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Me:…
Emmy:Everyone will have to wear masks to hide their identities. And there will be a secret password.
Me:Is that what you really want to do and being a wedding planner is just a cover?
Emmy:No. I like designing pretty events. Black and gold and red would get boring after a while.
Me:Those are your sex club’s colors?
Emmy:Of course. I can tell you why.
Me:I think my kids are calling me. I’ll see you later, beautiful.
The next three weeks flew by in a blur of happiness. My kids started school and made some new friends. I took Wyatt to the King stables a few times to visit the horses—with a promise from the King brothers to teach him anything he wanted to know about caring for and raising the animals. And Avery spent as much time in Emmy’s pool as possible while the weather held, loving the new swimsuit that didn’t keep creeping up her ass.
The nights I spent with Emmy continued to be some of the best of my life.
Even if she hadn’t worked up the nerve to contact Rafe yet, she talked more and more about her parents and brother. And even I, not the chattiest of men, started telling her stories of when Beck and I were kids, before she was even born.
Occasionally, I wondered how the fuck she wanted to be with an older guy like me. But she did, and I was too fucking selfish to tell her she could do better.
I’d even started accepting side jobs for her wedding business and did custom builds. I enjoyed the work, more than what I did in the vineyards and winery, not that I’d told my brothers that yet.
Beck didn’t hound me about his offer for me to become more involved in the business. I still couldn’t bring myself to say yes, because deep down, I knew I wanted to do something else—probably raise cattle. But I was still too happy with Emmy and my family accepting me again to rock the boat. That time would come soon enough.
Today I had a rare day off, and since Emmy’s big movie-star wedding was in less than a week—meaning she was too busy to eat let alone spend time with me and my kids—I asked Avery and Wyatt what they wanted to do.
They asked to go looking for animals near the creek on Emmy’s land, and so here we were.
As Wyatt and Avery scoured the creek and nearby rocks—I was too big and loud and had been told to wait several feet away—I looked over the land again.
The grass was impossibly high now, wildflowers growing among it, and I wondered if Emmy planned to keep it fallow forever. It was good grazing land for cattle, and with some elbow grease, it could be turned into a ranch like before, with prized beef that would start bidding wars.
If she didn’t want to do that, then maybe she’d sell me the parts of her land she didn’t need, and I could start my own ranch.
The only drawback was if I fucked up and she dumped my ass, we’d be neighbors.
Avery tugged on my hand, and I looked down. She grinned up at me as she held out her hand and showed me a ladybug. “Do you want to make a wish?”
This was something I’d passed down from my mom—whenever we found a ladybug, we’d make a wish and then gently blow on it until it flew away. I’d even put a few ladybugs in my tattoo to honor both my kids and my mom.
“No, you do it, love.”
“If you’re sure. I made the last wish on the tree in the orchard.”
My family primarily grew grapes and made wine. However, at one time, our land had been covered in apple trees. Only a small orchard remained, and only because my mom and dad had loved all the traditions held there. There was a wishing tree near the center. Plus a lot of family proposals seemed to happen there too.
I cupped the bottom of her hand with my own. “How about we both make wishes? I’m sure the ladybug won’t mind doing two at once.”
She nodded. “Good idea.”
I leaned down until our cheeks touched, and I murmured, “Make your wish.” A few seconds passed as I made mine. Then I added, “On three. One, two, three!”
We both gently blew, and soon the ladybug flew away.
Avery whispered, “What did you wish for?”
“If I told you, it won’t come true.”
