I smiled, happy for her. “You sold it? Congratulations!”
Emma smiled, wiping away my tears. “Thanks, babe. But how about you? What do you think you want to do?”
I looked over at the boxes, then back to Emma. “I love your parents, but my days of living with guardians are over. And you and Max have my heart, but I’m not staying with the two of you where I can hear sex noises coming from your room every night.”
“Hey!”
“Come on, babe. You know it’s true.”
“Whatever. So, Sully’s?” Emma said, looking over at my stack of boxes.
“I guess Sully’s.”
“Mags, he’s not going to pressure you. He just wants to help.”
I knew that. God how I knew that. The thing was, I wasn’t sure if that was what I wanted. Living in the same house was going to throw that back in my face. Every. Single. Day.
I looked at Emma. “So you and Max. Officially living together?”
Emma smiled at me, squeezing my hand. “Yep.” She took a breath, “And you and Sully. Having a baby.”
“Yep.” My waterworks started back up as I squeezed her hand back. “Things certainly have changed,” I whispered.
“But maybe the changes are good changes,” Emma whispered back, pulling me in for a hug.
I closed my eyes, chin to her shoulder, as I said a quick prayer.God,I hope so.
9
Out of My Comfort Zone
Sully
Home from work, I changed out of my clothes that smelled of brewed beer and went out into the yard with my pup. I stood in the yard, zoned out as I threw the ball for Ranger for so long I felt like my arm might fall off. After a while Ranger decided he was done, looking at me like I’d clearly lost my mind as he dropped the ball by my feet and laid down by it.
“You done, boy?” I asked.
His tail beat quickly, but he didn’t move, so I guess that was his answer. Giving up, I sat on the steps of the porch that led to the kitchen as Ranger moved over to drop his head to my knee.
“I know, bud.” I stroked his head.
He looked at me like he knew I clearly didn’t know what I was doing. I wasn’t sure what it said about me that my dog knew I was a hot damn mess. At least he’d still be loyal to me no matter what.
The rumble of a bike brought me out of my downward spiral of emotions. I glanced down to the country road and saw Max turn off it to pull up the drive. Coming to a stop, gravel shot from under the tires. Max swung off as Ranger barked happily in greeting.
Max dropped his helmet on the seat and called out, “Yo.” As he headed in our direction, I tried to gauge his mood.
“Harp,” I said, trying to remember if we had any plans.
“Sully,” he said, coming to sit next to me on the porch.
I waited a few minutes, but he didn’t say anything. Finally I broke the silence. “Did I forget that we had plans?”
Max whistled for Ranger, who was glad to find someone else who wanted to pet him. “Nah. Maggie called Emma. Said you guys had an appointment yesterday. Em said Mags was pretty emotional. Figured I’d check in.”
My heart thudded when he said Maggie was emotional. Maybe I shouldn’t have left her last night. But I had work and Emma had swung by, so I figured that was for the best.
Looking at Max, I raised an eyebrow. “And you didn’t text before heading this way because…”
