Page 14 of Chasing Shelter (Sparrow Falls #5)

ELLIE

At the sound of Lolli’s voice, Trace dropped me like a hot potato.

I stumbled, nearly crashing into the kitchen counter.

What the hell was I thinking? I’d practically climbed the man like a tree.

I’d given him the kiss-me eyes. That was not keeping my space a no-man zone. That was the exact opposite.

Lolli let out a cackling laugh, clapping her hands and making her copious bracelets jangle.

As my head started to clear from whatever spell Trace had woven around me, I really took in his grandmother.

Always the fashionista with her own unique style, tonight she wore bell-bottom jeans straight out of the seventies, complete with bedazzled pot leaves at the hem of the flared denim.

She’d paired them with a tie-dyed shirt and rainbow mushroom pins in her hair.

She grinned at me and then her grandson. “I’m here for a kitchen tango!” She did a little shimmy shake to accentuate her point.

“What’s a kitchen tango, Supergran?” Keely asked, poking her head around Lolli.

I wanted to die . I’d practically mounted the man when his daughter was in the other room .

“It’s, uh, a kind of dancing,” Lolli answered.

Keely grinned. “You said Daddy needs to get out and dance.”

Lolli gave Trace a mischievous smile. “That he does. You need me to babysit? You two could hit up The Sagebrush. I heard they have a band tonight.”

Trace scowled at his grandmother. “No.”

It was as easy as that for him. I couldn’t deny that it stung a little that the idea of hitting up the local bar with me was so appalling to him. It didn’t matter that I was in my single-girl era and needed to stay that way. A woman still wanted to be wanted.

Lolli made a psh sound and waved him off, moving toward me. “He’s such a stick-in-the-mud. How about you and I hit up the cowboy bar instead? Save a horse, ride a cowboy?”

“Why would you ride a cowboy, Supergran? That seems silly. Or is it like a piggyback ride?” Keely asked innocently.

Trace’s scowl morphed into a glare. “Thanks so much, Lolls.”

She just laughed. “Just like that, my girl.”

Keely looked up at her dad, beaming. “I wanna save a horse and ride a cowboy.”

“Dear God, take me now,” Trace muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.

I tried to hold in my laugh but couldn’t, not even when I clamped my lips shut.

“I don’t know what you’re laughing about. You started this,” Trace growled.

“Oh, no you don’t, Chief. This is on you and your drill-sergeant ways.”

“Drill sergeant, huh?” Lolli asked in a stage whisper. “There is something about a man who can order you around.”

“Lolli,” Trace warned.

“What? It’s good to be open and honest about our sexuality. It’s healthy.”

“I’m going to change my shirt,” Trace grumbled, stalking out of the kitchen .

“He’s grouchy,” Keely muttered. “Is that because he’s not dancing enough like you said, Supergran?”

“It’s certainly not helping. But what he really needs is some horizontal dancing. Break through that dry patch.”

Keely frowned. “I don’t know horizontal dancing.” She looked at me. “Do you?”

Lolli grinned in my direction. “Yeah, Ellie, you know much about horizontal dancing?”

My face flamed. “I see why your grandkids keep you on a short leash,” I mumbled.

“They try, but they fail every time,” Lolli said, twirling around the kitchen.

But Keely was still stuck on my dancing abilities—or lack thereof. “Could you take my dad dancing?”

She was the cutest kid and the best daughter, just trying to look out for her dad. “You know what, bestie? I’m taking a dancing break right now.”

She frowned. “That doesn’t sound like a lot of fun.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Lolli agreed. “Living is for the young. You don’t want to miss it.”

“I’m not. But my last dance partner wasn’t the best, so I’m taking my time with the next one.”

Lolli stilled for a moment, and I worried I’d given too much away. But then she moved into my space and wrapped an arm around my waist. “Girls’ nights for a while, then. Can’t have those boys holding us back.”

“Can I come?” Keely begged.

“Of course, you can,” I said instantly. “I gotta have my bestie there.”

Keely danced all over the kitchen as Lolli turned to me. “You tackle the dishwasher. I’ll handle the berries.”

My mouth curved as I tugged off my damp sweatshirt. “I’m not sure I can execute it to the sergeant’s pleasure, but I’ll do my best.”

Lolli cackled. “Honey, no one can. He goes to family dinners and rearranges Nora’s dishwasher every time. ”

I sent Lolli a smile that spoke of nothing but trouble. “I’m going to rearrange things in his cabinets.”

She let out a hoot. “I gotta get my camera ready for when he sees.”

“Ellie,” Keely began tentatively as we all sat around the dining room table, empty ice cream bowls in front of us. “Can I ask you something?”

I turned all my attention toward the sweet girl next to me. “Of course, you can.”

Her green gaze fell to her lap. “Do you think you could help me with wacky hair day at school?”

A burn lit along my sternum, pure pleasure that she’d asked and utter agony that she was so hesitant to do it.

“Keels, I can help—” Trace started to say, but I cut him off.

“Oh, no you don’t, Chief. I was made for this mission.”

He studied me for a long moment. “You sure?”

“Are you kidding? This is my favorite kind of challenge.”

“Really?” Keely asked hopefully.

I turned back to her. “You’d better believe it. How long do we have to plan?”

She grinned. “A couple of weeks.”

“Phew.” I swiped a hand across my brow. “First thing we need is a theme.”

“Unicorns!” Keely cheered. “They’re me and my other bestie, Gracie’s, favorite .”

“I’m here for it. I’ll start pulling some research images and thinking about what accessories we need.”

“You can borrow my magic mushrooms,” Lolli offered, pointing to the clips in her hair.

“Lolli, do not get my daughter suspended from school.”

She let out a harrumph. “I was just offering to help.”

“You were stirring up trouble, like always.”

“Someone’s gotta make you live a little,” Lolli argued.

I pushed back my chair and moved to gather the bowls, but Trace reached out, stilling me. It was the barest of touches, the pads of his fingertips barely grazing my forearm. But the heat of the contact scalded in a way that froze me to the spot.

“You’ve already helped enough.”

I arched a brow at him. “You’re just scared I’m going to mix the bowls with the plates, aren’t you?”

Trace’s lips twitched as he pulled his hand away. “Can’t have you messing with a perfectly good system.”

“You mean a perfectly good military state,” I challenged.

Lolli laughed. “Trace, walk Ellie home. Make sure she gets in safely. Keels and I can handle the dishes. Right, angel pie?”

“I’m a real good helper,” Keely agreed.

Trace tipped his head back. “Someone save me.”

I grinned at the floor. “I think I can make it next door on my own.”

“What if there’s a Sasquatch roaming the streets? You could get kidnapped and taken off to a cave in the mountains,” Lolli warned.

“Is that a big concern around here?” I asked, amusement lacing my words.

“Well, you never know,” Lolli defended.

Trace stood. “Come on, Blaze. Let me walk you home.”

Something about the kind offer paired with seeing him at his full height again, his broad shoulders on display, had my mouth going dry. “All right.”

I turned and started for the door so I didn’t have to be confronted with all that was Trace. “Good night, guys,” I called with a wave to Keely and Lolli.

“‘Night!” they called back.

I stepped outside, letting the cool night air wrap around me. I tipped my head back, taking in the night sky as I waited for Trace. I felt him before I saw him, his heat bleeding into the air between us. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing this many stars.”

“Don’t get the same view in New York, huh? ”

I shook my head. “Too much ambient light. I could see them better at our place in the Hamptons, but it had nothing on this.” It was like I could make out the actual shape of each and every star.

“It is quite a show. Good reminder to appreciate it.”

I looked over at Trace then. It was a stupid move because Trace bathed in moonlight was even more stunning. I ripped my gaze away and started walking. I needed to get a grip.

Trace caught up to me in two long strides. “Thanks for offering to help Keely with wacky hair day.”

“It’s just as fun for me as it is for her.”

He made a sound in the back of his throat that wasn’t agreement or disagreement.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Just did.”

I fought the urge to stick my tongue out at him. “What’s the situation with Keely’s mom?”

I knew she was in the picture and that Keely spent about half the time with her, but that was it. And I couldn’t help but wonder why Keely wasn’t asking her to help with wacky hair day.

Trace didn’t speak right away, and I felt the tension coming off him in waves. But he seemed to read exactly why I was asking. “Wacky hair day isn’t really her thing.”

That was fair. I loved playing with hair and makeup, but my friend, Sarah, had zero interest. She dyed her hair turquoise and called it a day.

We all expressed ourselves differently. But if I had a kid as amazing as Keely, I’d make an effort to be interested in what she was interested in.

I could tell Trace tried in that arena, at least if Keely’s braids the other day were anything to go by.

I wanted to ask a million other questions, but none of them were my business, and Trace’s silence was a deafening siren. I realized I’d entered a no-fly zone, so I let the quiet reign and found it wasn’t uncomfortable.

When we reached my porch’s bottom step, I turned to Trace. “Thanks again for dinner.”

“It was no big deal. ”

“Maybe not to you, but it was to me.” I wasn’t about to let him erase the kindness he’d shown me.

Trace’s throat worked as he swallowed. “You’d better get inside.”

“Not good with gratitude or disorganized dishwashers. Noted,” I said, a smile tugging at my lips.

Trace shook his head. “Your plastics will thank me.”

“I certainly don’t need to be replacing another appliance anytime soon.”

“No, you don’t, Blaze.”

I did stick my tongue out at him this time.

Trace grinned. “I can see why you and my six-year-old get along so well.”

I flipped him off without looking as I unlocked my door.

“Now, that was uncalled for.”

“Better than Lolli teaching your daughter about the horizontal tango,” I called as I shut the door. I broke into laughter when I heard Trace’s grumbling through it.

The Colson crew was chaotic on a good day, but they were real . They didn’t hide who they were to make each other happy. They lived out loud. And more than that, they lived with love and care for one another.

I flipped the deadbolt and turned off the light in the entryway.

As I climbed the stairs to my bedroom, I thought about what it would’ve been like to grow up in that environment instead of the one Linc and I had been raised in.

But then I remembered what Trace had shared.

How living the early childhood he had just made him appreciate the Colsons more.

That was the attitude I needed to have. No more what-ifs. I’d let all the weights I’d carried in the past make me value the freedom I had now.

As I stepped into my bedroom, I looked at the white walls.

I needed some color in here. Something that reminded me I was no longer in a neutral prison.

I glanced at the pile of clothes on the floor and frowned.

It should’ve made me happy, the freedom to have that pile there at all, but something was off about it .

Crouching, I picked up the array of clothing from the past few days and moved to toss them into the dirty clothes basket in the closet.

I threw the items in one by one, slowing as I got to the end.

I could’ve sworn those ridiculous rainbow boy shorts I’d worn the other day were in this pile.

But I guessed that was what happened when you threw things around your room like confetti. Things got lost.

If Trace had been appalled by my dishwasher organization, he’d have a coronary at the state of my bedroom. I went to sleep with a smile just thinking about it.