Daniel must have been half out of it, because he seemed to sigh and accept that as if it had been a promise of forever.
Which it wasn’t.
Eli didn’t have forever in him to promise anyone.
But he held Daniel’s hand. He held it while he agreed to the surgery, and he held it while Daniel succumbed to the anesthetic. Then he held Connie’s hand for the next three hours while they sat and waited, and when Daniel was out of surgery and going to be okay, he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed the knuckles.
Then he left.
Epilogue
Two Weeks Later
Eli jumped down from the truck and waved to Ed as he drove off. He automatically glanced at his phone for the hundredth time that night, and his breath caught when it confirmed he had no missed calls or texts. They’d started within twenty minutes of him leaving the emergency room and hadn’t let up for two weeks. Jacob, Connie, Talon, Sawyer, and of course Daniel when he woke up, what seemed like every minute of every day including pictures of the damn dog that Daniel said still didn’t have a name no matter how much money Eli gave to Trixie to look after her.
It looked like even Daniel had given up on him eventually.
Martin had gotten him a job. It meant working nights, and cleaning offices wasn’t what he wanted to do forever, but Ed and Marie had been decent to him. He got paid, worked hard, and in another couple of months might even have some cash for a car. Running was his new favorite activity. He let himself in his cheap motel room and glanced down at the vibrating phone in his hand. Disappointment crashed over him as he saw Bo’s name on the screen.
But why? Daniel was doing what he’d asked him to do, and it just went to show if he had given up, he couldn’t ever been that serious. Eli clutched the phone in frustration. What the hell? It wasn’t some test. He didn’t need Daniel to prove anything. He just needed him to stay away.
He answered the phone. “Happy Birthday.”
“You’re coming, aren’t you? You promised.”
Eli groaned silently and looked at his watch. Not even 7:00 a.m. “Don’t you ever sleep, kid?”
“I have news.”
Eli stilled. “Surgery news?” They’d been waiting to hear about the possible grants Bo might get for his eye surgery.
“I’m not telling you until you get here. You promised,” Bo whined. Actually whined.
“You’ve been spending way too much time with Ruth.”
“Yep, and you said you would come over this morning before the others got here.” Eli rolled his eyes. He had. He’d promised Bo he would come on the condition he could be gone before Liam turned up, and whoever brings him. He couldn’t bear to see Connie. He had no defenses around her, never had.
He’d barely missed Adam yesterday when he’d gone to see Dr. Rakeem, who’d insisted Eli’s insurance was current to the end of the month, so he still had to see him.
Not that he minded. The man was crazy and made him laugh.
“Give me an hour and make sure you have the coffee on.” Eli could imagine the stunned look on Bo’s face.
“You betcha.”
Eli peeled off his uniform shorts and headed for the shower, berating himself for giving in to the need to check his phone once more, and seeing no missed calls wondered why he’d bothered.
An hour later, Eli jogged into Molly’s driveway. She had the door open before Eli had a chance to ring the bell, and her arms were around him before he’d taken a step inside.
Eli smiled. That was new. She’d never hugged him before, but he could see the excitement on her face and knew they’d had good news about the surgery. Bo came clattering down the stairs and practically threw himself at Eli. “I got a surgeon. He’s gonna work for free.”
Eli grinned. “That’s great, Bo.” And he pushed the wrapped present into Bo’s hands.
“What is it?”
Molly chuckled. “Would you go and put it in the living room, Eli? I have breakfast all laid out, so we can do presents after.”
“Sure,” Eli said and turned around as everyone else filed into the kitchen. He pushed the living room door open and nearly dropped the damn present when he saw the man sitting in the corner chair.
And the dog sitting by his feet. They both stood up at once, and Dog nearly fell over in her excitement to get to him. Eli dropped to his knees and buried his head in her coat as she whined and wriggled her delight, practically sitting on him. He couldn’t speak, and nothing Daniel could say would give him the courage to look up.
“She’s pregnant.”
Except that.
Daniel bent down. “Vet says in about six weeks, so she must have been just a few days gone when you found her.”
Eli glanced down.
“Trixie has first choice of one, and she’s prepared to fight you for it. Molly wants one for the kids. Gael says one would be good for Derrick, and Talon’s thinking about getting one to keep Olly company. So you’d better hope she has at least five because Liam and Luis have heard about them as well.”
Eli looked up at Daniel. He looked like he hadn’t been sleeping, and he’d definitely lost a little weight. He knew the surgery had gone okay though because Finn was apparently Eli’s new best friend and couldn’t keep a secret if he was asked to, and that included giving Eli updates. Mo was awaiting trial but hadn’t been granted bail because he’d lived off grid before. Eli had tried to see him and been refused. The authorities didn’t trust Eli not to get him out, but he had a good attorney, so they were hopeful.
“What are you doing here?”
Daniel knelt down and patted the dog. “Because while Dog seems intelligent enough to have managed to find herself a forever home, her owner doesn’t seem to be as clued in.” Daniel glanced down at her. “Good girl.”
Eli couldn’t talk around the sudden lump in his throat.
“You see, taking in strays is all about trust.” Daniel sat down on the floor next to them both and seemed to get himself comfortable. “You have to feed them, same place, same time every day, until they know you’re reliable. Show them that every touch is gentle, and never raise a hand in anger. Establish patterns of behavior so they learn to trust you, and never get frightened that one day you will get sick of them no matter what they do and take them back to the pound.”
Eli was crying. He knew he was crying. It was like he’d been crying for weeks. Sometimes it felt like he’d never stop.
“And keep loving them.” Daniel pulled Eli close to him. “Even when they hiss and spit or growl and bite.”
Eli turned his face into Daniel’s shirt. “You got hurt. It was my fault.”
Daniel rubbed circles on his back. “Nope. You didn’t fire the gun. If you’re going with that argument, you could say that technically it’s Richard’s fault. He knocked Mo’s arm. Gregory’s impressed with him by the way. That he stayed when all the rest of the people ran, and took out Caffrey when he pulled a gun. It wouldn’t surprise me if Gregory doesn’t offer him a job.”
But there was something else. Something big. Something that might turn Daniel away. That would turn him away eventually.