Page 30 of Jhon

“But it’s already growing here,” she said. “It hardly seems fair to call that farming.”

“Well, you’re in the tundra,” he retorted. “What else are you going to grow?”

“I… hadn’t thought about that,” she admitted, with a cute frown.

He longed to pull her into his arms and kiss that pouty lip.

With an effort, he turned back to the deer, raking fresh straw into a stall and giving him feed and water.

“Come on,” he told her when he was finished. “Let’s go see the house.”

They trooped off together through the fragrant lichen.

He tried not to invade Ella’s privacy, after all, this was the beginning of her new life, a very personal thing.

But it was impossible not to notice the way she took it all in, and the joy in her eyes when they were close enough to see the comfortable rocking chairs out on the open front porch.

“Oh wow,” she said, jogging up the steps to fling herself into one of the chairs and rock herself and Bo back and forth. “Just like in the holo-films.”

Again, he couldn’t really tell if she was joking or not.

“Nice for relaxing,” Jhon said lightly, pressing his palm to the sensor beside the front door.

It swung open, and he went in and turned on a few lights.

A moment later, he heard soft footsteps and then a gasp.

He turned back to see Ella’s face go slack with wonder and then crumble into tears.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

He suspected he knew the answer already. The house was rustic - a large open room that served as the living space, and four small bedrooms in the back. It was a no-nonsense farmhouse, of course his little princess didn’t like it.

But her lip was wobbling, and she put her hand over her mouth like she couldn’t speak.

“Listen, I know this might not be what you pictured,” he told her. “It’s a farmhouse, plain and simple, and…”

But the rest of his speech was cut off when she flung herself into his arms, baby and all, sobbing as if her heart was broken.

He sighed, cursing his traitorous body for responding to her nearness, and trying not to hold her back.

“I thought,” she sobbed. “I thought… I never thought it would be so beautiful.”

“What?” he asked her.

“I know it’s silly to cry over it,” she gasped. “But there are cabinets for dishes, and machines for cooking, and the floors are nice and smooth, so the baby will be safe. My whole family back home lives in a room smaller than that beautiful porch…”

Her own tears cut her off again.

He wrapped his body around hers, sympathy surging through him, along with another emotion that was harder to understand.

After a moment, her sobs quieted, and she pulled back. He let her go right away, though every instinct told him to hold on tight.

“Ella,” he said carefully. “I saw how much water you used back at the inn. I assumed you grew up in a privileged environment. It just seemed so… wasteful.”

She blinked at him through her dewy eyelashes for a moment.

Then that sunny smile appeared on her face.