Love Starts with Elle(93)

“I’ll leave you the key. Use it any time.”

She swerved to face him, arms crossed. “It’s sinking in now, you leaving.”

“Yeah, I know.” He jingled his keys. Did he hear longing in her voice? “Elle, I want to—”

Tracey-Love burst into the great room with Rio chasing her. “Which room is mine, Daddy?”

“Any one but the big one.” Heath winked at Elle.

“Will you have time to visit?” she asked.

“Not at first. Maybe by spring.”

“By spring?” she echoed in a whisper.

Heath agreed—spring was a long way away. “So, how about the fireplace? It was redone. And in here, they gutted the kitchen, knocked out a wall to create the great room.”

“It’s a lovely place, Heath.” Elle leaned against the granite counter and for the first time since he’d met her, he felt the lingering heat of her gaze. “What were you going to say before, a few minutes ago?”

“I don’t know. It’s hard to formulate—”

Tracey-Love and Rio must have gone wild. From the back of the house, doors slammed and banged, screams echoed down the hall.

“Hey, TL, Rio, you’re shaking the rafters. Come in here, we’ll go outside.”

A blonde and brunette torpedo-fired into the kitchen, bypassed Heath and Elle, and slam-bammed out the kitchen door to the backyard. “A swing!”

“Man, it’s like watching the Road Runner chase Speedy Gonzales.”

“She’s a long way from the scared girl who stuttered,” Elle said, walking to the back door, gazing out.

“You’re part of that reason, Elle. She needed a woman in her life.”

“She’s easy to love, Heath. Ava would be proud.”

“Somehow, I think she’s watching, cheering us on.” Heath pressed the screen-door handle. “Want to check out the backyard?”

Elle tipped her head. “Of course. I hear it has a swing.”

Under an ancient live oak, Rio and Tracey-Love attempted to climb into the tire swing, without success. Heath picked up one, then the other, threaded them through the tire hole, and gave them a gentle push. The breeze carried a scent of fall.

“The falls are nice in New York,” Elle said out of nowhere, reaching for the live oak’s swinging tendrils of Spanish moss. “Football season, crisp days, and cool nights.”

“And I’ll be holed up in an office, leaving too late to see the day, riding a dark subway home.”

“I could never do what you do.”

“I could never do what you do.”

“And what is that? I’m nothing special.”

“You can’t still believe that. What is it with beautiful, talented women and insecurity?”

“Comes with the territory?”

Heath laughed. “Run it out of town on a rail then. Elle, you spend five mornings a week sitting before the King of Kings. Worship is not a one-way street. As much as you want to give to Him, He longs to give to you. Stop resisting.”

Elle stood silently. Heath gave the tire a big shove. Had he overstepped his bounds?

“You’re right, Heath. I forget and focus on my weakness too much.”

“Don’t we all.” He wanted to segue into the interrupted kitchen conversation, but Rio erupted, screaming, followed by Tracey-Love, squealing. One of them wanted out of the swing and did something to the other, and in a split second the backyard was filled with screaming.

“All right, you two, stop. Rio, TL didn’t pull your hair on purpose.” Heath slipped the girls from the swing. “Where’re your dolls?”

“In my room.” TL crossed her arms with a pout at Rio.

“Run get them so we can go. Who wants food?”

Everyone.

“What do you want to do for dinner?” He grabbed at the end of Elle’s flying hair.

“I haven’t grilled out at all this summer.”

He raised a brow. “Burgers on the barbie?”

“Burgers on the barbie.”



Every once in a while, Elle glanced up from her art book open on her lap to watch Heath sand the last pointy edge off the angel. About an hour of daylight remained and he boasted finishing the carving before he left next week.

They’d had a fun day, the four of them—Heath, Elle, Tracey-Love, and Rio—seeing Heath’s new place, stopping by Publix for dinner fixings, refereeing spats between Tracey-Love and Rio.

With the aroma of grilled burgers still hanging in the air, Julianne and Danny stopped by. They ate the final two burger patties, finished up the barbeque chips, then called for Rio. “Time to go home.”

Tonight was the first phase of easing Rio toward the truth about Mr. Danny.

As they pulled away, Heath tossed TL into the bath, then into bed while Elle cleaned the kitchen.

Not ready to call it a night, Elle decided to flip through art books while Heath carved.

“Watch for splinters, McCord,” Elle hollered before going back to her book. Danny planned to commission a piece for his Hilton Head office and Elle wanted to get ideas about creating a piece with strong shadow and light.

“Ha, you just want to jab me with a needle again.” Heath stood back, surveying his work.