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“Of course, you can. We won’t leave anything behind that you want to keep. Although, we do need to remember that this is a smaller house, so if you don’t really play with something or love it, maybe we should let it go.”
Ethan nodded. “I have some little kid toys I don’t need anymore.”
“There you go. I’ve got stuff in my closet from high school that I don’t need anymore either. So today we’ll just make a start. We don’t have to pack the whole house in one day, but I want us to work hard on it this week and see how much we can do. How does that sound?”
Noah sat straight up in his chair. “If we work hard, can we go get milkshakes for a snack this afternoon?”
Elise laughed at how they could bounce from one thing to the other. “I think maybe we can do that.”
The boys went on after that, chatting excitedly about where they could go for milkshakes and what things they wanted to be sure to bring to their new room.
Elise listened to them as she ate, grateful they seemed to be rolling with everything so well, but still worried they were going to hit a point where they were upset about all the changes.
As she gathered their plates and stood at the sink washing dishes, her thoughts moved to Garrett. What was he doing now? Obviously, he was working on the ranch, but what did he do all those hours? They hadn’t discussed what his day to day looked like. Would he come home for lunch? No, surely not. He always ate at the main house for lunch. Lydia Macklin was an absolute pro in the kitchen and had a gift for feeding all those hungry cowboys. Elise knew nothing about that, even if she was feeding two boys who seemed like bottomless pits sometimes.
She shook her head and told herself to get Garrett off her mind. He had his schedule, and she wasn’t here to change that. In fact, the best thing she could do was go about her own business. Lydia would expect them to be at the house for dinner, so she would plan on that. But the rest of the day, she would keep herself busy with the boys. There was plenty of work at the house to occupy their time for at least a week.
After that, she would find something to do with herself. She had told Garrett she wanted to get a job, and she meant it. There was no way she would let the financial burden of herself and the boys fall on him. Walking to the bedroom, she reached for her notebook and flipped to a blank page to start a list.Pack the house. Call a real estate agent. Look for a job.
Now she had plenty to do, and no more time to think about Garrett and what he was doing today. No matter how tempting that might be.
15
Garrett couldn’t stop thinking about Elise, and what she was doing today. He felt bad that they hadn’t discussed their plans for the day. He was used to getting up and leaving the house and staying gone until the work was done for the day. His brothers knew where he was, and his Mom knew to expect him for meals. Other than that, he’d never had to worry about letting another person know what he was doing.
Was that something Elise wanted? To plan their days and know what he was doing? Of course, that was easy for him. He was working on the ranch. It’s what he was always doing.
Then again, Elise had told him over and over that she had no expectations of him. Maybe she meant that and planned for them to live their own lives under the same roof. Was that even possible? Garrett lifted his cowboy hat and wiped his forehead with the back of his shirt sleeve. No, he couldn’t think about that right now. He was here to work and he needed to focus. He sighed remembering this was why he had never planned to be a family man. He wanted to help Elise and the boys, but his primary job was on the ranch, wasn’t it? His family counted on him, and he wouldn’t let them down.
“Bro, why are you even here today? We told you to take the whole week off,” Jenson said as he pulled up next to him on his horse.
Garrett shook his head. “No, you said Icouldtake the week, but that I couldn’t come back before Wednesday. It’s Wednesday.”
“But wouldn’t you rather be at home with your new wife today?”
The question made him uneasy. Should he wish he was with Elise today? Even if what they had was more of an agreement than a romantic relationship, shouldn’t he just want to be around her? All he could do was shrug. “I just feel needed here.” A thought occurred to him, and he made an excuse. “Besides, the boys are with her, and they’re planning to work on packing at her parents’ house today.”
“Should you be there helping her?”
Again, Garrett felt a bit of guilt. “I don’t know. She said she could handle it.” He took a deep breath. “But I can go over there tonight. We have to talk about what to do with the furniture.”
“And you’re going to sell the house?” Jenson asked.
“It’s Elise’s decision, but yes. That’s what she thinks is best.” He didn’t say that if she didn’t sell it, she might lose it anyway.
Jenson squinted in the mid-morning sun. “I can’t imagine what she’s been through. Losing your parents would be terrible, but there’s so much baggage to deal with afterward too.”
“That’s what we’re trying to wade through.”
Jenson punched Garrett’s shoulder. “I guess that’s why you got married anyway though.”
Garrett’s eyes grew wide and his stomach twisted in fear. Had Jenson guessed the real reason behind their plan? “What do you mean?”
“Since Mom sent you over there to take food and see how we could help. That’s how you and Elise started talking again, isn’t it?”
Relief flooded Garrett. “Oh yeah, that’s right. I didn’t even want to go over there that day. You know there was a lot of water under the bridge between me and Elise.”
“I know. But we’re all glad you put that behind you and found each other again. I always thought there was something there, and you just weren’t willing to admit it.”
