Beautiful Lullaby

Chapter Eleven

A week had passed since Elena had finally admitted to herself and her stepmom that she had actually developed feelings for another man since Jeremy. But even though she’d said it out loud so that her stepmom could hear it, something inside of her was still confused about the situation, about how she felt about him, she wasn’t sure whether it was actually believing that it was true or if there was a small piece inside of her that didn’t actually feel that way, that she was just swept up in the moment of being treated right by another guy, another handsome, charming and sweet guy who has been nothing but nice and been there for her when she’s needed a shoulder to cry on. She had to know the truth, she had to ask her stepmom about these doubts that flew through her head.

          It was the weekend, the weather had changed once again with the snow completely disappearing, the bitter breeze vanishing and the winter sun cracking the pavements but there was still a winter air surrounding them. Walking up the pathway of her parent’s home holding two brown bags full of groceries and house keys tightly clutched in her right hand, she arrived on the porch and slowly slotted the keys into the keyhole, opening the door she stepped inside and kicked the door shut with her ankle boots as she slowly stepped through the hallway with her heels clicking on the floor. Automatically walking straight into the kitchen and passing the living room she placed the groceries on the counter top, she started unpacking the groceries oblivious to rest of the world. “Ma,” she called, “I’ve just picked up some of the groceries that you asked me to do. I won’t be staying for long, but there is somethin’ that I need to talk to you about.” She turned around slowly but became startled when she saw Chris standing behind the counter with his hands shoved into his jeans pockets. He had a small smile on his face as he gazed at her. “Hey,” he smiled small. 

“Chris,” she responded with shock, “Wh-wha-wha-wha- what are you doin’ here?” Chris began to open his mouth when the sound of Martina’s voice spoke, “I invited him,” walking into the room holding two empty glasses which once contained water. Elena’s eyes immediately shot at Martina with shock. 

“Y-y-yo-you invited him?” She stuttered, “How, what, why?” 

“Well,” Martina told her as she walked over to the island and placed the glasses on top of it, “I was walkin’ through town, goin’ to visit your dad down at the store when I bumped into this handsome young man, and I thought he’s gotta be the young man that my daughter’s talkin’ about. One, ‘cause he’s new here and I’ve never seen him before, and two, ‘cause he’s exactly the way that you described him to me.” 

“No offence,” she frowned, “But why is he here?” 

“’Cause I invited him back here,” Martina replied as she folded her arms across her chest, “I wanted to get to know the young man that had been there for my daughter, who’d treated her so sweetly and caringly.” 

“That’s really nice of you and all, ma,” she told her, “But I’m pretty sure that Chris has thin’s to do, he does have a job, you know.” 

“Oh I know, Chris was just tellin’ me about that,” Martina nodded, “He was tellin’ me that he has a job as a carpenter and I was just about to ask him somethin’ before you walked through the door.” She removed her arms from her chest and clapped her hands together with the tips of her fingers pointing at him. “Chris, have you any experience with loft conversions?” 

“Ma,” she sighed, “I’m pretty sure that Chris is super busy to do that.” 

“No,” he shook his head, “I’m not,” he turned and looked at Martina, “I’ve helped my dad build rooms before but I’ve never really converted a room before. You see, I’m just a carpenter, you’d need somebody to fit the windows, do the plummin’ and the insulation.”