Page 76 of Fake It Till You Make It
“Yasss,” Vali drawled. “Tell him all night long.”
“Would you stop talking about sex?”
“Absolutely—not. I’m happy for you,” she sighed. “You found your perfect guy, Mari. Now that’s some Black girl magic, right there.”
“Thanks, friend.”
“Don’t thank me. Help me, girl. The next time you’re inthat little general store, post a picture of me. Let the country boys know your friend is not only available, but I’ll put in the miles for a big—”
“Bye, Vali.” Amarie cut the line.
There’d been a time when her best friend was the first person she wanted to share all the big moments of her life with, not that there were many. But this time she wanted to share this with Eli even more. She would pick a special location because she needed him good and relaxed when she mentioned hiring her replacement. Eli loved Service and so did Amarie. Her having the career she’d always dreamed of wouldn’t be a stumbling block for them. Together, they would find a workable solution. After all, they were a perfect match. She could still honor the promise to herself and keep her boyfriend, right?
Chapter Twenty-One
WHEREELI’S BROTHERStended to mind their own business, his mother had no such qualms about inquiring about his private life. Amarie had stayed overnight… again. They knew it. Being that his brothers had different philosophies when it came to women as overnight guests, Noah and Tobias had sense enough to not ask questions or comment.
“Eli, that you?” his mom called to him from the grooming center.
For the next two days the clinic would stay closed with the festival starting at midday on Saturday. The humidity had climbed above seventy while he coked and joked with Tobias and Noah under the pavilion. The work needed to make the Founder’s Day Festival a success was finished, but the fellowship had lifted a burden off Eli’s conscience. Seems the growing bids from the auction had filled the cracks his delay in informing his brothers of their financial situation had caused. He had another reason to thank Amarie when he returned home.
“Yes, ma’am. Got to grab more supplies for Raspberry, Dove, Formerly, Graffiti, and Artist. This will be their firstfestival.” He’d placed calls to both families interested in cat adoption to cancel today’s visit. Amarie adored the furry tripping hazards, and he couldn’t help but feel like a bad pappa for considering letting them go. He’d adjusted his life to include a basket with a bow on one arm and his lady on the other. Besides, Hiccup had given up the foot of the bed to move in with the kittens in front of the fireplace.
“Don’t leave, I’m done with my cleaning.”
“Momma, I can clean my own clinic. You should be relaxing.” The pungent scent of alcohol disinfectant hit his nose. Turning, he opened the two windows facing the patient parking lot where he’d left his pickup truck. A refreshing burst of clean yet warm air rushed in, diluting the noxious chemicals.
Leah appeared in the doorway. She tossed floppy yellow gloves in the trash. “So,” she exhaled, exhaustion written in her taunt features. “You decided to keep the kitties?”
He nodded.
“Thank goodness you thought better of breaking up the band.” She gestured to the new acrylic QR code display emblazoned with each of their social media handles. Posting them on the counter was another of Amarie’s ideas. “Aiming to keep Amarie happy? Glad to see Momma didn’t raise a fool.”
He chuckled. “It’s free advertising. Plus, you know the old saying. Happy woman, happy life.” He made a substitution for wife. Knowing his mom would call him on it in the next few seconds, he kept flapping his gums. “Besides, it cost me a half gallon of coffee bean ice cream to convince her to remove the mandatory drug testing for the adoption application.”
Not even that earned him a laugh. Eli leaned his back against the counter, crossed his legs at the ankles, and waited.
“You plan to sign the contract? Deposit that twenty-five-thousand-dollar check?”
“Momma, I’m no social media influencer. The only reason I’m doing this plum fool TikTok is to save the clinic. Do you think Dad would’ve been all TikToking and influencing?”
“Seems to me your daddy would’ve done what he could for this family. He did what he could to help people. Don’t matter the how of it, Eli. I loved that about Levi.”
“I know that, Momma. Not a day went by that I didn’t see how much you two meant to each other. But I saw how he managed business. I want to honor him.”
“If you were watching, then you know your daddy made mistakes.”
Eli’s breath hitched. Never had his mother criticized his father, not with him present. And certainly had never had this conversation. “Momma, whatcha getting at?”
“Levi left a lot on your shoulders with the financials the way they are. My husband, your father, wasn’t always forward-thinking. He was stubborn. Hid problems from me to the last minute.” She smiled, but her green eyes, the mirror of his, drifted to a far-off place. “Sometimes I had to pry the words from his mouth. But in the end, we did life together. Best of friends, we were partners.”
“I believe that,” Eli agreed, a faded memory of his father, the sacrifice he made for this land, the secret that Eli would take to his grave. The bond between a father and son that burned fresh enough that he remembered how stubborn his dad could be if he set his mind to something.
“I’m proud of you, Eli. You told me what was happening with the mortgage note and you tried your best to shoulder a burden that should’ve never been yours. Levi and I were so busy scrimping and saving for you boys’ educationthat we didn’t plan well for our old age. Some months we ate my biscuits three times a day. Levi wanted you not to have to worry about college. ‘No struggling for my sons,’ he would say. He was so proud when you decided to follow in his footsteps.”
“I remember,” Eli mumbled, swallowing back the lump in his throat.
“He wanted you back home after college, but we respected your choice to serve our great nation. Hmm, I miss my partner, Eli. He would brag about you to everyone, even the Pendletons took notice.”
