Nellie…well, Nellie hid away from the world. She turned a blind eye to nearly everything. When Nellie helped Evangeline and the clan, Isabella had been astonished.
While it felt like no one had helped her before, it seemed that everyone had rallied behind her now. She couldn’t figure out what had triggered the sudden change. They weren’t doing this for her. That didn’t make any sense.
Was it for her baby?
Isabella scowled at her reflection in the window and wished she could catch up to the truck full of men and beg them to stop. This wasn’t necessary. If she cancelled the card and paid the bill, then she could move on with her life. Confronting Tommy would only drag the issue out and make her suffer longer.
“Don’t worry, Bel,” Evangeline said over the phone.
But Isabella worried about everything. She worried about her ex, about her new home, about the guys’ safety. She couldn’t stop worrying.
Her stomach grumbled. She’d been waiting for another book payment to go through so she could buy groceries. Hungrier than ever, she’d already blown through her own food reserve and was hesitant to break into the cupboards here. Her nerves exhausted her and made her gut clench with pangs of hunger until she could barely stand it. Making a silent promise to replace the box, she grabbed a container of chicken flavored crackers and went to settle on the couch.
She nervously nibbled the edges of every cracker, listening for the sound of the guys’ return. The food settled her stomach and helped her drift off to sleep. When the familiar roar of Erik’s truck growled up the side of the mountain, she lurched upright.
A bit of spittle had dried on her cheek. She wiped at it with the back of her hand, not wanting anyone to see what kind of a mess she was. She blinked at the glare coming through the window from the light shining down on Erik’s truck. Considering that the truck was more rust than metal, she was surprised there was a glare at all.
Their voices drifted toward her as they piled out of the truck. She ungracefully fumbled off the couch and went to the door. Casey, Erik, and Gavin each clapped Dillon on the back before they started to disperse.
“Did you see him cry?” Erik asked, a bite in his voice.
Dillon didn’t answer, but his smile said enough.
Casey shook his head and turned away. Gavin followed him. Isabella wanted to call them back and demand to know what went on.
“He could press charges against every one of you,” she cried out before she could stop herself.
No one stopped.
Dillon approached her but kept his space. He reached out and hooked his pinky with hers, the only contact between their bodies, and yet it sparked a wildfire that climbed up her arm and into her core.
“Tommy isn’t going to bother you.”
She pressed her lips into a firm line because she was unconvinced. Evangeline had called Tommy meek. Isabella had never thought of him that way, but maybe her friend was right.
Dillon used his free hand to dig through his pockets. He came out with a wad of folded bills and lifted her hand so he could give it to her. After a heartbeat, he added two diamond earrings to her palm as well.
“Now, we know the problem is taken care of.”
Her throat tightened. Dillon didn’t have to do this for her. He and the other dragon men weren’t her family or her friends…No. She was lying to herself. These were her family. She might not share blood with any of them, but they’d treated her kinder than any family she’d had in the past.
Isabella counted the bills and found more than enough to take care of the late credit bill. She would deposit the cash into her bank account the next day and have them transfer the payment to her credit card company. The late bill would be taken care of, and she would never have to worry about it again.
“Let’s go watch a movie,” Dillon suggested. “Maybe it will attract the others and we can call it a movie night.”
Isabella didn’t fight her smile. “I’ll make some popcorn.”
She pocketed the earrings. They would make a great investment in her child’s future. Besides, keeping them gave her a small amount of satisfaction. Tommy didn’t know he had a child, and he never would, but he’d helped in a small way.
Chapter Thirteen
Dillon wanted to do something nice for Isabella. She seemed tired and distant the past few days. He began to worry that he and the other guys were putting too much strain on her. She made every meal and did a lot of the laundry, even though no one had asked her to do it.
He approached her while she was cleaning up the dishes from breakfast. She glanced up at him without stopping what she was doing.
He turned his phone toward her to show her a receipt. Her brows came together, confusion clouding her bright eyes.
“I don’t get it,” she said, looking up at him.
He swiped across the screen. “I booked you a spa day in town. You deserve a break after everything you’ve done around here.”
He didn’t expect her to shut down. Her brow flattened as her spine stiffened. She took a step back. He tried to say something, but Isabella shook her head before he could get a word out.
“I’m not taking your charity and that is final,” she said.
He jerked back. “Charity and gifts are two very different things.”
“They are not. I owe everyone here for the roof over my head. That’s why I do everything I can around here. I can’t take this from you. I’m already indebted to you as it is.”
“Indebted?” Dillon wasn’t sure what Isabella was trying to say.
She shook her head again. “Get a refund. I can’t…I don’t want…”
He turned the phone around and pretended to search for a refund option while he did nothing but scroll up and down. “No refunds,” he lied.
Her jaw dropped, but she quickly pulled it up. Anger turned her face into a mask of rigid determination. “Then I’m not going. I can’t. Have fun.”
She threw her hands into the air and marched down the hall. Dillon chased after her, but she slammed her door in his face. He stepped back and scowled at it.
What was there to be mad at? He didn’t understand how he’d gone wrong. Isabella deserved kindness, but she seemed determined to push him back at every turn. It was only a day at the spa. It wasn’t like Dillon wanted to give her everything he owned.
Couldn’t she tell the this was an act of kindness?
“I could break this lock,” he informed her. “But I respect your privacy, so I won’t. Could you come out here and talk to me?”
Dillon heard silence. No, he heard the squeak of her mattress. He imagined her climbing onto it and folding her arms over her chest so she could glare at the door. For someone so bright and soft, she had a core of steel.
He couldn’t help but grin as a strange sense of pride came over him. If the door hadn’t stood between them, he would have pulled her into a tight hug. He’d been so worried about bothering her or putting too much weight on her, but Isabella was made of tougher stuff.
She wouldn’t break. He didn’t know if she could. Sure, there were moments when tears and worry got the best of her, but everyone went through days like that. Isabella wasn’t weak. She was her own kind of force.
One to be reckoned with.