Page 91 of Daddy's Little Mama Bear

The market to buy or rent houses sucked. Everything was too high and pricey. And even though she could afford several things, that didn’t mean she was going to get them. It seemed like anytime a house went on the market that it got snatched up before anybody could do anything.

She hadn’t been really looking, but every once in a while she would check to see. She wanted to keep her options opened in case she had to move. But there was nothing for her to buy or even attempt to buy.

Were they going to have to live in a motel? Or a hotel? She didn’t want that for Eleanor. She didn’t want any of this for Eleanor, but she didn’t know what else to do. There was nothing else to do.

Janie didn’t want to couch surf right now. It wasn’t fair to any of her friends because she had no clue when she was going to find something. They would be more than happy to allow Eleanor and her to stay with them, but it wasn’t good for Eleanor. It wasn’t good for her either.

She was numb as she continued to stare where the car used to be. This was not going her way. She should have known that something was going to happen. It had been calm, well, besides her ex-husband texting her a lot. She’d always heard about the calm before the storm.

She was no in the middle of the storm.

Tears formed in her eyes as she tried to wrap her mind around everything. She was a single mom who had to work, and now she was being booted from the house she had lived in for years. Where she had watched Eleanor take her first steps, speak her first words, and so many other memories.

She knew at some point this was going to happen, but Janie didn’t think it was going to be in three days. She thought she had several more years. Several more years to wrap her mind around, moving and leaving all the memories behind.

Sure, there were memories of her ex-husband in the house, but most of them had been forgotten as Eleanor and Janie had made memories. Now Donald was taking away the house because it was in his name.

Maybe she could ask him if he could sell it to her. She had no clue if he would actually do that but it was worth a try. But she needed to weigh the pros and cons. Were there more pros than cons for staying in the house? No doubt she was going to have to spend most of her savings to buy it or even take out a loan.

“Pinky?” Mac called out her name.

She still continued to stare at where the car used to be. This was all a dream. Oh well, more like a nightmare. Maybe it was a nightmare she was going to wake up from. But she highly doubted that. It seemed real, too real.

“Janie? Can you look at Daddy?” Mac asked.

Her eyes slowly moved towards his. She blinked, and the tears slid down her face. What was she going to do?

“Everything is going to be okay,” Mac said. “Everything is going to be okay. You guys can move into my house for the time being. Until you find something that you want to move into. Some place you want to permanently stay in, but you guys aren’t staying in a hotel.”

She blinked several times as she registered his words. Did he really just say that? There was absolutely no way she was going to do that. Jeanie had told herself that she wasn’t going to get involved with Mac. There was no way they were going to stay with him. That was one way for her to get used to him and fall even harder than she already had. They were going to stay in a motel or a hotel and that was it.

“No,” she said. “I can’t do that. We can’t do that.”

“Why not?” He asked.

Did he really not know why? Was he messing with her or was he genuinely curious? She didn’t know how to respond to him.

“Why can’t you two move in with me?” he asked. “I have the space for both of you. You’ve seen my house and I have plenty of room. I want you two there. I wouldn’t have offered it if I didn’t mean it.”

“Mama!” Eleanor yelled.

Janie leaned into Mac even more and sighed. This was not going to be an easy task.

“Everything is going to be okay. Please move in with me for at least a little bit of time while you figure everything out,” Mac said. “I don’t want you staying in a hotel when I’ve got plenty of space for you guys to stay with me.”

She shook her head. “I can’t do that,” she whispered.

“Why not?” he asked as he cupped her face with his hands.

She couldn’t help herself as she leaned into his hand. She loved it when he cupped her face like that. It made her feel safe and comfortable.

“Pinky,” Mac said. “Why not?”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in before she pulled away from Mac. She didn’t know if she could do it right now.

“Please, tell me,” he whispered.

Eleanor grabbed onto her pant leg and Janie picked her up. Maybe this would be the buffer she needed right now.

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