“What?” she asks, opening the door and stepping inside.

“Ellie, baby, you do not leave a key to your house in such an obvious place. That’s basically an invite to anyone who comes over to walk inside and steal all your shit.”

“Nothing has ever happened before.” She shrugs.

“Thank fuck but there’s a first time for everything,” I tell her, trying to gentle my voice, which is hard to do considering how pissed I am, knowing a single mother is living in a place like this with a key under her motherfucking doormat.

“I won’t do it again,” she says, reading my face.

Nodding, I lay Hope down on the small couch by the door then look around.

The place is small but clean and homey. A small flat screen TV sits in front of the couch on a stand with tons of picture frames scattered across the surface, most containing shots of Ellie and Hope, but in a few, are pictures of a man holding a baby. There’s one with the same man, but this time his arm is wrapped around a woman as she looks down at the small bundle in her arms while he smiles at the camera. I wonder absently if that was Ellie’s ex, but still can’t drag enough courage to the surface to ask.

Pulling my eyes away from the photos, I take in the rest of the space. A stylish chair sits in the corner, adding color to the room, and it matches the drapes on the windows. In the kitchen is a small dining table, with two chairs that are old but still fit with the decor.

“I don’t know what I should bring,” Ellie mumbles, walking into the kitchen and looking around.

“Whatever we don’t take now, we can come back for,” I tell her softly, moving to her side. “My place has everything you’ll need for now.”

“Are you really sure about us staying with you?” she asks, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “I know your dad said he could get us an apartment in town.”

“I’m sure.” I feel my chest vibrate in annoyance. I don’t want her or Hope out of my sight. And God, I love my dad, but I was ready to pummel him when he suggested that. “Like my mom said, I’m hardly home. I work a lot, and my place already has security set up. It’s the safest place for you both.”

Her eyes go to the couch, and I know without Hope there wouldn’t be a chance in hell Ellie would be moving in with me.

“I really do appreciate it.”

“Baby,” I murmur, watching her eyes slide half closed, “I’m glad I can help.”

Licking her lips, her eyes go soft then move to the couch again.

“Hope will want her bed.”

“Show me where it is and I’ll put it in the truck now, while you get your clothes and stuff packed up.”

Nodding, she heads down a short hallway and stops at a room that is smaller than my closet at home. There isn’t much in the space, just a small, child size bed and a white dresser, along with stuffed animals scattered over a pink rug. “I’ll get this; you go start packing,” I rumble, rubbing her arms. Looking over her shoulder at me, her lips part when she realizes how close I am.

“I…I’m g-gonna start packing,” she stammers then slips under my arm and heads down the hall. Following her with my eyes until she’s out of sight, I smile. She may not want to admit it, but I know she feels the same pull I do.

Heading into Hope’s room, I pull her pink bedding and mattress off her bed then pick up the frame and move it out to the living room, checking to make sure she’s still sleeping before taking it to the truck.

Once we get started, it doesn’t take long to get everything packed up and in the back of my truck. We will have to come back in a week to clean the rest out but we got everything they will need for now.

“Baby, we’re here,” I whisper, running my finger down Ellie’s cheek, not really wanting to wake her up. She had fallen asleep with her head on my thigh ten minutes after we left the restaurant we stopped at after getting gas. I don’t even think she realized what she was doing when she laid down. I know she has to be exhausted after everything that happened.

Blinking up at me, she wipes the corner of her mouth then sits up quickly, looking around.

“This is your house?”

Looking out the front windshield, I wonder why she looks so scared. It’s not the nicest house on the street, but when it came on the market a year ago for a hundred grand under market value, I had to buy it, and have been slowly fixing it up since then. “Yeah.”

“It’s really nice.” She swallows then looks at the other houses on the block, which look similar to mine.

“It’s your home now too,” I say softly, wanting to get rid of that look on her face, the one saying she feels like she doesn’t belong here.

“Until I have enough money to get somewhere else,” she murmurs, rubbing her eyes.

Ignoring that comment, I grit my teeth and get out of the truck before I can tell her there is no way in hell she’s ever moving out.

“Get a grip before you scare her the fuck off,” I growl under my breath, opening her door and helping her out. I then open Hope’s door and grin when her face lights up.

“You wiv in a castle!” She smiles, unhooking her belt, catching me off guard when she throws herself at me.

Looking back toward my house, I guess it kind of does look like a castle. The old grey brick Victorian with two round rooms on each side of the house gives the look of towers, the white scalloping along the edges, and in the middle is a window that resembles a lookout point.