Chapter Thirty-Six

Taylor

 

I couldn’t believe the difference in Elijah’s house. It was fully furnished, completely repaired, and looked like a home. I stood in the hallway looking in at Bailey’s room. The pink paint I put on the walls still looked fresh, and the satin curtains waved in the soft breeze flowing through the open window. Elijah had picked out a bed, covered it in a custom made purple quilt with a giant blue whale, and even bought toys that he had neatly packed into a treasure-style toy box in the corner of the room. “It’s perfect,” I sighed.

Elijah’s hand lifted to my shoulder, the weight of it was comforting as he stood behind me, looking into the room. “Are you sure?” he questioned.

I loved that he was so nervous, so anxious to make everything just right for Bailey’s new room. “It’s not like the mansion she lives in now,” he sighed.

I turned, sliding my arms around his waist and tip toeing to reach his lips. I planted a small kiss on his mouth, and then pulled back to allow my eyes to take him in. “She is going to love it, just like she loves you,” I assured him.

Kellie had agreed to allow Elijah to keep Bailey on Sunday night, on the condition that he brought me to the beach to meet her first. I’d spent all week anxious over meeting Bailey face to face, and about facing Kellie. The way she’d looked at me, glared at me, at the market, and how she snubbed me when she came to Elijah’s house that day, I wasn’t sure we’d ever hit it off. She was so different than I was, in school, and now. Her family was wealthy, and my father had barely made ends meet. She was the prom queen, a cheerleader, and I was more of a loner, a book nerd. I was dreading the meeting that afternoon, even though I wouldn’t admit it to Elijah. He had enough to worry about.

He squeezed me tightly in his arms, kissing the top of my head as my cheek smashed into his chest. I could hear his heartbeat pounding against his flesh as I struggled to calm my own nerves. “I know she is gonna love you,” he assured me, smoothing the frizz in my long, dark hair with the palm of his hand.

“I hope so,” I sighed, pulling back from his embrace to stare into his comforting eyes.

His smile warmed my heart, for some reason making me feel everything would be okay. He’d stayed true to his word, marching over to Kellie’s and demanding that she stay out of his personal life. I still didn’t know exactly what he’d said to her, or how he’d convinced her to butt out. He was so excited when he showed up at my house after his talk with her that he could barely speak. He gushed about Bailey, about how sweet she was, and how lucky he was to have her in his life. I just couldn’t believe that Kellie was willing to let go of her control that easily. I feared she might be up to something.

Elijah pulled on my hand, guiding me through the house, and to the backyard. He pushed open the back door, smiled proudly, and waved his hand towards the pool. It was sparkling clean, the water so blue you could see all the way to the bottom, and several pool toys were falling out of the storage container near the patio table he’d just put together. “What do you think?” he gushed.

I smiled, not sure what he was asking me. I’d saw the pool before and even swam in several times since it was cleaned up. “The slide,” he pointed towards a large yellow tube at the center of the pool. I laughed as the object came into view, unnoticed in my nervous state.

“I love it,” I beamed, moving across the freshly washed concrete to inspect the newly installed slide. He’d secured it into the concrete, had non-slip covers on each step, and even installed a water line so the slide wouldn’t go dry, pinching little Bailey’s legs as she slid down. “Bailey is gonna’ love it,” I added.

“I can’t believe I get to keep her tomorrow night. I’m not sure I know what to do,” he admitted, his eyes filled with an anxious excitement.

“You’ll do just fine,” I assured him.

“We better go,” he announced, looking at the watch on his wrist.

My stomach growled. I wasn’t ready. What if Bailey hated me?

Elijah pulled on my hand, guiding me back into the house. He locked the back door and then shut off all the lights. “Are you ready?” he asked, his eyes dancing on mine.

I was ready, ready as I’d ever be. “Sure,” I smiled faintly, doing my best to hide my stress.

I followed Elijah out of the house and to his car. The little pink car seat in the back was a new edition, one that I didn’t think I’d ever see in Elijah Grant’s classic sports car. So many things had changed, and so quickly. He’d moved from the hotel, made his childhood house a home, became a father, and fought Kellie to have me in his life, in his and Bailey’s lives.

I was quiet on the ride to the beach, and I was thankful that he was too. A lump formed in my throat, one so thick that I could barely swallow. I spent our time on the ride trying to push it down into my gut where the rest of the lumps had drowned.

This was it. We were there. Elijah pulled the car into an empty parking space and quickly got out of the car. It was obvious he was excited as he swung open my door and took my hand. “You look beautiful,” he grinned, eyeing me up and down.

I was wearing a thin white cover-up, one that looked like a cute little sundress, and a purple bikini underneath. I wasn’t sure I wanted to display my bikini-clad body to Kellie, the prom queen of our high school, and the woman whose glares made me feel so small.

I struggled to look classy as my sandals buried into the sand. Elijah carried a large umbrella, a cooler filled with snacks, and a blanket to spread on the beach in front of me, walking with ease without shoes to trip him up. I was relieved Kellie hadn’t noticed us approaching, never turning around to watch me hobble through the thick sand. She turned once Elijah blocked her sun with his overload of items in his arms. “You made it,” she acted surprised, her lips tightening as she turned towards me. I couldn’t see her glare through her dark sunglasses, but I was certain it existed beneath the glass, burning daggers into my heart.

Bailey’s arms flailed in the air as she ran towards Elijah. She jumped into his arms as he set the cooler and umbrella down in the sand and immediately started telling him about a turtle she’d watched cross the sand with its babies.

I took the blanket from Elijah’s shoulders and spread it on the ground while he was enthralled in the little girl’s story. She hadn’t noticed me yet, so I stood there awkwardly, not knowing if I should sit, or wait to be introduced.

“Bailey, there’s someone I’d like you to meet,” Elijah finally said, turning towards me with Bailey in his arms.

I could feel Kellie’s stare, but I didn’t dare look towards it for fear of turning to stone in her sight. “This is Taylor, my very special friend,” he added with a smile meant to calm me, but only unnerved me more.

“Like a girlfriend?” Bailey giggled as her eyes widened on mine.

“Yes,” Elijah beamed.

I extended my hand to the three-year-old as if she were a business client. “It’s nice to meet you,” I said sweetly, grateful my voice hadn’t cracked while speaking.

Surprisingly, Bailey took two of my fingers in her hand, shaking it like it was second-nature to her. “Hi,” she smiled.

My heart swelled in my chest, nearly pushing through my body and falling at my feet. She was adorable, gracious, and now that I was up close to her, so much like Elijah it was eerie.

“Are you thirsty?” Elijah changed the topic quickly by leaning down to dig in the cooler he’d brought. Bailey stood beside him, carefully inspecting each item he pulled from the ice. “Apple juice,” she squealed, jumping up and down as he handed her the small box and a straw.

“Can you help me build a sand castle now?” she asked, pulling on Elijah’s hand.

He smiled at me apologetically but agreed to the little girl’s request. I stood there, alone with Kellie, feeling a knot growing in my stomach from all the swallowed lumps.

“Have a seat,” she said graciously. “They’ll be over there forever,” she added with a sigh.

I took a seat on the blanket I’d spread out next to hers, and kicked off my shoes. She was wearing a yellow bikini, one so bright it competed with the sun for attention on the small beach. She was a beautiful woman, just as she was in school, and her looks, her wealth, the fact she’d given Elijah a child all overwhelmed me.

“She’s a beautiful little girl,” I said, breaking the silence I’d held onto.

Kellie nodded. “Yes, and she’s so happy to have her daddy in her life,” she added.

I stared out at Elijah and Bailey, gathering sand in the buckets she’d brought with her to the beach. “He’s happy to have her in his life as well,” I smiled.

Kellie pushed her sunglasses to her nose, giving me my first glimpse of her eyes. They weren’t glaring or snobbish at all, instead they were filled with amusement. “That’s such a shocker, don’t ya think?” she asked.

I laughed nervously as I nodded. “He’s changed a lot,” I sighed, leaning back on my hands.

“Take that cover up off; you’ll miss your chance at the best sun,” Kellie urged.

I wasn’t used to her being friendly to me, but it felt nice. I slid the white cover up from my body, revealing my purple bikini. I was built just as good as Kellie, maybe even better with my firm, full breasts compared to her smaller ones that looked to already be sagging. “So, you’ve known Elijah since school. He was good friends with your brother, right?” Kellie asked.

“Yes, best friends,” I corrected.

“So, am I making the right decision by allowing him to be in her life? You don’t think he’ll just disappear one night?” she questioned.

It felt good to see her vulnerability. It made her more human. “I don’t think you could get rid of him now, even if you tried,” I smirked, knowing she’d tried to get rid of me.

She smiled, her expression filled with relief. “I’m sorry about the whole thing with you. I just thought, well, you know what I thought,” she laughed.

“That I was just a flavor of the month?” I questioned with a chuckle.

“Exactly,” she exclaimed. “But ya know, after talking to Elijah about you, listening to him defend you the way he did, and fight for you to be in his life, it’s clear that you are much more to him than I thought,” she admitted.

I looked out at the man who had my heart as he played in the sand with his daughter. I turned back and smiled to Kellie, unable to hide the happiness her words had brought onto me. It was clear that I meant more to Elijah than I once thought I did as well.