Taking Shots (Assassins) (30 page)

“
My other brother Noah, his wife, Lauren, Noah, Lauren, my boyfriend, Shea Adler,” Noah shook his hand hard, while Lauren just stared at him with her mouth hanging open. She must be the one that was in love with him. He smiled sweetly at her, causing her to blush deep red before she high tailed it out of there.

“
My wife is a big fan,” Noah said with a grin. Shea smile.

“
Yeah, Elli told me when I met the kids,” Shea said, taking Elli’s hand in his.

“
Ellibelly, it’s so weird hearin’ you be called Elli,” Liam said to Elli before looking at Shea, “We never call her just Elli, it’s always been Ellibelly or Eleanor.”

Shea nodded, looking over at a very embarrassed Elli, “Daddy calls her Elli bug,” someone said, “Yeah, but that’s daddy,” someone else said, Shea wasn’t paying attention. He hated that Elli was getting embarrassed even though Grace had said it would happen. His sister warned him about this kind of stuff, but for some reason it still bothered him that Elli wasn’t comfortable. He wanted to leave because he knew she wanted to.

“
Well, come on now, dinner is almost ready from what Miz Harris says,” Olivia said still staring at Shea, she was looking at him like he didn’t belong, or maybe she was looking at Elli like that, hell he didn’t know, the woman was creeping him out.

Everyone walked ahead, leaving Olivia and Michael with Shea and Elli.

“
Shea, son, would you like a drink?”

“
Yes, please,” Shea said. Michael motioned for Shea to follow him. Shea looked down at Elli, kissing her cheek before pulling her along with him.

“
You want a beer, Elli bug?” Michael asked. Elli was about to answer but her mom beat her to it.

“
Now honey, the girl has gained weight, it’s probably all the drinking she does,” Olivia said, Shea whipped his head back at Elli’s mother. She was looking Elli over with disgust all over her face. He looked over at Elli and saw the heat creeping up on her face.

“
None of that now, Livie, leave Elli bug alone,” Michael said, handing Elli and Shea a beer.

“
Whatever, when she gets as fat as she did, don’t say I didn’t warn y’all,” Olivia walked over to where they stood by the mini fridge, looking Elli over.

No wonder Elli didn’t like her mom.

“
Livie, please,” Michael said taking a good long swig of his beer; Shea did the same, as Elli downed hers.

“
I mean, Eleanor, why don’t you belch at the end honey! No wonder you’re gaining weight again, how much have you gained? Six, eight pounds?”

“
For the love of God,” Elli muttered, throwing her bottle in the trash, “Isn’t it time to eat?”

“
We might need to skip it to save you from yourself.”

Elli looked up at the ceiling; it looked like she was counting. Shea didn’t know what to say or do, he felt so helpless.

“
Now that’s enough, Olivia, not another word,” Michael said grabbing a hold of her arm and directing her out the room, “Come on now kids, let’s eat.” Shea watched as they walked before turning to Elli, who was grabbing another beer. When he turned her, he saw the tears in her eyes.

“
Baby, don’t let her get to you.”

“
Just let it be, Shea,” she said walking past him.

Great, this was going to be fucking great.

It was going just as Elli thought it would go, straight to hell. How the hell her mother knew how much weight she had gained would always be a mystery to her, but the woman always got it right. And, of course, her brothers would bring up her god awful nickname, and Victoria’s attempts at flirting with Shea were expected, but what she didn’t expect was Shea to just completely ignore her.

God, he was perfect.

They all gathered in the first dining room since it was bigger, and classier as her mother always said, it also sat fifteen people if needed. The room was straight out of Better Homes and Gardens. Classy white, with light blue accents, some of Elli’s prints of the kids hung on the wall, not like her mother would ever own up to it, though.

Shea pulled out Elli’s chair when they reach the table, and Elli flashed him a smile as she sat, the smile fell when she saw her mother sit next to her and Victoria in front of her.

Great.

Everyone else sat down, her daddy at the other end of the table, beside Adina and Lauren since Liam and Noah wanted to sit beside Shea. As Mrs. Harris and the rest of the kitchen came out to serve dinner, the guys started talking hockey. Liam and Noah were dumbass about hockey so they basically listen as Shea talked about the last Assassins game and how they won. When all the food was laid out and after her daddy said grace, everyone dug in.

Shea was looking around the room as he ate; he did that a lot, Elli noticed. Always took in the scenery, another reason she just adored him, because she did the same.

“
I have to say, your children are beautiful,” Lauren and Adina grinned big as Liam and Noah kept eating.

“
Thank you, Riley and Max just adore you. Jason’s still a little young, but he does love himself some hockey,” Adina gushed, as Lauren blushed.

“
You guys will have to bring them out to Kids’ night, my nephew comes, they got along pretty well when we met at the park, don’t you think, babe?” he asked turning to Elli, she smiled big,

“
They sure did.”

“
They would love that, thank you, Shea,” Adina grinned, Shea nodded towards the pictures.

“
Those look like your work baby, did you take them?”

Bless his heart; she would adore this man for forever.

“
She did,” Olivia said, before Elli could say anything, and that’s all she said.

“
We have a lot of Elli’s work through the house, not only pictures of the family, but she did some really nice black and whites of a tree for my office. They are the best things in my office,” Michael said, Elli grinned widely at her father and he gave her a wink as Shea nodded. “Shea, aren’t you about to go out on a road trip?”

Shea nodded as he took a drink of his beer then said, “Yes, sir, I leave Monday.”

“
Yeah, Bryan said something about y’all leaving. He was gonna fly out to some of the games, ask if I wanted to go. Maybe we can go together Elli bug.”

Elli nodded, “Sure, daddy.”

“
Bryan?” Shea asked, and then Elli dropped her fork.

Shit, shit, shit, shit.

“
Yeah, Bryan Fisher, the owner,” Michael said, Shea looked at Elli, then back at her daddy.

“
You know the owner?” Shea asked, she could tell he was confused as everyone laughed.

Shit, shit, shit, shit.

“
Oh course, I do son, he’s my brother. Eleanor didn’t tell you.”

Shea took a deep breath and then looked over at Elli. She couldn’t tell if he was pissed or shocked, it was probably both.

“
It must have slipped her mind.”

“
Yeah, that why she has them amazing seats, and she’s at every game. Elli belly is Uncle Bryan’s favorite,” Liam said, “he hates the rest of us.”

“
For good reason,” Elli said, “Y’all name drop like a mother, I don’t, plus I actually like hockey.”

Everyone rolled their eyes as they continued to eat. Uncle Bryan was a touchy subject; he only talked to Elli and her father since they were the only normal ones in the family. Shea hadn’t started eating again, he was just staring at his plate, and Elli wished she could beg him not to be mad, but it was bound to get worse, so she just picked her fork back up and started eating again.

“
So, Shea,” Elli looked over at her mother, as Shea did, “Do your parents live in Nashville?”

“
No, they live back in Boston where I’m from.”

“
That’s nice, what do they do for a living?”

“
Mom,” Elli groaned, Olivia gave her a look.

“
What darling? It’s a simple question.”

“
Its fine, Elli,” Shea said, looking back at Olivia, “My dad is a college professor at one of the private colleges in Boston, while my mother is a teacher at the local high school.”

“
Oh, that’s nice,” Olivia said, basically pushing her nose even farther in the air at Shea. If Elli could kill someone it would be her mother, mean old bat. Olivia laid her fork down and then looked back at Shea “Are you going to continue dating Elli while you’re gone?” Everyone got quiet, looking down at Olivia, as she gave Shea a pointed look, “You know, she is just so busy with that picture taking business of hers, and she won’t be able to go with you.”

Elli’s face fell into her hand, as Shea cleared his throat, “I know, but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk on the phone every night or text, or Skype, we did just fine while I’ve been traveling the last month, we’ll do fine this time, too.”

Elli’s heart warmed as she looked over at Shea. He wouldn’t look at her, but he had to feel her staring at him. She slid her hand onto his lap and he took it tightly in his.

“
Well, that’s just silly, you’ll get so lonely.”

“
Olivia,” Michael warned. Elli looked down at her plate as Olivia let out a frustrated breath. They went back to eating as small talk, about a bunch of nothing, was tossed around the table. That was until Elli reached for more greens. They had always been a favorite of hers, and she couldn’t cook them the way Mrs. Harris did, so she was going to get her fill while she was there, that was until her mother stopped her with a smack on the back of her hand. Shea quick intake of breathe was louder than Elli’s as the room went completely silent.

“
Now, Eleanor, I’m not gonna let you get to the way you were, you’re done.” Elli had never been so embarrassed in her life; she looked up at Victoria who was grinning ear to ear.

“
Yeah Elli belly, you get fat again, there’s no way Shea will stay,” she said with a laugh, causing everyone else to laugh. The tears were stinging in her eyes, as she looked over at her mother.

“
Victoria Renee!” Michael said sternly.

“
I was sick, that’s why I got fat,” Elli said as strong as she could.

“
Oh, I know you were sick, but still we don’t want to chance it, for all I know you ate yourself into a coma up in New York cause of all the nerves of Broadway.”

Shit, shit, shit, shit.

“
Broadway?” Shea asked, everyone turned to look at him, except Elli.

“
Oh, yes, Eleanor has a voice of an angel,” Michael said with a grin trying to change the subject. Little did he know, Michael was just making it worst. But her daddy had always been her biggest fan “She didn’t even go to college first. Bryan had called one of his director friends up in New York and Eleanor auditioned at seventeen, next thing you know she’s on the stage, starring at Fanny Price for Funny Girl. She was, and still is, amazing.”

Shea looked over at Elli again and like before she couldn’t look at him until he squeezed her hand, causing her to look up at him.

“
Another thing that must have slipped her mind.”

Elli bit her lip as her mother laughed.

“
Oh, no, she probably didn’t tell you because she got kicked off Broadway when she got fat. It was terrible, I tell you, Shea, she was close to what Victoria? 200 pounds?”

“
Yeah, it was crazy,” Victoria added with a disgusted look on her face.

“
It was, poor Justin, he just couldn’t take it, that’s why he broke the engagement.”

Fuck.

Shea had to of heard Elli’s mother wrong, “Engagement?” he asked.

Shea felt Elli tense up beside him.

“
Yes,” Olivia said, taking a drink of wine, “She was engaged to Justin Yates of Yates Financing, such a fine man.”

“
Until Elli got crazy fat and he left her for one of his interns,” Victoria added.

“
He didn’t leave me, I left him,” Elli said, but no one was listening since they kept going on about Justin.

“
They were engaged for what momma, four years?” Liam asked

“
One year,” Elli said

“
No, I think it was three,” Olivia said, completely ignoring Elli.

“
Yeah, they were together forever, though, eight years?” Noah asked

“
Five years,” Elli said, laying her fork down and taking a pull on her beer.

“
Yeah, eight years, honey,” Olivia added.

Shea looked around the table. Michael had his head down, shaking it, as Adina and Lauren looked at Elli with sympathy in their eyes. “It was so sad to see him go, that’s why, Shea, honey, I’m not really getting attached to you. I don’t see you staying with Eleanor, you know between her weight issues and her so called career; she isn’t really good enough for you.”

“
Wow, mother, thanks!” Elli said causing everything to look at her. She threw her napkin on her plate, standing up, causing her chair to fall back. “And this is why I don’t come home. I’m leaving.” She looked over at Shea, “I’m sorry,” she whispered as tears welled up in her eyes. Elli then walked out the room, leaving him with her family. Michael stood up, calling after her before he sent Olivia an evil look and rushed out of the room. Shea stood up slowly, throwing his napkin on his plate.

“
Oh no, Shea, honey, don’t leave,” Olivia said, standing up, “She’ll be alright, she’ll come back when Michael tells her to.”