Sunny

Chapter 24

           

Rhea remained in Eli's arms until they got closer to the dock.

"Sunny, I hate to do this but the press is waiting and-"

Rhea jumped up before he could even finish his sentence, of course he wouldn't want the world to know about the two of them. "I understand," she said as she started to move across the boat.

"No, you don't," he grabbed her arm stopping her, "you will soon, but you have to trust me."

Rhea looked into his eyes that were silently pleading for her to do that very thing; trust him. He had trusted her, time and time again, even when she had told him about her family he still chose to trust her. He had even offered her money.

"I trust you Eli." And she did. In that moment she stopped fighting. She loved him and she would take what she could get for as long as she could get. Perhaps it would all turn out in the end, but even if it didn't at least she could say, that by loving him she had lived a little in her lifetime. Her only hope was that it didn't destroy her and her family in the process.

She let her hand slip from his and she felt the loss as a physical ache as she moved to stand next to Otto who was slowly moving the boat towards the dock.

Eli moved out into public view pulling a ball cap low on his head and turning up the collar of his jacket, standing apart from her and Otto as Rhea helped him dock the boat.

"Go with Otto, Sunny. We have a plan," he said to her back as he passed her in the process of stepping up off of the boat.

Rhea watched from the corner of her eye as he headed towards the restaurant. She and Otto stayed on the boat a little longer, making it clear that they were not with Eli before they jumped off and headed towards the marina's parking lot on the other side of the restaurant. All of the reporters and photographers had moved over to the front of the restaurant, and it allowed for her and Otto to move to his truck without being stopped.

Otto held the truck door open for her and she jumped in, waiting as Otto joined her pulling a ball cap low on his head and pulling his jacket collar up the same as Eli had done. But instead of heading away from the reporters like she thought he would he headed straight for them, stopping, rolling down his window to strike up a conversation with a few of them, his old red pick-up truck emitting obnoxious fumes and an obscene amount of noise. Rhea was surprised that the giant hunk of metal still ran.

The reporters kept shooting him nasty looks as he kept talking to them, asking them questions that weren't being answered.

"Go on! Get outta here!" someone yelled, "You're messing up our shot!"

Otto rolled up his window fighting a grin. "That was the most fun I've had in a while," he laughed as he took a few side streets and pulled into the small alley behind the restaurant.

Eli was waiting just inside the door of the kitchen and Rhea watched as he and Otto changed jackets and hats and shaking hands, before Eli jumped into the truck taking Otto's place.

"The car will be here in fifteen minutes and will take you into Savannah. Lola said she'll meet you at the hotel."

Otto nodded and gave a little wave before stepping back into the restaurant.

Rhea looked at Eli with her mouth hanging open. He had planned the entire thing. "Will they buy it?" she asked as looked out the rear window of the truck, waiting for a reporter to start following them.

Eli shrugged. "Either way we'll be long gone and Otto and Lola have a free night in Savannah."

"Lola was in on this?"

"Yep, turns out that your friends are on our side."

Rhea looked hard at him as he navigated the traffic around them. "Did you think they wouldn't be?"

"I had my doubts. As I've said in the past, I've become a bit jaded, I don't trust easily."

Rhea was quiet as she thought about it, she had to be honest and admit that she had a few doubts about her friends as well. Even in the short time she had spent in L.A. she had learned that fame did funny things to people.

They were both lost in their own thoughts as Eli drove the short distance to Lola's family's property and punched the number into the gate.

"The church?" Rhea asked, stunned that this had been his plan.

He looked over at her as the gate swung open. "It holds one of my very favorite memories. You." He reached for her hand and put it to his lips before he turned his attention back to the road and drove them down the dirt road and under the mossy canopy of the trees. It hadn't changed and it was as if they had landed in that very memory. The sun was setting and the stars hadn't come out, but it was as quiet as she remembered it, only when they parked and got out of the truck it wasn't the same.

Eli had hired a fleet of people to change the church into a tented oasis. There was a table and chairs set-up for fine dining, a fourposter bed with a canopy and drapes to shield it from the outside world, a couch with plenty of cushions, and a temporary fire pit that only needed to be lit.

Rhea turned to look at him stunned.

"Did I mention I that I know a few people in the movie industry?"

"But how? In one day? A bed! You're a bit sure of yourself, aren't you?" All the words and questions tumbled out as she looked at the scene before her, thinking of all of the time and effort that had gone into its preparation. She guessed this was what had kept the men so busy all day.

"In my defense, I didn't ask for a bed, I have a feeling that was all Mason's doing."

Rhea started to cry, she had never felt so special, to have this many people taking the time to help her and Eli. "I'm sorry," she said as she moved into the circle of his arms. "I'm sorry for five years ago, but I was so scared Eli, I didn't want you to distrust me or hate me. I would rather love you from a far then have you hate me."

Eli took her face in his hands. "I could never hate you Sunny and for five years you are all I've thought about. No one has ever made me feel so complete the way that you have. You are my very soul."

"Can we stay here forever?" Rhea asked. She wanted to, there were no problems in their little oasis, it was only the two of them.

"I wish we could, but we're needed in the real world." He kissed her softy. "However, tonight is ours." He took her hand and walked her down towards the water. The sun was setting behind them and the shadows were growing long. The only sound was the lapping of the water against the small beach.

"Sunny?"

Rhea leaned against Eli, loving the way it felt to be in his arms, all of her worries slowly seeping away.

"Hmmm," she answered.

"Will you marry me?" he asked it so softly.

Rhea stopped breathing and he must have felt it because he gave her a little shake. "Breath Sunny."

She did, gasping as she turned around to look at him.

"I've already told you that you're my heart and soul, and I'm going to go ahead and state for the record, that whether you marry me or not, I'm not leaving. I plan to make the inn my permanent home. I've already agreed to pay your father an obscene amount of rent and the contract is being drawn up as we speak."

Rhea's mouth opened and closed like a fish a few times and when she still hadn't answered after a minute he squeezed her tight. "Please say yes Sunny."

Rhea nodded, allowing herself a tentative smile "I love you Eli and I will marry you," she said the words even though she knew in her heart that the reality of it would be almost impossible, knowing that by  saying yes it didn't make all of their problems disappear.

In fact, if anything, she had a feeling that they were about to get much worse.