Page 25 of Marrying Emma

“That sounds good. Thank you.”

Marty grinned at her. “Now, are you going to keep staring at the wall, or are you going to beat it?”

Emma chuckled as she placed her foot on one of the holds and reached up to grasp another. It might not happen on the first try, but she had every intention of conquering the wall one day.

She could only be so lucky if she could do the same with the obstacles in her own life.

* * *

Moments after Martypulled in front of Emma’s house Saturday morning, the front door opened, and Emma walked across the grass toward him. She must have been watching the street. She wore a pair of denim capris just short enough to show off her shapely calves. A light purple blouse fit her perfectly and, compared to what she normally wore, seemed especially feminine.

The passenger door opened, and Emma peered inside, her long hair flowing over one shoulder. “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” he said with a smile. “I’m glad you were able to come today.”

“And I’m glad you showed up with your truck.” Her bright smile rivaled the sun as far as Marty was concerned. “I know you said you don’t take your motorcycle into the city, but for a brief moment this morning, I worried you were going to drive up with it anyway.” Emma put a small backpack on the floorboard before reaching for the handhold and stepping into his truck.

Marty waited for her to get settled and put her seatbelt on before putting the truck in drive. He could suddenly picture himself riding through Clearwater on his Harley with Emma behind him, her arms wrapped around his chest. He almost said something and stopped himself.

She must have detected his hesitation. “What?”

He glanced at her as he waited for the light to change. “I was going to tease you about getting you to ride on my Harley someday, then worried it’d make you feel uncomfortable.”

“Has it been that hard to stop flirting?”

So she had been paying attention to his efforts. He suppressed a satisfied grin. “In general? No.” The light changed, and the line of cars in front of them started inching their way toward the highway’s on-ramp.

“What do you mean by that?” She looked both confused and curious as she turned slightly to stare at his profile.

Marty considered changing the subject as he increased speed and eased onto the highway. “It’s easy not to flirt with other women. Not so easy with you, Emma.” He couldn’t take his eyes off the highway as he merged and wished he could see her reaction.

She shifted and sat back in her seat. When he glanced at her again, her cheeks had a rosy hue as she stared through the windshield in front of her. Marty would have given his left pinkie finger to know what she was thinking about right now.

Did she understand he didn’t just hang out with her and flirt with her because he could? That it went deeper than that? He liked her. Cared about her.

Which was scary. Leave it to him to fall in love with the one woman who seemed completely impervious to his charms.

Wait, what?

Startled by his train of thought, Marty looked at his passenger again. It shouldn’t be possible to imagine going on vacation with this girl, coming home after a long day and seeking her welcoming smile, or building a family with her. Except he could, with amazing clarity.

He was falling in love with Emma.

And he had no idea what he was supposed to do with that.

Wow, God. That came out of nowhere. Please let me know if this is a direction You want me to take, or if I’m getting desperate in my older age.

He didn’t expect words of guidance, but it would’ve been nice.

“Have you been to this gym before?”

Emma’s question brought Marty some relief from his own internal conflict. He nodded. “Once. I went to a competition about three years ago. I don’t know why I did at the time, but watching everyone there is what inspired me to start using training to help with my rehabilitation and physical therapy.”

“That must be nice.” Her voice sounded almost flat.

“What’s that?” He glanced at her in surprise.

Emma shrugged. “Feeling inspired by something enough to change your life.”

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