Author's note: I apologize for no introduction in the first chapter. This story will likely be a long one, but slow building. My intention is to have a new chapter out every week, but we'll see how that goes. Hope you enjoy it!
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Christy woke the next day to the bright sun filtering through her window. She threw her arm over her eyes and groaned, wishing she could go back to her enticing dream. She tossed and turned in the bright light and finally decided that she needed to get up.
The shower served to revive her, and she snuck into the kitchen, skiving a hot cup of coffee and one of Tabitha's croissants. While she ate, she glanced at the clock repeatedly. Eventually, it was nine o'clock, time for Eli to pick her up. She hastily swept the last crumbs from her breakfast into a trash can, before heading outside to sit on the curb.
To her surprise, his car was parked on the other side of the street already. She felt the urge to run but forced herself to take calm, measured steps.
Eli leaned across the seat and pulled on the handle, opening the door for her.
With a small smile, she sat beside him and buckled her seat belt.
He turned, giving her a big smile. "I'll take this as a sign that I didn't scare you off yesterday."
Christy suppressed a giggle, choosing instead to shake her head. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."
"So ... how did your night go?" Eli asked, out of the blue.
She didn't answer immediately, but tried to gather her thoughts. He couldn't know about what she'd done...
"Nothing special. Just went to bed."
"Oh, ok."
They rode the rest of the way in relative silence. After he'd parked the car, Christy followed him up to the house.
"So what am I going to be doing today?"
Eli paused, and turned to look at her. "Well, I was planning on working in the shed ... cleaning the place out and reorganizing the tools. Would you want to help me with that?"
Christy agreed to help, and followed him through the house and out into the wide backyard.
Eli opened the door to the large, aluminum shed.
Christy gasped, seeing that it was absolutely full of debris. Boxes were stacked haphazardly and looked as though they would topple over at any moment. Tools hung on the walls, though some were underfoot, the sharp edges menacing in the dark interior.
"Have you changed your mind?" Eli asked, "I could always find you something to do in the house..."
"No. I'm just surprised. My dad keeps all of his tools in one tiny toolbox."
"Well, I own property up in the mountains, and down south as well. I take tools with me when I go for a visit ... they often require a lot of upkeep."
"You do all of that work yourself?"