“You’re the only other person I know who’s been through something like this,” he said.They had spent the same number of years trying to pull their siblings back from the brink.Feeling helpless to do anything about it, battling the apathy of their parents.
They had been the rescue squad.They’d been the biggest advocates for those people they loved so much, who couldn’t quite escape the clutches of their awful addiction.
“I guess that’s true,” she said.“We had this in common the whole time, and I’ve been turning you into an enemy.You’re not your brother.And you’re not Melanie.That’s the problem.I’m so angry at her, Clark.And there’s nothing I can do about that.Because if I tell her how angry I am, I’m going to alienate her.More than she already is.So I’ve lashed out at you, because you’re the easiest target.I’ve held on to anger at your family, but the person who’s really responsible for Melanie’s behavior is my sister.”
“You’re right.I get it.We can’t even be mad at them.Not openly.And that’s the hardest thing.I know it kills me.I don’t want to push my brother away.I really don’t.I also can’t enable him.”
“Yeah,” she said.“It’s an impossible situation.Thankless.Everybody has an opinion about how they would deal with the problem, but they don’t know.”
“Hell, I don’t even know from one day to the next.Sometimes I think I should stop talking to Ty.Sometimes I think that any contact is enabling.But if we hadn’t kept the line of communication open, I really don’t think we would have Marjorie now.”
“No,” she said softly, moving forward and putting her hand out.Her fingers brushed his, and his heart went sharp.She looked up at him, their eyes clashing, and then she removed her hand quickly, looking away.He wondered if she felt it too.That same electric spark he felt in his fingertips when they touched.
He decided it wasn’t something he needed to know.Hell no.He had to focus on Marjorie.
She was what mattered.
And hell, if he had an ally, a partner in Ellie, that was great.
But it was never going to be more.
CHAPTER7
Over the next several days, Ellie and Clark settled into a routine with baby Marjorie.
In the morning, Ellie got up quite a bit later than Clark.He was up with the roosters, starting his workday on the ranch early.Since it was summer, Ellie enjoyed sleeping later.She had never been a morning person, and unfortunately the American school system—and indeed all of capitalism—demanded that a person acclimate to early mornings.So did small babies, apparently, though Marjorie woke later than cows and schoolchildren.
Ellie was usually up and around by seven thirty, after a night of somewhat broken sleep.Then she would make Marjorie her bottle and start on a fresh pot of coffee.
She had the whole house to herself during the day.And it was such a lovely home, so much nicer than the single room she’d had at Angelica’s house.She really did appreciate the more luxurious surroundings, she had to admit.
She liked to believe she was past all that.After all, she knew that money didn’t buy happiness.
But it did buy comfort.And this was more than comfortable.
At lunchtime, she made herself a sandwich and sat out on the back patio with Marjorie, enjoying the sunshine.She cleaned, because at the moment she didn’t have work to occupy herself, so she didn’t mind pitching in around the house.
Doing Clark’s laundry was a little too intimate though.Touching his jeans, T-shirts, underwear.Anything that had been on that big, powerful body.It would start her thinking about his body, his muscles, and she would be a little bit of a mess.
She was a thirty-three-year-old woman; she wasn’t a giddy teenager.She really needed to get over her sexual fixation.
He was her coparent.
That was all.
He was gorgeous, yes.But there were a lot of gorgeous men.Okay, there were not that many men as gorgeous as he was, who were also over six feet tall, incredibly capable, and good with children.But still.He was her partner in child-rearing.She didn’t need him to be anything else.And even attempting to change their relationship would be a terrible risk.
Not that he had shown any interest.
Though there had been that moment the other day before dinner when their hands had touched.She’d felt a bolt of desire move through her body, and for a moment she’d been certain he felt it too.And then, just like that, she was sure she’d made it up.Which was a safer thing to assume anyway.
After lunch, she put Marjorie down for her nap and usually had a shower.And by the time she was finished, Clark was back and ready to start dinner.Even though he worked out on the ranch all day, dinner was his domain.She had to admit he was a better cook than she was.
She could prepare easy meals—spaghetti with jarred sauce, white people tacos, yeah, she pretty much had that down.But Clark knew what he was doing.He cooked beautiful steaks, roasted perfect chickens, and made legendary hamburgers, complete with homemade baked beans.That was what they werehaving tonight, along with generous handfuls of original potato chips.It was beyond a treat.And so was Clark’s company, which she never would have imagined.
But that was before she had really gotten to know him.Before she’d realized he was the only other person in the world who was facing the same challenges she was, and that made him an ally, not an enemy.
They sat down at the dinner table together, with Marjorie nestled in the crook of his arm.
