Bound Through Time: Past (A Viking Brothers Novel Book 1) Page 2

  “Hey! Elliot, right?” He asked as he got up from her foster father’s recliner.

  “Yeah.” She shifted awkwardly on her feet.

  “Bob and Kathy asked me to watch you guys until they get home.”

  “Where are the other kids?”

  Many of her foster siblings were younger than her and were usually home before she got there. Elliot’s eyes looked around quickly before landing on him again. Too afraid to keep her eyes off of him for too long.

  “Sent them on to the store to get some candy,” he said as he stepped closer.

  Elliot was frozen to the floor. Her mind kept screaming for her to run up to their room and lock the door. Or to run out of the house. But she couldn’t move. It was like her feet were set in cement.

  He reached her. His hand rose to brush her unruly curls behind her ear. Elliot always wore it down to hide her scar.

  “You certainly are lovely. Even with that ugly ol’ scar.”

  She jerked her head away from his grasp and cigarette breath.

  “Come on. Don’t be like that. I thought we could get to know each other better while your parents are gone to the casino. We could make it a weekly thing. Don’t you like me?” He reached for her again and pulled her close.

  “They’re not my parents!”

  “You know what I mean, sugar. Come on and be sweet to Big Dave. Let’s try a kiss. You’ve been walking by my house every day trying to tempt me with this curvy body and short skirts. So, here’s your chance.”

  His hand reached under the skirt of her public school uniform. When his fingers touched her most private place through her underwear, something finally ignited a fire within her and sent her into motion.

  Elliot jerked up her knee as hard as she could and connected with the soft meat between his legs.

  “UGH! You fucking bitch!” He screamed as she turned to run out the door.

  Something tugged back on her so hard she almost fell backward. She shimmied and wiggled until she was free and took off out the door.

  As she ran, snow started to fall in thick whiteout sheets. She couldn’t feel the cold yet as her lungs burned.

  Elliot finally left the residential area and burst into the busy part of town. She leaned against a building and gasped for breath. She almost heaved up her school lunch from earlier. Something she didn’t want to do because that was usually the only meal she got a day.

  Her breathing and heart rate finally calmed to a manageable level. The adrenaline ebbed, and the shakes began. She wasn’t sure if it was from the adrenaline leaving her body or the cold air around her. It was probably both when she looked down and saw that she wasn’t wearing her already thin winter coat.

  Dave must have grabbed her backpack, and to get away from him, she slipped out of her coat in the process. What happened after he touched her was all a blur. She hadn’t thought about anything other than escape.

  Elliot wrapped her arms around her waist and started to walk. She didn’t have a clue where she was going. She only knew she couldn’t go back there. She’d rather be homeless than go back to that house or have to go to another unknown foster home.

  Her stomach growled at her in protest. A conversation she had with it daily. But today she couldn’t tell it to calm down past her chattering teeth.

  She didn’t have any money, so her first priority was to find someplace warm and dry. Then when she was warm again, she could focus on how she was going to eat.

  Through the almost blizzard-like snowfall, Elliot spotted the public library. She made her way inside quickly. A blast of warm air hit her as soon as she walked through the doors. She raised her face to it. She stood there a moment letting the warm air do its work.

  Once her shivers subsided, Elliot walked further into the library. The librarian at the front desk looked at her and smiled. Elliot was surprised that she was black and relatively young. Whenever she’d seen librarians on TV or in movies, they’d always been white and old.

  Elliot smiled back and headed further inside. For a while, she just walked up and down aisles, breathing in the scent of old books. She looked at the spines of many. Her hand reached out, her fingertips lightly touching each book as she passed.

  Her mom had taken her to the library when she was younger. To pick out children’s books and to attend storybook hour on Saturdays. Fond memories she’d always cherish.

  She found her way to a section of colorful paperbacks. It was the romance section. Attractive, bare-chested men clutched women who looked like they were passing out from the tight corsets squeezing their waists. Her mom used to read them and told Elliot she could read them once she was older.

  Elliot picked one and found a table in a hidden corner. She sat at the table and looked longingly at the cover. She cracked it open, and most of it was like looking at hieroglyphics.

  She couldn’t read. Well, not past a 5th-grade level. After her parents died, spending weeks in the hospital suffering from internal injuries, and falling behind as she was shipped from place to place, she’d dropped irreparably behind. And the teachers who felt sorry for her were unable to resist the sad, pouting face her father always teased her about. So, they passed her with a D.

  So, instead of reading the book, she just held it. As if it were a piece of her mother.

  “Hello,” a gentle voice startled Elliot.

  Elliot looked up to see the librarian.

  “Hi,” she responded shyly.

  “Are you alright? Did you need any help?”

  “Uh…no. No, I’m okay.”

  Just then, Elliot’s stomach let out the loudest growl yet. Her face heated several degrees.

  “Hungry?”

  Elliot shook her head no. The librarian raised a knowing eyebrow at her.

  “Maybe a little.”

  “That’s what I thought. Give me just a second.”

  The librarian walked away quickly, and Elliot considered running back out into the storm. Her stomach protested the thought, and she decided it was best to at least eat something first if the nice lady was offering.

  The lady came back a few minutes later with a footlong sub, a bag of chips, and two drinks. Elliot’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head at the sight. It was more food than she’s eaten in at least a month.

  “Would you help me eat all this? I got way too much food, and I’m supposed to be on a diet.”

  “Uh…sure,” Elliot said as her stomach loudly agreed.

  “Perfect!” The librarian said happily.

  Elliot watched as she unwrapped the sub. The lady slid half over to her, handed her a drink, and opened the bag of chips and shook half out onto her wrapper.

  “My name is Angie. What’s yours?”

  “Elliot.”

  Angie scrunched her brows and gave Elliot a perplexed look. “That’s an interesting name for a girl.”

  “They were going to name me Kyra. But when my mom went into labor a few weeks early in a restaurant, someone called 911, and the fire department showed up to help her. It was the Elliot Street fire department. She told them she’d name me Elliot to honor them. So, they named me Elliot Kyra Allen,” Elliot finished around a mouthful of food.

  “That’s a beautiful story,” Angie smiled brightly.

  She stopped talking for a while and let Elliot eat in silence. Of course, she ate entirely too fast, but she couldn’t stop herself. The food was delicious, and she had been starving.

  “So, are you here to do homework?”

  “Uh…yeah,” Elliot lied.

  Elliot knew that Angie picked up on the lie. Especially considering she had no books, no notebooks, nor anything to write with.

  “Is your mom coming to pick you up later?”

  “My mom is dead.”

  “Oh, my God! I’m so sorry,” Angie placed her hand on Elliot’s.

  Her skin felt warm and comforting.

  “What about your dad, is he coming?”

  “He’s dead too. They died in a car accident.” Elliot
pulled her hair back and turned her right cheek so Angie could see the scar, “See. I was nine.”

  Angie closed her eyes for a second. Elliot watched her. It was as if the older woman was trying to garner the strength to speak again.

  “That had to be horrible for you.”

  Elliot shrugged her shoulders like a teenager who feels too much but can’t articulate it would typically do.

  “So…you like romance novels?” Angie nodded to the book Elliot had chosen.

  “I don’t know. My mom used to read them all the time.”

  “They’re pretty good. A great way to escape into another world. All books are good for that.”

  “I…I can’t read,” Elliot practically whispered. “W-Well, not much. I fell behind after the accident.”

  “That’s easy to happen,” Angie said without judgment or pity. “I can help you catch up if you’d like?”

  “You would?”

  “Of course! Reading is the best thing in the world. Everyone should have the right to enjoy it. So, if you come in every evening, I can work with you on my lunch break. And if you’d like, I can even help you on the weekends, so we have more time.”

  “Why are you being so nice to me?” Elliot asked skeptically.

  “Because you seem like a sweet young lady with a lot of potential,” she grinned at Elliot. “So, what do you say? Are you willing to work hard and learn…so you can read the books your mother once loved?”

  That added bit of incentive was the tipping point.

  “Yeah. Yes, I’ll do it.”

  “Good. Well, the weather is nasty out there. You’re welcome to stay here, and I can drive you to where you live after I close up the library,” Angie offered kindly.

  Elliot’s eyes widen, and she shook her head quickly. “No, I’m not going back there.”

  She started to stand like she was ready to run. Angie reached out and laid a gentle hand on her forearm.

  “It’s okay. You don’t have to go back.”

  Elliot slowly sat back down.

  “You can trust me, Elliot.” Angie looked her directly in the eye and the kindness Elliot saw made her believe the older woman. “You can stay the night at my house. We’ll figure out what to do in the morning.”

  “People I like call me Ellie.”

  A smile slowly pulled the corners of Angie’s mouth up.

  “I’m honored, Ellie,” she leaned forward, “I like you too.”

  Elliot smiled her first genuine smile in years.

  ~~~

  2015, Boston

  Elliot adjusted her cap and smoothed down her gown.

  “Elliot Allen-Baker,” the president of Rutgers’ School of Communication and Information, said into the microphone.

  Elliot smiled brightly as tears formed and blurred her vision. She walked across the stage, shook hands with the president, and took her diploma for her Masters of Library Science. She looked out into the audience and just barely made out her mother clapping happily.

  That fateful evening nine years ago, changed Elliot’s life.

  Angie had finished up her work and closed the library. She took Elliot back to her home, a simple little two-bedroom house. Elliot took a shower, Angie got her pajamas to wear for the night, and fed her one more time.

  As they ate, Elliot finally told Angie about being bounced around to foster home after foster home. And about the neighbor who tried to assault her.

  The next day, Angie took her to the Department of Children & Families. She informed them of what happened, and they immediately removed Elliot from the home as well as the other children there for neglect.

  That day, unknown to Elliot, Angie filled out paperwork to start the adoption process. She couldn’t have children of her own and something about the first moment she’d laid eyes on Elliot, Angie knew that she should be her daughter. But she didn’t want to tell Elliot about it until she was confident she’d be able to adopt her.

  While she waited, Angie kept her word and worked with Elliot every afternoon when school got out and on the weekends. She spent a lot of time with Elliot and made sure the home she was in did a better job than the last. Elliot was extremely bright and learned quickly.

  It took quite a few months, but when the day finally came, Angie was ready to burst with excitement. One day after school as Angie helped Elliot with the reading lessons she’d created for her, she slid an envelope across the table. Inside were the adoption papers. Elliot pulled them out. Her face scrunched up like it often did when she concentrated on reading. She sounded out the words she’d recently learned one at a time. They were the first thing Elliot read on her own. Her eyes were swimming with tears before she could even finish.

  Once everything was finalized, Elliot moved in with Angie. That first night they’d had a meaningful conversation.

  “Ellie, I know that I’ll never replace your real mother, but I’d like to try to be the best mom to you as if you are my flesh and blood. But that doesn’t mean you have to call me ‘mom’ if you’re not comfortable with it. I leave that up to you.”

  Before she went to bed that same night, Elliot looked at Angie and said, “Goodnight, mom.” She then turned and went into her room.

  That was the last they ever discussed it. In Elliot’s mind, Angie was her mom. Sahana had been her mother by birth, by blood, and by love. And she would never forget her. Angie was her mother by choice. They both chose each other.

  It didn’t take long for Elliot’s grades to turn around. She excelled so much that by her sophomore year, they wanted to move her up to the gifted classes.

  With her mom’s influence and countless hours spent in the library reading every bodice-ripper romance novel ever written, Elliot decided that she couldn’t think of a better career than surrounding herself with books all day every day, like her new mom. So, she’d chosen a degree in Library Science.

  Elliot walked over to her mother after the ceremony was over.

  “I am so proud of you,” Angie cupped her face and kissed Elliot’s forehead.

  “Thanks, mom.”

  “Now, let’s go eat dinner.”

  Forty-five minutes later, they were seated at a table in a fancy Italian restaurant.

  “I have a surprise for you,” Angie grinned at Elliot.

  “What?”

  “I put in a good word for you at the Hyde Park Branch, and you’ve all but got the job. They just want a ‘formal’ interview with you to keep up appearances.”

  “But mom-”

  Angie held up her hand to silence Elliot. “Trust me, you got the job on your own merits. Your grades, your work at Rutgers’ library, and glowing internship recommendation from Mrs. Abernathy got you the job. I just gave them the final nudge.”

  “Thank you!” Elliot said proudly.

  She felt like nothing could dampen her mood.

  Unfortunately, Elliot’s strength was tested a week later when her mother collapsed as they washed dishes after dinner.

  She wrung her hands nervously as she paced in the hospital waiting room after they’d arrived in an ambulance.

  I hate hospitals! She thought.

  “Miss Baker?” A doctor with a solemn face called out to her.

  “Yes?” Elliot swallowed hard.

  “I am so sorry, but we tried everything. Your mother was unable to recover from a massive cardiac arrest.”

  Elliot’s world flipped upside down, and she was suddenly nine-years-old all over again.

  Was she destined to lose everyone she loved?

  Present Day, Boston

  Elliot closed the pages to her new favorite book with a sigh after reading ‘The End’ for the fifth time. It was called The Viking Captive, and she loved it. She’d just shut it and was already looking to see if she had enough time left on her lunch break to start on Chapter One again.

  Crap! Not enough time. I’ll have to wait until I get home, she thought to herself.

  Her passion for Historical Romance novels only grew stronger
over the last couple of years. When she felt depressed, lonely, or the overwhelming pain of grief; she turned to her books.

  She kept to herself for the most part. Fear of losing anyone else kept her isolated. Other than interacting with co-workers and the public who came into the library, she didn’t really talk to anyone. Which is why she eventually joined the Historical Romance Readers Book Club a couple of years ago. They were her people. Her tribe. They understood her obsession and didn’t give her strange looks when she gushed about a dashing English aristocrat, a roguish Spanish pirate, a rakish Highlander, or a demanding brutish Viking.

  It didn’t take long for her to rise in the hierarchy of the HRR Book Club once they found out she was a librarian at one of the Boston Public Library branches. They often came to her for book recommendations for the book of the month.

  One book a month for her was like the worst kind of torture, but she didn’t want to run through the book club’s entire to-be-read list for the year before they did. And as a librarian, it was her duty to know more than historical romances. So those excuses gave her a reason to slow down so she could either reread the ones they’d already discussed or read up on different subjects she was interested in. Travel, real history, etc.

  From the number of books Elliot could consume in a year, it was evident that she had a lot of extra time on her hands. She was sure that to outsiders, she had to seem like one of the loneliest people on the planet. Elliot had no family to speak of. All she had was the book club. And that was the perfect life for her. It fed her passion for Historical romances. It gave her people who shared that passion. And when she felt lonely and a need to socialize, their meetings once a month was enough. They were close, but not too close. Arm’s length is what suited her best. Connection for one day in the month and then she could crawl back into her hole.

  She didn’t even have a cat or a dog to greet her when she came home in the evenings, because her apartment building didn’t allow pets and pets died quicker than humans. So books were all she had. The characters within them, her only family.