he looked back to where the woman was at, she was no longer there. She was no longer anywhere that he could see.
Huh. For all of two seconds, he wondered if he knew her, because forgot about her completely when Emily popped up in front of him, Bilbo at her side. She took the hot chocolate he offered, and the two of them ambled along the path, enjoying the night. Sure, they got looks from some folks, even a few pointed fingers from people with no manners, but overall, they were left alone.
He was happy to exist in the cocoon he’d made for the two of them, and later that night, when he took Emily back to her home, he kept her up for hours because he was a man of his word. He started a bunch of fires, including the one between her legs. He melted off those panties, and he took his sweet-ass time putting every single one of them out.
Ethan was busy the next few days finishing up a leather interior redo on an older Mustang, as well as reupholstering a chair for his mother. He rarely worked on furniture, but how could he say no to her? By the time Thursday rolled around, he was ready to dive into something else, like the bike Connor had brought by weeks earlier.
The weather had held steady, with snow nearly every day and temperatures hovering around the freezing mark. He was meeting Mac Draper to discuss a project and had agreed to meet him for a beer at the Coach House before he went over to Emily’s. He glanced at the clock on the wall beside the door and realized he needed to get his butt in gear. He locked up and hopped in the shower, and less than ten minutes later was ready to leave. He scooped up his phone, expecting at least one message from his lady (she had a habit of sending him silly TikTok videos of dogs), but there was nothing. He shoved his cell into the pocket of his coat and decided he’d call her on the way to town.
Ethan was just about to head outside when there was a knock on the door. He answered it, a smile on his face because for some reason he half expected Emily. But it wasn’t her.
His smile slowly faded as his gaze landed on the woman in front of him. Tall and slender, with ice-blonde hair, a trim figure, and a familiar face, though there was a bit more cosmetic work done to it than the last time he’d seen her.
Linda North. Emily’s mother.
He didn’t a get a chance to say hello or make an opening statement, because the look in her eyes wasn’t promising. It told him she was here to talk, and he was going to listen. She pushed past him. “We need to have a conversation.”
Slowly, he closed the door behind her and waited. His feelings for Emily’s mother were ambivalent. He neither liked nor disliked her. He knew her to be a vain woman who cared more about her looks and the husband du jour than her daughter. He didn’t judge. He knew humans came in all shapes and sizes. Some cared and some didn’t. As far as he was concerned, not every person should procreate, and from what little he knew, the woman in front of him fell into the latter category.
How she ended up with such a warm and caring daughter was anyone’s guess and, more to the point, Linda’s loss. He hadn’t seen Linda in over five years. Not even at Rick’s funeral.
“I’m just going to get right to it,” she said, smoothing the hair around her face. “Samantha Coles is back in town.”
Ethan slowly blinked, heart sinking as his thoughts moved back to Light-Up Night. The woman watching him from the shadows. His blood ran cold at the thought.
“Are you sure?”
Linda nodded, and for the first time that he could remember, there was a chink in her armor. The woman was usually cold as ice.
“She came to see me in Arizona.” Her worried eyes burned into Ethan’s mind. “Her father is sick and she wants to be with him. We can’t fault her for that and I suppose I always assumed this day would come. She said she’d be here by Light-Up Night.”
The blood in his veins went ice cold. Samantha and Emily were a deadly combination. He knew Emily wouldn’t let it go. That she’d ask questions.