Chapter 18

Eliza

I always thought Elliot was the calm one, like me.

She’s not.

As I watch her hit Coleson twice, without hesitation, I realize she’s more like Clara. A fireball ready to explode. I wince when my younger sister’s fist connects with Coleson’s mouth, and I cry out when she pops him in the eye, her body shaking with fury. Before I can throw myself between them, Peepaw grabs Elliot by her bicep, pulling her away as I cry out, “Jesus Christ! Elliot!”

She flashes me an incredulous look as I rush to Coleson. He looks shocked, nothing but confusion in his fast-swelling eye. I wipe away the blood dripping from his split lip as his gaze meets mine. Before I can even say another word, Elliot is raging behind me.

“I’ve done nothing but believe in you and try to help you, and you repay me by using my sister. My flesh and blood. My best friend. You motherfucking idiot, I’m going to kill you and then kick your dead body.”

“Elliot!” I yell back at her. “Cut it out.”

Soon, players and staff start to gather, all wide-eyed and nosy as fuck. Damn it. “Wait, what?” Coleson says, looking between me and my sister. “That’s your sister?”

I nod. “Yes. My younger one. Elliot.”

He blinks. Well, one eye does. His other is red and blotchy. “Elliot? I thought her name was El?”

“Jesus Christ,” Peepaw groans. “Let’s continue this in private.”

Peepaw drags her down the hall, and I almost join them until I see that Coleson is struggling with his skates. As he shakes off his gloves, I bend down and undo his laces. He crouches down with me, undoing one while I work on the other. “I didn’t know.”

“I realize that now,” I say quickly. My heart is in my throat as I untie his skate as quickly as I can. Eyes are still on us, and I try to keep my voice down. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He brushes it off. “Dan Davenport is your grandpa, then?”

I nod. “Yes.”

“I’m a dead man.”

“That is a fair statement, for sure.”

“You don’t have his name. Doesn’t El have his name?”

I shake my head. “No, she’s a McDavid like me.”

“Fucking hell, this just got more complicated than ever.”

“Yes, it has,” I agree as I pull off his skate. I tug so hard, I fall to my bottom, but neither of us laughs. He yanks his other skate off, discarding it before reaching for my hand to help me up. “I didn’t realize they knew the truth.”

“I’ve been working with El because of Dan.”

“Oh, we are so fucked,” I mutter.

“Big-time,” he says as our eyes meet. “What do you want to do?”

I can see the fear in his eyes. I know he thinks I’m gonna call this off. I probably should. If Elliot and Peepaw tell Lou, Austen, and Clara the truth, they’ll all try to talk me out of this. I won’t let them, though, and I fear that’ll drive a wedge between my sisters and me. They want me to be safe and happy. Doing this with Coleson will end with me being broken, and I know that. It’s a done deal, but I’m a woman of my word. I want to help him. I want the coffee shop, and there is no going back.

“Get through this without my sister hitting you again,” I tell him honestly. “Or my peepaw ruining your career.”

He eyes me. “What the hell is a peepaw?”

I give him an incredulous look. “Really? That’s what you need to know right now?”

“Yes. What the hell is that?”

“He told us to call him that, and that’s what we call him.”

“Okay, fine. But while I am fond of your ideas for coming out of this unscathed, do you have any idea how to make sure Elliot doesn’t clock me another one and Dan doesn’t ruin me?”

I sigh. “I don’t, so just stay clear of her fists and let me do the talking.”

“Great plan.”

“I thought so,” I agree as I start to walk toward where Peepaw and Elliot disappeared to. Coleson is right behind me, and when we enter the room, I grab the Kleenex box from the middle of the table to hand to him. He takes it with a quiet thanks, but I don’t acknowledge him because the pure fury from my sister and Peepaw distracts me. The tension in the room has me on edge as I stand beside Coleson, while only the table keeps Elliot and Peepaw at bay.

“End this,” Peepaw demands, and I shake my head.

“No. We made a commitment to each other.”

“You think you’re knocking up my sister?” Elliot yells, and I feel Coleson stiffen beside me.

I look at him, and he shakes his head. “I wasn’t down with the pregnancy bit, but a dog, maybe?”

I shrug. “I could do a dog.”

“What the fuck?” Peepaw seethes. “Out of all the women in the world, you chose my granddaughter?”

“I didn’t know,” Coleson stresses.

“I don’t care if you didn’t know,” Elliot snaps. “You told me you haven’t been sleeping with anyone. But you’ve not only been with my sister, you lied and told her you loved her? You don’t love anyone but your motherfucking self!”

I wince at Elliot’s words, and when I chance a glance at Coleson, I see him swallow hard. He’s trying so hard to be a better person, and his past just keeps coming for him. I can’t allow them to hate him.

“I lied,” I admitted, and all eyes fall on me. “He never said he loved me, and we haven’t even slept together. He came to me with a proposal for a year of my life in exchange for full ownership of the Drippy Drip, and I accepted.”

“What?” Elliot screeches, and Peepaw’s face turns deep purple.

“Eliza James, what in the world have you done?”

I shrug. “It’s my life. Everyone has something—Lou with the bookshop, Austen with the management position, Clara with her dog business, and Elliot, you’re the most sought-after social media director. I need to be something.”

“So you chose to be a wife to a fucking scumbag!” Elliot yells. And her words hurt.

Beside me, Coleson goes still. “She is more than my wife,” he insists, his eyes dark and his jaw tight. “The papers are being worked on as we speak to make her full owner of the coffeehouse. I will train her and make sure she is successful. I’m giving her everything I own, my business, my home?—”

“All to tie herself to you, someone who cheats, fucks, and drinks his life away!” my sister yells, her eyes wild.

“I have never cheated,” he says in a low, warning tone.

“Because you haven’t had someone for more than an hour!” She throws back at him, and then she sets me with a look. “Eliza, what the hell? He isn’t good enough for you.”

“Elliot, that’s enough,” I demand. “This was my choice and mine alone. I want to help him. I believe in him, and I know we can both achieve our goals.”

“At what cost?” Peepaw interjects, his gaze solely on mine. “I will buy you a fucking coffeehouse, Eliza.”

“I know you would,” I say softly, my heart full of love for the man who helped save me. “But doing it this way, I’ll be established, and it’ll help Coleson.”

“Liza, he is using you!” Elliot warns, her eyes wild and holding mine. “I know you. I know how your mind works. Sissy, he’ll never love you. This isn’t a quick way to get the life you want. He doesn’t want you past what you can get him. Which is the NHL, not you, and that’s not fair.”

“You think I don’t know that?” I ask incredulously, tipping my chin up. “He was honest with me from the top, Elliot. I know exactly what I am doing, what his intentions are, and what mine are.”

“He’s going to hurt you,” she stresses, and I feel Coleson bristle beside me.

Before he can snap at her and make this worse, I shake my head. “That is my choice, not yours.”

“Yes, but when he ends this because he makes it to the NHL, you will be broken all over again, and it’ll be our job to put you back together,” she says, her eyes flooding with tears. “I just don’t get it. You’re not stupid. You’re not flighty. What are you doing?”

“I’m helping a friend,” I tell her. “And gaining a fully functioning business that will be mine.”

“He doesn’t even know how to be a friend,” Elliot snaps, her eyes pure fire for Coleson, but he doesn’t react to her. He stands beside me, his face neutral, and I know her words hurt him.

“He does,” I say, bringing my gaze back to hers. “Trust me to know that.”

I feel Coleson’s gaze on my face before he says, “I don’t intend on hurting her. I will take care of her and make sure she is happy.”

“Until you find someone to put your dick in,” Elliot mutters, and I flash her a dark look.

“I’m not a cheater. I will be faithful.”

When Elliot sputters with laughter, I feel my heart slam inside my chest. “That’s enough. I will not stand here and let you two attack his character any longer. I am well aware of his past?—”

“Are you?” Peepaw snaps, his eyes burning into mine. “You know that I had to suspend him for fucking a player’s wife.”

“I never fucked her,” Coleson said then, and I look up at his clenched jaw. “She blew me, and when I realized who she was, I ended it. But Barnes walked in to find her on her knees.”

“Your dick was still in a teammate”s wife!” Elliot yells, throwing her hands up. “That’s not okay.”

“You’re right,” Coleson agrees. “And I’ve done everything I can to clean up my mess.”

“You will not bring my sister down with you?—”

“Enough!” I roar, setting my sister and my peepaw with a look. “He is my husband, and you will respect him.” Peepaw looks like he may have a stroke as Elliot gawks at me. “I want you both to promise you won’t tell a soul you know the truth. This has to work because Coleson has worked too hard for it not to. Yes, he has made some bad choices, but we all have. Give him a chance to prove that he will do what is best for me, for us. Please trust me to know what I am doing and respect my marriage.”

“I promise I won’t hurt her,” Coleson says, and when I look up, his gaze is locked with Peepaw’s. “She will want for nothing, and I won’t disrespect her.”

Peepaw crosses his arms over his wide chest and then shrugs. “I sure hope so, because not only will I release Elliot on you, but I’ll ruin you.”

Coleson nods, the heaviness of Peepaw’s words weighing us both down. Before he can say a word, though, I say, “You have nothing to worry about.”

I know they don’t believe my statement.

Hell, I’m unsure if I even believe it.

But here I am, defending and trusting not just myself, but…my husband.