3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

A light tap on the door had Ellie opening her eyes. The clock on the bedside table read nine a.m. She hadn’t slept that well since before the boys came. The tap came again.

“Come in,” she called, sitting up in bed.

The door opened, and Hennessy came in, wearing the pink shirt he’d been wearing last night. He must have a collection. As tidy as he kept his beard, she couldn’t see him wearing a shirt more than one day.

He walked over and placed a steaming cup of coffee on her bedside table.

“I thought you might need a little jolt to get you going before breakfast. Crewe is making a second batch, and it will be ready in about fifteen minutes.”

Ellie brought the cup to her face, inhaling the aroma of one of her vices. She took a tentative sip and was pleasantly surprised.

“Richy told me how you liked your coffee. Does it pass?” Hennessy asked.

Ellie nodded. She was surprised that Richy knew anything about her, considering how few times they’d discussed anything of substance.

“It’s good. Why a second batch?”

“The boys and I were up along with Whiskey and a couple others at seven. We had first breakfast. Crewe is making a second one now for everyone else. I’m sure the boys will eat again. We worked hard this morning,” Hennessy said.

She stared at the mischievous grin on his face. “What did you all do?”

“We might have taken a tour of all the different moving parts of the Nelson holdings and discussed different jobs. I might have emphasized that to get any job, our employees had to have a high school education, or we helped them complete their GED. Let’s just say their ideas of ditching school and not completing it went through a huge change this morning. I may have had Quinton kicking back in his office, drinking coffee, and then saying since he was the boss, he was taking a couple hours’ break for a motorcycle ride,” Hennessy said, chuckling.

“I hadn’t realized the boys were considering trying to quit school. But honestly, they aren’t getting a fair shake at that school. I just don’t know what to do at this point,” she said.

Hennessy stared at her, then brushed a piece of her hair behind her ear. “How about you stay here for a little while and let me help you shoulder the load a little?”

Hennessy’s calm words and his demeanor had her wanting to say yes, but could she take advantage of him? And could she handle being in such close quarters with the man who only wanted to be friends? If he wanted more, could she even do that? Open herself up to someone else and trust them not to crush her?

“Ellie, it’s okay to lean on someone else. It doesn’t make you weak,” Hennessy said softly.

How did he know what she was thinking?

“Let me get ready because I haven’t had a sit-down breakfast for a while. I’m always running almost late to work and just grab a granola bar,” Ellie said, looking down. She wasn’t sure she wanted Hennessy to look into her eyes. Sometimes it seemed like he could read her mind.

Hennessy nodded and turned to go out the door. She couldn’t let him go without telling him how thankful she was.

“Hennessy? Thank you,” she said. He paused and then turned to face her. A smile spread across his face.

“No thanks needed. I’ll always be here when you need me,” he said.

His words sent a zing through her. No one had ever said that to her before. Could he really mean it? Until she’d come to Bluff Creek, the people—and especially men—she could trust were few and far between.

“It means a lot to me,” she said, then quickly headed into the connected bathroom. She needed to shower quickly. Hennessy had given her his room last night and slept somewhere else. Richy and Lyle had bunked in Ezra’s room with him. Hennessy had offered to change his sheets, but when she said she could do it, he’d left them on the recliner in the corner of his room. She’d tucked them up in the closet so he wouldn’t see she hadn’t changed them. Having his comforting scent wrapped around her as she went to sleep had been perfect. If she couldn’t have the man, then she could at least feel close to him.