Date Shark (28 page)

“Who is she?” Mrs. Walsh whispered to him.

“Leila is Eli’s girlfriend.”

It felt as if an electric shock ran through her body when Leila heard Dr. Evans mistake her relationship with Eli. Her mouth popped open to object, but he was already speaking again. She knew she should correct him, certainly not let a fragile old woman who obviously had mental problems believe a lie like that. Finding out Leila was only a friend might harm Mrs. Walsh in some way, and Leila would never want that.

She was about to break in and clear everything up when something odd happened. Leila started smiling. She wasn’t even sure why, at first. Part of her still thought she should fix the misunderstanding, but the rest of her was basking in the fact that the mistake had been made in the first place. Dr. Evans, for whatever reason, had made the assumption that she and Eli were romantically involved. It hadn’t seemed odd or unbelievable to him. He didn’t even ask her before voicing his thoughts. To him, it appeared there was nothing unusual about Leila being with Eli.

It was hard to explain exactly how happy that made her.

“Leila?” Dr. Evans said as he stepped back over to her. “Mrs. Walsh would like to speak with you. I’ll be in the room the whole time, and I can only allow you half an hour, but I think this will be a good thing for her. Are you still willing to stay?”

“Yes, of course.”

Dr. Evans smiled. “Wonderful. Go ahead and take the seat next to her bed. I’ll sit back here.”

Her first step was cautious. She watched Mrs. Walsh for any sign of anxiety or fear. Leila really had no idea what was wrong with her, and she didn’t want to do anything to upset her. So she moved slowly with no sudden movements, and when she spoke it was in a soft voice.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Walsh. How are you doing today?”

Eli mother eyed her warily. “Where is my Eli?”

“He had a patient this afternoon and couldn’t come,” Leila answered.

Mrs. Walsh’s whole body drooped. “He never comes. My little boy never comes.”

“I’m sure he’ll come soon,” Leila said. She squeezed the woman’s hand lightly, and was surprised when Mrs. Walsh grabbed her. Leila’s eyes darted to Dr. Evans, but he wordlessly reassured her.

“My Eli was such a good little boy,” Mrs. Walsh said. Her eyes were far away and glistening. “He’s always helped me. He was such a good boy. He held the clothespins for me when I hung the laundry. He took care of Polly, too.”

“Polly?” Leila asked. Where there more secrets Eli had kept from her? Siblings?

Ms. Walsh smiled, a quiet laugh shaking her thin body. “Little Polly, Eli adored that puppy. And Polly adored him. Followed him everywhere, she did.” Suddenly Mrs. Walsh’s expression darkened. “Until Polly got sick. Poor little Polly. Eli was so devastated when she died. Cried for two days straight, he did.”

Responding to that was difficult. Leila could imagine Eli crying over a sick puppy. He was a very compassionate person. She knew he cared about people, so animals were a natural extension. That was the man she knew. Connecting that with a son who had abandoned his mentally ill mother was impossible. Was it pride? She couldn’t imagine him doing something like that.

“I didn’t want to get Eli another pet after that,” Mrs. Walsh said, “he had been so upset, but Arnold didn’t listen to me.”

“Eli’s father?” Leila asked. Eli never spoke about his mother, and he was not much better about talking about his dad, but he had mentioned his name several times. He had always seemed happy when speaking about his dad.

“Yes, everyone insisted I get Eli a new pet after Polly died. I said it wasn’t good for him. They didn’t listen to me, kept pestering me until I gave in.” Mrs. Walsh glanced away from Leila and stared at something unseen. “I got my Eli a parrot. Eli thought he could teach it to talk. He spent hours sitting by that bird’s cage trying to get it to say something.”

“Did it ever speak for him?” Leila asked.

Mrs. Walsh shook her head sadly. “Birds are frail creatures. The parrot got a parasite or something like that and died after a few months. It never spoke.”

Grief for Eli’s losses, even if they were only childhood pets, welled in her heart. “Did you get any other pets after that?”

“No, everyone listened to me after that. No more pets.” She sighed. “But then my Eli got older and made friends.”

That should have been a good thing, but the way Mrs. Walsh said it didn’t sound very happy. Leila was curious about what kind of friends Eli had as a child that would make his mother so sad. “Were Eli’s friends good kids, too?”

The skin of her forehead creased as she considered. “Some, maybe. They kept him away from home.”

“Why didn’t Eli invite his friends to his house?”

“They didn’t want to,” she snapped, “they said so.”

Leila was too curious not to ask. “Why didn’t they like going to your house?”

“They wanted to be outside running and playing, the boys did.” The disgust in her voice sounded strange to Leila. It only got worse. Her whole face wrinkled with it as she continued. “The girls were worse, always filling his head with silly notions.”

“You didn’t approve of Eli’s girlfriends?” Leila asked, very curious to hear the answer. Did she remember that Dr. Evans had called her Eli’s girlfriend?

Mrs. Walsh shook her head. “Needy, whiney bunch. Always trying to pull him away from me. Thoughtless girls. They were no good for him.”

“Ah,” Leila said slowly. It was hard to call her a liar—she really didn’t know enough about Eli’s past to contradict her—but Leila had a hard time imagining Eli bringing home girls like that. Trying to fix them, definitely, but having a relationship with one of them? That seemed unlikely.

Leila was not as bad as what Mrs. Walsh had described, but she had been very dependent on Eli at first. He claimed she wasn’t a project to him, but why else would he have stuck around? He wanted to get her all fixed up and on her way. The fact that they had become friends seemed to her like more of an accident. If Eli wanted the kind of girl his mother described, the misunderstanding about her relationship with Eli may have actually been true.

“Did you steal Eli?” Mrs. Walsh blurted out suddenly.

The angry expression and harsh voice startled Leila. “Steal Eli from who?”

“From me,” she snapped.

“No. Why would I?”

“People are always trying to take him away from me,” she said darkly. “The girls are the worst.”

Unsure of how to respond to that statement, Leila was quiet for a few moments. She didn’t understand enough about Eli’s mother to know what she was talking about. Eli had never meant for her to meet this woman, but Leila was beginning to think the secrecy surrounding his mother needed to change. Not just for Leila’s benefit, but for Eli’s as well.

“My little Eli,” Mrs. Walsh said dreamily. Her mind had obviously switched gears. “He was such a good little boy. Always taking care of me, always keeping me safe, he was. When I was sick, he made me soup all by himself and brought it all the way upstairs so I didn’t have to get out of bed. Even when he was grown and at college, he always called and checked on me. He was such a good boy.”

She continued on, reliving dozens of instances when Eli had shown his love for her. Leila listened, but instead of smiling adoringly as Mrs. Walsh did, she grew angrier with every story. Why had he changed? In her heart she saw Eli as a compassionate and kind man. He wanted to help people. That was what had brought them together. Why then, was his mother sitting in a locked room alone every day? Why did he never visit? Had he tired of her? Would he tire of Leila?

None of her questions could be answered by Mrs. Walsh, who seemed to be unaware of anything other than Eli not being there for her. She barely even noticed when Dr. Evans told Leila it was time for her to leave. The goodbye she offered Mrs. Walsh went unanswered. Every step she took away from the sad, lonely woman infuriated her even more. By the time she reached her car, she was positively livid.

Eli’s mother obviously loved him very much, yet she was alone and forgotten by him. There was no question now that she was going to confront him about his mother. Maybe it wasn’t her place to interfere, but she didn’t care. Leila pulled out of the parking lot with the intention of driving straight over to Eli’s. She was halfway there before she got a text from Luke saying he would be landing in an hour. Leila had promised to pick him up from the airport. She growled at nothing particular as she turned in the other direction and fought against the traffic to reach O’Hare in time. Somewhere along the way, she remembered that even after picking Luke up she wouldn’t be free to get answers. No, first she had to suffer through dinner with Eli and his mysterious date. She had already feared the night was going to be a disaster; now she knew it would be for sure.

Chapter 22

Discovered

Eli pulled up to
Dolcini
, glad Leila had chosen somewhere familiar. He hoped the restaurant would help calm the anxiety he was sure she would be feeling. It did irk him just a little that he had to share his favorite restaurant with Luke, but it was worth it if it made the night more pleasant for Leila. Parked in his customary spot, Eli didn’t get out of the car.

“Are we going in?” Sabine asked, her words accented with long vowels and a rolling cadence.

“We should wait for Luke and Leila to arrive first. They invited us, so we should give them control.”

Sabine rolled her eyes. “This is why I don’t date psychiatrists. Everything is so much more complicated than it needs to be.”

Her complaining made Eli laugh, and not just because her
S
’s sounded like
Z
’s and the long
I
sounds were drawn out made her too adorable to take seriously. No, he laughed because he had heard the same argument from her for years. It was a miracle she agreed to be his date for the night.

“Thank you, Sabine, for coming with me. I really do appreciate it,” Eli said.

The smile she gave him was sincere. “Of course, Eli. I’m happy to help.”

A few minutes later, Eli spotted Luke and Leila walking up the street. When they were almost to the door he got out of his car. On his way around, Luke spotted him and gave a casual nod of acknowledgement. Leila saw him as well, but oddly, her eyes narrowed upon seeing him. Not sure what to make of Leila’s reaction, Eli continued around the car and opened Sabine’s door. She took his hand and stood gracefully.

He and Sabine had been friends for years, and she meant wholeheartedly that she would never date a psychiatrist, but even still, Eli could admit that she was a beautiful woman. Her black pencil skirt and chiffon blouse accentuated her tall, slender build. Sabine knew she looked good, and took Eli’s arm with a natural sense of confidence. The perfection of her stride betrayed her for the fashion model she was to anyone who watched her for more than a few seconds.

As they approached Luke and Leila, a hint of satisfaction hit him as Luke’s eyes widened in surprise. When he fairly ogled Sabine, however, Eli’s shoulders stiffened. Sabine could handle the attention, he was quite sure, and if it proved unwanted … she knew how to handle that as well. He hardly had to take care of her. Knowing that, Eli changed his focus. His eyes landed on Leila, curious to see her response to Sabine.

Usually, he had no trouble reading Leila’s expressions. That was not the case in that moment. The way her lips were pressed together suggested anger or irritation, but that contradicted the widened surprise in her eyes. Her arms were folded across her chest, clearly a hostile stance. What Eli couldn’t figure out was whether she was upset about Sabine, or him. She wouldn’t look at Eli.

Feeling the need to explain his guest and allay any misgivings Leila may have had, Eli said, “Sabine, this is my good friend Leila Sparro and her boyfriend Luke Deveron.” Sabine smiled winningly at her introduction.

“Luke, Leila, this is Sabine,” he continued. “Sabine is my friend, Guy’s, sister. She’s in town for work and I offered to show her around the city tonight.”

“You’re Guy’s sister?” Leila asked, finally breaking her silence.

Sabine laughed. “Yes. Guy is my brother, though I try not to let too many people know that. He has a bit of a reputation, does he not?”

“I imagine he does,” Leila said. Eli was pleased when some of the tension in Leila’s shoulders diminished, but concern lodged itself in his chest at what remained, and the fact that Leila still refused to meet his gaze.

“What business are you in?” Luke asked Sabine as they walked into the restaurant.

“I am a fashion model in Europe,” she answered, which attracted both Luke’s and Leila’s interest, though for different reasons.

Still not meeting his eyes, Leila frowned in his general direction. Luke’s eyes lit up. The rest of the way to the table, Sabine and Luke rambled on about photography, fashion, and travel. Leila feigned interest. Eli didn’t even attempt to hide his fixation on Leila. He wanted to know what was bothering her. Surely it couldn’t be Sabine. She had looked angry before Sabine even stepped out of the car. Whatever it was, he had the feeling it wasn’t going to be resolved easily. And that scared him.

“Mr. Walsh, it’s so nice to see you again,” Megan said. She was Conrad’s best waitress, and ever since the incident with Tony, she was the only one who served Eli when he came to
Dolcini
. She turned to Leila. “Ms. Sparro, it’s nice to have you back as well.”

Leila smiled lightly at the warm welcome. Luke looked irritated.

“Welcome to
Dolcini
, everyone. My name is Megan and I will be your server tonight. If you need anything at all, please don’t hesitate to ask.” Megan recited the house specials for the night, then took their drink orders and excused herself.

As soon as she was out of earshot Luke said, “So, Eli, I take it you come here often?”

“Yes,” Eli responded, enjoying Luke’s annoyed expression just a little. “I conduct many of my business meetings here. The owner, Conrad, is a very good friend of mine.”