Ellie’s eyes flickered first to her father, as if to judge how displeased he would be, then back to him. She took a breath. Adjusted her shoulders.
“Sure. You’re right, we do need to talk.
“Dad,” she went on, never looking away from Carter’s face, “We’re going to go to that little park across the street where we can talk without being overheard, or hopefully anybody we know seeing us. Don’t delay services if we’re not back in time. I don’t know how long this might take.”
“What about the music?”
“Drew can play his guitar.”
Her father wasn’t happy, but he allowed, “I guess I don’t have a say in this, do I?”
“Not really,” Ellie agreed, surprising Carter with her boldness. She stood on tiptoes, giving her dad a quick kiss on the cheek. “I promise I’ll be fine. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Her father nodded sharply, and Ellie turned to Carter, motioning towards a side exit.
“Let’s go this way so I can stop and grab my coat.”
Relieved that Ellie hadn’t instantly written him off or acted angry or scared to see him, Carter followed her, nodding at her father as he passed. The man didn’t return the gesture. Carter could feel his steely gaze piercing his back the entire way across the auditorium, out the side exit, and until the door closed behind them, sealing them off from view.
Chapter Four
“Let me grab my coat and we’ll get out of here,” Ellie said as she stepped over to a hallway closet and opened the door. Carter hung back, watching her pull out a moss green winter coat with a faux-fur lined hood and slide it on. Her fingers flew, buttoning as she walked back over to him.
“It’s cold out there. Did you bring a warmer jacket? You could borrow my dad’s coat—”
He cut her off before she could finish the thought.
“No, thanks. Pretty sure your dad wants to shoot me as it is. I’m not about to touch anything else of his. Besides, I’ve got my own coat.”
Ellie gave him a wry smile.
“Sorry. He’s ex-military and can be pretty tough. Plus, this is all a big shock to him, remember?”
“I know.”
“Where’s your car?” she inquired, changing the subject.
“Front parking lot.”
“If you want, we can stop by there first. I have a feeling we might be out in the park for a while.”
Carter didn’t argue. Considering what he’d come to say, he had a feeling she might be right. He followed her to the double doors of the church, which she unlocked and opened. A chill wind hit him in the side as he stepped outside, turning to shut the heavy door behind himself.
“Gosh, it’s cold,” Ellie said with a shiver. “I bet it isn’t this bad in Texas, is it?”
“Texas was nice when I left.”
“I miss it.”
There was detectable sadness in her voice. Carter waited a beat, but she didn’t say anything else.
He left her alone a minute to visit his car, exchanging his leather jacket for a heavier winter coat. Locking the rental car, he strode back over to Ellie. She stood on the church’s porch steps, gazing up into the grey sky. Tiny snowflakes swirled around her, and a breeze toyed with her blonde hair, tugging at the hem of her knee-length skirt. For a split-second, Carter almost stopped in his tracks to stare.
Stop being an idiot, he told himself, and marched on.
“You ready?” she asked when he’d approached the bottom step.
“Might as well get this over with.”
“I hear that,” she chuckled.
She led the way across the parking lot, towards the small community park Carter could see across the street.
“You going to be warm enough in that?” he asked doubtfully, taking in her skirt over tights and boots. She was dressed for church, not a walk on a wintery day.
Ellie peered up at him from behind her glasses. “I’ll be fine. There’s a little building with picnic tables and benches where we can sit to get out of the wind.”
“We could drive my car over there and sit in it with the heater running instead.”
He didn’t miss her wince of discomfort.
“Maybe if we get too cold,” she said, but she sounded doubtful, giving him the impression that, despite her brave words to her father, she wasn’t keen on the idea of sitting in a cooped up space with him.
Not that he could really blame her.
The park wasn’t much. A concrete path encircled the perimeter. There was a small swing set. A couple of spots for grilling and cooking out. A stone building with restrooms. One more stone building with the picnic tables Ellie had mentioned. An outdoor water fountain, which was most likely shut off due to winter temperatures.
“Do you want to sit or walk?” Ellie asked.
“Whatever you want.”
“Let’s walk. I’m uh—I’m not going to lie. I’m feeling pretty nervous right now, seeing you suddenly reappearing. I can’t help wondering what’s going on.”
“Nothing terrible,” he assured her, falling into step beside her as she set a rather brisk pace around the concrete footpath. “At least, I don’t think so.”
She eyed him sideways. “Where have I heard that before? Oh, right, when you told me we should get married for legal reasons. It wasn’t that big a deal to you, but it would be to me. Or something along those lines. This isn’t anything like that, is it?”
Carter chuckled, remembering the hot discussion that particular announcement had provoked. “You don’t trust me very much, do you?”
Ellie didn’t try to deny it. Instead, “Everything okay with the Costases?” she inquired. “And their son?”
“Jackson’s fine. Acting like a normal kid. He’s shielded as much as possible from the ugly stuff. Sean and Ciara are as well as can be expected.”
“What does that mean?”
Little white puffs of breath hung in the air when she talked, breathed.
“It means Sean and Nosizwe couldn’t come to an agreement on their Stones. It means there’s open war right now between Sean and Nosizwe. It’s not pretty.”
Ellie’s open expression fell, shuttered with worry.
“That’s not good,” she said quietly.
The tops of the firs lining the fence running parallel to the path bowed in the wind, murmuring assent.
“No, it’s not.”
“If that’s going on, I’m surprised you’re out here. It’s been three months since I’ve heard from you. I was beginning to wonder if I’d ever hear from you again.”
“Let’s just say I was kind of laid up for a while.”
“Laid up?” She stopped, turning to study him. “Were you hurt? What happened?”
Carter shrugged, trying to downplay his discomfort. He didn’t like talking about it. The excruciating pain of his body broken by the car wreck. Only the lightning-quick reaction of the Talos taking over had saved his life. The surgeries, the days in intensive care, followed by weeks of rehabilitation in a specially designed room in the Costas’s home, with full care, round-the-clock medical attention. Due to the war between Sean and his rival, it had been decided even the hospital wasn’t a safe place for someone as high as him in Sean’s circles. If Nosizwe’s shifters had gotten to him before, who was to say they couldn’t there in the hospital?