“I’m back home with my parents.”She chuckles.“That’s been loads of fun.I had to get permission to go out today.”
“What can I do?”I ask softly.
“You’re doing it.”She grabs her drink.“Just being here, you’re doing it.”
“Well then, let’s do it more,” I urge her, and she smiles at me.“This weekend.Movie marathon at my house, and if your parents say it’s okay, you can sleep at my house.”The two of us laugh just like we did all those years ago.
An hour and a half later, we pay the bill and get up to go.She brings me back to my truck at the barn, and when I start it, instead of going home, I head to see Juliet.With everything that happened today, I need my girl.
Parking at the side, I walk into the barn and stop when I spot them.“This is Juliet,” he tells her.“She’s Lilah’s horse when she came to work for us.”
“Hey,” I say softly, and their eyes move to me, “fancy meeting you guys here.”
“I was showing Lucy my horse and gave her a tour,” Emmett explains.“It’s bath time,” he says, and Lucy nods, holding her hand up to wave at me while they both walk out.Emmett’s walking like he’s got a weight on his shoulders.I watch them until they disappear into the house.
“Hey, girl,” I tell Juliet, “twice in one day.”I walk into the stall.“That’s the day it’s been.”I take her out, going for a ride, not a long one and definitely not a fast one.By the time I head back, the sun has set, and the stars are coming out.I’m closing the stall when the barn door opens, and Emmett walks in.He’s out of his jeans and in shorts and a T-shirt.I’ve never seen him in anything other than jeans, and my eyes sweep over him once and then quickly turn away before he catches me ogling him.“Hey,” I say, wiping my hands on my jeans, “everything okay?”
“Yeah,” he replies, “I thought I forgot Lucy’s sweater in here.”He looks around.“She had it when we went out for a walk, in case there was a breeze, and now I don’t know where I put it.”
“I never thought I would see the day,” I tell him.He looks at me, and I swear, what I wouldn’t give to have him hug me just one time.To be held by him just once, especially after today.What I wouldn’t give to be able to bury my face in his neck and kiss him.Fuck, the longing makes my chest hurt.“You a dad.”
He looks down.“You aren’t the only one,” he admits.“I have to get back to Lucy.”He points over his shoulder.“Are you going to be okay getting to your car?”
“I’ll be fine,” I assure him, and he turns to walk away but stops and glances over his shoulder.
His eyes look like he’s tired.Fuck, does he ever look tired.The lightness of his eyes he had before he had Lucy is gone, at least for today.“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I reply softly and watch him walk to the house, wishing I was holding his hand while he does it.
ChapterEleven
EMMETT
“Let’s get the iPad so we can FaceTime Mr.and Mrs.Graham,” I say, walking over to the iPad and opening it.“They are waiting for your phone call to wish you good luck at your new school,” I tell her.When we got back last night, we FaceTimed them, and I was hoping that she would talk at least to them, but still she said nothing.It was fucking torture, and I’d rather wash a herd of cats than do that again.
I open the FaceTime app and press the camera, hearing the sound of ringing as I place the iPad down on the counter in front of her.They answer after two rings.Both of them try to sound excited about her starting a new school.It falls on deaf ears, and after a couple of minutes, the call quickly ends.
“Ready?”I ask Lucy as I finish my cup of coffee, and she nods.I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous before.I barely slept last night, thinking about how her first day at school would be.“Grab your bag.”I rinse out the mug and place it in the dishwasher before meeting Lucy at the door.She was swinging her new backpack over one shoulder, which looks like it weighs about a hundred pounds from all the stuff she has inside of it.It was something we picked up this weekend, along with all of her school supplies.I never knew how much shit they needed to start school.I was a ward of the state, so I was given everything when I got to school.Sure, I didn’t have the cool stuff all the other kids did, but it did the job.Now I was going aisle by aisle, making sure she had the best of the best.Like I was making up for not being there for the first eight years of her life.
She’s wearing a new outfit, blue shorts and a white T-shirt, her black hair pulled into a ponytail that she did herself.We spent all weekend shopping and going to places I never fucking knew existed.Also, I never thought in my life I would be going to different stores to get white sneakers, and at one point, I bought her seven pairs.I also thought it was a good idea to go clothes shopping.I immediately regretted my decision when I thought I picked up something that was good but then got the grimace face, followed by a swift nod.I then waited back and would watch her eyes, and if I saw she looked at something twice, or even if her eyes changed when she saw something, I picked it up.In the end, we got home with twenty bags of clothes.I spent all of Sunday washing them to make sure they were ready for school the next day.
We walk out of the house side by side.“You okay?”I ask, waiting for the day she’ll actually say words to me.So far, she’s talked to Lilah, and she’s said a couple of words to Autumn and Charlie.I’m pretty much the only one she hasn’t spoken to, and it hurts.I also know she’s so unsure of everything.It’s a wonder she isn’t doing worse.
She opens the back door of the truck, getting up, and then places her bag beside her before she shuts the door and buckles herself in.I get in, starting the truck, and then turn to her.“Are you nervous?”I ask, and she shrugs.“Well, I will say you have to be the bravest kid I know.”I start the car.“I’m nervous for you, and I’m not even going to school.”I smile over my shoulder, and for the first time, she smiles at me.My heart, which was beating in my chest with nerves and stress, suddenly feels like it’s about to come out of my chest.Either that or I’m having a heart attack.“But I have no doubt you will just have the best day.Plus, I think you have to be the smartest kid in the class.”
I pull away from the house and make my way over to the school.I’m tapping the steering wheel with my finger, letting the nerves out, I’m assuming.We pull into the parking lot, and I see it’s filled up, leaving me to park on the side of the road.I meet her at the side of the road and walk with her toward the chain-link fence.I stop when we get there and squat in front of her, her eyes down on her feet.“Okay, I can’t go in there with you,” I say.“It was in the parents’ book they gave me to read.I have to say goodbye to you here.”Her eyes look up at me, and I can see she’s fighting back the tears.“They have my phone number, so if you need anything, you can ask Ms.Summer, and she will call me,” I remind her of what they told us when I came in to bring back all the paperwork I had to fill out.She nods and the bell rings, and I swear, I wish I could pick her up and take her away from all of this.“You got this.”I put my hand on her shoulder and squeeze her, not sure she’d be okay with me hugging her.“I’ll be here waiting when you finish school.”
“Okay,” she says softly.It’s a good thing I’m already squatting down because just the fact she spoke to me would have cut me off at my knees.
“Have a great day,” I say, smiling as I blink away my own tears.She nods and turns to walk into the schoolyard.I get up as Ms.Summer walks toward her, giving her a big smile.She reaches out her hand for her, and Lucy takes it.She must tell her to wave goodbye to me because she turns and waves at me.I hold up my hand, keeping it up until she’s inside the school.
“She’ll be good,” Brady, Autumn’s brother, says.“I pointed her out to Wyatt before she walked in, so he’ll check on her,” he says of his stepson.
“Thanks, man.”I nod at him.“Never thought I’d be in a parking lot watching my kid walk in the school,” I admit to him.“I also didn’t think it would hurt me as much as it did.”
“Kids, man.”He shakes his head.“Wyatt doesn’t share my blood, but I would die for him, so I can imagine.”
“Later,” I say, turning and walking to my truck.I take one more look at the school before I get in, feeling like I’m losing my mind as I make it to work and get out of my truck.I walk into the barn, already on edge, when I look up and see Lilah.She has her back to me, but I know every single inch of her from afar.