Ensnare

Chapter 4

Eli put his hand on the small of my back and we headed into the house

"Gotta have a quick sense of humor... and it's kind of crude around here. So be yourself, you'll fit right in. Do you want something to drink? We got beer white claw liquor.. Soda?"

" Just a beer please." I say looking up at him and smiling.

"Sure thing comin right up. Make yourself at home." he cracks open the bottle and hands it to me and nods his head toward the back door where the cookout seems to be in full swing. As soon as we step outside almost every one there seems to turn and stare right at me. Kinda freaky actually. Then the moment passes and most people go back to their conversations and I wonder if I just imagined them looking at me, maybe they just heard us come out,... over the loud music and conversations. I look up to elijah and he guides me over to the grill

"Hey jeff! Sve us any food?"

"Nah i ate it all." he laughs then looks at me "saw you at the diner today didnt i? Rhonda's kid? Whatcha want burger steak or dog?" he stuck his hand out to me as he was talking and i shook it

" man new travels fast 'round here doesn't it. I'll just have a burger if that's cool."

He throws a patty on a paper plate and points the table right behind him where the condiments are. I smile and start fixing my burger and elijah starts talking to jeff about the diner. 2 women break from their conversation to talk to me

"Hi! I'm kelsy you must be Emily. Eli told us you were coming tonight. I'm Kaid's wife" she points to a man on the other side of the yard who runs and waves at us. How did he hear her?

"Yeah hey nice to meet you."

"I'm Liz. Wilson's wife. He told me he met ya at the diner today. Made quite an impression on Elijah." she holds out her hand and i shake it and feel myself blushing for the thousandth time tonight.

"So where are you staying in town?"

"Oh my mom's realtor friend hooked me up with a place. I should be in within the week. Heck with all the offers I've had to help me I could be in tomorrow ''I chuckle.

"heck please take them up on the offers. These guys always have so much energy that they often take up odd jobs around town. Thank goodness, otherwise they'd drive us insane sitting at home all day." liz said

" no kidding they got back in town yesterday and i'm already sick of them breaking stuff and eating all my food" kelsey commented rolling her eyes

"Breaking stuff?" i ask the women look at each other

"The way the guys wrestle and mess around most everything in any of our houses is either new or homemade. It's all in good fun and heck half the time we join in.'' Liz smiles but I still can't help but think that I have a kid so maybe being around people who break houses might not be a good thing... "hmmm. What do they do for work? Do they all work together?" I will try to change the subject. Once again i notice that weird shared look before they answer

"They pull security for the city. Sometimes they get called out for region work. Usually not anything crazy. Heck i thik next month they are training with the local NAtional Guard unit on navigation and scouting."

"Oh wow that's pretty cool actually! Do they do things like that pretty often?"

Often enough that it's lost its charm to the guys but not so often that we miss them too much when they go '' Liz said.

I felt a hand on the small of my back and looked over my shoulder to see Elijah looking down at me and smiling. He nods to Liz then to Kelsey then nods over toward the fire in the middle of the yard.