Page 17 of Sweet Escape
And I have to replace the money I spent on ten pregnancy tests—not one of my finest ideas.
I give a half-hearted laugh, jutting a thumb over my shoulder in the general direction of the kitchen. “It was good to see you again.”
I don’t wait for him to respond, making a hasty escape without a second glance. What the fuck am I going to do now?
Wilder
She retreats into the kitchen as fast as her legs will carry her. Memories of the time we spent together come flooding back to the point where I find myself growing hard beneath the table. She’s even more gorgeous than I remember.Fuck me.
Even after a trip back to Colorado to retrieve Emmy and settle in at the ranch, I haven't been able to get her off my mind. The sweet-smelling woman with the honeyed voiceand eyes that sparkle like the rarest diamonds has been creeping into my thoughts more than I care to admit.
I never imagined I’d be seeing her in Oak Ridge. Then again, we didn’t exactly stop to have many heart-to-heart conversations about our lives, and I wrongly assumed she wouldn’t be able to point out my hometown on a map, let alone live here.
Rosie smirks as she clears my plate. When she’s done, she slides a recipe card across the empty countertop and winks. “Just in case you wanted thatcupcakerecipe.”
On one side, there's Rosie’s diner logo. When I flip it over, there’s a doodle of a cupcake with a phone number written in a delicate scrawl.
“Don’t fuck it up,”Rosie says.
Her warning stays with me on the drive back to the ranch, and I wonder if I should bother reaching out. My life is being held together by little more than adhesive tape, and I’m a gust of wind away from a full collapse. Emmy is the only reason I’m not locked away in a padded room. Olivia is a distraction I can’t afford, even if I’m tempted to get another taste.
When I pull through the massive gate onto the dirt road that leads to the big barn at Whispering Oaks Ranch, I spot Dad off in one of the pastures. He’s sitting atop Copper, his chestnut quarter horse, and holding my sister’s palomino mare, Buttercup, by the reins as he tows her toward the barn.
I park in my usual spot off to the side of the big house, and my little Emmy Lou comes toddling around the corner like a bat out of hell with Mama hot on her heels. Emmy is covered head to toe in mud, her uneven pigtails bobbing against her head, and I can’t help but smile at the sight. Stepping out of my truck, I glance up at the clear blue sky.
She’s happy here, Jess.
“Daddy!”
“Hi, Angel. Are you being good for Gigi?”
“Uh-huh,” she says, her sapphire eyes sparkling as she gives an enthusiastic nod.
When Mama reaches us, she plants her hands, protected by dirt-covered gardening gloves, on her hips. “This little stinker decided she wanted to upend my watering can when I wasn't looking, and before I could stop her, she was jumping in the puddle.”
“Emmy Lou, did you make a mess of Gigi’s garden?” I ask.
My girl sticks out her bottom lip and glances up at me through her thick lashes.
“Daddy’s not mad, Angel. But you can’t make muddy puddles in the greenhouse, okay?”
“Ok,” she says, swapping out her letters so the k sounds more like a t.
“Come on. We better get you cleaned up.” I lift her into my arms, not caring about the mud that’s now smeared all over my clothes. Not a day goes by that I’m not covered in some kind of substance, be it mud or something equally egregious. She captures my face between her tiny palms, planting a messy kiss on my cheek, and all my worries dissipate. I don’t need anything else in my life if I have Emmy Lou.
After a quick hose down, I wrap Emmy in a spare towel from the tack room and carry her back to the house. She’s rubbing at her eyes and lets free a yawn as we step inside. I quickly get her changed into a fresh pull-up and her favorite footie pajamas with the pink bows all over them. “Time for a nap.”
“Why don’t you let me put her down in the spare room?” Mama suggests. “There’s no use taking her all the way back home when y’all are coming back for family dinner anyway.”
“Thanks. I’ll be back to check on her later.”
“She’ll be fine. We’ll see you back here for dinner.”
I give my mama a kiss on the cheek and head out. The storm door slams against the frame as I bound down theporch steps and get into my truck, turning down the familiar path toward the modest house Emmy and I are fortunate enough to call home.
When I finally agreed to move back, my parents had their first house cleaned out and ready for me and Emmy to move into. It’s not far from the big house on a parcel of land they had transferred into my name, but they give us our privacy, and they’ve been a huge help with Emmy these last six weeks.
If it weren’t for my family, I don’t know if I would’ve survived losing Jess. That’s the God’s honest truth. I’d like to think she'd be happy knowing we finally moved back home, and Emmy is surrounded by people who love her.
