Inferno Part 2

~169~ Time To Process

Ellie's POV

I'm at work, eating lunch with the crew, and Lance is acting weird. Really, really weird. He's avoiding eye contact with me. McKenna is acting fine with me, so I'm not exactly sure what's going on. I ignore it as Mason and I goof around. He got locked out of his house last night, and I've been making fun of him for it.

"Ellie, one of these days it's gonna' happen to you, and I'll be riding your ass hard. Be worried," he smirks as he takes a bite of his taco.

"Not worried there, son. I'm a responsible adult."

He snorts. "Oh yeah? Tell me...Have you told Taylor yet that you lost your third purse in the last 9 months?"

Nick and McKenna laugh at my stunned face.

"How did you know about that?"

He smirks. "I'll never tell."

"Liam ratted me out, didn't he?"

Mason laughs louder than necessary. "Not telling."

"That rat. You tell Taylor, and you'll be sorry, Mason Andrew."

"Then no more cracks about me getting locked out," he smiles.

I mimic zipping my lips and throwing away the key, bringing more chuckles from the table...All but Lance. He's stayed straight-faced during the whole conversation. I wonder what I did to make him so mad.

I get back to my office after lunch, and about twenty minutes later, Lance comes into my office.

"Can you and I talk for a couple of minutes in my office, Ellie?"

I give him a look. "Sure"

He nods and we leave. Welp, I'm officially in trouble. I wonder what I did?

We get in and he closes the door. I sit in one of the chairs, and wait. I'm actually a little nervous. I'm racking my brain, trying to figure out what I did wrong. All of my logs and paperwork have been fine. I had an issue with a student last week, but when I talked to the dad, everything was fine.

He sits in his chair, and won't look at me. He's nervous.

"Just tell me what I did, boss," I finally say.

He looks at me and tilts his head. "Do you think you're in trouble?"

"Ummm.....yeah."

"Why?"

"Really? You haven't looked at me all day. Then you call me in your office and shut the door. What else am I supposed to think?"

He sighs and nods. "Yeah, sorry. You're not in trouble."

"Ok, so what's wrong?"

He looks at me hard and sighs. "I've got a situation and I need help."

"Lay it on me," I say with dread in my stomach.

"I don't want to. You guys have had so much put on you lately, the thought of what I'm about to ask is making me sick."

"Just ask, Lance."

He looks at me hard. "You and Taylor are the best parents I have ever seen in my life."

"Ummm, thanks?"

He shakes his head. "My sister is a social worker. Did I ever tell you that?"

"No"

He nods. "Well, she is. Actually, several of the kids she works with go to school here."

"Really?"

"Yup. Anyways. There's a kid in Nolan's grade, and another two years younger. Brother and sister. They're in desperate need of a family. Their foster parents just dropped them. They have been bounced around like crazy lately, and my sister is desperate. I talk about you and Taylor a lot. She is begging me to ask you if you would be interested in trying to adopt them."