Page 56 of Not Part of the Plan
“I noticed Reva and Caleb didn’t have a ton of clothes when they were packing last night, so I thought I’d pick up a few essentials.”
“And a few essentials turned into the entire second floor of McCafferty’s?” Jax laughed.
“Pretty much.”
“Between you and Niko, these kids are going to be swimming in iPads and diamonds,” Jax predicted.
The delight she got out of just hearing Niko’s name was ridiculous.
“So Niko made his cereal delivery?” she asked innocently.
“He texts me at three this morning and asks if it’s okay to leave a few ‘groceries’ in the kitchen for the kids. So I let him in, and he’s got four bags of frozen pizza and cereal and chips and mac and cheese. Comfort food, he called it.”
Emma felt her heart warm.
“What’s with the face?” Jax demanded.
“What? What face?”
“I tell you Niko dumps eighty-two thousand calories in our kitchen, and you get all soft and dewy.”
“Shut up. I did not.”
Jax leaned across the desk. “Those crazy Beautification Committee bastards got to you two, didn’t they? When’s the wedding?”
“The Beautification Committee has nothing to do with me beingfriendswith Niko. In fact, I have it on good authority that they have no interest in pairing me off with him.”
“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. Also, they don’t call going all doe-eyed at the mention of some guy’s name ‘friends.’”
“You’re ridiculous!”
“He’s a good guy,” Jax said, shifting gears into serious. “You could do a lot worse.”
“He’s not staying in Blue Moon, and I am,” Emma reminded him.
“Emma, Emma, Emma,” he sighed. “Never underestimate the power and pull of this insane town.”
Caleb ran into the room, hugging the stuffed horse around the neck. “Emma! I picked a name!”
“You did! That’s great! What is it?”
He held out the horse for his introduction. “This is Cloppy.” His face fell momentarily, and the little boy looked worried. “Are you really sure I can keep him?”
Emma’s eyes met Jax’s, saw her own sadness mirrored in his, before answering. “Of course. I got him just for you.”
Satisfied, Caleb smiled and then threw his arms around her legs. “Thanks! Hi, Jax!” he waved before scampering out the door. “Come on, Cloppy!”
“Everything that kid says is like a hammer fist to my heart,” Jax said, rubbing a hand absently over his chest. “How could anyone just walk away from him?”
“You never know why people make the decisions they do.”
“Does this stir up a lot of stuff for you about your own mom?” Jax asked.
Emma raised an eyebrow at him, and Jax looked chagrined. “Sorry. Nosey writer habit.”
“Things are simmering. But that was a long time ago for all of us, and we had my dad. And it looks like Reva and Caleb have you and Joey.”
“For better or worse, it looks like,” Jax joked.
