Edge of Shadows (Shadows #1) (15 page)

“Hey, Ellie,” he said with a bright smile.

“Hi, David.” She gulped, trying not to panic. Warning bells were going off in her head, but she had to stay calm.

“Did you get my message last night?” he asked. He seemed nervous, which any other time Ellie would have found endearing and sweet.

“Uh, yes. I did. But right now isn’t the best time to talk, David.” She watched his face fall, so she dropped her voice to a low whisper. “My ex-husband just showed up and wants to talk to me.”

David’s eyes widened and then narrowed. “You okay? Where is he?” His head swung around and it only took a moment for him to find Jake sitting at the corner table. He was the only customer in the place who was the right age.

Ellie reached across the counter and put her hand on his arm to get his attention again. “Yes, so I’ll have to talk to you later, okay?” Her eyes pleaded with him. She watched him nod slowly.

Ellie looked back at Kevin and gestured toward David. “Can you help me out here, please, Kevin? I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Kevin scowled at her, but moved to the counter. Ellie heard hushed voices behind her, but she couldn’t worry about that. She had to focus on the man in front of her whose aura was starting to glow a deep red.

“What’s the deal with this guy?” David said in a low tone to Kevin as he watched Ellie move over to table in the corner.

“I don’t know why she puts up with him, seriously,” Kevin replied. He leaned in toward David.

“Do I have anything to worry about there?” David didn’t know how to ask the question the right way other than just being blunt. He didn’t know if Ellie's ex was a factor or not and he was looking for an honest answer. He needed to know if he was wasting his time; the thought alarmed him.

“There is nothing to worry about there.” Kevin shook his head. “That is old news. He was so bad to Ellie it isn’t even funny. But after eight years I think she feels sorry for him. It has been hard for her to let go because she feels guilty.”

“How so?” David asked.

“That isn’t my story to tell,” Kevin said apologetically. “Just hang in there. She’s totally into you.”

David could only hope that Kevin was right.

Jake’s foot was tapping on the floor. Ellie’s stomach tightened as she sat down across from him. She needed to control the situation and get Jake out of there before he caused a scene. She could see that he was seething just under the surface.

“Who is that guy?” he asked. He tilted his head in David’s direction. “You seemed pretty cozy with him.”

“He’s a regular here, Jake,” she said slowly. She couldn’t let him get distracted by David. “What’s this all about? I’m here now. Why have you been harassing me?”

“I wouldn’t call a few phone calls harassment. Really, Ellie, you always over-exaggerate. So you dating him or something?” Jake continued to push.

“If I was that would be none of your business,” Ellie said. She moved to try to catch Jake’s eyes, but couldn’t because his gaze was fixed on David’s back. The air around him seemed electrified.

“Didn’t take you long to go jump in bed with some other guy.” Jake scowled.

Before she could react his face twisted into a nasty grimace that she recognized all too well. “Jake,” she warned, but it was too late.

Jake sprang up from the table and Ellie dashed behind him, trying to grab his arm. Jake shook her off easily.

“Jake!” she said again, louder than she meant to.

Now they had the attention of everyone in the shop, including David.

David turned from the counter and gave Jake a slow once-over, and then he relaxed with his left hand on the counter and his coffee in his other hand. His stance said he wasn’t intimidated by Jake in the slightest, but Ellie could see just the faintest hint of pink around his normal blue aura. David was keeping a tight rein on his emotions, but his expression spoke volumes. He wasn’t going to let someone push him around.

Although Jake was practically in his face, David looked instead at Ellie and asked, “Ellie, is there a problem?”

“Hell, yes, there’s a problem,” Jake growled. “Keep your distance from my wife.”

“Ex-wife, I believe,” David said. He calmly took a sip of his coffee without wavering in Jake’s heated glance.

David held Ellie’s eyes and stared into them deeply. It was reassuring. She could sense that he was telling her it would be okay. She wanted to believe him, but she knew Jake. When he got like this, things got ugly. The back of her head started to throb as if to remind her.

“Goddammit! I don’t know who you are, but you are sniffing around somewhere you don’t belong.” Jake stepped even closer to David and shoved a finger in his face.

“I think you’d better take a step back and keep that finger out of my face. Nobody wants any trouble here,” David said.

Ellie saw disaster in the making. “Jake, I need you to leave,” she said, wedging herself in between the two men. She put her hands on Jake’s chest and pushed him backward. She had no idea how he’d react to her doing it, but she couldn’t let him take his anger out on David. “Or else I’m going to call the cops.”

“It’s already done!” Kevin’s voice came from the back room. He emerged with the phone in his hand and waggled it in Jake’s direction.

Jake looked at Ellie, and then at Kevin. Ellie could tell that he was fighting some kind of internal battle; his features tightened and relaxed several times. Then he let out a huge breath, but Ellie couldn’t see a change in his aura at all. Jake was still pissed, but he was in control.

“Fine. I just wanted to talk to you, Ellie. But I see how things are. Oh yes. I’ve got a good idea now.” Then he turned and stalked to the door.

He paused just inside the door even though sirens could clearly be heard now. Then he turned and pointed straight at David. “Don’t think I’ll forget about you.” He shoved through the door and hurried down the sidewalk. Within moments he was out of sight.

Ellie released her breath, not even realizing that she had been holding it. She turned to David, who was still calmly watching the front door. “God, David, I’m so sorry for that,” she said to him.

“Don’t worry about it, Ellie. Guys like that don’t scare me,” he said. He was so relaxed that Ellie was envious.

“I hope you aren’t mad,” Kevin said from the other side of the counter. “As soon as I saw him get up with that evil glint in his eye I knew there would be trouble.”

“No, Kevin, I’m not mad. It was probably for the best. Who knows what he would have tried to do otherwise, if he hadn’t felt forced to leave.  Jake always liked a good bar brawl.” Ellie said. She felt so tired all the sudden.

A police car pulled up in front of the shop with its red lights flashing. Ellie hoped Jake was long gone. As much as Jake scared her, she didn’t relish the idea of him going to jail.

David watched as Ellie spoke with the police officers, assuring them that everything was fine now. They asked a few more questions and with some prodding from Kevin she confessed everything that had been recently occurring with Jake. David was starting to see why Ellie was so reserved. It sounded like her ex-husband had sent her to hell and back, and now it seemed like the guy was back intending on an encore performance.

After the officers finished taking her statement, Ellie gave them free coffee to thank them for the trouble. David walked with her back outside and they watched the squad car pull away.

“They told me that I might want to consider a restraining order,” she said. She sounded defeated.

“Isn’t a bad idea, I think,” David said. He didn’t need to hear anything else to know that Jake was bad news. He wanted to keep Ellie safe. She didn’t resist as David pulled her into his arms. Immediately her shoulders started to heave, and she sobbed quietly against his chest.

“I’m so sorry,” she said a few minutes later after the sobs had subsided. He was pleased that she didn’t move away.

Kevin had told him that she wasn’t still hung up on her ex, and he wanted to believe that. He felt certain that his and Ellie’s futures were intertwined.

As she looked up at him, he pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. “Don’t apologize. You’ve been through a lot, and that jackass isn’t helping matters if he won’t leave you alone.”

“I feel so lost sometimes. Things are so complicated. When are they going to get better?” Ellie asked softly.

“Let’s start with today, and tomorrow will work itself out,” David said. He kissed her gently on the forehead. He hoped that she would realize worrying about things out of her control would just drive her crazy.

She pushed away from David and wiped her eyes. Then they both realized that everyone inside the shop was doing their best to be completely pasted to the window.

“Oh my gosh! You must be so embarrassed. You end up with a crazy, hysterical woman on your hands and all you wanted was a cup of coffee,” Ellie said, staring at the ground.

David put his hand beneath her chin and pulled her eyes up to meet his. “I came here to see you this morning. I don’t give a damn about the coffee. I want you to be happy, Ellie, and I’m really hoping I can be part of that,” he said.

Ellie’s face broke into a bashful smile. “Thank you, David. You’ve been so understanding about all of this chaos. I’m just not used to it. It means a lot to me.”

“That’s better,” he said, returning the smile. “I really need to get home and get some sleep. But how about I take you out to dinner tonight?”

“I’ve got a better idea,” Ellie said. “How about I cook for you?”

“Great!” he said enthusiastically. “As long as it isn’t any bother.”

“No bother at all,” Ellie said. “I do need to check on Linda’s house tonight, though. Get the mail and things.”

“We can have dinner and then I’d be happy to take you over there,” David said. He was happy to do anything to be around her more.

“Okay,” Ellie said.

David looked at his watch. “Okay, how about I come over around seven?”

“That’s perfect,” Ellie said. She wrote down her address and handed it to David. “Do you have any preferences for dinner? If not, I’ll whip up one of my specialties.”

“Sounds great,” David said. “I’ll eat anything.”

He pulled Ellie close to him again and squeezed tight. She didn’t pull away. Her smell was intoxicating, and he breathed it in deeply. This time, though, he loosened his hold from around her waist and slowly pulled away.

“I’ll see you tonight.” He flashed a smile again.

Ellie smiled back. He kissed her forehead again and then regretfully headed toward home.

Ellie waved as David walked away and then walked back into the shop. Kevin and Jeffrey were busily scrubbing the counter and appliances.

“Everything okay, Ellie?” Kevin said, flashing her a knowing grin.

“Much better,” she said. “Kevin, can you and Jeffrey watch the store this morning? I think I’m going to take your advice and do a little shopping. I think getting a cell phone is a really good idea.”

“Sure,” Kevin said.

Ellie nodded and walked in the back to get her purse. Having a sense of purpose made her feel even more confident. David was right. Worrying about tomorrow wasn’t going to do her any good. She needed to focus on healing today, and making some much needed changes in her life might be the best way to do that.

Waving goodbye to Kevin and Jeffrey, she walked out the door.

Ellie’s car was full when she pulled into her driveway several hours later. Not only had she stopped at the local electronics store and picked out a laptop computer and cell phone, but she had also gone to the grocery store for supplies for dinner.

She got out of the car and went around to the passenger door. She jumped and let out a small yell as Jake stepped out from behind the hedge that surrounded the parking lot.

“Jake, what are you doing here?” She tried to appear calm. She glanced around at the parking lot. Unfortunately, it was just her and Jake; there wasn’t another person in sight. Inside her chest her heart was pounding a mile a minute and her breath was coming in deep gulps.

“Ellie, I need to talk to you,” he pleaded. He stretched his arms out toward her. His aura was a sickly green.

She took a step back. “Jake, I don’t know what’s going on with you. But you are going to get in trouble if you keep this up. We’re divorced and this is not acceptable. You can’t just call me or show up on my doorstep whenever you want to. You need to stop and think about how what you are doing is coming across; you’re scaring me,” she said.

“I don’t want to scare you, Ellie,” Jake said. He took a step backward and ran his hands through his hair. He looked haggard, a significant difference from that morning. “Look. I’m sorry I got so angry this morning. I just didn’t like that guy. I want what’s best for you.”

“That guy, or any guy in my life, for that matter, is none of your business, Jake,” she said. She could feel her own anger bubbling inside, but she needed to be careful. She watched Jake warily. He seemed in control, but she wasn’t going to let her guard down for a second.