his boys—Dallas—still chattered, making plans, telling stories. Guilt pushed hard in his chest. The best memories of his childhood were of playing with his brothers. And yet, because of his stubbornness, not only had he lost his wife, but his boys had lost the opportunity to get to know each other. And of course, there were no siblings.
He wasn’t the slightest bit interested in remarrying. Emerson had been all he’d ever wanted.
He could only hope she felt the same, since she’d never asked for a divorce.
When the boys came back from staying with her, sometimes he’d gently probe to see if there was a boyfriend. He never heard of any. He kind of hoped she felt the same way he did, even if they never spent another day together.
Chapter 2
Emerson Mahoney Hudson paced in her large, airy office. The Swiss Alps dominated the landscape outside her window. Snow-covered, soaring, and majestic, they never failed to inspire her as she stood in front of her window.
She stopped in front of said window and looked out, her arms crossed over her chest.
“I need to get those reports out to our processing team. If we’re going to move on that new factory, we need to get this rolling. We’ve been stalling long enough while the environmentalists brought their lawsuits about the groundwater and the spotted sparrow.” Sherman Townsend, her father’s right-hand man and second-in-command only to her, had his butt on her desk, his feet crossed at the ankles, and, if she knew Sherman, his arms crossed over his chest too. She didn’t turn from the window to check if she was right.
Her dad would like nothing more than to see them together, but that was never going to happen.
“Of course, Sherman. I’m almost through them. And they look good.” She continued to study the picturesque view. One she would never grow tired of. Her voice was level and full of confidence, the way she wanted it to be.
Nothing of her struggle, nothing of the kerfuffle with her children showed in her tone or posture. She’d been doing this for a little over eight years. Eight years and three months to be exact, but she certainly wasn’t counting. Unless she was counting the time that she got to enjoy the view and living in this wonderful country.
You prefer the little hometown you grew up in. That crazy voice in her head would never be quiet. Never be satisfied.
It was right. But she shushed it. Every day, she looked at her view and told herself she loved it more than anything, that she was grateful to live here, that she loved her job, and that she was happy alone.
All lies.
The only thing she was happy about was being able to work at a job where she could have her son with her constantly. Whichever one happened to be spending his six months with her.
She loved them both, but it had been getting harder and harder when Dallas was with her.
He was the spitting image of his father, and he reminded her of all the reasons she’d fallen in love with Reid.
Of all the reasons why she loved him still.
Of all the reasons why Sherman would never be more than a shadow sitting behind her.
Or any man. No man could be to her what Reid had been. What Reid was.
Of course, it was Reid’s fault she didn’t have Dallas with her now, since he’d neglected to make the arrangements for the airfare, and with the fuel shortage, flights had been limited.
She’d been so looking forward to seeing Dallas again. If only because seeing Dallas was like seeing Reid, and she’d been unreasonably upset that she was going to have to wait longer than she expected. Even while she had to smile at the fact that of course Reid waited until the last minute to make airfare arrangements. She should have done it herself. He was always busy on the farm with harvest this time of year.
“Emerson?”
Sherman’s voice cut into her thoughts. She closed her eyes with frustration. She’d been doing a very good job hiding the turmoil in her chest, hadn’t she?
Drat the stupid man’s pride anyway. She’d thought Reid would come for her. She never imagined for one second he’d let her leave and not even make an attempt to come get her and bring her back.
Maybe there was a little bit of pride involved for her too. Since she wasn’t going home unless he came for her.
She turned, her arms falling down to