There wasn’t a harsh word spoken about any topic. The kids were indulged in as many helpings as they wanted, with Danny going in for fourths on the cranberry sauce, which was way better than that canned stuff, as everyone shared what they were up to. They also seemed to take special pleasure in retelling old memories for Dalton’s benefit.
“Hope you don’t mind all this nostalgia,” Dan said to Dalton at one point.
Lori had just finished telling a story about when the kids had snuck the pony into the mudroom during asnowstorm, and it was so funny that it had everyone in tears from laughing.
“I think we all just like having a fresh audience for these old stories,” Lori said with a misty-eyed smile.
“It’s great,” Dalton said. “I love them. Tell me more.”
He tried to quiet the voice in the back of his mind that wished these were his stories too, or that he had his own to tell.
When the meal was over, he and Ella chased everyone else out so that they could do the cleanup.
“But what about dessert?” Dove asked, her eyes worried as her hands cupped her little belly tellingly, like she was super full but wanted that pie anyway.
“I think if you go and play with your cousins for a little while first, there will be even more room in that belly for pie,” Ella told her with a gentle smile. “What do you think?”
“Yes,” Dove said, looking relieved as she trotted off after her cousins.
“She’ll be devastated if she doesn’t manage to eat four slices,” Ella said, looking after her daughter worriedly.
“I’ve got her,” Dalton said. “When we’re done with cleanup, I’ll slice the pies small enough that she can manage.”
“Is there anything you can’t do, Dalton Tyler?” Ella asked teasingly.
But when her beautiful brown eyes met his, his heart wanted to cry out that the only thing he wanted was to love her, and he couldn’t do that.
Maybe it’s too late. Maybe I already do.
He’d spent a lifetime trying hard not to get attached,keeping his heart under lock and key. But this woman and her family had stepped inside without even trying.
He started the water in the sink and got it nice and hot. It was better to keep his mind on the dishes than to let himself get lost in hopeless feelings.
Ella quietly scraped food off the plates and set them in the empty side of the sink for Dalton to wash, and soon they had established an easy rhythm.
Once or twice, he caught her looking at him and felt a bolt of fear that she might be feeling sorry for him. But her expression was more thoughtful than anything.
“I noticed what you did,” she said softly, after a while.
“What do you mean?” he said automatically.
“When Danny broke his dad’s phone,” she said. “I saw you step in front of him.”
Dalton slowly let out a breath as he scrubbed at the stuffing pan.
“I made a lot of mistakes when I was young,” he said, finally. “But the one thing I always did right was to try to look out for the younger kids. I know everyone here is safe—more than safe, Ella. Everyone here is really, really good. But I guess… some of it’s just coded into me now. I hope that doesn’t scare you.”
She put down the dish she was holding and turned to him, her gaze serious as her eyes met his.
“I think it’s noble, Dalton Tyler,” she said. “You’re a good man, and it sounds like you always were.”
Her words made him want to cry, so he applied himself to the pan again, setting his jaw in his determination not to get emotional.
How do you slip past my defenses like that, Ella?
But he knew how. She didn’t have to. She was already right there, in his heart.
But that was a dangerous place for her to be. Ella wasn’t for him.
