going to stay in the room next to yours, but she’s promised to be on her best behavior. That means no picking fights with you, respecting your space, and continuing to work on her relationship with Anna. It’s just until she gets back on her feet. A couple of months, I’m hoping.”
I couldn’t read Sierra’s face. It had gone blank the moment she realized what I was saying, and had become a stone wall.
“Okay,” she said.
“Okay?”