Who Knows?

"I have more good news."

"What?" my voice comes out in a breathless whisper and I am surprised I even managed to say anything at all. 

"It's not mine, Romy." His hand squeezes my leg again, gently this time, before he removes his fingers from my thigh.

I swear I can feel a weight lifting off my chest that I didn't even know was there.

"It's not?" I ask with wide eyes and turn to look at him thoroughly.

"No," he calmly answers me.

"Whose is it?"

His jaw clenches and his fists tighten around the steering wheel. 

"Tommy's," he grinds out between his teeth with a dangerously low voice.

"Oh shit," I comment and Eli just nods. 

I take a minute to process this new information before asking more questions.

"Why would she say it's yours, then? That's so vile of her."

"She wanted the house, remember. If she had our child, the judge would have to rule in her favor because she would have the greatest need for it," he explains, his tone still angry.

"Jesus Christ, she is such a bitch," I spit out before I can swallow the words.

"She is," Eli agrees. "I have more good news."

"Yeah?"

"The judge ruled in my favor after it was found out that Janet was lying and I get to keep the house," he looks over and smiles at me for a bit before focusing back on the road.

"Really? That's great news, I am very happy for you, Eli," I tell him and reach out to stroke the back of his neck on instinct.

"Fuck, Romy," he growls. "Please, don't distract me like that when I already have a hard time focusing on the road as it is," he groans and I quickly pull my hand back. Damn, it felt good to touch him again. 

"Sorry," I mumble and look out the window.

"Don't be," he immediately says and places his hand back on my thigh. "Are you tired?" he then asks.

A yawn escapes me and I swallow the lie that was on the tip of my tongue. "A little."

"Sleep then. We'll be a while." 

I nod and not even five minutes later, I am sleeping like a rock.

Someone kisses my temple as I wake up a little startled. That someone is Eli, who gently brushes a strand of hair behind my ear before kissing my forehead.

"Did you sleep well?" he asks as I wake up fully.

"Yeah, thanks," I say as I stretch and look around a little. "Where are we?"

"Somewhere I wanted to show you for a long time," he cryptically answers. "Listen, Romy. I understand if, after everything that has happened, you don't forgive me. Truly, I do. But I wanted you to see what could have been; or could be, still. I want to show you my favorite place in the world that I will gladly share with you if you wanted to."

As my brain catches up, realization dawns on me, and a small smile forms on my lips. "We're at your house?"

"Yes, darling," comes his confirmation and my heart warms at the nickname. Damn you, heart. 

Eli gets out of the car and comes up on the passenger side to open my door. He grabs my hand and helps me out of the truck. "Come on, let me show you around."

I smile at him and follow his lead, his hand still holding mine. There are trees and plants everywhere, growing wildly around the property.

"Ignore the garden for now," he comments. "Janet has not taken care of it at all and there wasn't time yet for me to work on it or hire a gardener. It'll look clean again, soon. I promise."