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“Well, I won’t argue with that. The boys are growing like weeds, and, if we don’t feed them, there might be a mutiny.”
Garrett laughed. “I have witnessed that before. Trust me. It’s not going to get better any time soon. But I can teach them all the snacks I made when I was a teenager. We'll need lots of peanut butter and oats.”
“I’m sure they’ll be happy to learn from you. Are we going to get them today?”
“Yes, but not until after dinner time.”
“Then let’s get to work. If we hurry, we can have their room set up when we bring them home.”
Garrett nodded. He liked the sound of it when he called his house her home.
14
Elise laid on the mattress on the floor in the bedroom, staring at the sun streaming in through the window. It was a lovely room, even if it was small, but the view from the floor wasn’t that great. Through the wall, she could hear the boys stirring in the room next door and decided it was time to get up. She’d barely heard Garrett get up and leave the house. She wondered if he was always that quiet, or if it was another disruption to his morning routine.
As she stood and pulled the covers up over her makeshift bed and carefully slid it under the bed, she thought about the events of the past couple of days.
Monday, she and Garrett had run errands in the next town over where they had bigger stores — and thankfully where they wouldn’t be recognized. They also brought over things from her house. They made quick work of disassembling the boys beds, loading them in Garrett’s truck, and reassembling them in the boys’ new room. They would have to make more trips to the house and pack a lot more, but they gathered enough for everyone to make it through the first night.
Without trying, she and Garrett seemed to make a good team, at least when it came to getting a job done. It was starting to feel so natural that Elise had to remind herself that while their marriage was final, there was nothing more than the contract between them.
Walking into the bathroom, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She thought she should get dressed, but she had slept practically dressed in a full outfit. Her pair of athletic shorts and T-shirt were normal attire for the day, but she was too embarrassed to change into pajamas last night. Even tucking herself into the sheets, and hearing Garrett breathe, while she closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep was unnerving.
They would get used to it, wouldn’t they? Once it became routine, she was sure she could think of him as a close friend and roommate who happened to sleep in the same room.
Moving to the kitchen, she started a fresh pot of coffee and scrambled some eggs.
The door to the boys’ room opened, and they came barreling out.
“Good morning,” Elise said.
“What’s that?” Noah asked. “I’m starving.”
“You’re not starving. You’re just hungry,” Elise corrected him. “I’m cooking eggs, and you can help yourself to some toast.”
“Aww, can’t we have waffles?”
“Not today. And don’t complain. I haven’t brought the waffle iron over yet.”
“Can we have them tomorrow?” Ethan asked.
Elise put the eggs on a plate and set them on the table. “We’ll see. That’s something I want to talk to you about. I need you to eat breakfast and get dressed. We’re going over to the house today, and we have a lot of packing to do. I need you to be helpful and good workers.”
Ethan scratched his head between bites of eggs. “What are we going to do with the house? If we’re going to live here, I mean.”
“That’s what I need to talk to you about. I know this is all moving really fast, and there are a lot of changes going on. I want you to know you can tell me how you feel about things, and ask any questions that you have. When Dad was here, he worked hard for our family, and he paid for the house every month on a mortgage. That means that the bank loaned the money, and they paid it back a little bit at a time. Now that we don’t have that money coming in, we can’t keep paying for the house. Since we’re moving here and living on the ranch, we’re going to sell the house.”
Elise watched her brothers’ faces as they processed this news. It was obvious this idea hadn’t occurred to them before now.
Noah stopped eating and stared at the table.
Elise reached out to touch his arm. “I know it’s a lot to take in. It’s okay if you want to say something.”
Noah sighed. “I’m excited about being at the ranch. It’s fun. But I guess I still thought we would have the house.” He shrugged. “I don’t know why.”
Elise ruffled his hair. “Probably because I didn’t tell you. I’m sorry about that. It’s just that I’ve had to make a lot of decisions recently, and I didn’t want to upset you by telling you everything at once. Now we’re here, and we’re going to try to settle in, so I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
“Can we bring our toys?” Ethan asked.
