Shelter (21 page)

Elias followed up that bombshell with a quick kiss on the cheek before joining Ellie on the short red carpet up to the entrance. Jumping out of the car, Caden slammed the door and hung back as Ellie and Elias walked up to the building arm in arm.
Is it too late to leave without them noticing?
The limo drove away, leaving nothing but a cloud of gray dust from the exhaust.

When they were inside the building, they walked by the box office and the crowd of people directed them through the building to the giant conference room that sat adjacent to the old theatre. The whole way, he stayed two steps behind Elias, unsure of if he should try and drag him away from his sister to question him. Looking around at the faces in the crowd, he smiled, knowing that any minute he would see the one woman in Havenmoore that he didn’t want to see.

“Thanks for the warning,” Caden mumbled to Elias when they were sitting at their table in the grand hall.

It was ornately decorated, everything either red or gold. A stage sat at the far side of the room and luckily, their table was right in the back. According to Ellie, if you didn’t work at the hospital, you were always put in the back as though an afterthought. Other doctors with affiliated offices in extended parts of the state filled their table but it didn’t look like they’d come for the conversation.

“I knew you wouldn’t want to come if I told you. Anyway, I only found out last night too.”

“You’re right I wouldn’t have come! That woman has it in for me.”

“She has it in for everyone,” Elias rolled his eyes, “and I wanted you to come. Look around. When will we ever get to do something like this? It’s like we’re on the Titanic or something.”

Caden looked around, knowing that Elias’ heart was in the right place. Sitting under the twinkling glass chandeliers at a table with more knives and forks than he knew what to do with made a nice change from sitting in front of the couch eating takeout, even if he did love doing that with Elias. Finn had never approved of takeout. It was one of the ‘
you’ll get fat if you eat that
’ foods that were practically banished from their apartment.

The night zoomed by and when Caden finally relaxed, they started to have fun. The rest of the guests at the table opened up after a couple glasses of wine each and they all started sharing medical stories. Caden and Elias didn’t have much to add to the conversation but they joined in where they could. Ellie even seemed to be relaxing and having a good time. If her sudden divorce was on her mind, she wasn’t letting it affect her. She was effortlessly charming and witty when the time called for it. It reminded Caden of how easily the mayor could slip between two personalities when it was called of her. Elias seemed to be the only one in that family who was one person all of the time and he respected him for that.

Every so often, Caden would glance around the hall to see if he could spot her but she was nowhere to be seen. Elias noticed and rested his hand on his knee, as though telling him to relax. They drank, Elias having soda, and ate delicious food late into the night, until it came to the thing they’d all come for. One by one, awards were handed out, some of them serious and some of them humorous. Ellie picked up the award for the best local doctor and she delivered a short and humble speech before floating back to her chair.

When the awards wrapped up, Caden thought the night was about to end but there was one more person who wanted to speak on the stage. He turned back to the table, his mind a little blurry as he tried to remember exactly how many times his wine glass had been refilled without him noticing.

“Brace yourself,” Elias mumbled, nodding back to the stage.

The crowd erupted into the loudest applause of the night and Caden knew there was only one woman who would demand such admiration and attention. He turned back to see the great Judy James, slowly making her way across the stage in the most ridiculously designed dress he had seen all night. It looked like a wedding dress, fitted at the waist and branching out in a huge circle around her, but made entirely of black silk. Tiny black diamonds started around her knee, draping down the floor length and puffy material, making her glitter darkly with every swaying step. Everybody else was seeing the adored mayor of Havenmoore but Caden was seeing somebody as dark as the jewels attached to her fabric.

The smile on her face was similar to the smile Ellie had been sporting all night. She looked humbled by the applause and grateful to even have been asked to speak. Caden saw right through it. All he had to do was look into her eyes to know the real woman that everybody else either didn’t know or ignored for the sake of her local celebrity factor.

“Thank you, thank you,” she grinned, her perfect white teeth visible from across the room, “really, you’re all too kind.”

The applause died down and Caden quickly noticed that he and Elias were the only ones who hadn’t put their hands together. Judy looked out into the crowd, no doubt looking for her teleprompter. He was sure that her eyes landed on him, if only for a split second but Caden was sure that she would never be able to see him through the dark in the crowd. For now, he was invisible.

“Do you think we can sneak out before she’s done?” Caden whispered over his shoulder to Elias, not taking his eyes off her in case she transformed into a huge dragon, or something equally as terrifying as her other face.

“You’re not going anywhere,” it was Ellie who spoke, “after her speech, that’s when the party really starts. They clear out the tables and a DJ comes out.”

Caden didn’t care about dancing to a DJ and he knew Elias didn’t either but he also knew that Elias wouldn’t want to leave his sister’s side all night because she had invited him. Caden understood that. It was too soon in their fragile and new sibling relationship to start ditching each other in the middle of parties.

“I’ll keep it short because I know you all want to get on with your evening,” the crowd roared and Caden could feel the excitement for what was to come next, “I just wanted to thank you all, personally. I wanted to say thank you to every single one of you who works day and night to keep the people of my town safe. Without you all, Havenmoore wouldn’t be the great town that it is.”

“Oh, please,” Elias scoffed, which was met by a hurried ‘
shhh!
’ from the other guests at the table next to them.

“As most of you know, my very own daughter, Ellie, is one of the best doctor’s our town has and I couldn’t be more proud to not only be the mayor, but to be her mother.”

A spotlight suddenly landed on them, blinding Caden. Ellie seemed to be expecting it, because she squinted into the light, reflecting her mother’s grin as she clapped her hands with the rest of the crowd. It was so fake that it almost sickened Caden.

“As long as you’re here, protecting our town, I’ll make sure I’m in office, protecting you.”

The crowd roared even louder and Caden was sure this time that she made direct eye contact with him as she delivered that final line. It felt like a warning, telling him that she wasn’t going anywhere and he would be a fool to push her.

Swallowing the growing lump in his throat, he found himself clapping along with the chorus as sweat trickled down the sides of his burning face.

***

When his mom finished her speech, the transformation was almost immediate. Everybody stood and the real mingling began as the waiters vanished with the tables and chairs. The lights dropped, being replaced by glitter balls and strobe lights as the music cranked up. Everybody looked ready to party but Elias felt ready to get out of there.

“This really isn’t my thing,” he muttered out of the corner of his mouth to Ellie.

“One hour,” she smiled as she waved at somebody across the room, “there’s a couple people I need to talk to.”

Ellie thrust herself deep into the crowd, laughing and joking with people she seemed to know, leaving Caden and Elias to awkwardly stand where their table and seats had been only a couple of minutes ago.

The music was making him feel sick and he hadn’t even touched the wine that had been topped up over and over until it was almost spilling over the edge. He only had a couple of days to go until his drug test and he didn’t want a stitch of anything to show up in his system.

Just when he thought he couldn’t feel anymore uncomfortable, he caught a glimpse of a pompous black gown floating through the crowd in his direction. He turned, hoping she was heading toward Ellie but she had her back to them. Turning to Caden, he mouthed a desperate ‘
help
’ but Caden looked just as terrified of her.

“Elias,” she nodded, the fake smile still plastered across her face.

“Mayor,” Elias sucked the air through his teeth, “nice dress.”

Her smile tightened as she looked down at her dress, unable to tell if it was a genuine compliment or a backhanded insult.

“What are you doing here?” she directed this question at both of them.

“I was invited,” Elias stood up straight, “we both were.”

“By your sister, I assume?”

“Yep,” Elias backed away, “if you’ll excuse me, I need to -,”

Before Elias could back away, thick and sharp claws tightened around his scrawny bicep, digging straight through the expensive suit jacket.

“Don’t walk away from me,” she snarled through her red-lipped smile, “I don’t know why you’re here but you need to leave. If you’re trying to mess things up for me, I suggest you -,”

“For once, it’s not about you,” Elias laughed, shrugging his arm away, “I came for Ellie. You probably haven’t heard but her and John are splitting up.”

Her face didn’t falter but he could tell by the flickering in her eyes that she didn’t know and she was trying to work out why Ellie hadn’t told her. For once, her all seeing eye had failed her.

“Since when have you and Ellie been so close?” she arched a fine brow.

“Caden helped us see the error of our ways,” he said sarcastically.

“Caden?” his mother smirked, pleased with herself, “You mean you’re still seeing this man after he was so unceremoniously fired?”

Feeling like he had just landed Caden even further in it, he edged closer to his lover so that their shoulders were touching. He wanted to wrap his fingers through Caden’s, but he resisted, not sure if that was the best decision.

“Give it up,” said Elias, “leave him alone. He’s done nothing wrong.”

“On the contrary,” her dark eyes shifted over Caden’s entire body, “I was informed that you were no longer working with my son.”

The words ‘
my son
’ sounded strained and foreign coming from her lips. The dislike was so strong, it was easy to forget that she had given birth to him.

“He’s not here as my support worker. He’s here with me.”

“With you?”

“Yes, with me,” Elias straightened up, “I need to find my sister because I’m not in the mood to party. Not anymore.”

Elias turned, grabbing Caden’s hand in the process. He didn’t care what she knew now. He loved Caden and he didn’t care who knew it. When you’ve stooped as low as she had, trying to cast Caden out of her bubble, there wasn’t much wriggle room to go any lower. Elias told Ellie that they were leaving and before she could argue, he dragged Caden towards the doors. He darted up the few steps that led up to the corridor, which led to the exit and to freedom.

“Wait up,” Ellie called after him, “what’s happened?”

Without stopping, Elias told her that nothing had happened, he was being preemptive before his mother could strike again. When Ellie told him that he was overacting over nothing, he stopped, Caden still by his side, silent, probably from the fear of what else could be done to him.
Maybe I shouldn’t have come after all
.

“I just want to take these clothes off and go to sleep,” Elias tugged at the tux, suddenly feeling like it was suffocating him, “tonight’s been great. Thanks for the invite.”

“Elias, I -,” Ellie sighed, giving up halfway, “see you later.”

Grateful for the permission to get out of there, Elias pulled Caden towards the door but when he heard his name bellowing down the corridor, they both stopped in their tracks, turning to see the mayor gliding effortlessly down the corridor. Her dress was floating behind her and she had a look of contained fury in her eyes that could make a weaker man melt if he didn’t know her like Elias did. He was sure he felt Caden melting in his palm.

“Don’t you dare leave,” she extended a finger, freezing him to the spot, “you’ve got some explaining to do.”

“I don’t need to explain anything to you,” he tossed his hands out, letting go of Caden’s, “you’re nothing.”

“I’m your mother,” she growled, looking around her as the people passing up and down the corridor stopped to see what was going on between the mayor and two strange men.

“No, you’re not,” he laughed, “you just
happened
to have twins. I was your curse, your punishment.”

Her lips became a thin slit, her entire jaw tightening, ready to unleash whatever poison she had been storing up.

“If you’re my punishment, I want to know what I did to deserve a child
like
you.”