She nodded with utmost seriousness.
“That’s my girlfriend. Her name is Marnie.”
Her eyes widened even further, like only a newly three-year old’s could. “Grey has a girlfriend.”
It wasn’t the response I expected. “Does he now?”
She nodded solemnly. “I saw him give her his Animal Crackers.” She chewed on her bottom lip and asked, “Do you love your girlfriend like daddy loves mommy?”
I brushed her hair back from her face, and straightened her unicorn headband. “I do.”
“What’s going on here?”
“Mommy!” she squealed, making my ears ring. I wouldn’t be surprised if my eardrums had actually burst. “Uncle Jupiter is telling me about his girlfriend, but I’m not allowed to tell you.”
Emerson threw her head back and laughed while I muttered ‘traitor’ under my breath. “You should know better than to confide in a three-year-old, especially this one. She’s the blabbermouth of the family.”
“Now you tell me.” I rolled my eyes and put Gabriella down so she could go and destroy someone else’s hearing. “Have fun reconnecting?”
Emerson pulled me into a hug. “Oh, Jupe, I did. I really did. It’s so good to see her. You too; you seem calmer.”
I frowned. “What does that mean?”
But she just shrugged.
“I’m glad you’ve finally found her again, it’s been long enough. Though,” she pinned me with a look, “you haven’t told her why you broke up in the first place.”
I glanced over to where Marnie was now talking to Drew, which meant I likely needed to rescue her. “Emerson, it doesn’t matter. It’s the past, and we’re together now.”
“Just as long as it doesn’t come back to bite you on the ass…”
“Why would it?” I snapped, not wanting to continue this conversation, especially when she gave me another pointless shrug.
Iwent in search for Marnie and found her heading down toward the restroom, so I jogged after her.
“Hey,” I whispered, snaking my arms round her waist and pulled her against the wall. “Are you ready to go? I think I’m partied out, and I want to show you something before we get home,” I kissed her head, “and then we’re spending the rest of the afternoon naked.”
In a less than a flash her pupils widened, and her pulse ratcheted up.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” I chuckled.
“You do that.” She thumbed to the restroom, “Can I pee first though?”
“Yes. I’ll go and find my parents. Meet you in five?”
“Make it four,” she grinned.
After all the goodbyes and calendar schedules my mom made to meet Marnie before tomorrow’s game, it actually took fifteen minutes to get out of there. I was expecting her to have some kind of freak-out the second we drove out of the gates, but she was perfectly calm, quietly smiling to herself.
I peered over at her. “You okay there?”
She nodded slowly. “Yes. I was just thinking how good it was to see Emerson. She seems really happy, and the kids are adorable.”
I wasn’t quite ready to divulge exactly how pleased it made me to hear her say that, but I leaned over and kissed her quickly. Marnie changed the music, and then went back to her thoughtsas I took a left out of Emerson’s place and headed down the road, driving through the town and out the other side in contented silence. I hadn’t spent much time actuallyinthe town, because whenever I was visiting, I tended to camp out at Emerson and Drew’s house. Plus it was usually too much hassle going out in public, but I think it was a place I could get used to. It reminded me a little of Malibu, just without the beach, Pacific Ocean, and year-round sunshine.
Finally we came to a turning down a dirt path that I’d missed the last time I’d visited. I slowed almost to a stop which had Marnie paying more attention to our surroundings and the large red PRIVATE PROPERTY: KEEP OUT signs to either side.
“Jupe, where are we?”
