Ellie stepped right in, while Bear crouched to pick up some wood that was stacked by her door. Ellie moved to one of the drawers in the small kitchenette and opened it, pulling out matches and some fire starters. She waited until Bear had unloaded the wood by the hearth then handed them to him. He didn’t say a lot as he showed her how to set the fire. It was obvious he wasn’t big on talking. Which was pretty funny, seeing as Ellie talked a lot.
She guessed that worked for them. By the time he stood back up, the fire was crackling away and Ellie had done a circuit of the room, telling her where everything was.
“T-thank you,” she said to Bear, wishing she hadn’t stuttered.
He nodded. Then he glanced over at his wife
who was busy taking her jacket off. “Ellie.”
“I thought I’d stay a while, keep Charlie company,” she explained.
Bear stared down at her, giving her a firm look which she interpreted to mean that she better not disappoint Ellie. Like she’d dare. But in all honesty, she was kind of glad of the company.
“That would be lovely,” she said.
Ellie beamed.
Bear nodded. “Come get you in an hour.”
“I can find my way home, Bear,” Ellie told him with a hint of exasperation.
Bear just stared at her.
“Bear, I’ve lived here for three months. I have this. I promise.”
“You get lost, you call me.”
Ellie nodded. “If I get into trouble, I’ll call. But I can find my way home.”
He nodded at Charlie then leaned down and kissed Ellie lightly on the lips. To her surprise the smaller woman reached up and put her arms around him, pressing close. He wrapped her up in his arms. Then he put her down and walked over to the door, opening it. He had to turn himself on a slight angle to get out the door.
“Behave,” he warned before he shut the door.
Ellie turned to her once he’d left. She gave her an expectant look. Um, what was she supposed to do? She’d never been good at this sort of stuff. Brian had finally stopped inviting people over because he’d been so embarrassed by her.
“I’d offer you a drink but I don’t really have anything, sorry.” There. That was something normal.
Ellie waved her hand and moved over towards Charlie’s bed. It was neatly made. Charlie tried very hard never to make a mess.
Ellie sat on the bed, jumping up and down slightly. “Ooh, bed’s a bit hard. Bear bought the biggest bed he could find for his cabin. It’s got a separate bedroom, though. We moved into a bigger cabin a few weeks back. Who’s this?”
She reached over and grabbed Inky. Shit, she’d put him under her pillow this morning and she thought he was well hidden, but then she hadn’t expected to have someone sit on her bed. She lunged to grab Inky, but Ellie was already holding him on her lap.
“Cute stuffy. What’s his name?”
“He…I…I’ve had him since I was a child,” she blurted out.
“Cool. I haven’t got any of my childhood toys. My mom threw them all out.” Ellie appeared pensive for a moment and Charlie wished she could think of something to say to cheer her up. “But Bear made up for that. I’ve got so many now he complains that they take up more room on the bed than he does.” Ellie pouted. “I’m only allowed to sleep with one.”
“You-you sleep with a toy?”
Ellie’s gaze was shuttered and she grew tense. She actually hugged Inky tight then, as if suddenly realizing what she was doing, set it quickly down. “Yeah. You think that’s weird.”
Ellie stood and Charlie knew she was going to leave. And would probably never talk to her again.
“I sleep with Inky,” she blurted out. “Every night. He’s like my security blanket, even though he’s just a stuffed toy.”
Ellie turned back. Then she smiled. Relief filled Charlie. “I know what you mean. Although now that I have Bear, he’s becoming my safety net. The stuffies are just…well, they’re fun. They make me feel good. And they keep me company when Bear isn’t around.”