Maybe he could organize something with Blake and Talia. Or do something simpler, maybe. Just the two of them. Like take a hike nearby. Take in the leaves changing color. He could hardly believe it was nearly November. Thanksgiving was just around the corner, and for a moment, he allowed himself to envision them spending it together.
She’d told him she’d be in the garden, so he took the path down the side of the house, through the gate that was kept open with a large gray stone, and to the backyard. Emerson was on her knees, reaching into one of the vegetable beds, digging up the remains of plants that had offered their last vegetables.
“Hey, Emerson,” he said loudly to avoid scaring her.
Emerson turned and smiled. “Hey.” She tugged off her gardening gloves as she stood up. “How was your day?”
How was your day? His first thought was how that sounded so fucking good. To have someone care enough to ask and genuinely want to listen.
“Good. It got even better when I walked around the corner and saw you on your knees.”
At the sweet sound of her laughter, he pulled her into his arms, letting his hands slide down to rest on her butt. When she stepped up on her toes, he kissed her more deeply than he’d anticipated. He couldn’t help it.
“I should be offended,” she said.
“Only if you don’t like the idea of getting on your knees for me at some point. You have a fantastic ass, and I like the view. I call that a win-win.”
Emerson screwed up her face. “I don’t see how I win. You missed something there.”
“You get me, of course,” he said, holding his arms out to the side, twisting slightly from left to right.
She shrugged. “I suppose you’ll do.”
“How was your day?” he asked. “You look tired.”
“I have a white wine in the fridge and a black bean chili with cheese dumplings in the oven. I’ll tell you over dinner.”
Over food and drink, Emerson explained the call from the bank and the conversation with her brother. Once they’d cleaned up and poured out the last of the wine, they moved to the living room.
“I’m happy to meet them,” Connor said as they sat down. “Jake and Olivia. Just tell me when and where. I don’t want to end up on the wrong side of them because we were private with this. It’s not intentional. I was just thinking earlier how it was nice to meet Ali. And I really think you’d get along with Talia, my friend Blake’s partner.”
“I’d like that. We’re starting the process of going through Dad’s things tomorrow.” Emerson shifted to face him. “Could you pop over before you head back into town?”
“That sounds good. Or I could go work out and then pick up lunch and drive it over for you all. Something social instead of something so personal to your family. That said, I’m also totally willing to help if you want.”
Emerson nodded. “Even better. I’d be happy to meet your family, too, you know, if you want me to…or no rush, if you’re not ready for that.”
Connor took her hand in his. “’Tis a fucking tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive.” Or whatever that Walter Scott quote was. “I’d like you to meet them, too. It would reassure my mom to see I’m capable of dating.” My dad, on the other hand, might run us both out of the fucking house.
“You’ve not had too many girlfriends, then?” Emerson asked with a smile that reassured him she wasn’t being irrationally jealous.
He shook his head. “I have a past, for sure, just like everyone does. But I’ve always been—”
“Discrete? Chivalrous?”
“Yes, at least I hope the women in my past would think so. Loyal, honorable, perhaps too protective at times…I’m only human. What about you, Emerson?”
She tilted her head, her lips pursed as if trying to calculate something. “Probably only three relationships that meant something. High school first love, college, which became long-distance and petered out, and something here a couple of years ago. There were others in between but nothing worth a mention.”
For some reason, it reassured him to know something of her past. If they were building what he was hoping, and if at some point he was going to have to tackle his father, it gave him confidence that their relationship would be worth the difficulty he’d face.
“What are you going to do about the bank?” he asked.
“Wait until the letter comes in