A new call flashed on the screen. Same number. I ignored it and moved to block it, too. I’d change my number tomorrow. Cut off access. It would be better for us both.
I heard the door behind me but didn’t move. I didn’t have the layers of mask I needed for whoever it was. I painted on one after another as the footsteps got closer.
“Everything okay?”
I should’ve known it would be Linc. He was always checking in. Such a good big brother.
I turned, giving him an easy smile. “Yup. You finish dessert?”
Linc’s eyes narrowed on me, clearly not dissuaded from his mission. “Who was on the phone?”
“No one,” I said quickly.
“El Bell…”
“ConCon.” We could both play the childhood nickname game. I hadn’t been able to say Lincoln when I was little, so he’d becomeConConto me, much to our father’s chagrin. Philip Pierce hated nicknames.“We gave you a specific name for a reason. Don’t sully it, Eleanor.”
Linc didn’t smile at my use of his nickname now. “Don’t shut me out.”
I straightened. “I’m not.”
“Ellie, you’ve barely talked to me since you moved into your new place.”
My shoulders slumped slightly, the fight leaving me. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to be sorry. Just tell me what’s going on.”
The pleading in Linc’s voice nearly broke me. I moved in and wrapped my arms around my brother’s waist, giving him the hardest hug I could. “You’re too oversized,” I grumbled.
Linc laughed as he released me. “Maybe you’re just too small.”
I shot him a dirty look as I leaned back against the porch railing, letting the night wrap around me like a comforting blanket.
“You ready to talk?” Linc pressed.
I wasn’t. Not about everything. Linc was too entwined in it all. Everything felt like a giant knot I was still trying to untangle. But I didn’t want to lock him out either.
“I’m trying to figure out how to stand on my own two feet.” Truth. It might not give him every detail, but it gave him the core.
Linc’s brows pulled together as he studied me. “It looks to me like you’re doing that.”
“I almost set my house on fire the first night I was in it.”
Linc’s eyes went wide. “You what?”
I held up both hands, trying to placate him, even while being grateful that I didn’t have a soon-to-be sister-in-law who shared all the sibling gossip with her fiancé. “I’m fine. The house is fine. I got a new range, and we’re all good.”
“Ellie—”
“What?” I asked, cutting him off. “You want me to move out?Come live with you and Arden at your new place when it’s done so you can keep an eye on me? Never learn to cook because I might blow something up? You already moved me in next door to the sheriff without my knowledge.”
Linc was quiet for a long moment before he spoke. “You need room to stumble.”
The air left my lungs on a giant whoosh because I knew he understood. “Yes.”
“And I might’ve been a little stifling.”
My mouth curved as I held up my finger and thumb to show a sliver of space. “Just a tiny bit.”