Hometown Boy

Chapter 11

Eliza watched everything unfold in her rearview mirror putting the pieces together. "That bitch," she muttered. Jenny's hostility made so much sense now. The woman had never been particularly loving, but she had never been rude to Eliza until after she had adopted Benji. She had known all along. And based on Coulter's posture, he had just figured that out. Or in true Jenny fashion, she had cruelly dumped the information on him and left him standing in the middle of the empty parking lot in front of the little white church.

Eliza put her car in park. Turning to Benji who was sitting patiently in his car seat in the back, she murmured, "I'll be right back, baby."

She squinted in the bright sunlight as she walked across the lot to where Coulter still stood looking like a strong wind would blow him over. His shoulders slumped and he looked up as Eliza's heels on the asphalt alerted him to her presence. "You okay?" she asked as she approached.

He threw his hands up in the air. "I have no idea." The anger was evident in his voice as he turned to face her. Eliza saw the raw emotions in his eyes as he stared at her. "She knew. The whole time, Eliza, she knew and didn't tell me. I can understand Sam not telling me. Hell, I wasn't worth shit back then. Still ain't now. But I was even worse six-seven years ago. But my mom? This don't make any sense."

Eliza blew out a heavy breath watching as he kicked the ground, his hands tugging at his hair. Hesitantly, she touched his arm watching as his attention riveted to the spot she made contact. He didn't pull away when she went on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck. No, instead his arms nabbed her around her waist, and he dropped his head to her shoulder. "Saying it'll be okay is kind of dumb," Eliza offered quietly, "but that doesn't mean that it isn't true. Cause it will be okay eventually."

She felt him nod against her neck and squeezed him once before pulling away pretending not to notice the redness in his eyes as he backed away. "Come on," she said, nodding her head towards her car, "Worry about that tomorrow. Today we're going to the creek and there's a little boy in the car right now who's itching to put on his floaties and swim."

Coulter smiled despite himself. "Okay," he agreed, "But I am afraid I don't have anything appropriate for the creek. Can't exactly go swimming in boots and jeans."

Eliza couldn't stop herself as her eyes went up and down his form appreciatively. There was an interesting glint in Coulter's eyes that made her face turn red. He had definitely noticed that look and the satisfaction in her eyes as she looked at him. "Walmart is on the way," she managed to say, "We can stop it's not a problem."

That was all the convincing Coulter needed.

Eliza sat on the creek bank, a small smile on her face as she watched Benji play in the water with Maria and Davy, Mae's two kids. Mae lounged next to her, the sunglasses perched on her nose dwarfing her face. Coulter was in the water too, his toned body on display as he took turns launching the kids into the water.

"Now that's a sight for sore eyes," Mae's tone was highly appreciative.

Eliza blushed a deep shade of red and fanned her face with her hand, thankful for her hat that kept most of her face invisible. "He is a pretty man," she admitted.

Mae flicked Eliza's hat up and cackled at the redness she was trying to hide. "Well damn, you're all flustered."

"Shh," Eliza hushed her, swatting at Mae's hands that were poking her cheeks.

Mae pouted. "Rude."

"How's Nate?" asked Eliza desperately trying to change the conversation.

Mae rolled her eyes but leaned back on her elbows and wiggled her toes deeper in the sand. "He's fine. Complaining about the heat on the boats. But that's normal."

"How much longer is he going to do this offshore gig?"

Mae shrugged. "As long as they keep paying him well, I guess. I hate he's gone six months out of the year but he provides well for me and the kids so I can't complain too much."

Eliza nodded. "Single parenting isn't easy. I can't imagine doing it with an actual infant."

"You're telling me."

They lapsed into comfortable silence watching as Coulter waved to them from the water. "Come on in!"

Mae shook her head and said, "I just got my hair done. I am not dousing it in creek water."

Eliza rolled her eyes and clambered to her feet to join them. "Buzzkill."

Mae threw a handful of sand at her. "Now who's rude?" Eliza laughed.

Coulter watched as Eliza dusted the sand off her hands and tossed her hair up into a messy bun before heading towards them, her face scrunching up at how cold the water was. She was so stunning she knocked the breath out of his lungs. Her bathing suit was conservative in some ways but in others, holy cow. She was breathtaking. Benji splashing water directly in his face reminded him he needed to stop staring before she noticed.

Benji giggled as Coulter swooped him up out of the water and tossed him several feet away. Maria shrieked, "My turn, my turn!"

"How about we give Coulter a break," Eliza suggested, grinning as she saw how out of breath Coulter was.

"Excellent idea," he agreed, shaking the water from his hair, and flinging droplets everywhere.

The kids complained with Benji showing his dismay by clinging onto Coulter's arm and pouting. "Go on now," Eliza laughed, "Go build sandcastles or annoy your mother."

Coulter's attention turned to Eliza as she pried Benji off of him, both of them giggling the entire time. "Shoo, shoo little man. You need to get out of the water for a little while anyway. You're all pruny."

The three kids made their way to the sandbar where they proceeded to fling water and sand all over Mae who quickly set about fixing them snacks. Eliza smiled up at Coulter, before realizing he was already staring at her, a funny look on his face. She raised an eyebrow.

Coulter ducked his head and rotated his shoulder which was a little sore from throwing kids around for the past hour or so. "You alright?"

He nodded. "Just an old injury from high school. Anytime I tweak it, it gets a little sore for a couple of days is all."

They waded to a shallower part of the creek and sat down enjoying the coolness of the water mixed with the hot sun beating down on their heads. "I could take a nap right here," mused Coulter.

Eliza sighed in contentment. "Me too."

.......

A little bonding time never hurt anybody. Let me know what you think in the comments!

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Sincerely,

Scarlett McLeod