When Elly was standing in front of me in my bedroom, I noticed the top of her head comes just to my shoulder. She felt so slight when we first brought her into the house, seeing her looking so small in the chair with the bandage on her forehead, I almost feel sorry for her.
Almost.
When I told her I wouldn’t think twice about sending her back to her car, her smile fell, and a pinch of guilt squeezed my chest, making me want to put it back. But I quickly squashed my guilt, I have to think of Lainey Rai’s feelings. She would be devastated if she heard talk of selling the ranch.
She needs to know I’m serious. I’m not going to tolerate a complete stranger coming into my home and hurting my family.
It’s only a few minutes after the hour, but dad has always been very strict about dinner time. He always tells us that if our food is cold when we sit down, it's not because it was set out too early. Annoyance has set into the lines on his face, and to be honest, I’m surprised he waited for us. He looks at our guest and in his polite, but still gravelly voice, he says, “Dinner starts at six.” Then he looks at me, the polite in his voice replaced by impatience, “Can we eat now?”
I hold my hands up in surrender and meet his sharp stare, my irritation shining through because of the events of the day. “I’m not stopping you from eating.”
Mason snorts a smirk next to me, obviously enjoying the tense exchange between me and dad, and in my peripheral, Isee Sloane place her hand on his thigh to quiet him. On the other side of Sloane is Jax, Mason must have filled him in about our guest because he looks unfazed by any of this. Actually, based on the smile on his face, he looks like he’s enjoying the show.
Our new housekeeper, Hallie, picks up the dish with the roast on it and hands it to dad. Hallie just started working with us last month to help Sloane, who used to be our housekeeper. Even though she’s pregnant and she and Mason are getting married soon, Sloane insists on still taking care of the household, so Mason and Dad brought in Hallie to help her.
Looking at Dad, I ask, “Did you check on Breanna today?”
He grunts and drops a big slice of roast on his plate. “She called this morning, the storm was already moving through Stillwater but they were getting heavy snow instead of ice. She asked me to tell everyone hi, and,” he slides his eyes in my direction, “she said to tell Gray she’s being careful.”
I suppress the smile that’s threatening to pull my lips up at the comment. I was ten when Breanna was born, and after mom died, I helped dad with her as much as any ten-year-old could. It’s a habit to make sure she has her coat and gloves on or to make sure her seat belt is buckled, a habit that will never go away.
“What about Tuck?” I ask as I take the dish of roast dad’s handing me to put some on my plate.
“I sent him a text to see where he’s at,” Mason pipes up. “It took a few hours, but he finally told me he’s out of the country and he’d have to kill me if he told me where.” He rolls his eyes and takes the plate of meat as I grab the bowl of mashed potatoes dad is handing to me.
There’s a healthy competition between Mason and Tucker to see who can do the most daring jobs. Mason left the military two years ago to work for a private special ops unit,but Tucker is still enlisted and works with the Air Force Combat Control.
Lainey Rai loves to hear about their adventures, she has a map of the world on the wall in her bedroom with pins marking the places they’ve told her about. They both bring her knick-knacks and souvenirs from the places they go. It’s fed her fascination with places around the world since she was small.
Her favorite books are the atlas of the United States and the World Atlas, so she can read all the facts about the different places they tell her about.
Lainey Rai giggles as she sets her napkin on her lap. “I wonder where he is. During Thanksgiving, he showed me pictures of,” she tilts her head to the side as her eyebrows pull together, “basils’s cathedral. I don’t remember what it was called, it was the name of a spice. They were so cool.” Her smile widens on her face and her eyes are wide.
“St. Basil’s Cathedral.” Jax’s deep voice cuts through the sound of food being dipped onto plates.
Lainey Rai’s face lights up as she says, “Yeah, that’s it.” Her bright eyes fall on Jax, who winks at her before he passes the plate he just dipped from and reaches for the next one being handed to him.
After the food has been passed around and the sound of cutlery on plates is the only thing breaking through the silence in the room, Marley decides she can’t take it anymore. “So, Elly. Where’re you from?”
Even though the mere presence of our ‘guest’ is annoying the ever lovin’ shit out of me, I send a silent thank you to Marley for not bringing up why she’s here. The last thing I want is to see my daughter cry like Marley did earlier today. I won’t give her the chance.
Elly pats her lips with her napkin and folds it back perfectly before she sets it back in her lap. “I’m from LosAngeles, lived there my whole life.”
“Really? Do you get to go to the ocean a lot?” Lainey Rai stops eating and turns in her seat to give her full attention.
Elly laughs as she scoots her water glass closer to her plate and then changes her mind and moves it a little more to the side. The sound is soft and melodic, and her smile almost makes her big brown eyes shine brighter. “Sometimes, but it’s a bit of a long drive in traffic. What about you? Have you ever been to the ocean?”
Lainey Rai rolls her eyes and says, “No. Dad says ‘the horses won’t take care of themselves’,” she mimics me in a deep voice, making me smile, before she continues. “So we don’t really get to go places for longer than a day.” When she tilts her head to the side a little and I see the disappointment on her face, regret for always sticking to the schedule and the rules squeezes my chest.
I notice she called me dad. It’s only been in the past few months she’s started calling me dad instead of daddy, especially when talking to other people. She calls me daddy more when she wants something or it’s just me and her talking. I haven’t decided how I feel about that yet.
Her face brightens when she says, “We go to the lake sometimes, but everyone knows the lake is not the same as the ocean, we can’t see our feet through the water.”
“That just means we need to take a day trip to Blue Hole Park this summer.” Mason says and smiles at Lainey Rai. “You can see your feet through the water there.”
“Really? Can we?” Lainey Rai sits up tall and practically dances in her seat as she looks to me for permission. I smile at her and nod with a wink.
“Yep, we can grill and spend the day.” He looks at Sloane, “You ever been there, darlin’?”
