Page 33 of The Decoy

I shake my head as I follow her deeper into the room. “A bottle of water if you have it. I don’t like to drink and drive.”

“Water it is. Do you want lemon or lime with it? I have both,” she asks, walking over to her pristine white kitchen.

“No, I’m good, thanks.”

While she’s in the kitchen, I look around some more. The place is impeccably clean, but it doesn’t have that cold, sterile feel to it. Photos line a built-in bookshelf with shots of her in various places, a framed picture of her and her brother on a boat, and some shots of her parents, more casual than they’re pictured online.

She walks back over, handing me a bottle before gesturing to the sofa. “Let’s sit.” Oshie follows us, and plops down onto the rug right at my feet with a sigh.

I lean over and set the gift on the low coffee table near us, then sit back, close enough to Ellis that our shoulders are brushing.

We both talk about our evenings, and then she tells me about her plans with her family tomorrow. And I tell her about my mom and sister’s flight troubles. Then I tell her a funny story about how Liam’s daughter asked him why she had to put her pj’s on when he and mommy don’t wear clothes to bed, in front of all their guests, including Alie’s parents.

It was hysterical.

As our conversation slows, we settle into a comfortable silence until Oshie gets up from her place on the floor, gives us a tired look, her fur on her head parted to the side from sleep, and wobbles toward the bedroom.

We look at each other and smile.

I set a hand on her knee and nod toward the gift on the table. “Merry Christmas, Ellis,” I say, smiling.

Ellis looks at the box, her eyebrows lifting. “You’re so sweet, Brody. Although I didn’t expect you to get me anything for Christmas.”

“I wanted to. Open it,” I insist, laying my arm across the back of the sofa, watching her face.

She picks up the box, turning it over in her hands. The silver paper is neat, the corners perfectly tucked, and tied together with a silk bow.

“I gotta say,” she says, looking at me with a raised brow. “You did an amazing job on this wrapping. I didn’t peg you as a man who masters decorative ribbon crafting.”

I can’t help the laugh that rumbles out of me. “I wish I could take the credit, but I had a very nice woman named Helen turn it into this art piece before you.”

Ellis lets out a laugh, filling the room. “Well, Helen did an amazing job.”

“Open it.” I nod my head toward the box in her hand.

She carefully slips off the bow, then slides her manicured finger under the paper to unwrap it cleanly. She lifts the lid of the white box, pulling out the tissue paper inside, and setting it beside her.

She gasps.

Inside the box lie two folded dark blue jerseys. She pulls the first one out. It’s a tailored women’s jersey, and on the back, in bold white numbers, it reads 89, with my last name stitched neatly across the shoulder blades with silver trim.

She blows out a breath, her fingers tracing the stitched lettering. But before she speaks, she sees the other one.

She reaches back into the box and lifts out a tiny jersey, not much bigger than the size of my hand. On the back, matching the women’s jersey, is a small white 89 and the bold letters VAUGHN.

Ellis stares down at the baby jersey in her lap, and it seems like she might be holding her breath.

I watch her face closely, suddenly worrying that I’d gone too far. “Princess? You okay?”

She doesn’t answer right away. But I see a single tear well in her eye before spilling down her cheek.

My heart hammers against my ribs. “Hey…if it’s too much, I can⁠—”

“It’s perfect,” she chokes out, her voice thick with emotion. She wipes away the tear with the back of her wrist, looking at me with a watery smile. “Brody…it’s…oh, God, my hormones are wild tonight.”

She sets the jerseys down on the table and turns to me, wrapping her arms tightly around my neck.

I pull her into my lap without a second thought. My arms wrapping securely around her waist, holding her tight against my chest while she buries her face into the side of my neck.