Dave drove for several minutes, neither of them saying anything. Ella was too upset and exhausted to hold a conversation, and Dave sensed it, letting her wallow in her despair for a while before deciding to try to break her out of her reverie. Dave cleared his throat. “It’s really not a problem to drive you home,” he assured her. “After all, you did solve the B and E for my dad.” Ella rolled her eyes. “I don’t think it counts as a B and E if it’s a raccoon doing it,” she said. “Maybe you can use some of the money to get a new car,” Dave continued. Ella shook her head. “I need to pay rent.” She sighed. “I don’t make much as it is, either. I didn’t go into a very well-paying field.” “Why didn’t you decide to go into the police academy? Seems like you would make more money that way.” “Yeah, but I’m impatient, and stubborn, and the police academy requires patience and discipline, neither of which I have.” Dave laughed. “Ain’t that the truth.” Ella stopped herself from kicking him, which was her immediate inclination. She didn’t need him to wreck his car, as well, from a near-involuntary kick to his groin. “Peter told me your mom died,” Dave said quietly. “That little snitch,” Ella said. “Last time I tell him anything.” “My mom died, too. It was Cancer. I was young.” Ella sighed. “I was also young,” she said hesitantly, closing her eyes. “And she was murdered.” Ella could feel Dave’s eyes on her, but he didn’t push the issue. Ella wondered what his game was. First he hit her boss’s car out of carelessness, then acted like a snarky Neanderthal, and then drove her home and started questioning her about her life. She was a little apprehensive of his motives, but she had a feeling they were pure, whatever they were. Dave continued to drive in silence, and Ella was surprised she wasn’t even more upset than she was. As much as she had depended on her car to get out of the Tremaine house, and as much as not having it anymore left her absolutely in the dust, she was too exhausted and overwhelmed with life as a whole to expend much energy on it. She was becoming somewhat numb to the continual pain of her existence, and though she realized that was probably not a very good thing, she didn’t have the stamina to fight it, so she didn’t. Ella didn’t fully realize how enervated she really was until she felt Dave shaking her, and realized she had fallen asleep. She blinked awake, seeing that they were parked on the side of the Tremaine house. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” Ella said apologetically. “It’s okay,” Dave said. “I tend to do that to women. Drain them of their energy, I mean.” Ella rolled her eyes. “Do you ever stop with the sex jokes?” she said self-consciously. Dave’s eyes took on a serious look. “Not with you around,” he said solemnly. Ella could feel her cheeks burning. She was still slumped down in her seat, and realized she didn’t want to go inside. She glanced at Dave apprehensively. “Is there any chance we could drive a little bit away for a few minutes?” she asked nervously. Dave raised his eyebrows. “Sure,” he said, and Ella directed him to the hill she liked to go to to smoke in the neighborhood. Of course, she didn’t have anything on her, but she still appreciated the calm atmosphere of the location. They remained in the car, the outside air having grown too cold to sit in. “I was supposed to have dinner ready an hour ago.” Ella laughed humorlessly and shook her head. “Gosh, my stepmother is going to kill me.” “No she won’t,” Dave argued. “Your car burned to the ground. What were you supposed to do?” Ella only shook her head, not in the mood to divulge the nature of her and Lacey’s relationship, or how unfair Lacey could be. Lacey would not care that Ella’s car had burned down; if anything, it would bring her glee to see Ella suffer. Dave sighed. To Ella’s surprise, he reached over and grabbed her hand. Despite her initial bewilderment, she didn’t pull her hand away, although she wasn’t sure why not. Dave held onto her hand for a while, and they sat in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. Eventually, Ella looked up at Dave, about to tell him she’d better go home, but when her eyes met his, she found herself unable to speak. There was a passion in Dave’s eyes that momentarily took her breath away. Dave saw the vulnerability in Ella’s eyes in the moment, and he was swept away in them. They were like the deep blue ocean, holding secrets and pain she usually kept guarded, but was letting him see a glimpse of for only a moment. Ella didn’t realize Dave was slowly leaning into her at first, but it soon became apparent. They both held their breath as Dave sank lower in his seat towards her, and Ella pushed herself slightly up, the movement barely noticeable, but inviting nonetheless. It looked, briefly, like Dave was about to kiss her, and Ella found her eyes closing, waiting for him to do so. Instead, he pulled back at the last moment, straightening up and putting the car in drive. “I guess I’d better take you home,” Dave said, his voice sounding far away to Ella’s ears. She quickly straightened herself up, as well. “Thank you for the ride,” Ella said graciously. “I don’t know what I would have done--” Her words caught in her throat, and she stopped. Dave didn’t answer her, but a minute later, they were back in front of the Tremaine residence, and Ella was settling her hand on the passenger door handle, ready to exit. “Hey,” Dave stopped her, grazing her arm with his hand. Ella was surprised at the feeling his touch sent through her. “You should take me with you next time you are investigating. I want to learn private investigating, too.” Normally, Ella would have rolled her eyes and told him he didn’t have what it took, but his eyes were so desperate she found herself nodding in agreement before she had time to think about it. Dave smiled. “Great,” he said. “I’ll see you in a few days.” With that, he put the car back in gear, turning to the windshield, and waited for Ella to exit the vehicle. She faltered, not sure why she had just agreed to his proposition. “Well?” Dave questioned, turning to her and raising his eyebrow. “You gonna get out of my car now, or do I have to push you out?” Ella shook her head and exited the vehicle. She walked slowly to the front door of the Tremaine house, looking up warily at the door as she grew closer. She sighed, and opened the door, knowing Lacey would be waiting for her on the other side to dish out some sort of punishment. Dave peeled away once he saw her enter the house, and Ella, once inside, was immediately greeted with the frowning face of Lacey Tremaine. ⧫ Ella forced herself out of bed at the ungodly hour of three o’clock the following morning. She certainly did not want to be awake when there were still several hours to go before the sun rose, but she had to make sure she got some chores done before she left the house. She cleaned the kitchen first; the family had not bothered to clean up after ordering pizza the night before, healthy eating be damned, apparently. She also prepared dinner in the slow cooker, so she wouldn’t have to rush home after work to fix anything. After tidying up, feeding the pets and preparing breakfast for the family, she hurried out the door into the cold air with her warmest coat on, which was old and raggedy. Ella had an absolutely terrible time walking to Lon’s house. Even going as fast as her legs would carry her, it still took a little over an hour to get there. At one point, she considered hitch hiking, but decided she would wait until after work to take that leap, figuring it would be less likely for her to be kidnapped in broad daylight than it would be in the cold, dark morning. When she finally reached Lon’s house, she was heated and irascible. She let herself into Lon’s house without knocking. Lon looked up from his newspaper when Ella stalked in, breathing heavily. “Are you all right?” he questioned, eyebrows raised. “No,” Ella groaned, plopping herself down at the kitchen table and burying her head in her arms. “Help yourself to the table,” Lon grumbled. Isabella walked into the kitchen, causing Ella to look up briefly. Isabella noticed Ella’s flushed face and windswept hair, and offered her a quick breakfast before they left for work. “Actually, that’d be great,” Ella thanked Isabella, accepting a bowl of cereal. She ate it quickly, then pushed back from the table, standing up abruptly. “You’re ready now, then,” Lon said, following Ella out of the house. Once inside the car, Ella immediately began to pull out of the driveway, not bothering to give the car time to heat up. “You’re in a mood, then,” Lon continued, then added, “Where’s your car?” Ella shook her head. “Lon, I am the unluckiest person alive.” Lon snorted. “I highly doubt that.” “No, really. My car caught fire last night. I had to walk to your house.” “Well, that would explain why you were so out of breath this morning. When are you buying a new car?” “That depends. When is my tightwad boss going to start paying me more?” “Land more jobs with that boy Dave’s father, and maybe I’ll be able to afford to pay you more,” Lon acquiesced. Ella shook her head, defeated. “I’ll probably take up another job overnight, at a gas station or something. I’m just exhausted. As soon as I get a car, I’m moving out and living in it.” “Don’t do that,” Lon shook his head. “You don’t understand how hard it is.” “I’m serious,” Ella warned. “Well, maybe I won’t, but I should. I might. Who knows? Anything could happen at this point. I’m one step away from becoming a stripper.” Lon snorted. “You have to be nice to people to be a stripper,” he pointed out. Ella and Lon exited the vehicle, walking to the office. “I can pretend,” Ella said. “Can you?” Lon raised an eyebrow. “I haven’t ever seen you pretend to be nice.” “Maybe they won’t talk to me much,” Ella mumbled. “They will definitely talk to you. Horny old men. Men who look like me,” Lon said. Ella wrinkled her nose. “Maybe I can pretend I only speak Russian,” she mumbled, sitting down at her desk. Lon laughed. The rest of the day went by slowly, with Ella stuck at her desk trying to process photographs and paperwork. She was having a difficult time concentrating, her mind continuously going back to the fact that she owned absolutely nothing, had no means of transportation, and was, for the foreseeable future, stuck in a house with a step-family from Hell who did everything in their power to break her and ruin her life for no apparent reason other than that she had not been pushed out of Lacey’s womb like Anastasia and Charlotte. At first, Ella didn’t notice the two vehicles pulling into the parking lot in front of the office. One was a Toyota a few years old, and the other was a Mustang. Ella did look up, however, when the driver of the Toyota walked into the office, and unceremoniously dumped a pair of keys on her desk. “What is this?” she asked, raising her eyebrows. The man slapped a note down on the desk, then turned and walked away without a word. He quickly hopped into the passenger seat of the Mustang, and they started driving away. Ella was surprised. Does he just want to leave his car here for a few days? she wondered, opening the note and skimming over its contents. Ella’s heart skipped a beat as she read it, and her cheeks burned red. She felt as though she were stuck in place, and Lon walked up and grabbed the note out of her hands, reading it out loud. “Ella,” Lon began, “I am lending you a Toyota that was given to me when I was sixteen. I only drove it while I was still learning to drive, so there aren’t many miles on it. You can drive it for as long as you need to. I’m not taking no for an answer, so don’t even try to return it prematurely. Trust me, sweetheart, I will make you miserable if you do not take the damn car. I know you need it and I don’t. Yours truly, Dave.” Ella covered her face with her hands, her face red from embarrassment. She could feel Lon’s eyes on her. He placed a heavy hand on her shoulder, causing her to glance up at him. Lon’s eyes glittered, and Ella knew the look he was giving her. It was a look that meant he was about to embark on a scheme, and she was coming with him, and she wasn’t going to like it. She had no idea what Lon had up his sleeve this time. “Well?” he started. “Aren’t you going to call him and thank him?” Ella’s eyes went wide. Of course she should, it would be ungrateful not to, she thought. She didn’t know why she hadn’t thought to thank him immediately. She pulled out her cell phone, staring at it, willing her fingers to move on the screen. Lon impatiently grabbed the phone from her, scrolling through her contacts until he found Dave, which was saved under “Dave Asshole Guy.” Ella was surprised by her inability to speak, or to stop Lon from going through her phone. Lon hit the call button and put the phone on speaker. “Hello?” a tired-sounding Dave answered after several rings. Ella looked up at Lon hesitantly. He smiled wide, the mischievous look still on his face. “Hey,” Ella said hesitantly, not knowing how to start. “Hey,” Dave said, sounding amused. “Um,” Ella began, biting her bottom lip. “I wanted to call to thank you for lending me the car. I promise I won’t have it for super long. I just need to make more money so I can get a new one, but I don’t have much time to do that right now, because I work six days a week and I’m supposed to do a lot of chores at home so my rent doesn’t go up, because I really can’t afford a higher rent, so I’ll probably have to get a second job, but I’ll be super exhausted so it’s hard to come up with a plan--” “Ella,” Dave cut her off. “It’s fine. I have, like, several cars. I don’t need it, and you do. I’m just helping out the needy.” Ella was a little hurt by his description of her as “the needy,” but she didn’t want to dwell on it. “Well, thank you,” she said genuinely. Dave laughed. “You don’t sound like you’re used to thanking people,” he teased. “Anyway, you’re still supposed to take me private investigating with you soon, so you can consider that payment.” Lon nudged Ella, whispering that she should invite him to come by tomorrow. Ella shook her head, whispering back at him that she wasn’t ready, until Dave interjected. “Are you okay?” he questioned. “Yes,” Lon answered in his booming voice. Ella rolled her eyes. “Ella is fine. She was just asking me if you could come investigating with her tomorrow, since she’s getting her hair done today. She figured you would like it.” Ella’s mouth was agape at Lon’s words. She had no idea what he was talking about. “Is that so?” Dave said on speaker phone. Ella shook her head vehemently at Lon. “Oh yeah,” Lon said. “I’m her boss. She’s shy.”