After the conversation on the back porch with Adam, Ellie had meant to speak to Dee first thing in the morning, explain that she and Adam had become friends, but that there was absolutely nothing romantic between them. The day had gotten busy quickly, though, and she hadn’t had the chance to approach her friend and boss about it. Truth be told, she had no idea how to even start the conversation without Dee thinking there was more to it than just friendship, but for the sake of her job and her peace of mind, she wanted Dee to know before she got the wrong impression and went digging a little deeper in Ellie’s past. A past she was so ashamed of, she wished she had a time machine that could erase those six months from her life. Six months wasted with a man who’d lied to her about his relationship status, and who’d cost her a job she liked and her reputation. He hadn’t thought twice about denying his involvement in their relationship, even though only days before he’d claimed he loved her.
She was getting the children ready to be picked up by their parents when Dee handed her the phone. “Sophie’s father needs to talk to you.”
Her heart skipped a beat, maybe even three, but this time it was mostly because of the questioning look on Dee’s face, rather than because of Adam. She should’ve talked to Dee like she’d planned, she should’ve explained. She should actually say something now, before she even took Adam’s call. But Dee had already walked away, as more parents arrived to pick up their children. Too late, sister.
“I need your help. I hate asking, but you’re the only one who can save me right now.” Adam’s voice was urgent and… pleading. Something stirred inside her chest. The poor man sounded on the verge of a panic attack.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, praying he wasn’t hurt and calling her from a hospital bed somewhere.
“I’m stuck just outside Gold Beach—there’s been a bad accident involving several cars and two trucks. I can’t come home yet, and I’ve got no one to pick up Sophie. My parents are visiting Kyle in Colorado, Jenna’s sick, Lauren’s at a yoga seminar in Portland, and Kean’s working on a building site outside town. Cayden’s at the station, and as much as I love the twins, I don’t trust them alone with Sophie with no adult supervision.”
She nearly laughed with relief. He was okay, thank goodness. For a moment there she’d imagined all kinds of terrible scenarios involving him, and she hated that her heart had thumped wildly at the thought of him being hurt. She’d begun to care too much about this man, and she’d better have a chat with her own heart sometime soon. But right now he was just a friend who needed her help. She couldn’t really let a three-year-old go home alone now, could she?
“I can look after Sophie until you come home, don’t worry.”
A loud exhale came on the line, followed by several thanks and promises he’d make it up to her.
“I’ll keep that in mind next time I find a spider or a bug in my house. I’ll come banging on your door, begging you to rescue me.”
He laughed. “Deal.”
Voices sounded in the background, and he said something to a man who’d just spoken to him. “I gotta go, now. Tell Sophie I’m sorry.”
Ellie hung up and concentrated on wiping the silly smile off her face before Dee came back. She took a deep breath, held it in, and then exhaled through her nose, just like Lauren taught in her yoga classes.
Just as she managed to lock her fluttery emotions in a bolted safe, Sophie came running toward her. “Where’s my Daddy, Miss Ellie?” She looked up at her with her round, blue eyes, a frown wrinkling her cute face. “All my fwiends have gone home, but my Daddy isn’t here.”
Ellie crouched down and tapped the little girl’s nose. “Your Daddy’s a little late, so you’ll go home with me, and we’ll wait for him together, okay?”
Sophie nodded. “Okay. Can we eat cookies?”
“Tell you what, we’ll bake and eat them. Will you help me?”
Sophie clapped her hands, bouncing like a kangaroo. “Can we make cookies for Daddy, too? He likes cookies wif chocolate and peanut butter.”
Ellie nodded. “Sure. We can stop at the grocery store and buy all the ingredients we need.”
“Yay! Let’s go home, Miss Ellie.” Sophie took Ellie’s hand and pulled her toward the door, making Ellie laugh. Dee appeared at the door, after having delivered all the children to their parents, and something in the way she leaned against the doorjamb with her arms crossed made Ellie’s blood go cold. Oh, no. She was going to question her about Adam, or maybe she’d already decided she wanted to fire her. Or maybe both.
“Mrs. Dee, we’re baking cookies!”
Dee smiled down at Sophie, then looked up at Ellie with an inquisitive stare that was a little frightening, actually. Ellie stood up straighter and decided to go with the truth. Nothing had happened between her and Adam. They were neighbors helping each other, just like in all the small towns around the world. Dee had no grounds for firing her. Unless, obviously, she could read people’s minds—in which case, Ellie was screwed because what she’d started feeling for the gorgeous deputy was anything but neighborly assistance.
“Adam’s stuck in Gold Beach and none of his family members can pick up Sophie, so he asked if I could help out by babysitting until he comes home.”
“Uh huh.” Dee nodded, but her right eyebrow was still quirked. “Well, he had no need to be so secretive about it all. He could’ve asked me to look after her, if he was in trouble.”
Ellie shrugged, feigning nonchalance even as her heart beat at triple speed. “I guess it made more sense for him to ask me, since I’m right next door, and you already have your own family to look after.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Dee nodded again, and her stance softened. “Well, have fun baking cookies.” She patted Sophie’s head and smiled at her, before retrieving her purse and keys and heading for the exit, followed by Ellie and Sophie. Tomorrow she would definitely have to talk to Dee before anyone set foot in the school.
Once they were done with their shopping, and Sophie had informed half the people in the store that she was going to bake cookies with her teacher, Ellie pushed the bike with Sophie sitting on top all the way back to her cottage. She should’ve considered the logistics of riding her bike back home with Sophie as a passenger when she’d refused Dee’s offer of a ride home. She let the little girl stay on the seat and pushed the bike all the way home. By the time they reached Beaver Lane, Ellie was sweating, and she was sure she’d burned off all the calories from her lunch. She was about ready to collapse, while Sophie was on a high and kept chattering about all the things her grandmothers baked at the café, how she didn’t like Auntie Lauren’s healthy cake and preferred her grandmother Enya’s chocolate cake, although her dad didn’t want her to eat it too often. Ellie learned more about Sophie’s family on the twenty-minute walk home than she had in the month she’d spent at school, and she was sure by the time Adam came to pick her up, she’d know Sophie’s life down to the very last detail.
* * *
As she approached her cottage, she saw a man on her front steps, his head down as his thumb scrolled on the screen of his phone. Her heart skipped a beat as her eyes scanned the big, broad-shouldered man in camo army fatigues.
“Ethan?” she called, stopping the bike in her front lawn. She put down the kickstand and pulled Sophie off the seat before she flung herself into the arms of her brother, who was walking toward her.
He laughed when her arms went around his neck and pulled her off the ground, wrapping his muscular arms so tight around her he nearly knocked all the air out of her. But she didn’t care. She’d lived in constant fear for months, dreading the sound of her phone or the wait when he didn’t reply to her e-mails. Right now, she needed to feel his arms around her more than she needed her next breath.
He was here. He was alive, so warm and strong and—wow, when had he become so burly?
“Surprise!” He put her back on the ground and smiled when she looked up at him. They were twins, but he’d always had at least five inches on her. Now that she was wearing tennis shoes, he seemed even taller.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? When did you arrive? How long are you staying? Have you eaten yet? Come on, I’ll cook something for you, you’re probably starving.”
“Hey, why don’t you start by breathing first?”
She chuckled. She was so happy to see him here, to know he was safe, she’d fired all those questions on a single breath. “Sorry, you’re right. It’s just… it’s so good to see you.”
He smiled, and his green eyes creased at the corners. She noticed a new worry line across his tanned forehead and wondered what had caused it.
“They’ve sent me back to San Antonio for training in some new medical procedures, so I took the chance to add a couple of extra days to come see if you’re holding the fort. And yes, I wouldn’t mind getting something to eat. I’ve been up since the crack of dawn, and my lunch consisted of a crappy sandwich at the airport.”
“Who are you?”
Ellie had totally forgotten about Sophie and felt awful about it. What if the little girl had run off, gotten hurt, or even worse, gotten run over because the adult who was supposed to be looking after her had completely ignored her?
“Hi there, little one. I’m Ethan.” He crouched in front of the little girl, who stared at him with a suspicious frown, holding Bugs to her chest. “And who are you?”
“I’m Sophie.” She looked up at Ellie, then back at Ethan, the frown still firmly in place. “Are you her boyfriend?”
Ethan burst out in a loud laugh, and Ellie joined in. When Sophie’s frown intensified, Ellie patted the little girl’s curly hair reassuringly.
“He’s my brother. We were born on the same day, so we’re twins.”
“Like Kacey and Wyley?”
Ellie searched her brain for the names she’d already heard and remembered Adam talking about Cayden’s twin siblings. She nodded. “Yes, like Kacey and Ryley.”
“Oh. Why you dwessed like dat?” Apparently, Sophie was in one of her chatty, twenty-question moods. There was no predicting when she’d be content and stop questioning the newcomer, who no doubt fascinated her little mind.
“It’s my uniform. I’m in the Army.” Ethan looked up at Ellie, his brows pulling together in an uneasy, and extremely funny, expression. A big man like him who risked his life every single day was intimidated by a three-year-old?
“My Daddy has a uniform, too but it’s bwown. What’s in dat big bag?”
“How about we go inside now and bake those cookies for your daddy?” Ellie interrupted Sophie’s interrogation and was sure a flicker of gratitude passed in her brother’s eyes.
Sophie nodded and bounded up the steps, racing inside as soon as Ellie unlocked the door. She ran through the rooms, calling Bobcat and making funny kissy noises to get his attention.
“Who’s the little girl?” Ethan closed the door behind him and dropped his army duffel on the floor by the console table.
“She’s my neighbor’s daughter and one of my kids at preschool. He’s a deputy sheriff, and he’s stuck in a nearby town because of a big car accident, so he asked if I could look after her until he comes home.”
“Can’t his wife look after her?”
Ellie shook her head. “He’s a single parent. His wife died three years ago. All his family members were unable to look after her, so he asked me if I could do him a favor.”
“Does this happen often?” He quirked an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side.
“No, this is the first time, but I don’t mind. She’s adorable.”
“You’re always too good to people. I told you, they always end up taking advantage of your kindness.”
Ellie rolled her eyes. “Please, don’t start again with that. Greg’s history, okay? And don’t be such a grouch.”
Ethan shrugged and looked around, taking in his surroundings. He’d always thought Greg had been the ‘all take, no give’ type, and she’d never wanted to admit her brother had been right all along. She’d been so in love she’d never noticed how it had all revolved around Greg’s wishes, Greg’s likes, Greg’s moods. Her brother, on the other hand, had warned her from the very first time they’d gone out together when they’d both gone home for Thanksgiving and Ellie had brought Greg along. Sometimes she wished she’d listened to her brother—not that she was ever going to tell Ethan that.
“I like how you’ve decorated it. It’s way better than I remembered. It’s bright and airy and… homey.”
“The contractor did a great job. The cottage was in a very poor state when I first moved in, but he did wonders on very short notice and in little time.”
“Miss Ellie, I fink Bobcat wants his dinner.” Sophie walked toward them holding the poor animal by the top half of his body, his hind paws nearly touching the floor. Ellie smiled. Good thing her cat was the most easy-going pet in the world and never scratched or bit anyone, not even when he was being dragged around like a raggedy doll.
“Does he, now? Well, we’d better get him his food then, before he starts chewing your fingers.”
Sophie giggled as she followed Ellie into the kitchen, where she filled the tin bowl near the door with cat food. Sophie put Bobcat down and gave him a little shove toward the bowl, then stood back and looked at him.
“Ooh, I foggot Buzz!” Sophie let out a squeal and ran back into the living room, where she’d dropped her bunny when she found Bobcat hiding under the couch.
“She’s cute,” Ethan said, staring as Sophie cuddled Bugs and asked him to forgive her for abandoning him. “Looks like a little doll. It must be tough for her, without her mom.”
“She was too young to remember her, and she’s not missing out on love. Her grandparents adore her, as well as her aunt and uncles. She’s a lucky little girl, despite the circumstances.”
She busied herself unpacking the groceries and opening cupboards, pulling out stuff she’d need to bake cookies, while Ethan stood near the counter, his arms crossed over his chest and his legs crossed at the ankles. He seemed to fill the whole kitchen with his burly presence, just like he’d filled the empty spaces in Ellie’s heart when he’d hugged her. He’d taken away half of her heart when he’d flown to Afghanistan, and now that he was here, in her kitchen—their kitchen—she felt whole again.
“Don’t just stand there like a stranger. This is as much my home as it is yours. Open the fridge, help yourself. If you want to take a shower, the bathroom’s exactly where it was.”
“Are you politely telling me I smell?” He pulled the collar of his shirt and took a long sniff, and Ellie laughed. Gosh, it was so good to have him back, to enjoy their silly banter in person, not through a computer screen. “Yeah, well, I should probably hit the shower and get changed. I left San Antonio in a rush to get to the airport and didn’t have time to change.”
“Or rather, you enjoy the way women look at men in uniform.”
He grinned. “That, too.”
He wrapped his arms around her from behind, pulled her up and placed a loud kiss on her cheek. Ellie squealed and he laughed, putting her back on the ground.
“I’ve so missed teasing my little sis.”
“We’re twins.” She gave him a shove that obviously didn’t move him an inch from his spot, and he laughed again.
“I’m one hundred and fifty seconds older than you, in case you’ve forgotten.”
Ellie rolled her eyes. “Go take that shower, big brother. You stink.”
Sophie came back cradling her bunny in her tiny arms, just as Ethan spun around to go upstairs. He pulled her up, lifted her in the air and put her back down on the other side. She giggled like crazy and asked him to make her fly again.
“Let me get changed, then we can fly a little more while Ellie makes us dinner.”
“It’s Miss Ellie,” Sophie reprimanded him. He gave her a salute, then tweaked her nose, retrieved his bag and ran upstairs, his booted feet pounding heavily on the wooden stairs.
Ten minutes later, after Ellie had prepared a salad for Ethan, she helped Sophie sit on a stool and sifted all the ingredients for the cookies.
“I like your bwother. He’s funny.” She dangled her legs, her head resting on her crossed arms on the marble counter. “Can we make cookies for him, too?”
Ellie nodded. “Of course. But you have to help me keep an eye on him, or he’ll eat them all. He has a big mouth.”
“We can keep some for Daddy, and your bwother can eat the others.”
“Well, that’s really sweet of you, little one.” Ethan walked back down the stairs and covered the distance in three large steps. Dressed in a pair of beige cargo pants and an olive green U.S. Army sweatshirt, he didn’t look any less like the hero he was and had always been in Ellie’s eyes. Sophie giggled when he pulled her off her stool and sent her flying in the air, catching her a second later.
“Ethan!” Ellie screamed, her tone a little squeaky because of the scare he’d given her. She was supposed to be babysitting—what would Adam think if she ended up in the ER with Sophie?
“What?” He gave her a bewildered look, raising his eyebrows to the sky. “Just because I live and work with two-hundred-pound soldiers, doesn’t mean I don’t know how to act around kids. I’m a big boy at heart. Besides, I think Sophie likes flying, don’t you, little one?”
Sophie giggled, clapping her hands. “I want to fly again!”
“I thought you wanted to help me bake cookies?” Ellie hoped this would be enough to distract her from Ethan’s dangerous games. She glowered at Ethan. “And I thought you were starving. I made you a salad while you were showering. I’ll start dinner after we’re finished baking.”
“Okay, well, flying will have to wait.” He put Sophie under his arm and carried her back to her stool. He watched Ellie and Sophie cut and decorate the cookies as he ate, making funny comments every now and then and earning a few smudges of flour on his face when he tried to snatch some cookie dough.
For the first time in months, Ellie’s laughter was genuine and completely worry-free. It was like those happy days when she baked with their grandmother, and Ethan would run in and try to steal a few cookies behind Lilian’s back. Ellie would always rat him out, and he’d take his revenge with some prank when she least expected it.
Looking at the ease with which this burly soldier interacted with a three-year-old warmed her heart. She’d always known Ethan would be a great father, if he ever decided to leave the Army and settle down. And a great uncle, too—if she ever found a man who’d change her mind about the male population in general.