Page 40 of Chasing Shelter (Sparrow Falls #5)

TRACE

I slowly lowered the hose and dropped my gaze to my daughter. Her expression was absolutely gleeful.

“I, uh. We were…” I searched for the words, but nothing came.

Ellie and I had been careful not to show any real affection in front of Keely.

Which was part of why I was living in blue-balled hell at the moment.

But I wasn’t about to introduce Keely to someone in that way until I was sure it was serious.

I didn’t know what Ellie and I were. I only knew I wanted more of the magic that seemed to seep from her pores.

“We’re planting a butterfly garden,” Ellie chimed in, her hair plastered to her face.

“Where are they?” Keely asked as her gaze tipped up to Ellie.

“Well, they’re not here yet. I’m hoping a few stragglers might visit the pots, but I’m putting these in the ground now, and they’ll pop up next spring.” Ellie bent and picked up one of the bulbs to show Keely.

“Don’t you want to get changed?” my ex-wife broke in. It wasn’t a mean tone, but it certainly wasn’t warm, and the tension radiating through every word had my gaze snapping to Leah.

That muscle right where her jaw met her cheekbone pulsed in a quick-tempoed beat as she locked on Ellie and Keely.

Ellie forced a smile as she stood. “Probably not a bad idea.”

“Ellie, can you do the inside-out braids for school tomorrow?” Keely asked, oblivious to the tension swirling around her.

Ellie’s smile turned more genuine as she shifted her focus to Keely. “I have to be at the bakery before you get up tomorrow, but I bet I can teach your dad how to do it so he can.”

Keely glanced from Ellie to me, skepticism bleeding into her expression.

“Gee. Thanks, kid.”

She just giggled. “Your hands are too big. They always get stuck in the parts.”

“That’s what she said,” Ellie mumbled so only I could hear.

My lips pressed into a hard line as I struggled to keep from laughing. “I promise I will do my best.”

“That’s all we can do,” Keely said sagely.

“Just let me go change real quick.” Ellie headed for the door. “Good to see you, Leah.”

I had to admit, she made the lie sound warm. I forced my gaze to my ex and found her face a blank mask. “Thanks for handling pickup today.”

“No problem. You’re obviously…busy.”

It was meant to be a jab, but I didn’t let her pull me into the back-and-forth we often got stuck in. “I was, so I appreciate it. Always happy to return the favor if you’ve got something going on.”

Confusion bled through Leah’s mask. “Yeah, sure.” She turned to Keely. “See you tomorrow, okay? I’ll pick you up and take you to piano.”

Keely’s face scrunched, making her distaste for her piano lessons clear, but she nodded. “‘Kay.”

“Love you lots,” Leah said.

“Love you, too,” Keely echoed .

Leah didn’t leave right away, and I got it. When you had a kid, this was the hard stuff that came with divorce. Leaving them to go back to an empty house hurt like hell. It was on the tip of my tongue to invite her in for dinner, but we weren’t there. Not yet. But I wanted us to be. Friends.

After everything that had happened, I’d thought it would be impossible. But having Ellie in my life had made me see things in a different light. Realize that things could be messy yet still beautiful and happen in all sorts of unexpected ways.

Leah made herself start walking. “Goodnight, Trace.”

“Get home safe,” I called.

Something passed over Leah’s face. Wistfulness, maybe? But she didn’t say anything, simply nodded and moved to her car.

“Hey, Daddy?”

“Yeah, Keels?”

“If you grew your hair out, I could practice braids on you, too.”

“Okay, Chief. Do those hand stretches. I know how those big fingers can get in the way,” Ellie said with a wink.

I sent her a scathing look as I lowered myself to the couch in my living room. “You sound like Lolli.”

“Supergran and Ellie are meant to be besties,” Keely chimed in. “She said she’s making Ellie a super special diamond painting. She was asking me all about Ellie’s favorite things.”

“Dear God, help us for whatever is about to be created,” I muttered.

“That’s not nice, Daddy,” Keely said as she crossed her legs to sit in front of Ellie and me. “Supergran’s paintings are all sparkly and beeeeautiful.”

“And illegal in many states,” I whispered under my breath.

Ellie struggled not to laugh, but her cheeks twitched with the effort of holding it back. “What did you tell her my favorite things are? ”

“Hmmm.” Keely seemed to search her memory as she started brushing out her long, brown hair.

“I told her you love goats and dogs and the bakery and rainbows with birdies all around and dance parties. Supergran says she wants to go to the cowboy bar with you so you can save a horse.” She looked up at me then.

“She’s always talkin’ about saving those horses. She’s real dedicated.”

A million different curses circled in my mind. “I’m going to kill my grandmother.”

“Daddy!” Keely chastised me. “Do I need to ground you?”

Ellie did laugh at that. “I think that means no dessert for him.”

“More for us,” Keely cheered.

“But first, braiding lessons,” Ellie said. She moved closer to me, her thigh pressing against me. “Pay attention, Chief. You’re already on thin ice. I don’t think your record can handle one more demerit.”

“I’ll show you a demerit,” I growled.

Ellie’s gaze dropped to my mouth. Hell. The urge to lean in and kiss her was almost too much to take.

“I’m ready,” Keely singsonged, breaking into my lusty thoughts.

Right. My kid was sitting in front of me.

“Okay,” Ellie began as she gathered up Keely’s hair. “For an inside-out French braid—or a Dutch braid—instead of weaving each piece over the top, we weave the outside pieces under the center section.”

Watching as Ellie’s fingers deftly moved through my daughter’s hair, all I could think about was having those fingers on me . It was official. I was going to hell.

“Are you paying attention to anything I’m saying?” Ellie asked.

“No, I think you’re gonna have to start again,” I admitted.

“Daddy,” Keely chastised.

“Sorry, Keels.”

Ellie shook her head. “Another demerit, Chief. How will you ever pay up?”

My gaze heated as I turned to her. “I’m sure you’ll think of something. ”

“Stop making me want to kiss you,” Ellie whisper-hissed, just quietly enough that Keely couldn’t hear.

“You started it,” I shot back.

“Do I need to separate you two?” Keely asked, like she was our teacher.

“Probably,” I admitted.

“Focus,” Ellie ordered.

I did my best, but it was a struggle. With an hour or so of tutelage, I was starting to get the hang of it. Keely’s braids looked less like lumpy, haphazard rope and more like what they were supposed to.

“I also got something I think will be perfect for her finished look,” Ellie said, bending to grab something out of her purse.

Keely whirled around, bouncing up and down on the backs of her heels. “What is it?”

“Keely,” I warned.

“I was just asking,” she defended.

Ellie laughed as she pulled out a package of something, covering it with both hands. “I like the excitement. I found these on one of my favorite boutique’s websites and knew they just had to be yours.”

Something happened then. A shifting sensation deep inside my chest. Ellie had been thinking of my girl. She’d gone out of her way to get something for Keely that would make my daughter happy. If I’d wanted to kiss her before, that sensation had nothing on what I was feeling right now.

Ellie uncovered the package. It was a gauzy, somewhat see-through bag, and inside was a set of barrettes with bejeweled butterflies on them. Keely gasped, her hands flying to her face in a move beyond her years. “They’re beautiful,” she whispered reverently.

“They are.” My voice was deeper, carrying a rasp that hadn’t been there before.

Ellie’s gaze lifted to mine, and I saw something more in her eyes.

I realized it then. She was giving my girl what she’d never had.

There was something so beautiful about that.

Something so Ellie . She didn’t let her lack harden her.

It did the opposite. It made her give more freely.

To any animal that crossed her path. To friends. To strangers. To my kid. To me.

And we were all better for having her in our lives.

Ellie’s pale green eyes glistened. “I was thinking you could put them all up and down your braids. It’ll look like butterflies just landed in your hair.”

Keely leapt to her feet and hurled herself at Ellie. “This is the best present ever. Thank you sooooo much!”

Ellie laughed as she caught Keely, but I also caught something more in her expression. A joyful pain. “I’m so glad you like them.”

“I love them.”

I couldn’t take much more. The two of them like this were going to kill me.

Ellie was showing me that my daughter’s life could be so damned beautiful, even if I hadn’t been able to give her a two-parent home, had callouts that interrupted family time, and whatever else came up that seemed to slip from my control.

And it would be beautiful because of the small, unplanned moments we found like these.

Keely released Ellie, taking the butterfly clips. “I wanna see what they look like in my hair.” She raced for the stairs.

“Brush your teeth while you’re up there. It’s time for bath and bed,” I called after her.

“Daaaaaadd.”

The fact that there wasn’t a Y at the end killed me. It was happening now and again, her calling me Dad instead of Daddy. My girl was growing up, and I had no choice but to let her.

My gaze moved to Ellie. She looked so damn pretty. Her hair was in braids, too, still damp from her shower. Her face was bare, revealing a smattering of faint freckles on her nose. And she looked…happy.

“Thank you.” I leaned in, my hand sliding along Ellie’s jaw so I could take her mouth. I groaned at the taste of her: a hint of after-dinner tea that still clung to her tongue and something that was only Ellie.

She met me stroke for stroke, and my resolve was no match. My hands found her waist, and I lifted Ellie onto my lap so she was straddling me. She rocked against me, the friction making me harden against my zipper. A moan slipped from Ellie’s mouth to mine, her nipples pebbling.

“Daaaaaaaddy, where’s the toothpaste? Mine’s all gone,” Keely yelled from upstairs.

Ellie instantly pulled back, her hand going to her swollen lips.

“Hall closet, Keels.” My head fell back against the wall. “The Universe is a cockblock.”

“Maybe,” Ellie said, leaning forward and trailing her lips up my neck. “But there’s something about delayed gratification.”

My phone dinged, and I cursed.

Ellie laughed against my skin and then leaned back again, shifting to move off me.

My hand tightened around her hips. “Don’t. I like you here.”

She smiled down at me, a mixture of tenderness and mischief in her eyes I’d never seen before. “Okay.”

I shifted so I could pull out my phone but kept Ellie with me. Gabriel’s name flashed on the screen. Unlocking my cell, I read the text.

Gabriel

Heard from Jasper’s PO. Negative on the drug screen. No illegal substances at his address.

My back molars ground together.

Me

He’s keeping it elsewhere. Anything pop on the drugs found in the woods nearby?

Gabriel

No prints at all. Sorry, man.

Me

Not your fault. We stay on it. He’ll fuck up eventually.

Gabriel

Did you just say the F-word?

Me

I typed it, but regretting it now.

“What happened?” Ellie asked. She wasn’t looking at my phone, even though she could’ve easily read the texts. She was looking at me. Because what mattered to her was my reaction to whatever it was.

“Gabriel heard back from Jasper’s parole officer on the more in-depth drug panel. He’s clean. ”

Her face screwed up. “Is it wrong that I want to plant something so he gets in trouble? Maybe Lolli can loan me some psychedelic mushrooms.”

“The two of you are a disaster waiting to happen,” I muttered.

“Hey!”

I squeezed her waist as I set down my phone. “I appreciate you wanting to do illegal things for me more than I can say.”

“Maybe I just want a pat down from the chief.”

My dick twitched. “Sheriff.”

“Prove it. Show me your badge.”

“You make that sound dirty.”

“I meant it to.” Ellie leaned forward to kiss me, but just before our lips met, a voice called from upstairs.

“Ready, Daddy!”

I pressed my forehead to Ellie’s. “Feeling the urge to kidnap you and take you somewhere there’s no cell reception.” My fingers tightened on her hips. “Need my hands on you. My mouth. Dying for more of your taste.”

Ellie’s breaths came faster. “Don’t make promises you’re not going to keep.”

I rolled my hips against her.

“Daaaaaaaad!”

“Fuck my life,” I muttered.