Elle tried to sneak down the stairs but boots were not made for creeping down old wooden staircases. She could have gone done the back stairs but she did not want to see anyone who may still be there eating breakfast. Not after that fiasco that just went down. So, she continued to carefully make her way down the main stairway.
It wasn't that she wasn't going to go talk to Jake. It was more she was working on getting up her courage. When she finally made it to the bottom floor, Rosie came out of the office wagging her tail. She stopped and petted her before heading towards the door, stopping a few feet away and leaning against the wall. Still trying to get up the courage to go in.
"Elleana, come on in." Jake finally called out through the door. How does he do that? Both she and Rosie walked into the office.
She crossed the threshold, finding him sitting there at his desk. The morning sun was filtering in through the windows, giving the office a soft glow. He looked busy, typing on his laptop. She waited.
Once he finished, he leaned back in his chair and looked over at youngest sibling. He knew she was struggling and normally he would help the situation along. But this time he wasn't going to make it easy for her, she was going to have to work for it.
She shifted from one foot to the other, she looked at the floor and then back up. Ringing her hands, she took in a deep breath and finally said, "Jake, um...I'm...I'm...sorry."
He cocked his head to the side, his eyebrows up, "Sorry for what?" He pushed.
Elle looked down where Rosie was curled up then back to Jake, "I'm sorry I threw the brush at you." She said softly, tears were starting to blur her vision.
He held open his arm, "Come here," he simply said. Elle obeyed. He pulled her onto his lap. A pained expression fell across her face as sat down, he shifted her helping her find a little bit more comfortable way to sit, giving her backside some relief.
"What am I going to do with you?" He said, as he pushed her hair away from her face and back over her shoulders.
"You could send me back." She said as a tear slipped down her cheek.
"No way," He said with a smile, "I'm not letting you get off that easy."
"Elleana, look at me," She looked up at him he reached over an wiped the tear away, "We love you. That will never change. We may not like something you have done, or said, or choice you made but we will always love you. Understand?"
He watched as she chewed on her lower lip, processing what he said. He waited.
She finally nodded her head, yes. It was enough for now.
"Before you go, I do have something for you." He said. She watched as he pulled out a cell phone and set it on the desk. "This is for you."
Elle's heart skipped a beat. For her? Her own cell phone?
"Now you can only make calls on it and text on it, for now." He explained, "And if you want to add apps you will need to check with me first, understand?" She nodded, her eyes glued to the slick new phone still sitting on the desk. "I, mean it Elle."
"I understand." Elle said, her voice sounding a bit lighter, she picked up the phone.
"I have already had loaded all the phone numbers on there, including Deonte's and Lindsey's." She smiled, "However," He paused till he had her undivided attention. "Before you go to bed at night, you will charge it outside my door overnight. I have set up a little table and you can leave it there and pick it up when you get up in the morning."
She nodded.
"I mean it, Elleana." He stressed, "Do not download apps without permission and make sure it is by my door before you go to bed, understand?"
YOU ARE READING
Diamond S Ranch
General FictionWithout any family left living, at six, Elleana was put into the foster care program. For six years she was tossed around the system, rejected by some and running away from others. She was on a self destruction mission and it was quickly spiraling...
