“It’s sitting on more than twenty acres. We’d have privacy.”
“Uh-huh,” Elle said and glanced back at Sutter sitting between his grandparents before asking me, “How bad is this place?”
“It’s ugly but has a big main house and two smaller ones. There’ll be space for your family to stay over.”
Though Elle didn’t reply to that, I felt her growing curious.
“What’s the neighborhood like?” Ford asked when his daughter fell silent.
“It’s a little rural, but there are stores. It’s also close to the highway to reach downtown.”
Shoved into the back row with Ivy, Clint asked, “What if Sutter wants to attend a physical school again?”
“The local schools are ranked well. If they don’t have what he needs, we’ll fix that.”
“I don’t want Elle living in a dump,” Shay mumbled, fighting a scowl.
“It’s not that far from shit,” I grumbled, feeling attacked. “If Elle doesn’t like it, there are fancy houses like Lula has. But this place offers land and space. We can create whatever we want. There’s even a barn where we could build Sutter an observatory.”
Elle patted my thigh to get me to settle down. I wasn’t used to anyone soothing me. Her gesture felt belittling at first. My old habits roared to life. I nearly pushed away her hand.
But I wanted Elle to make me feel better. I deserved to be happy. Rather than feel coddled, I decided her gentle touch meant she appreciated me. That was how I needed to view these moments. Elle wasn’t a bitchy foster parent or asshole relative trying to make me obey. She was a woman who chose me over everyone else.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, we pulled up the driveway to the massive traditional ranch. The realtor unlocked the door while I kept trying to sell my vision for the place.
“The main house is over seven thousand square feet,” I said when Elle seemed concerned about the overgrown landscape. “It’s functional right now, but it needs updates.”
“Taking on renovations seems like a bad idea when there’s a baby on the way,” Shay said, giving a voice to what everyone was thinking.
Rather than lose my temper, I used logic and pointed out, “Exile and Nova bought a fixer-upper when she was nearly ready to pop. She was able to put her taste into everything.”
“I might not be as tough as Nova,” Elle said, doing little to hide her anxiety about this location. “Do you know reliable people to do the renovations?”
“My club runs a company. We work with the best Baton Rouge contractors. Those businesses know who we are and what would happen if they fucked with my house.”
When Elle smiled at my words, I felt her calming down. I came around to open her door while the others exited the SUV.
“The décor inside is weird, like a hunting lodge mixed with a cult compound. But none of it will stay. We can do whatever we want here.”
Both nervous, Elle and Sutter held hands. I worried none of them could see past the ugly wood trim and brown tile floors.
“It’s big,” Shay said helpfully when we stepped inside.
“That’s good,” Elle told Sutter. “Even though it’ll only be the four of us most of the time, you know how crowded the house gets when the whole family and clubs get together.”
Sutter nodded and tightened his grip on her hand. We walked into the large, ugly kitchen with natural wood cabinets and a ridiculously large ceiling fan.
“It’s functional,” Elle said as she looked around. “I could watch the boys from here while I’m cooking.”
“You mentioned a cult,” Ford said and gestured at the two fridges. “What was this place?”
“No clue, but it’s priced cheap for everything we’re getting.”
“I’m going to say it,” Elle announced and looked at Sutter. “This house is butt ugly, but I see a lot of potential.”
Shay immediately said, “But you’re on this land away from other people.”
“We’ll have privacy.”
