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I swept my arm out and said, “Come all the way in so I can close the door.”
He did, stepping inside just enough that I could close the door without hitting him.
Barely.
I licked my lips nervously as I walked past him into the living room.
“Do you, uh, want to put her down in Ellenie’s room?” I asked. “She has a king-sized bed.”
He nodded once, then followed behind me to Ellenie’s room with nary a word.
We passed the Christmas tree, and he paused long enough to study one of my favorite ornaments—one that he’d sent me right before it all went down with the two of us.
He’d sent it to me in the mail.
It was one of the last things that we talked about before it all happened.
It was a bee.
But it was a bejeweled bee that looked spectacularly sparkly.
I loved it, and even though we had a falling out, I’d hung that bee on my tree. Then I hung it in my bedroom window until it was time to put the Christmas tree up again, then I’d put it back on the tree.
When I opened the door to Ellenie’s room, I was unsurprised to find it clean as a whistle.
If there was one thing I could say about my chaotic best friend, it was that she hated mess.
Pulling the duvet down to the bottom of the bed, I started piling pillows on the sides—and there were plenty—so the little girl wouldn’t roll out of the bed.
When I was done, I stepped back, and he laid her down on the bed.
“She won’t stay here long. She’ll need one more meal and a change for the night, but it’ll give us enough time to figure out whether you want me to stay,” he rumbled.
I stepped away from the room and let him do his thing, but that didn’t mean I didn’t feel my heart contract at the sweet way that he’d treated his baby.
A baby that he thought I would resent, so he’d chosen her over me.
Not that I could blame him.
I wished every parent was like that.
Mine sure the hell weren’t.
Hell, it was a few days until Christmas, and I hadn’t even discussed the upcoming holidays with them.
Sure, they’d probably reach out on the Eve, but that didn’t mean that I was planning my days around them.
In fact, I was more than capable of planning my own life out, and if I could fit them in, I would do it.
I was so lost in thought that I didn’t feel him come up behind me and touch my hip with his big, strong hand until he was right there.
“Hey,” he said softly. “You okay?”
I swallowed, then focused my eyes and realized that I was staring at the kitchen like he’d harmed me in some way.
“Just thinking about my parents,” I said softly. “You’re really good with her.”
He laughed sardonically, almost as if he didn’t believe my words. “I hate to tell you this, Princess, but I’m just surviving over here.”
