The Marvelous Elijah's Return novel Chapter 69

C69: A gangster tendency

“Peach, honey, you can’t stay in your room forever!” Miss Grace said, unable to get over the fact that it was two o’clock, but her daughter was still sleeping. Squeezing her eyes shut, Peach rolled back to look up at the ceiling. If only her mother would leave her be and let her be alone, she wouldn’t have to deal with all of this! 

“Peach,” Miss Grace said again, a bit louder than before, “you’re not sleeping! I know that!” 

A frown crossed Peach’s face, and finally, she got out of bed and stumbled to her room door, throwing it open, and then sighed softly at her mother who stood by the front door. “What all did you not tell me about last night?” Miss Grace asked sternly as Peach walked back into the room. “Mama, not now,” Peach cried, flopping onto her bed and burying her face into her pillow. “We have to do this now, Peach.” Miss Grace repeated as she closed the door behind herself, moving closer to her daughter. “Why did Elijah tell Michael that you are already taken, and warned him that if he stepped foot back into this motel, he would cripple him?” 

Immediately, Peach raised her head, sitting upright on the bed, shocked by Miss Grace’s statement, letting out, “He did what?” 

“Peach, please tell me you two are not secretly dating behind my back” Miss Grace pleaded, looking down at her daughter with an expression of disappointment. “You know how he feels about marriage.” 

“I know, mama.” 

“Then why was he so protective over you…” 

A look of hesitation, then embarrassment crossed Peach’s face as her lips twitched nervously, averting her eyes around to avoid eye contact with her mother. 

“Because I think I do want to marry him…” Peach admitted softly, lowering her gaze towards her lap. Miss Grace looked like someone had just slapped her in the face. For the next few seconds, all she could say was “You are not making any sense.” “Elijah’s mind has changed about marriage, and he’s down with us getting wed.” Peach continued to explain, feeling a little guilty about deceiving her mother by leaving out the part about the divorce option from him. A look of confusion covered Miss Grace’s face as she tried to process what Peach had just said and then she mumbled, “But… But he said….” 

“I know. But I guess seeing me get someone else’s attention made him realize something he didn’t feel at the beginning…” Peach lied, feeling terrible for doing so. 

“He said that he loves you.” Miss Grace stated softly as she sat down in the chair beside Peach’s bed. 

The silence was deafening, until Miss Grace spoke again after a moment of awkwardness,” Prach?” 

“Mmhmm?” Peach hummed in response. 

“Are you serious? He said that?” Miss Grace questioned, a look of surprise and disbelief evident on her face. Raising her gaze, Peach looked up at her mother and nodded slowly, unable to let the words come out. “No,” Miss Grace whispered, shaking her head, “No, Peach. You are not thinking about marrying Elijah.” 

“Mama!” “No Peach… Elijah is not the right man for you!” “Why?! Huh, mama! Why can’t I?!” The tension rose between them again, the air thick as they stared at each other silently, Peach refusing to budge, but Miss Grace wasn’t having any of it. “Peach,” She spoke, sounding a lot sterner than before. “Elijah seemed like a man with a lot of mystery to him, he has a gangster tendency, his money has no source of where he’s getting it, his reputation is stained, and there just seems to be more to him than meets the eyes or portray the identity he has…” 

For a moment, Peach didn’t say anything, simply listening to everything her mother said. She felt a slight sting in her chest, knowing that her mother was somewhat right, remembering Elijah’s conversation with Jerome in front of the motel. And yet, she still wanted Elijah, because her mother forgot to add the side of him that made her fall in love with him in the first place. “He cares for me, mama…” Peach muttered, fiddling with her fingers. 

“Oh, honey… you are still young Peach, you will find a simple man, who’s not as complicated as Elijah to care for you someday…” Miss Grace reassured, patting Peach’s knee gently. 

“Ryan cares about me, so does Matt, and Rookie, even James cares for me… but I am not in love with either of them romantically…” 

“Honey-” 

“You are right, mama. There will be countless men who will care about me in this life… But they are not Elijah… I just don’t know how to explain what I feel for him.”