Page 11 of Taming His Honeydoll
Emma flushed. “I just don’t need him in my business, that’s all.”
Chessy nodded thoughtfully. “Ty has corporate lawyers available any time he needs them,” she explained. “He’s an architect and is always working with properties, so he has to have legal advice ready when he needs it. If anyone can get a quick answer, he can.”
Emma sighed in relief. “Okay, I’ll wait.” They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence and sipped their coffee.
“Would you like some pie?” Chessy asked brightly. “I think I’m going to have some chocolate. Ty likes coconut cream. I’ll go up to the counter and order us a slice each.”
“Uh, sure,” Emma replied, grateful to escape the small talk. “I’ll take a piece of chocolate.”
As soon as Chessy left the table, Emma punched in Henry’s number, her fingers drumming on the table. Was he aware of what his parents were doing? She froze when the voice that answered the phone wasn’t Henry.
“Emma? This is Marlene. I’m afraid Henry will have to earn back his phone privileges so he will be out of touch for a long while.”
Her voice was smooth and slick, almost purring. Henry’s mother was the one person Emma had never been comfortable with. Although she’d never put a foot wrong, the woman had an iron control which Emma suddenly realized she’d never seen to the fullest extent. Taking Henry’s phone like he was a pre-teen or something? How weird was that?
“Why are you trying to take the house?” She blurted out the question, her anger going from quiet seething back to burning hot. “You aren’t going to get away with it, I’m having a lawyer check into it.”
Marlene laughed. It wasn’t a pretty sound. “Now, my dear, don’t stress yourself out. I’m quite willing to make a deal with you if you like.”
“What sort of deal?”
“I’d like to see my grandson.”
“He’s not your grandson as you well know by now,” Emma hissed, looking around to see where Chessy was.
“Maybe not by blood, but Henry is still his legal father and I love my little lad. If you will move over here and live with us, all will be forgiven and things will go back to normal.”
Emma was floored. “Normal? What’s normal?”
“I mean you and Henry remarry and I’ll reestablish all of you as our heirs. Levi will never want for anything when Henry is his father’s heir, thereby making Levi the next in line.”
“I-I’m not moving to England,” Emma yelped, a feeling of dread washing over her.
“I want my grandson back,” she snapped. “It will go better for you if you cooperate.” Then her voice softened and she turned cajoling. “Besides, you can’t offer Levi what we can, my dear. Be sensible. Your position right now is precarious. As a young single mother alone and barely making a living, you can’t take care of Levi in the manner to which he’s become accustomed. I can restore all of that.”
Emma was amazed—and suddenly very frightened. Did Henry’s parents have a legal foot to stand on?
“You can’t have my baby,” she gritted through her teeth. “I won’t let you have him. You might be able to browbeat your own son and take the house, but you’ll never get my baby.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.”
Marlene’s laugh was ugly—and then the line went dead. Emma stared at the phone in her hand as if it were a snake getting ready to bite her. What did the old witch mean? Was Henry in league with her? He wouldn’t want to get married again any more than she would. Or was he simply a pawn in her new game?
***
SAWYER HAD AN EMERGENCYFriday morning which slowed down his plan. Faunching at the bits was putting it mildly, but he stayed with their cow until it finally gave birth around noon. Celia hadn’t been due for another week so he’d given Shorty, his ranch hand, the weekend off. Taking care of the few animals they owned and other various chores around the barn and fields kept one man in a regular job. Sawyer filled in with the rest.
Now that he’d calmed down overnight, he wasn’t sure approaching Oliver for his sister’s address would be the best idea after all. He had no clue how much Oliver knew, and if he was aware of the situation, he would most likely have Emma’s version of events. Plus, if she had kept it hidden, which could be the case since she’d married so quickly, telling her overprotective brother that he’d left his sister when she was pregnant definitely wouldn’t go over well either. Especially if he owned a gun.
It hadn’t taken him long to realize that the innocent, sweet and cuddly side of his woman harbored an impulsive, hot-tempered, and stubborn little brat as well. And to be honest, he wasn’t sure which he liked better. One needed a lot of love and attention; the other side needed to be tamed and spanked.
Money, or the lack thereof, sure could disrupt people’s lives. Making the wrong decision obviously could as well. He, Emma and Levi might well be a family right now if he hadn’t been so stupid. There was always the chance she might have waited for him, even if she hadn’t been in love with him. At least he would have known about his son.
After making sure Celia and her calf were doing well and settled comfortably, he went to the house, took a shower, then headed for Bevier.
He’d done some amateur sleuthing last night on his computer, and it hadn’t taken him long to find Emma.
Going back five years to society weddings in the paper online, he’d found a copy of the picture she’d sent him. Grateful to his dad for keeping his old phone books, he’d pulled one out for that year and looked up Henry Brassington the second and his wife Emma, listed in the phone book with the address of 2106 Fairview, along with the phone number. He copied them both down. He’d try the address first. If that didn’t work, since she could have moved after the divorce, then he’d try the phone number.
