She thought. She hoped.
“All right,” he said. “Call me if you need me, okay?”
“I will.”
A knockon the front door caught her by surprise.
Nerves filled her as she stared at it. Should she open it?
Don’t be silly, Bebe. You’re not in any danger, and even if you were, someone bent on attacking you would hardly knock, would they?
Moving to the door, she opened it. To her surprise, there was a small woman standing on the front porch. She had curly, crazy dark hair and a wide smile.
“Hi!” Reaching out, she grabbed Bebe’s hands, squeezing them. “I’m Ellie! And I’m sooo pleased to meet you!”
Ellie? She’d heard of Ellie. Abby had said something about her and, oh, her name was on the card Bebe had gotten the first day. But how come she hadn’t met her before now?
“Hi, I’m Bebe.”
“I know! I helped put together your welcome package. Abby said you liked it?”
“I loved it, thank you.”
Movement over Ellie’s shoulder caught Bebe’s attention, and her eyes widened as she saw the enormous man standing there. Bebe gulped nervously.
“Oh, I’m sorry. This is my husband, Bear. Bear, this is Bebe.”
Bear just nodded as Bebe awkwardly waved.
“Do you both want to come inside?” she asked.
“I will! Thanks! Bear just walked me over because he’s always worried that I’ll get lost.” Ellie turned to Bear. “I’m going inside with Bebe. You can go back to work now.”
Bear just crossed his arms over his wide chest and frowned at her.
Ellie huffed out a breath. “All right, I’ll call you when I want to leave and wait for you to get here. Love you!” She sent him kisses.
And to Bebe’s shock, the big guy pretended to catch one and placed it over his heart.
Well. If that wasn’t the sweetest thing she’d seen in forever, she didn’t know what was.
“Sorry about that,” Ellie said cheerfully as she stepped inside and started pulling off piles of clothes. “Bear is super overprotective. But I’m sure you know all about that.”
Bebe shut the door behind her. “I do.”
“He doesn’t like me walking around on my own. He claims that I get lost a lot. But I’ve lived on the Ranch for long enough now that I know my way around. I think he just likes to feel useful.”
Ellie took off another layer and stepped further into the cabin. “Ooh, I love what you’ve done with the place.”
“Thanks. I haven’t done much.”
Ellie waved her hand dismissively. “Truthfully, I’ve never been in here, but I’m sure what you have done is amazing.”
Bebe had to giggle.
“What?” Ellie turned with a big smile.
“Uh, nothing. You’re just so sweet and cheerful.”