Shelter (32 page)

“Hurry, you’re going to be late!” Ellie ran across Elias and Caden’s tiny apartment, attempting to shoo them through the door.

“Give me a second,” Elias looked in the mirror leaning against the exposed red brick wall, “are you sure I look okay?”

Caden appeared in the reflection behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist and giving him a reassuring kiss on the neck, “You look perfect.”

Caden adjusted the black graduation cap on Elias’ head so that a tuft of Elias’ black hair jutted out of the front. Ellie was tapping her foot at the door, fiddling with the black hair that had now grown beyond her shoulders. Elias turned to kiss Caden on the lips before taking another look at the apartment they’d moved into two weeks ago. The relator had described it as a ‘
comfortable studio with great light and close to transportation
’ but in reality it was a tiny apartment above an old factory, overlooking the docks. It had a tiny kitchen running along the back wall, an even smaller bathroom and a bedroom that just about fit their new bed.

Elias didn’t care, because it was theirs. He had been waiting tables in Bruce’s bar for most of the year, saving every last dime and cent so that he could move out of Ellie’s guest bedroom. Things wouldn’t have suddenly moved so quickly if Caden’s book hadn’t been picked up by a small publishing house. The advance meant they could put down a deposit on the only apartment they could afford and their little pot of savings let them buy enough self-assembly furniture to fill out the tiny space.

They jumped into Ellie’s car and headed to Havenmoore High. Wearing a graduation cap and gown at twenty-seven felt strange, especially since he hadn’t done it with his class when he was in senior year. The ceremony was a small, low-key event, organized by some of the people in his adult GED program. At first, Elias was against the idea because he just wanted to grab his diploma and get out of there but now that he was sitting in the gown, feeling strangely nervous, it felt like a right of passage that he finally needed to do.

“Do you know your book launch over in Portland?” Ellie eyed up Caden through the mirror, “Can I bring a plus one?”

“Who?” said Elias.

Ellie averted her gaze but he could tell from the creasing around her eyes that she was smiling, “Just some guy.”

“Some guy?”

“Now that the divorce is finalized and I’ve finally moved, I thought it was time to get myself back out there.”

“What guy?” Elias asked again.

“His name is Tim. He’s a medical student working at the clinic. And he’s -,” she paused and cleared her throat, “- twenty-two.”

“Course you can,” Caden laughed.

She thanked him and Elias resisted the obvious ‘
cougar
’ and ‘
toy boy
’ jokes because he was happy that she was ready to date. John had dragged out the divorce for as long as possible, not giving her the ‘
clean break
’ he first promised. Months of court hearings and fighting over Kobi were finally over and with John now out of state, Kobi got to stay home with his mom most of the year, only spending certain breaks with John.

Pulling up outside of the high school, Elias breathed in deeply, clutching Caden’s hand for support.

“You’ve got this,” he whispered, kissing him on the hand, “you’ll be fine.”

“Do you think she’ll come?” Elias asked.

“I sent her the invitation,” Ellie pulled her keys out of the ignition, “and it’s not like she’s busy these days.”

The mayor had stepped down in a blaze of glory, cementing herself in the Havenmoore history books as the mayor nobody wanted to see leave. The campaign to replace her was fierce, with more candidates than usual stepping up to take over her spot. It ended up going to Sandy Crawshaw, who also had short black hair and a designer taste for fashion. People in Havenmoore didn’t seem to like change.

They walked through the high school, to the sports hall where the graduation was taking place. With only twenty-one students in his class, all of whom were older than Elias, the hall was pretty empty. Family and friends milled around, nibbling snacks and drinks from the table full of food pushed up against the back wall.

Just a quick scan of the faces told him she wasn't there. Had he really expected her to come? His interactions with her over the past year had been more strained than he had expected with them only ever being in the same room when Ellie was there. Occasionally, she would ask him a vague question and he would answer, but it was like they were strangers, neither of them able to forget what had been said over a year ago in the elementary school.

“I remember my graduation,” Caden looked around the hall, “right here. I tripped on that step right there.”

He pointed to the five steps up to the stage that Elias hadn’t noticed and now all he could think about was not tripping.

“I was sick on mine,” Ellie said, “right before I was supposed to go up, I ran off and hurled in the hall.”

“Why? Didn’t you have the best GPA in the class?”

“Exactly!” she said, “I knew everybody would be looking at me thinking that. It was unbearable.”

Elias didn’t have the best GPA in his class but he had done enough to graduate and that’s all he cared about. He didn’t mind waiting tables in Bruce’s bar but he wanted to do more. Over the past year, Caden’s mom, Claire had warmed to their relationship and he was happy to call her a good friend. She had regained her contract with Havenmoore Rehab Center and she was eager to sign Elias up because she was sure his story would inspire and help others. Elias wasn’t so sure how inspiring he could be but he liked the idea of helping people get through the same situation he had been in. He wanted to be that shelter for people, just like Caden had been for him.

The principal of the school, joined by the only two teachers who taught on the program headed up to the lectern on the stage and people gravitated towards the rows of metal seats. Elias held Ellie and Caden back, sitting on the last row as though it was going to make him feel less nervous. It didn’t.

Waiting for his name to be called, his foot wouldn’t stop tapping on the tiles and he was sure it was echoing all around the hall but he couldn’t stop it.

“Elias James,” the principal read from the list.

“That’s you,” Caden nudged him, “go on.”

Elias was frozen, unable to move. When Ellie stamped on his foot, he finally jumped up, feeling all of the eyes on him. He felt sick, just like Ellie had and he wished Caden hadn’t told him that story about tripping. He walked as fast as possible but it felt like the stage was miles away, shrinking into the distance.

When he finally reached the stairs, he took them carefully and breathed a sigh of relief when he reached the top in one piece. He looked out to Caden, who winked at him with a beaming smile. Ellie had her cell in her hands and he guessed she was recording the whole thing.

“Congratulations,” the principal smiled warmly, holding out his hand to shake with the diploma in the other.

The nerves got the better of Elias as he shook the diploma and grabbed the hand, which garnered a soft hum of laughter from the watching crowd. He started to feel himself calm and when he gladly accepted the diploma, it felt heavy in his hands as though it was a flashlight, streaming ahead at a future of new possibilities.

After posing for the photographer with his diploma, he turned back to the crowd, looking for Ellie and Caden. He saw them out of the corner of his eye but he wandered beyond them to the figure standing at the back of the hall in a sand colored trench coat. When his eyes met his mother’s, all of the moisture drained from his mouth.

He hung back with the rest of the class until they all had their diplomas. They posed for a class photograph in front of the stage and then they tossed their hats in the air, because according to Stacey, one of the women in his class, it wasn’t a real graduation if you didn’t toss your hats in the air. Elias knew they were all trying to recapture their lost youth, as though performing the rituals turned back the clock but he found that it did. He never realized what he had missed out on, until the hats came crashing back down again with the diploma clutched in his fist.

Metal scraped on the tiles and people started to mingle again, picking at the food leftovers. By the time Elias joined Ellie and Caden, they’d spotted her at the back but they were hanging back, waiting for Elias to make a move.

Walking slowly towards her, he noticed something different about the way she was dressed. Her coat was open, hanging loosely from her shoulders and under it she was wearing a simple, lilac top and fitted, blue jeans. He couldn’t remember ever seeing her in jeans.

It wasn’t until he was standing in front of her that he could look her in the eye. An uncomfortable looking smile was tinging her lips but he could tell she was trying her best to look natural.

The awkward seconds ticked by before she reached out and brushed a piece of white thread off his black gown.

“I’m proud of you,” she said.

The words sounded unnatural coming from her lips and he knew they felt unnatural but he didn’t care. She had never even tried to say the right thing, no matter how forced it was. The gesture was all he needed to hear. He smiled back at her, and her own smile softened, her cheeks lifting and her eyes squinting.

“Thanks for coming,” he said.

She nodded and turned to Ellie who was walking to them. She seemed to calm down with her there. It was going to take a long time to rebuild the bridge, but at least his mom had laid the first brick.

“Who’s hungry?” Ellie said, “Let’s go back to my place and I’ll do my special roast.”

“Sounds good to me,” Caden nodded.

“Me too,” Elias said.

He expected his mom to make an excuse so she could bow out of the back door without having to say anything else. If she did, he wasn’t sure that he would mind. She had showed her face and she had seen him graduate and that was more interest than she had ever shown before.

“Sure,” she nodded.

Even Ellie looked surprised but she tried her best to hide it. They all headed outside together, in silence. Words weren’t needed to know how everybody was feeling. It felt new and scary but when Caden looped his fingers into Elias’, he knew everything was going to be okay.

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and
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.

Ashley John will return with
Cabin Nights
, a Christmas Novella on
November 10
th
2015
.
Add to your Goodreads shelf now!
Turn over to see the cover and read the synopsis.

Cabin Nights

Release Date:
November 10
th
2015

Words:
30,000

Oxford University student, Ben thinks a skiing holiday in the French Alps is his idea of hell, so when his best friend, Jonny suggests they spend Christmas there he isn’t impressed. Taking to the slopes like Bambi on ice, Ben isn't having much luck, until charming bearded beauty, Cal, comes crashing towards him in a flurry of snow at fifty miles an hour. From the moment Cal offers to help Ben get back on his skis, the attraction is instant and Ben is convinced that a man as perfect as Cal is out of his league.

Womanizer Jonny wastes no time asking out a girl he meets on the slopes and he makes her promise to bring along a friend to keep Ben occupied that night in the Après-Ski Bar. When that friend turns out to be Cal, he's given the opportunity of a lifetime to wine and dine with a man of model like beauty, with a charismatic personality to match.

When Cal invites Ben back to his Cabin, they find themselves trapped in an extreme whiteout and with the men forced to spend the Christmas holidays together, they quickly find they are doing more than roasting marshmallows next to the warm and inviting fire.

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