Page 12 of Her Silver Fox Mountain Men

James chuckles as he adds a breadbasket to the table. “That’s the last thing I want. The two of you growing up real fast.”

“Why do you want to grow up so fast?” Elise asks. I pour her a cup of coffee.

“Because I wanna be old enough to eat whatever I want,” Ainsley proudly declares.

That gets a round of laughter from all of us.

“Oh, honey, trust me. Don’t be in any big hurry to grow up. Right now all you need to do is go to school and play with your friends and toys. But when you get older, you have responsibilities and bills,” Elise tells her.

“Those don’t sound like fun,”Ainsley says.

I can’t helpbut laugh. “They aren’t.”

“I thinkyou look very pretty today, Elise,” Tricia interjects.

“You’re too kind,” Elise says.

“Daddy likes you,” Ainsley cuts in.

Enter the awkward silence. Elise freezes, the coffee mug glued to her lips, eyes immediately darting over to James, who’s just as speechless. I hold back a laugh. Roman seems relaxed, but I know deep down he’s pining, too. He changes the subject by making sure the girls eat their breakfast.

“Here, have more Cheerios,” he tells the twins as he adds another scoop to each bowl.

“I’ll get the milk,” James offers.

Elise nods in agreement. “I’d like some, too, for my coffee.”

“Aren’t you going to eat anything?” he asks her.

She smiles softly. “I always grab a bite at the diner. The morning shift is great; Maury always bakes a few extra scones for us.”

“That’s mighty kind of him,” I reply.

“Yeah, he’s good people,” Roman chimes in.

“I’m not sure how quickly Mr. Ronald will move with the renovation work,” Elise mutters.

Roman turns on the tablet, letting the girls watch a few educational videos while they eat. His eyes often go back to Elise, though, scanning, analyzing, memorizing. I know him too well; he’s tumbling down the rabbit hole with the rest of us.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” James replies. “He’s not going to charge you any rent for the duration of the repairs, so it’ll be in his best interest to get it done as quickly as possible.”

“He’s not going to charge me rent?”

I shake my head. “Landlords are not allowed to do that, not while you’re unable to live there because of necessary repairs. We looked into it. Right now, it’s considered an uninhabitable structure.”

“You looked into it?”

“You sound surprised,” James replies, somewhat amused.

“It’s just… I’m not used to any of this,” Elise mumbles, lowering her gaze as she finishes her coffee. “All this kindness and generosity. Taking me into your home.”

“It’s merely a temporary solution to a serious problem,” James insists. “You are more than welcome to stay here for as long as you need to.”

“Which reminds me,” I say and take out a spare set of keys from my jeans pocket. “These are yours; they’re for the house.”

Elise stares at them for a moment before reaching out with uncertain fingers.

“I already gave you the spare for the Ford, right?” James asks her.

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