Elly in Love (The Elly Series) (19 page)

Keith gave a deep laugh. “Yeah, I loved growing up in the deli. My sister, not so much. She’s a vegetarian now. And annoying.”

“So you’ve told me,” replied Elly. His sister’s veganism and spending habits were a source of great annoyance to Keith. “Who becomes a vegetarian with this kind of impressive lineage?” Elly shook her head. “Such a tragedy.”

Keith huffed. “In a family of butchers, it is.”

Elly looked at the next picture. “And this car? What does it say on it? Cary’s … why does that sound familiar?”

Keith grabbed it quickly out of her hand. “Oh, my dad started delivering meats by car in the late sixties to local delis. It made him very popular in the neighborhood. And in a time where racism was still rampant, he didn’t discriminate. Everyone who wanted Carcelo’s cuts got them.”

Elly watched as he continued hanging up picture after picture, displaying his family history. Keith seemed so proud of his family, while at the same time dodging questions about his parents.
Eh, she understood
. She lately had found herself wishing that she had known more about her past. It made her long to pick Dennis’s brain, something she knew she wouldn’t be able to do for a long time. “So,” she started casually, as Keith raised his hammer, “I asked Dennis to move in with me.”

The hammer came down on Keith’s finger and the picture smashed to the floor. “Owwwww….” He shook his finger rapidly while silently mouthing a world of hurt. “What? Dennis is
moving in with you?
”

Elly tried to keep a casual cadence to her voice. “Yeah, I mean, you can’t pay for him to stay in that hotel forever—I won’t let you. It’s really no big deal.”

Keith clambered down from the chair. “Elly, it’s a big deal. It’s a really big deal. You don’t even know him that well!”

Elly frowned and set down the pictures. “Keith, I know. But he’s my brother, and he has nowhere else to go.”

Keith took a deep breath. “I know Elly, and I totally feel for the kid. But I don’t want you to put the cart before the horse. Are you even sure that he
is
your brother?”

Elly’s mouth dropped open and suddenly she was furious. Furious at Dennis for dropping in on her, furious at Keith for thinking the opposite of what she knew for sure, furious at her mother for not being alive to talk about it, and furious at the father she never knew for keeping Dennis from her
. “
Yes, Keith, I’m sure. That letter was written in my mother’s handwriting. He looks like me. We do the same things with our mouths, with our hands. Besides all that, besides every single thing that points to Dennis and me being related, I just know it, Keith! I know it in the deepest part of my heart. I
have
to help him.”

“Elly, it’s not your responsibility to help him. I know that this affected you deeply, but you just
met
him. It’s not like the two of you have a relationship. He could be psycho for all you know. Remember his weird backpack?”

Elly sat down at a table and leveled her glare at Keith. “Keith, I trust my intuition; he’s not a threat. Sure, he’s quirky and strange and smells really bad and sometimes hangs out in his underwear, but he needs my help. I have no choice.”

“You can help him, but he doesn’t have to
live
with you. I feel like you’re leaping into this blindly.” Keith paused. “I’ve been thinking about it, and I really think you should get a DNA test.”

Elly’s mouth dropped open. “Are you serious?”

Keith stared back at her without flinching. “Yes. I think before you throw away money and resources on this kid, that you should make sure that he’s not some sort of con artist.”

“Does Dennis seem capable of being a con artist?”

Keith’s face distorted for a moment. “No one does, at first. I just think that having a DNA test done would remove all doubt and uncertainty. He wouldn’t even have to know.”

Elly’s mind whirled. “I can’t believe you would even suggest that! Who thinks that way?”

“Someone who is thinking logically.”

A growl bubbled up from her throat. “It’s not like I have a ton of options, Keith. Would you prefer I let him go back to sleeping on a bench?”

“Elly, don’t be ridiculous. Of course I don’t want that, but it’s not your job to
save
him.”

Elly narrowed her eyes. “Then who will, Keith? He has
nobody
. Not a single family member, not a friend, no one. He went across the country looking for me, and now that he’s here, I am not letting go of the
only
family that I have left. Not all of us are as lucky as you, to have family just over the hill in St. Charles, and a wall full of pictures with family members who have helped them become the person they are today.”

Keith flinched. “I think we’re getting off track. This isn’t about me, Elly, this is about you and your safety, and where are you going to put him? Did you know he hates dogs?”

Elly bent down and started gathering the glass from the broken picture in her hands.

Keith sighed. “Elly, be careful, don’t….”

“Crap.” Elly lifted a cut finger. “Look, it’s fine. I’m going to put Dennis in the guest bedroom. And I was hoping that maybe Cadbury could stay with you for a while?”

Keith walked behind the counter and grabbed a broom. “That’s fine, I don’t care about that, but I still think this is a huge mistake. Let me see your finger.” Elly uncurled her pointer finger. Keith wiped it off with a cloth and Elly hastily found a Band-Aid behind the counter. “Does it hurt?” he asked, concerned.

“It’s just a scratch,” Elly snapped. She stood up.
Don’t do this
, a voice screamed in her head,
don’t fight with him
. She took a deep breath, trying to diffuse anger through her pores. “I understand that you’re worried about me. But this is my choice, my brother. He has had a horrible life, he’s emotionally damaged, nervous, and scared. You didn’t see him at dinner. I’ve never seen anyone so down, and trust me, I have been
down
. It’s a must. And I’m not doing a DNA test. I’ve never even heard of anything so ridiculous. Keith, it’s not
a choice
to save him. I have to.”

Keith wrapped his hand around hers and pulled her close. Elly gave a sigh of relief into his warm, strong shoulder. Maybe this conversation was over. “But you can’t save him. He has to save
himself
.”

She pulled back, aghast. “I’m done talking about this. Dennis is moving in tomorrow, right after I meet my mystery celebrity bride. The last thing I needed from you tonight was this.”

Keith turned back to the photographs. “I’m sorry you feel that way. In the future, I’ll try and keep my mouth shut when you are about to make a giant mistake.”

“That would be great. I’m going home,” declared Elly.
Stop me, stop me….

“
Fine,” said Keith, even though his eyes begged her to stay.

“Good luck with your pictures,” she said, stepping through the doorway. She made it halfway to the store before he caught up with her.

“Look,” he said pleadingly, “I don’t want to end the day like this. I might not agree with you, but that doesn’t mean I won’t help you. Tomorrow I’ll take my truck over and help Dennis move in.”

“You have a truck?” Elly frowned. “Why would we need a truck? Dennis doesn’t own anything.”

“Oh, right.” Keith tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and kissed her lightly under her earlobe. “You know you’re adorable when you’re upset, right? Even when you’re driving me nuts, you’re still driving me crazy.”

Elly gave his hand a squeeze. She wasn’t quite ready to let go of her righteous anger. Not quite yet. “Thanks. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” She pecked his cheek, consciously lingering long enough to let him know that things were okay. She walked up the stairs to her apartment with weary steps. Cadbury barked in alarm, and Elly wearily petted his head
. This went terribly
, she thought.
All I wanted tonight was to have a romantic, relaxing night with Keith, and he had to ruin it with all his … opinions
. Looking out the window, she began angrily running her hands through her hair. Her heart was unsettled from their first fight, her perfect inner glow was snuffed out. She felt her chest clutch and release with each wave of self-pity.
Why did you snap at him like that? You could have ruined everything! And the Dennis thing. Was she making a mistake? She knew he was her brother, but … what if? What if she was part of some really, really,
really
elaborate scheme?
Well, the joke’s on them
, she thought,
because I
don’t have any money, and neither does Keith.
Smiling at the thought, Elly flipped on her computer screen. The geriatric machine hummed to life and Elly hesitantly pulled up the search menu, typing in “DNA testing.” A green glow filled the dark apartment. She quickly found something called a “DNA Sibling Test.”
Analysis of the DNA of two separate individuals can provide information as to whether they are full siblings, half siblings, or not related….

Almost involuntarily, Elly snapped the computer shut
. No. She was not that person.
Elly suddenly wished she was anywhere but here, so close to Keith and yet so far from his reassuring presence, his sturdy arms. Cadbury gave a huff as he draped across her feet. Soon, he would be gone and Dennis would be here.
So strange
. She leaned her head against her palms, wondering what the heck she was actually doing.

Out of the corner of her eye, Elly watched a camera operator plug in his camera, balancing the behemoth black monster on his narrow shoulder.
I would drop that in a hot second
. Nervously, she smoothed out the front of her sleek, dark-denim jacket (Kim had dragged her out shopping the day before) and shook out the leg of her black pants, absentmindedly fingering the long star earrings dangling from her normally naked ears.

“Ma’am?” The dashingly handsome cameraman stood in front of her.

He called me ma’am. How depressing
. Elly gave him a hopeful smile. “Yes?”

“You’re standing on my cord.”

“Oh.” Elly took a step back as he uncoiled a long black cord. Snarky Teenager stood in the corner, laughing and twisting her long blond ponytail as she eyed the handsome cameraman, not listening to a word the mousy production assistant was saying. Elly was mostly concentrating on two things: trying not to look like a ma’am and avoiding Gemma Reynolds.

Ms. Reynolds, who looked as though she was running on two hours of sleep and thirteen coffees, was stomping around the shop and barking orders. “This light is horrible. How anyone works in this light-drenched nightmare is unimaginable. Greg! Block the windows! Make sure that the mangy dog is outta sight, and I don’t want
anyone
walking past the store and ruining ‘the big moment.’”

Finally, the day had come when Elly found out who her celebrity bride was. On
BlissBride
, this was one of the best moments of the show—when the vendors met their famous clients for the first time. It wasn’t a meeting, rather just a shock-and-awe blast of celebrity hoopla that then left the vendors stunned and excited. Elly wasn’t excited, per se. She was nervous and felt like vomiting into her pygmy palm plant. Two television cameras had their lenses focused on her, and another was trained at the door. Her normally clean and bright studio was cluttered with boom mikes, two huge tripods with glaring lights that radiated heat, and a number of people doing technical things that she didn’t understand. She was also wearing a microphone under her shirt, and kept wondering if sweat plus an electronic pulse would end in death by electrocution.

Gemma snapped her fingers at the camera operator. “You need to get on a chair for the most flattering angle here.” She was obviously talking about Elly.

This was the worst
, she thought.
Why did I say I would do this
?
Because
, she replied to herself silently,
because you’ll never have to pay to advertise again.
Elly closed her eyes and balanced her hand on the chair. She took deep breaths to calm herself down, a technique that her mother had taught her long ago when the torments of girls at school was too much to bear.
Breathe deep and calm down. Don’t be a train wreck like you were last time
.

In the corner, she could hear snippets of Snarky Teenager’s conversation with the roguish camera operator. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah,” he replied in a gruff voice. He was obviously a film student from some hovel where goatees were an invitation for casual sex and wrinkled shirts were a marker of success. “I would love to film you sometime. You just have a face and a body for television. I have a private studio….”

Oh Lord no
. Elly stalked over to the corner, grabbing Snarky Teenager by the elbow, yanking her away from the cameraman. She was so light, Elly could have thrown her through the black screens now blocking the light from the front windows. “Do not talk to that guy anymore.”

Jerking her arm away, the teenager’s smoky eyes flashed angrily at Elly. “He’s cute. What is your problem?” she hissed.

“That guy wants to film you in his private studio. Private studio means bedroom.”

Snarky Teenager opened her mouth to argue with Elly, but then thought better of it. “No … well … ewww.” She shrugged. “He might mean it.”

Elly snorted. “He doesn’t.”

Gemma glared over at them, her short brown hair a plastered helmet on her head. “We are sound testing right now, so if you could keep it down, that would be much appreciated.”

Elly and Snarky Teenager fell instantly silent, intimidated by this feminine soldier. “Who do you think it is?” her young worker whispered, her breath cool on Elly’s ear.

“I don’t know,” Elly mumbled. “It’s probably some D-list actress who is a side character on some reality show. I’m still hoping for an athlete of some sort, like an Olympian.”

“I don’t think Olympians would be on this show.” Elly bit her lip. That was true. She couldn’t really see someone with a gold medal participating on
BlissBride
. She watched silently as the chaos around her somehow organized itself. The camera operators were in place. The final pieces of black swagging were placed over the windows, and the mics were soundchecked. Suddenly, Gemma Reynolds was in her face, teetering on five-inch stilettos, with her sharp bird nose pointed straight at Elly. “Are you going to change?” she snapped.