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As if realizing she was there, Baird glanced her way. The corner of his mouth tugged into a smile. “Cara said you liked coffee.”
Ella nodded, suddenly shy. She raked her fingers through her tangled hair. “My brothers used to say I respond to coffee the way dogs do to bacon.”
Baird’s smile widened. “I thought your brothers were nicer than that.”
“Ben is,” she said. “But the other two, Tom and Mark, were trying to impress you.”
“I thought Ben was your brother in Dubai.”
“He is.”
“Why is he the nicest?”
“He’s a good listener, he’s nonjudgmental and he’s patient. I don’t know how he ended up with so much patience. No one else in the family is.”
“Was his advice good?”
“No. I hated it. It generally involved asking people for forgiveness and then doing good deeds to prove you’d grown and changed.”
“Penance.”
“More or less.”
Baird’s smile was lopsided. “So, why go to him?”
“Because he was a good person, and never made you feel dumb for making what was essentially dumb mistakes.” She remembered some of the dumber things she did, like sneaking out her freshman year of high school to meet Jay, her brother Mark’s friend, but Jay didn’t have her best interests in mind, and Ella had to call Ben to come save her from the situation. Ben wasn’t exactly kind to Jay, but Ella thought Jay deserved the bloody nose.
“Sounds like you were close,” Baird said.
“Cara and Ben were my favorites, not that you’re supposed to have favorites, but I always felt protective of Cara, and Ben was always keeping an eye out for me.” She hesitated. “I was really sad when he went to MIT for school. I had a feeling that once he moved away, he’d never move back, and I was right. Even before he’d graduated, he was hired to work for a firm in the Middle East, and he’s been there ever since—” She broke off. “Sorry, that’s a lot of information before you’ve even had your coffee.”
Baird removed the plastic top that rested on the ceramic mug. “I’ve had a cup already. This one was for you. I was going to take it to you upstairs. Your sister warned me it might be the only way to get you out of bed.”
Ella grimaced. “She knows me so well.”
“So, what are your plans today? I imagine you’ll be spending most of it with Cara.”
“I imagine so. We didn’t really talk about today, but it’s probably going to be a lazy day.” Ella sipped her coffee. It was hot and strong, just the way she liked it. “And you?”
“Just work,” Baird answered. “Unless someone here at the house needs me to run an errand. I’ve offered my services to both Mrs. Booth and Mrs. Johnson.”
“That’s nice of you.” She started to take her coffee and then remembered last night’s soccer match. “So, who won the game?”
“Not my team,” Baird said. “But my team’s loss made Mrs. Johnson happy.”
Ella grinned. “You sound like a good loser.”
“I’m not. But I wasn’t going to let Mrs. Johnson know I was upset. Then she’d only gloat.”
“I haven’t even been here a day, and I’m learning so much about everyone.”
“Mrs. Johnson, fierce football fan. Baird MacLauren, poor loser.
Ella laughed. “I better go dress but thank you again for the coffee.”
His eyes met hers. “My pleasure.”
Heat filled her, heat and fizz, and she suddenly felt lightheaded. “Are you coming up to the house for breakfast?’
