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Chapter Eleven
Ted spent the next few days feeding the foals with Emma in the morning and evening. If there was no one around, they strolled to the stables hand-in-hand, and took an evening walk together too. He sure did like holding her hand, and talking with her, and getting to know her.
She never brought up anything sensitive, and he learned she had two sisters—both married with children—and he told her about his younger brother and older sister.
“Ah the middle child,” she teased him, and Ted nodded.
“That’s right,” he said. “You’re the youngest. I think we both have issues.” They laughed together, and Ted wondered—not for the first time—if he could kiss her before he dropped her off at the West Wing.
She’d taken him down a dirt road lined with trees, and he was pretty sure this was where Nate had kissed Ginger for the first time. His best friend didn’t do a lot of kissing and telling, but Ted had asked a few questions, and Nate had been open and honest with him.
Just be careful with her, Teddy.Nate’s advice was good, and Ted once again pushed on the brakes of their relationship.
“My mother is coming tomorrow,” Ted said into the glorious night sky. He never spoke too loud at night out here. It felt like the sky would amplify the sound and broadcast it to the whole world.
“Oh, that’s right,” Emma said. She looked up at him, and though the darkness had gathered quickly, the weight of her eyes still landed on him. “Are you nervous?”
“Yes,” he admitted.
“Why’s that?”
“My mother hasn’t seen me in a while,” he said. “The trip to River Bay became…difficult for her as she aged, and Britta’s girls got older. Everyone got busier.” And he’d missed it all. In fact, he’d only held his nine-year-old niece a couple of times when she was an infant before getting shipped off to the low-security facility.
Britta had brought their mother to visit, and Ted’s brother, Shane, had come often too. At least in the beginning. Neither of them had ever brought their children, for which Ted was grateful.
“How long?” Emma asked, squeezing his hand.
Ted got the feeling she’d asked once before, but he’d been too deep inside his own mind. “Oh, uh, at least three years. Britta’s come in the last year or so. Shane too. But not Mom.”
“What about your father?”
“He stopped coming before she did.” Ted looked out into the deep purple sky, watching it turn navy in the blink of an eye. That part of the Earth was covered with water, and Ted wanted to walk right up to the edge of it and feel it lap against his ankles. “My dad and I have a rocky relationship,” he admitted. “It wasn’t great before I went to prison, and it actually improved while I was behind bars. But then he stopped coming when he got pneumonia a while back….” Ted shrugged and tipped his head back.
“I can see so many stars here,” he said. “It’s incredible.”
“You’ve said that every night for the past three nights.” Emma giggled and tugged on his hand to get him to keep moving. “Come on, the mosquitoes are eating me alive.”
An extreme measure of gratitude moved through Ted that he was alive enough to be eaten by bugs. A smile slipped through his soul, and as he and Emma increased their stroll to a walk, he asked, “Do you go to church, Miss Emma?”
“Occasionally,” she said.
“Would you take me on Sunday?” he asked. “There was a preacher that would come to River Bay sometimes, and I liked listening to him.”
“Sure,” she said. “I’ll take you.”
“Great.” He released her hand and slung his arm around her shoulders. “Are you going to come out of the office to meet my family?”
“Do you want me to?”
“Yes,” he said simply. “I can’t leave the ranch alone, and Ginger told me today I can’t leave with only them either. I have to be with her or Nate…or you.” He looked down at her, but it was hard to see her features very clearly. “She specifically said I could leave the ranch with my family if you came with me.”
“Hmm,” Emma said.
“Have you been tellin’ her things about us?” Ted asked quietly.
“A little,” Emma said. “Nothing big. You should know that Ginger knows every single thing that happens on this ranch. So she knew I was coming in later than normal from feeding the babies, and she knew I was leaving earlier.” She nudged him with her shoulder. “She knew you were too.” A smile seemed to light her face from within, and Ted basked in the glow of it.
He chuckled too. “Yeah, I got that feeling about her,” he said. “I don’t mind if you tell her, I was just wondering.”
