Never Far Away (The Never #2)(82)

“Hi, Brook, I’m Ella.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you. My husband and I have been waiting for a while for this. We were starting to think that maybe you didn’t really exist,” she said laughing.

“Are you kidding?” She heard Porter say from behind her. “I couldn’t imagine this perfection,” he said eyeing her. Ella rolled her eyes and saw that Brook was doing the same thing.

“Ella, this is Brook, Matt’s wife. Matt works on my team. I've told you about him. He’s my second in command, so to speak. Ah, here he comes.”

Ella looked to where Porter’s eyes led her and saw a man walking towards them holding lawn chairs in both of his hands, somewhat struggling with the awkwardness of the large chairs, but with a determined look on his face.

“Leave it to Porter to invite us over for a cookout but require manual labor in exchange for food,” the man said once he had put the chairs down at their feet.

“Matt, this is Ella,” Brook said.

“Nice to finally meet you,” he said shooting Porter a grin, as if he knew something she didn’t.

“Likewise,” Ella answered hesitantly.

“Uncle Porter,” Joy said softly while pulling on the hem of his shirt.

“Yes?”

“Is this the girl my mom says you’re gonna marry?” Brook immediately grabbed her daughter and placed a hand over her mouth as the girl smiled, knowing she’d said something she shouldn’t have.

“You.” Porter said pointing at Matt. “Keep your women in line,” he said with a smile.

“Hey,” Matt said holding up his hands as if in surrender. “I’m outnumbered three-to-one. Even the little one holds more rank than me.”

Porter knelt down next to Joy, still holding on to the baby who looked right at home in his arms, and pinched her nose. “Joy, this is my girlfriend, Ella. She is very special to me and if you don’t behave I might have to throw away the cake we made for you.”

Joy’s eyes went wide and a smile spread across her face. “I’ll be good,” she said excitedly and then ran away to play with the volleyball net.

“I swear, eight-year-olds have the biggest mouths and no filters. I’m sorry if she embarrassed you,” Brook said to Ella.

“She’s fine,” Ella answered. Her eyes were still drawn to the chubby-faced beauty clinging to Porter’s arms, obviously a baby after Ella’s own heart. “Who is this little girl?” Ella asked motioning towards the baby with the perfect blonde curls coming down the nape of her neck.

“This is Faith,” Porter answered before anyone else could, his eyes shining with obvious love for the baby. In that moment, Ella definitely felt her ovaries start to work overtime. The ache that seems to form in some mythical place in her body where babies lay waiting to be made squeezed her heart. Who would have thought that this strong man, who had no siblings, and seemed to lead such a solitary life, loved children? And they seemed to love him back. “I’ve worked with Matt since I started my business. I watched these two get married and have these beautiful girls. I’m their honorary uncle,” he said with pride that radiated outwards, her ovaries clenching again. She hadn’t been prepared to watch him sweetly interact with babies all day.

“Your family is beautiful,” Ella said to Brook.

“Thanks, we like them enough,” Brook joked as Matt laughed. It was obvious she was in love with her children and Ella enjoyed the laid-back attitude she exuded, hoping one day to get some parenting pointers from her. She had a feeling they could be great friends.

Another car pulled into the driveway and Porter handed the baby back to her mother, much to Faith’s dismay. He kissed her curly hair as he handed her off and then took Ella by the hand to meet his mother at her car.

“Hey, Mom. We’re so glad you could make it,” Porter said as he took some bags from his mother’s hands.

“It’s the nation’s birthday. I’ll be damned if I’ll sit behind a bar and serve drinks all day.” Ella laughed, constantly entertained by Tilly’s antics.

“Here, Ella, you might want to put this in the fridge.”

“Ok, sure. What is it?” Tilly turned to her placing a round dish in her hands.

“My cheesecake,” she said, smiling up at her. Memories flooded Ella’s mind, bringing her right back to her and Porter’s very first date. Tilly’s cheesecake. Ella could feel the flush coming over her face as she tried to push away the images of Porter nearly taking her on the couch in his living room. Ella cleared her throat and tried to act nonchalant as she took the dessert from Tilly.

“No problem,” she squeaked. “I’ll just go put this away.”

Ella hurried into the house, walking past the very couch that was being featured in her memory, set the cheesecake down on the counter, and tried to remain cool. She startled when she felt hands wrap around her waist from behind.

“Whatcha thinking about?” Porter asked right into her ear, doing nothing but stoking the flames she was trying to extinguish. The teasing tone of his voice made it obvious he knew exactly what was on her mind.

She cleared her throat. “Your mom brought cheesecake,” she said, trying to sound like she was talking about the weather. “She wanted me to put it in the fridge.”