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“Yeah,” he said, his voice husky. “Sorry, I just wished that I was there so I could take you in my arms and kiss you.”
“I wish you were too.”
“Does this mean that you aren’t going to push me away anymore? That you’re going to let me date you properly and see how we can make this work?”
“Yeah, I think I would like that—no, I think I would love that.”
“Good. Then once you get your girls situated, you and I are going to see where this goes.”
“I think it might go pretty far.”
“I sure as hell hope it does, Nolan. I really do.”
A few minutes later, Brad and I got off the phone, and I felt like my life was finally going in the right direction. I was grinning as I went back to Lauren’s room.
“You look happy,” she said as I came in.
“I am. I’m going to have my girls back home with me, and we are going to finish our house together, and—”
“And what?”
I studied her for a moment. “What did you think of Brad when you met him?”
“I thought he was really nice, and even cuter in person. Tonya and Tyler are nice too.”
“They are,” I agreed. “Would you have a problem if I dated Brad?”
She shook her head. “Nope. As I said, he’s pretty cute.”
My phone binged with a notification, and I looked at it. “Oh, my god!” I said as my hand slammed over my lips.
“What’s wrong?” Lauren said immediately, and I smiled at her to ease her sudden worry.
“Nothing is wrong. Look at this picture! Emmy is on a horse!” I turned the camera around. Brad’s mom sent him a shot of Emmy on the horse, and he sent it to me.
“Look at her smiling!” Lauren said excitedly. “I don’t think I have ever seen her smile so big.”
“I know, right!”
“I am so jealous. She got to ride a horse before me.”
“Yeah, well, you got a ride in a helicopter, and she didn’t.”
Lauren winced and then laughed. “Yeah, that is true.”
As I stared at the picture of Emmy, I realized that I had made the right decision when I had decided to move. My girls would find happiness here, and I would find it as well.
Chapter Thirty
Bradley
Iknew that Lauren was home and resting, and I would pick up Emmy and bring her back to her mother after I got off work. Emmy had surprised us all with how well she did riding Buttercup. At the picnic, they had bonded instantly at the fence, but it wasn’t until my mother was out mucking their stall that she saw a deeper connection.
Emmy had climbed through the fence and was petting Buttercup. She had her head resting against the big animal’s shoulder as she talked to her and stroked her. Buttercup, who always loved attention, seemed even more drawn to Emmy than she typically was to other people. Anywhere Emmy went around the paddock, Buttercup followed.
After my mom cleaned the stall, she saddled Buttercup, and Buttercup had nuzzled Emmy like she wanted her to get on. My father put her into the saddle and gave a few instructions, and as if Emmy had been doing it for years, she took the reins and away they walked through the paddock.
My parents were spellbound as Emmy spoke to Buttercup in a way that she didn’t talk to others. Unlike her normal voice when she spoke to people, her words held emotional infliction that brought my mother to tears.
