I hadn’t exactly been nice to her since she’d shown up.
Not that it was my job to be. The only reason she was in that half-renovated house was because Ari had begged me. I should have put my foot down with my daughter and said no, but I was a fucking sucker like that.
That was why I’d told Elle to stay away. The last thing I needed was for Arielle to have her dreams slashed if Elle wasn’t who she thought she was. She was only nine. She was too young to have her heart broken like that.
I was dreading her learning the truth about the tooth fairy. Three weeks ago, she’d spent an hour writing and decorating a letter to go with her missing tooth.
No, if Elle Evans was an illusion that would last for a long time, she was one I wanted my daughter to keep hold of.
Which meant keeping her away from my daughter.
Maybe I was overprotective, but I knew that was something I’d never regret.
“I’m done.” Ari appeared in the doorway. “Ooh, it’s cold!”
I bit back a laugh. The child wouldn’t know cold if it hit her. One day, I’d take her back to England again—in winter. “Oh, quit it. Go brush your teeth and get changed. We have to go get some groceries today.”
Groaning, she said, “Do I have to?”
“Does the Earth orbit the sun?”
“The people on the NASA videos on YouTube think it’s CGI. What’s CGI?”
“Usually used in movies, but also by flat-Earthers. Get changed.”
“What’s a flat-Earther? Do they make flat models of the Earth? Like a map?”
Kids.
“Yes. Exactly that. Now get changed. Please.”
“Yes, Dad.”
I glanced back. She left as quickly as she came, and I shook my head at the back of her. I had to admit, I’d never met a child who asked quite as many questions as mine did.
I blew out a long breath and cradled my mug. The warmth of it against my palms was soothing, and the low sounds of the waves crashing against the sand only relaxed me further.
Sitting back, I sipped my tea and looked around the beach. It was empty except for one person jogging and heading this way. As they got closer, I realized it was Elle.
Shit.
She was too close for me to go inside and pretend I hadn’t seen her. I didn’t have my phone either, so I couldn’t pretend that way. I was stuck in this shit situation, and her expression dropped when she saw me sitting here.
Damn it.
She was wearing black shorts that showed off her long, toned legs, and a flowing white strappy shirt that wasn’t quite thick enough to completely hide her turquoise sports bra. As she approached, she slowed, pushing her dark hair back from her face and into her messy bun.
“Good morning,” I said quietly.
“Hi,” she replied, gripping her water bottle. “Um, how are you?”
“Not too bad. Yourself?”
“Good.” Elle looked down at her pink trainers before back up at me. “Uh, I was going to stop by later. I wanted to apologize for snapping at you last night. I was really stressed and really tired, but I had no excuse for taking it out on you.”
“You had a little bit of one. I haven’t exactly been the nicest person in the world to you,” I admitted, slightly begrudgingly. “Also, my great-aunt and her friends will stress anyone would.”
She fought a smile, and it made her blue eyes shine in the sunlight. “Actually, they were pretty much the best part of my day. They’re funny.”
“Do we have a different definition of the word? Funny isn’t a word I’d use for them. Insane? Crazy? Nuts? Bonkers? Yes. But not funny.”
“Bonkers? What’s that?”
Right. “It’s another word for crazy. If you say, “That’s crazy!” a British person might say, “That’s bonkers!”
“That’s a weird word.”
“Eh, it’s a weird language.” I shrugged. “It’s all the same to me. Sorry they bothered you. I told Agnes she couldn’t use the beach for their little soiree, but I should have known they wouldn’t listen.”
She shifted her weight. “Honestly, aside from them appearing naked out of nowhere, it wasn’t so much a bother. Although I don’t think I drank enough wine before I went to bed. I can still remember it.”
I grimaced, slowly nodding my head. “Yeah, you need at least half a bottle of vodka for that.”
This time, she couldn’t hide her smile. “Well, again, I’m sorry for shouting. I let my emotions get the better of me.”
“Don’t apologize. It happens.”
“Elle! Hi!” Ari zoomed out of the kitchen onto the deck. “Hi!”
Elle smiled, but she took a step back. “Hey, Ari. How are you?”
“I’m happy! Hi!” She beamed so widely I thought her cheeks were going to fly off. “What are you doing today?”
“Oh, uh… I have a couple of phone calls to make, then I was going to ask your dad if he wanted anything painting in the house.”
She was going to do what?
“You don’t have to do that. You’re renting it.”
She shifted her weight again to the other foot. “It’s fine. I have nothing else to do. I saw paint in the utility and bathroom. I’m not too bad at it.”
It felt wrong to let her paint anything. It was the one job I hated more than anything, and that was exactly why those two rooms hadn’t been painted yet.
That and I was still waiting on the cowboy plumber to fix the leaky bath.
The utility, however, was ready to go… bar the white paint that needed to go on the walls.
I opened my mouth to tell her not to worry, but she looked at me with a mixture of hope and a plea in her eyes, like she really needed something to do right now.
I exhaled slowly and nodded. “Sure. If you really want to, the utility does need painting.”
“I don’t mind. I said when you agreed to rent me the house that I would help where I could.”
“Can I help?” Ari bounced on the balls of her feet. “Please, Dad? Please?”
I shook my head. “No. You have gymnastics this afternoon.”
“But, Daaaad—”
“No. Miss Sheldon will be upset if you don’t go. You missed last week’s class. You begged me to go to the summer classes and I paid it all, so the summer classes are what you’ll do.”
She huffed out a big sigh and turned, stomping off back into the house, muttering something about unfair her life was and how mean I was.
You know, normal nine-year-old grumblings.
I knew she’d get to that class and love every second. Besides, the kid wanted to be a dancer when she grew up. While I knew that would probably change a thousand times between now and her tenth birthday next year, the two classes complimented each other right now.
Also, I needed to work, and her summer dance and gymnastics classes gave me the time I needed.
It wasn’t like I had anyone here to help me.
“Ignore her,” I said to Elle. “I’ll stop by and give you a hand when she’s in her class. She’s there for two hours and then she’s spending the day with a friend, so I have some spare time.”
“Oh, you don’t have to. I’m weird. I enjoy it.”