This was turning out to be worse than I thought. “What do you need?”
“Someone to vouch for me. I need a permanent address.”
I barked out a laugh at the thought of her staying out here in Montana. “You’re joking, right?”
“Ryder, I don’t have anyone else.”
I was going to kill her. Literally, wrap my hands around her throat and squeeze. “Where are you staying right now?”
“At a hotel.”
Gritting my teeth, I did my best not to shout at her. “You’ve been wasting your money on a hotel this whole time?”
“I didn’t want to tell you I was having problems with all this,” she sniffled. “I was trying to handle it on my own.”
“Well, you did a bang-up job of that,” I snapped. “Can’t you just put down that you’re living with your parents and trying to return home?”
“I’ve been gone too long. They won’t accept that address since I’ve been living in the United States.”
I was going to have to help her, no matter how much I wanted to wring her neck and tell her it wasn’t my problem. I’d spent years with this woman, had loved her and planned to marry her. And even though all that was gone, I just couldn’t turn her away and tell her not to bother me with it. That just wasn’t the type of man I was.
I just didn’t know how I was going to explain any of this to Ellie.
“Fine. You can come out here. I’ll find you someplace to stay, but it won’t be with me.”
“That’s fine,” she said, breathing a sigh of relief. “Thank you so much. Honestly?—”
“This isn’t going to change anything between us,” I snapped. “Don’t get any ideas in your head.”
“I know, and I swear, I’ll stay out of your hair. I just need the address.”
New York was expensive as hell, and without a job, there was no way she’d be able to afford anything anyway. At least out here, I could rent something for her that wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg, and it would get her out of my hair faster.
“Do you have money for a plane ticket?”
“I have enough.”
“I’ll send you some anyway. When you book the flight, let me know when you’re getting in.”
“Okay.”
“How much stuff are you bringing with you?”
“Um…I’ll sell what I can. I can’t take it all back to England, anyway.”
“Good.”
“Thank you, Ryder. I really appreciate this.”
“Remind me you said that when winter hits out here. It’s nothing like you’ve experienced in New York.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Give me a few minutes, and I’ll make the transfer. Talk to you soon.”
I hung up without another word, then cursed myself for getting into such a shitty situation. Ellie didn’t deserve any of this after what I’d already put her through, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she threw me out on my ass.
I just had to pray that she loved me enough to look past what was about to happen.
