The Mighty Quinns: Eli. Kate Hoffmann

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      ANNALISE MONTGOMERY KNELT down beside her six-year-old son and combed her fingers through his mussed hair.

      “Can we go home, Mama? I don’t like this place.”

      “How did you get dirty already?” she said. Annalise glanced around the park, spying the children’s equipment at the far end.

      “It’s just dirt,” Eli said. “No big deal.”

      Annalise laughed softly. “But this meeting is a big deal for Mommy. I want you to be on your best behavior. No running around like some wild animal. This has to go well, all right? Agreed?”

      “Yes, Mama.”

      He gazed up and watched as Annalise smoothed her hands over her skirt. He couldn’t ever remember seeing his mom in a dress, especially not one so fluffy and shiny. She looked like a princess, and Eli was proud to stand beside her and hold her hand.

      He’d held her hand during the plane ride, which had seemed to go on and on, for more hours than he could count. There was a movie and three different meals. He hadn’t been allowed to get up and run around and he got yelled at six times for kicking the seat in front of him.

      He’d thought flying in a plane would be exciting and cool, but it had been really boring. And now, he’d have to do it all over again when they flew home to Colorado. He wanted to go home, though. It was summer there and if he wasn’t with his mom, he’d be sleeping over at his grandma’s cabin on the mountain.

      It was his favorite way to spend the summer, and though he enjoyed traveling on an airplane, he was sure that Nanna Trudie missed him. The minute he got home, he’d pack his stuff and hike up the mountain.

      “There,” Annalise said. “I want you to look at that man. See him?”

      He followed the direction of her hand and noticed a tall man with dark hair and tanned skin. He had a nice smile and very white teeth, and he seemed fun. Eli could tell he liked children because he had two boys with him. The man walked over to the swings and put the boys on them.

      “Who is that?” Eli asked.

      “He’s a very famous mountain climber. His name is Maxwell Quinn and he’s climbed lots of very high, very dangerous mountains. I want you to remember that man.”

      “Does he go mountain climbing with you?” Eli asked.

      “Sometimes,” she said with a smile. “Come on, let’s go meet him.”

      She took his hand and crossed the distance between them. The man, Maxwell, looked up and saw them coming, but for some reason that Eli couldn’t understand, he sent his two little boys away to play on the slide.

      Eli watched the boys and didn’t care to listen to the conversation between Maxwell and his mother. It sounded like they were very angry with each other. Eli wanted to ask if he could leave, but rather than interrupt, he just quietly walked away.

      The two boys eyed Eli warily as he approached them, but Eli was used to making new friends. “Hi,” he said.

      “Hi,” the boys said in tandem.

      “I’m Eli.”

      “I’m Rogan,” one of them said. “And that’s my twin brother, Ryan.”

      They spoke with a strange accent to their words, much like Maxwell. It made it difficult to understand them, but not impossible. They’d just invited him to play on the merry-go-round with them when Eli heard his mother call him. He glanced in her direction and saw her motioning to him. Eli gave the boys an apologetic smile and shrugged. “I guess I gotta go,” he said. “’Bye.”

      When he reached his mother, she took his hand in hers and pulled him quickly toward the car she’d rented. “Why are we leaving?” Eli asked.

      “We don’t belong here,” she murmured. “We need to go home.”

      He looked back at the boys and gave them a wave. It must be nice to have brothers, Eli thought to himself.

      But that wasn’t for him. He was an only child, and always would be.

1

      Present Day May

      ELI MONTGOMERY DROPPED his pack on the floor next to the door then stretched his arms above his head, working the kinks out of his neck and shoulders. He’d been traveling for nearly three days and his body and mind were completely exhausted. Now that he was home, all he wanted was a hot shower and a comfortable bed.

      “Home” had been a lot of different places over his childhood and adult years. But right now, the closest thing he had to it was a small apartment he kept over his mother’s outdoor outfitting store in Stone Creek, Colorado.

      Annalise Montgomery owned a bungalow in town, but she’d bought that just a few years ago, long after he’d needed to reside under his mother’s roof. His apartment was rent-free, large enough to store all his outdoor equipment and a permanent address for the occasional paycheck he collected. What more could a guy want?

      “May I help you find something?” A pretty young salesclerk approached him with a bright smile pasted on her face. She was new.

      “I’m fine,” he said. “Is Annalise working today?”

      “I’m afraid she’s not here right now. Is there something I can help you with?”

      “Nope,” Eli said. “Do you know where she is?”

      “That’s really none of your business,” the girl said.

      He peered down at her name tag. “Vanessa?” Eli held out his hand. “I’m Eli. Annalise’s son.”

      A tiny gasp slipped from her lips and her cheeks turned scarlet. “Oh, dear. I’m so sorry. I—I should have recognized you. She has a picture of you on her desk. You’re very...handsome. Even with the beard.”

      Eli ran his fingers through his shoulder-length hair and smiled apologetically. He hadn’t shaved in two months and his last haircut had been months ago.

      “I’ll just give her a call,” Vanessa said. “And let her know you’re here. She’s over at The Gorge.”

      “The Gorge?”

      “The new ski resort that Mr. Baskill is building.”

      “What’s she doing over there? Still protesting?”

      Vanessa bit her bottom lip. “Not anymore. Actually, she and Mr. Baskill have been...”

      “Been?”

      “I guess you could say they’ve been...hooking up?”

      Eli frowned. His mother’s behavior rarely surprised him, but this did. Last he’d spoken to his mother, she’d been spending every minute of her free time protesting against Baskill and his land-grabbing plan to build a new ski resort near Stone Creek.

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