“Why?”
“Because…” She fumbles, angry at herself for fumbling. “Because you don’t get to.”
I tilt my head. “I don’t?”
“No.” She plants her feet like she’s about to draw a line on my cabin floor. “This is already insane. I’m not adding… whatever this is.”
I let my gaze travel down her body slowly—hoodie, leggings, the curve of her hips, the way she’s breathing like she’s trying not to breathe.
Then I bring my eyes back to hers. “You answered a bride ad, Ellie.”
Her face burns hotter. “I answered an ad for a place to stay.”
“You didn’t call it that on the phone.”
Her lips part, then close. She exhales, frustrated. “I was desperate.”
The word hangs there, raw.
It makes something ugly tighten in my chest. Not because she’s weak—Ellie’s never been weak. Because I hate that someone put her in a position where she had to come to me like this with a backpack and a shaky hand.
I keep my voice steady. “And now you’re here.”
She lifts her chin. “And now I’m here.”
Good. There’s that spine.
I step back and gesture around. “Kitchen’s yours. Fridge is stocked. You want coffee, it’s in the tin by the stove. Don’t gopast the treeline behind the cabin. If you hear anything outside at night, you wake me up.”
She squints at me. “You think something’s out there.”
I hold her gaze. “I know there’s something out there.”
Her mouth tightens. “So what, you’re just… what? Armed and ready and?—”
“And capable,” I finish.
She huffs. “Of course you are.”
“You want to ask why I posted the ad again?” I say, watching her. “Or you want to ask the real question?”
Her brows knit. “What real question?”
I take a step toward her, slow, deliberate, the way I move when I’m trying not to spook a scared animal.
“Why you came to me,” I say.
Her throat bobs.
“I didn’t come toyou,” she snaps, but her voice isn’t sharp enough to cut. “I came to… an address.”
“Mm-hm.” I nod once. “And the address turned out to be mine.”
“Yeah.” She squeezes the backpack strap like it’s a lifeline. “Lucky me.”
I let a beat pass. “Why didn’t you call Wade?”
Her eyes flicker, just for a second. Then her mouth sets. “Because my brother would try to fix it. And I don’t need fixing.”
