Page 97 of Beautiful Crazy

“So do you want to answer my question again?”

“Uh,” I chuckle lightly getting her point. “I guess he’s never given me reason to not trust him. It’s just my own insecurity.”

“Mmm hmm. Maybe you need to unfold a few more of those papers while you’re on this break then.” She winks at me when I catch her eye and that makes me smile with a tad bit more confidence. Hugging the jar a little tighter to me, I respond, “Yeah. Maybe you’re right. Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

___

“So, are you going to tell me what this is really about?”

I swing my head towards Wes, the warm southern breeze blowing my hair in my face. “What what is really about?”

He tilts his head. “Don’t play dumb, Em. I know you too well. You didn’t just fly all the way to Georgia to take a few days for yourself.”

I shrug. “I mean, in a way I kind of did.”

“But what are you running from? Or maybe I should ask, who are you running from? And don’t think I don’t know about you and Emmett. I saw his Instagram after his brother’s wedding.”

“Oh.”

“You two looked pretty…chummy.”

I chuckle at his prolific vocabulary. “Chummy?”

“You know what I mean. You guys are together now?”

Slowly, and maybe a little unsure, I nod my head.

“Did he hurt you? Is that why you’re here?”

Gazing out at Wes and Jenny’s beautiful yard, I wonder to myself if I’ll ever have a life like this. A life where I can sit out on the front porch and watch the birds flying around the gardens. Maybe a house with a big wrap around porch so I can see things going on from anywhere.

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a house in Bardstown with a wrap-around porch.

Maybe I should move to Georgia.

“Emily…” Wes brings me back to my thoughts. I let out a sigh and watch the ice floating in my tea.

“No, he didn’t hurt me, Wes. Not really.”

“What does that mean?”

I put my glass of iced tea on the small table between us and turn in my chair. “Did you ever wonder, before you proposed to Jenny, what her life was like before you met her? Or did she ever voice concerns about what you were like before she was in your life?”

Wes chuckles. “Of course, she did. She knew I was a bit of a party-guy back in the day. I actually met her at a college party so don’t let her fool you into believing she’s a saint. Although if I’m being honest, she’s a saint for saying yes. I’m a lucky man.”

“Hmm. Maybe I should be asking her this question then.”

“Is that what you’re worried about with Emmett? His past?”

I nod, embarrassed that I’m even admitting this. “He’s slept with a lot of women, Wes.”

My brother throws his head back laughing. “Yep. He certainly has. Did you know he used to have a goal in college?”

“No.”

“He wanted to sleep with fifty different girls before he graduated,” he snorts. “Or at least that’s what he used to say.”

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