Chapter Twenty-Eight

Cameron

When Scarlett had texted and offered for us to stay the night at her place, I had initially decided against it. After some thought, I figured one night wouldn’t hurt. My old room at my parents’ house had been fixed up for Ella. The other room was an office, which my mother insisted she could move around to put a bed in there for me. However, that wasn’t going to happen until tomorrow, and I wasn’t keen to sleep on the couch. Besides, I knew I would sleep better with Scarlett in my arms. I hated to admit it, but the woman gave me comfort. I needed the comfort, just for now.

The moment we pulled up, with my mom following behind me with some casserole she had made up as a thank you to Scarlett for letting us stay with her, I knew something was off.

“Dammit,” I muttered under my breath when I noticed the garbage can outside the garage that was overfilled with packaging and cardboard boxes that had been smashed down.

“Someone’s been on a shopping spree,” my mother quipped as she walked to the doorway.

“I’ll kill her,” I groaned, afraid to see what she had bought. She was going to be taking it all back.

I knocked on the door, heard her shout to come in, and made a note to tell her not to do that in the future. She needed to know who she was inviting into her home.

At first, nothing looked different. I wondered if I had been wrong about where she had disappeared to. She appeared in the room, looking worn out. I realized she hadn’t slept much last night either.

“Hi, guys!” she greeted us.

“Scarlett!” Ella said, running toward her.

Scarlett dropped to her knees and enveloped Ella in a big warm hug. My mom had tears glistening in her eyes when she looked at me. It was nice to see Ella and Scarlett together. My little girl had taken a serious liking to our neighbor.

My mom cleared her throat. “I brought a casserole for you guys to eat for dinner,” she said, walking into Scarlett’s kitchen without invitation. “I’ll just put it in the fridge for now.”

“Thank you. You didn’t have to do that. I’m happy to have them stay,” Scarlett said.

“What have you been up to?” I asked, picking up on something, though I wasn’t sure what.

She grinned. “I have a little surprise for Ella. I know you guys are only going to be here for one night, but in case you need to stay a little longer, I wanted her to feel at home.”

I shook my head, afraid of what I was going to hear next. “Scarlett,” I said in a warning tone.

She shrugged a shoulder. “What?”

“What did you do?”

My mom was looking back and forth between us before she finally spoke up. “I’d like to see,” she announced.

“Mom!”

“What? Scarlett’s obviously been working on something special for Ella, and I’d like to see.”

“This way,” Scarlett said and headed down the hallway.

Her home’s floor plan was identical to mine. I knew right where she was going. When she opened the door to the room that would have been Ella’s in my house, my suspicions were confirmed.

Ella squealed. “Is this for me?”

Scarlett stood in the doorway. “It is!”

My mom walked in while I shot Scarlett a look that told her we would be talking about this later. When I walked into the room, I was taken aback.

“You did all this today?” I asked, taking in the sight of the room that had pretty pink curtains hanging over the blinds. A rocking chair with a soft blanket thrown over it was in a corner, and a small toy box filled with toys was next to it.

There was a bookshelf filled with the same titles Ella had in her room at home. Scratch that—she used to have. My mom didn’t hide her emotions. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she embraced Scarlett and thanked her over and over for her thoughtfulness and generosity.

“Thank you,” I said and was a little embarrassed to hear the emotion in my own voice.

“And,” Scarlett said, wiping the tears from her face, “look in here, Ella.”

She pulled open the closet door, and I felt as if I had punched in the gut. There were several dresses hanging there, many of them replicas of dresses Ella had owned before the fire.

Ella jumped up and down, pointing out the various dresses. “This is the one Grandma bought me!” she exclaimed, her innocence preventing her from realizing that it wasn’t the same but a duplicate.

I had to take several deep breaths before I could speak. “You outdid yourself.”

“I wanted to. I can’t tell you how helpless I felt last night. I wanted to do this. I talked with my parents, and they encouraged me to do this,” she said softly.

“I appreciate it, I really do, but it’s too much. I’ll pay you back.”

She shook her head. “Please don’t. I have to help, and this is the only way I can. I can’t build you a new house. I’m really not great with a hammer,” she said, gently teasing.

“We’ll talk about it later,” I said in a low tone.

My mom was kneeling next to the bookshelf as Ella greedily pulled one book after another from the shelves. Seeing Ella so happy made my heart full. She had cried when I’d broken the news to her. I had hated having to break her little heart with such adult news for the second time in her life. It wasn’t fair, but what Scarlett had done made a huge difference.

“Well, then I may as well tell you now,” she mumbled.

“Tell me what?” I asked, dreading what she was about to say.

She looked down at her feet. “I picked up a few things for you as well.”

“Scarlett!”

“You can’t wear that every day!”

“She’s right, dear,” said my mom. “Say thank you and be grateful.”

I took a deep breath. “I am absolutely paying you back. You are not buying me clothes.”

“I got some other stuff as well.”

“Oh. My. God. What?” I didn’t even try to hide my frustration.

“Relax. Just razors and stuff like that. Ella, sweetie, I put your toothbrush in the bathroom. You have some stuff in the drawers of the dresser as well, including some pajamas.”

Ella was smiling big. “Are they like my old pajamas?”

Scarlett nodded. “Yes, they are.”

I sighed. “You didn’t have to do that. She had some stuff at my parents’ house.”

She shrugged. “And now she has more.”

My mom came over and wrapped her arms around me. “Be nice.”

“I am, but she didn’t have to do all this.”

“No, she didn’t, but I for one am absolutely overjoyed that she did.” She turned to Scarlett and wrapped her in her arms again. “I can’t tell you how much this means. You are a beautiful girl, inside and out. Thank you for taking care of these two.”

“It’s my pleasure,” she replied.

“All right, I’m going to leave you three to get settled. I suggest you all go to bed early tonight. You two are looking a little rough around the edges. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” she said, giving each of us a kiss on the cheek.

I walked her out and was lectured again about not appearing enthusiastic enough. When I went back inside, I headed to the bedroom where I knew I would find Ella and Scarlett. They were sitting on the fluffy pink rug on the floor of the room, reading a book together.

Scarlett looked up. “Did you want to shower?”

I nodded. “That sounds like an excellent idea.”

“I’ll be right back, Ella.” She stood and walked out the door, heading for the master suite. “There’s a few things for you, and before you say I shouldn’t have, it isn’t much. Just a couple outfits to hold you over.”

I walked toward her, wrapped my arms around her, and kissed her. “Thank you. I don’t mean to be a dick. You’ve gone out of your way, and I really appreciate it. All of it—especially what you did for Ella. This means the world to her and me.”

“You’re very welcome. Here, take this and I’ll see you in a bit,” she said, handing me several bags.

I peered inside and laughed when I found socks, underwear, my favorite shaving cream, and a pack of razors.

“You’re very observant. You could have a job as a detective,” I teased.

She shrugged. “I pay attention to things.”

I held up the bag. “This proves it. The fact you knew what clothes Ella had—well, it’s impressive.”

She grinned. “I try. Now, go shower. Wash the soot out of your hair.”

I hadn’t bothered trying to rid myself of the smell that was clinging to my uniform. I had worn my work pants and the once-white T-shirt I had worn under my uniform when I went to pick Ella up. I should have known Scarlett was up to something when I found her gone and my pants and T-shirt hanging on the back of a dining room chair when I awoke from my nap earlier.

After a long, hot shower, I felt a bit more human. I followed the sound of Ella’s chattering to the kitchen, where she was helping Scarlett set the table.

“Sit down, Daddy. Me and Scarlett are making dinner,” she said proudly.

“Oh, you are?”

Scarlett came out of the kitchen and placed my mom’s casserole on the table. “Well, Grandma made dinner. We’re serving it.”

“Are we going to stay with Scarlett, Daddy?” Ella asked.

“For tonight, yes.”

“I want to stay again,” she stated.

“You guys are welcome to stay for as long as you like. I’ve got plenty of room and wouldn’t mind the company,” Scarlett said.

“I don’t want to intrude,” I told her. “You’re a young, single woman. You don’t need us cramping your style.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, because my busy social life would definitely be hurt. I’m serious. I want to help.”

“Come on, Daddy. I already have a room and everything,” Ella said.

“You already have a room at Grandma’s house too,” I reminded her.

“But it’s not like this room.”

I felt like they were ganging up on me. “I’ll think about it.”

Ella smiled and seemed satisfied. Scarlett must have read my hesitation and didn’t seem quite as pleased with my answer.

We finished dinner, and Ella watched TV while I helped Scarlett clean up.

“What happened to your couch?” Ella asked Scarlett.

The blanket she had thrown over the back had slipped, revealing some of the slash marks. I looked at Scarlett, warning her not to tell the truth.

“It’s old, and when I moved here, it got cut. I’m going to get a new one someday. Maybe you can help me pick one out,” she said.

Her answer placated Ella.

“Let’s get you ready for bed. Daddy is beat and needs some sleep, and so does Scarlett,” I said, looking at the exhaustion on her face.

“Where are you going to sleep, Daddy?”

Scarlett and I looked at each other. She threw up her hands and walked out of the room.

“I’m going to sleep on the couch,” I told Ella, hating that I was lying but not quite ready to admit to sharing a bed with Scarlett.

My gaze drifted over to the couch where Scarlett had repositioned the blanket. That had been one show of violence from her ex. I wondered exactly what he was capable of. After getting Ella tucked in, I headed into Scarlett’s bedroom. It felt weird to be sleeping in her bed.

I wanted to ask her about Isaac but held off. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but it was definitely in the back of my mind.

“Good night,” Scarlett said, kissing me on the lips before laying her head on my bare chest.

I wrapped my arm around her and stared up at the ceiling, thinking about the fire and wondering who I had pissed off that badly. Only one name came to mind.