“Yeah, right,” she murmured. I couldn’t even remember why I felt that way, so how could they know how I would feel?
“Did you say something?” Josh tightened his hold on her.
“I was just mumbling,” she whispered. “Oh. My. Gosh!”
“What?” He started to jump up but got tangled in the cocoon they’d made with the quilt tucked in around them.
“Shh . . .” She put her finger over his lips and pointed toward the cave entrance.
“Is that real or are we dreaming? Is that really bright sunshine I’m seeing?” He sat up and untangled the quilt.
“The storm is over.” Emma pointed to the firepit. “There’s nothing left but embers, and I’m starving. Think we could break out the last of those energy bars?”
“Or I could build a fire and warm up a can or two of beans,” he suggested.
“Then we’d have to make sure the fire was put out before we left. How far is it from here to home?” Emma asked. “If we have to walk, can we get there by noon? That’s when Sophie gets back. I’m dying to hear more about her trip. We’ve talked on the phone, but it’s just not the same.”
When they had packed everything into their backpacks and stepped out into the sunshine, Emma noticed that raindrops were still hanging on to the oak leaves, and she took her notebook out of her hip pocket.
“I want to paint that leaf,” she said.
“That would be a great picture for your Hope collection.” Josh carefully buckled the front of his backpack over his chest. “Ready to go forth and overcome the obstacles?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Emma asked.
“We came up the mountain on dry ground. Going down is going to be on a slippery slope, but we have lots of saplings to hang on to,” he explained. “I’ve only made this trip once after a hard rain, and I rolled most of the way to the bottom. Course, only my pride got hurt. I’ll lead the way, and we’ll go slow.”
“I can’t imagine life without art now that I’ve found it again. I love doing the small things.” Emma inhaled the clean morning air and felt happiness surge through her—real happiness. She took the first step and her boot sank down into at least an inch of mud, and even that didn’t spoil the joy in her heart.
A sucking sound came from Josh’s boots every time he moved forward. Emma grabbed a small tree trunk for support with each step. She slipped a couple of times, but she was able to get her balance before she took a tumble or sat down flat on her butt. But near the bottom of the slope, there were no more trees to hang on to, and the mud was even deeper. Josh went even slower at that point.
Emma kept her eyes on the ground and took one step at a time—right up until a big black snake slithered out of nowhere. She froze. Her breath stuck in her chest. Her hands trembled when the thing crossed right over the top of her boots. She tried to scream, but nothing came out. She shivered so hard that she lost her footing and fell forward, bumping into Josh on the way. Together, they tumbled, ass over teakettle, all the way to the bottom. When they finally stopped rolling, she was lying on top of Josh, and they were both covered in mud.
“I’m so sorry,” she apologized. “Snake . . .”
“Where? Are you all right? Did it bite you?” Josh wrapped both arms around her and sat up with her in his lap.
“It’s gone now,” she panted, “but it crawled across my boots. I hate snakes.”
“Me too.” His breath came out in short gasps. “Are you sure you aren’t bit?”
“I’m fine, but I lost my backpack.” She realized at that moment that they were sitting in a mud puddle that was at least six inches deep with cold water. When Josh gazed into her eyes, she wouldn’t have cared if the water came up to her chin. She didn’t even realize that anyone was nearby until Arty chuckled. She looked up to see him holding her soaked green backpack. “You kids doin’ some mud wrestlin’ or something?”
His voice startled Emma so badly that she tried to jump up but only fell again and landed on top of Josh a second time.
“Do I start countin’ now to see who’s the winner?” Arty laughed out loud.
Emma looked up at him. “Why would you count?”
“Haven’t you ever seen a wrestling match, girl? Got to count to ten or you don’t win this match. Hold him down and you can get the golden buckle.” Arty pulled a snow-white hankie from the bibbed pocket of his overalls and wiped his eyes. “Filly will be jealous that she didn’t get to see this.”
“Where did you come from?” Josh sat up again.
Emma stood up and stepped away from the puddle. “I’m just glad my mother isn’t here to see it.”
Josh got to his feet. “I wish she was here so she could see that her daughter has chosen to be a mud-wrestling queen. She might begin to believe that you are going to be yourself no matter what.”
“Well, thank you.” Emma did a curtsy.
“If you two are through flirting, we should get on home,” Arty said.
“I wasn’t flirting.” Josh blushed.
“We’re covered in mud. How can that be flirting?” Emma tried to wipe the mud from her jeans, but it just smeared.
“Yep, you were, and right there in a mud puddle.” Arty chuckled again. “Right now, we need to get you home and cleaned up.”
Home! Emma liked the sound of that. That’s what had been missing in her life. All she had needed to find herself was to find a home first.
“I’ve got the four-wheeler on the trailer, and Filly is worried about y’all. She went over to take some waffles to Em this morning and found her gone. Then when she stopped by your place, Josh, and you were gone, we pretty well figured y’all got caught in the storm. But y’all ain’t getting into my truck looking like you do. You can ride in the back.”
“Fair enough.” Josh nodded. “I’ve got to retrieve my quilt. I lost it on the way down.” He jogged back to the place where the fall had begun, picked up the poor muddy old quilt by the corner, and dragged it along behind him.
“You look like Linus from the Charlie Brown cartoons,” Emma said.
“We both look more like Pigpen.” Josh threw the quilt into the back of the truck, unhitched his backpack, and tossed it over, too. He hopped up on the trailer and extended a hand to help Emma.
“I can do it by myself, but thank you,” she said.
“Yes, ma’am.” He inched his way around his four-wheeler that Arty had already strapped down and sat down with his back to the cab.
Emma crawled up on the trailer and followed his lead.
“Everyone ready?” Arty called out the window.
“Yes, sir,” Josh yelled back.
“Well, that was an adventure like none I’ve ever been on before,” Emma said. “Not even Six Flags was that much fun.”
“How did you ever endure Six Flags?” Josh asked.
“Rebel was there. She always made things easier.” Emma remembered the day very well. The excitement of getting to go and riding with Rebel in her car with no air-conditioning. Sweat sticking her hair to her face. Eating hot dogs on the go. Picking out souvenirs for her mother and father. But most of all she remembered giggling with Rebel and Sophie.
“Did you ever go?” she asked Josh.
“When I was still in public school, they took us on a field trip to that place. I made it through the gates, saw that crowd, and spent the rest of the day in the bus with my sketchbook,” he answered. “I wanted my grandfather to go with me, but he couldn’t take off work. I asked if Harry could be a chaperone, but Mother said I needed to grow up and be a big boy.”
“Well, you are a hero in my eyes,” Emma said. “You took me to the cave and even let me win at mud wrestling. When we get home”—she smiled at the way the word rolled off her tongue—“we should ask Filly or Arty to take a picture of us so I can show it to Sophie.”
“We could take selfies now.” He pulled his phone from his hip pocket. “I’m glad we have waterproof cameras. Let’s see if they’re mud-proof as well.”
“We should be at the trailer park by noon,” Teddy said as he loaded their luggage into the back of his truck.
Sophie wrapped her arms around his neck. “Just think, in just a couple of weeks, we won’t have to leave Texas again. If anyone wants one of my paintings or anything we sell in our gallery, they can come get it. I love you, Teddy.”
Teddy tipped her chin up, and their lips met in a string of steamy kisses that made her knees go weak and every nerve in her body tingle. When the kisses ended, he held her close to his chest for a few more minutes, their hearts pounding together at the same rate.
“I hate goodbyes,” she whispered.
He buried his face in her blonde hair. “We’re working on never having to say that again. For right now, we’ll focus on a day at a time, and today we’re on the way to see Emma and the rest of our friends.”
“I’ll need to come back to Dallas that last week and get my loft cleared out. I called my landlord yesterday and told him that I’d be out before my rent is due on the fifteenth of the month. So, we can spend that week together.” Sophie wanted to focus on the logistics of everything rather than saying goodbye to him.
“I’ll keep the bed in my apartment until the last minute.” He opened the door for her. Once she was settled, he rounded the truck and slid in behind the wheel. He started the engine and drove away from the airport. “I’m so glad that Em has done well while we’ve been gone, so you won’t worry about leaving her for another week.”
“Me too,” Sophie answered. The trip was supposed to erase all her doubts and fears about making such a rushed decision to leave her Dallas loft and move to Del Rio, but it hadn’t.
Her phone pinged, and she dug it out of her purse and smiled when she saw that it was a FaceTime call from Emma. She hit the accept icon and gasped. “Holy crap on a cracker! What happened to y’all?” She held up the phone so Teddy could see the screen.
“Looks like we missed a mud-wrestling event,” Teddy laughed. “Who won?”
“I did,” Emma giggled. “I pinned him in a mud puddle when we lost our balance coming down the mountain. You should have seen Josh dragging the quilt behind him. He looked like a cross between Pigpen and Linus from the Charlie Brown cartoons.”
“I was just offering Em a fancy spa mud bath. Don’t ever say that the Hummingbird Trailer Park doesn’t have amenities, especially when it rains.” Josh chuckled.
“I can’t wait to hear this story,” Sophie said.
“Not over the phone,” Emma said. “I’ll give you all the details when you get home. See you in a few hours.” The call ended, and Sophie laid the phone on the console.
“Em is going to be all right,” Teddy said with confidence in his tone. “We’ve both worried for nothing.”
“Looks like it, but why does that make me sad?” Sophie sighed.
Teddy laid a hand on her shoulder. “I imagine it’s kind of like when the first child goes to kindergarten and doesn’t cry for their mommy. You’ve rescued Em, brought her into a healthy environment, and now she’s flourishing. But up until last week, you and the folks at the park have been her sole support system. That eased the guilt you had in your heart because you didn’t make a bigger effort to keep in touch with her.”
“Will you send me a bill for this therapy session?” Sophie laid her hand over his and squeezed.
He slid a sly wink her way. “Yes, I will, but don’t expect it to be for dollars.”
Filly came out of her trailer the minute she heard Arty’s truck on the gravel. The wind had dried the mud on Emma’s face, and now it was cracking, so she wasn’t a bit surprised when Filly’s eyes got wide and she hurried out to the edge of the truck.
“What in the hell happened to y’all?” she asked. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?”
“They played in a mud puddle,” Arty said as he stepped out of the truck.
“We might’ve been able to outrun the storm, but the four-wheeler wouldn’t start, so we took shelter in my cave,” Josh explained as he stood up and offered his hand to Emma.
“Why didn’t you call?” Filly fussed. “I would have sent Arty sooner than this to get you.”
“No service.” Emma took Josh’s hand and let him help her up. “But I FaceTimed Sophie so she could see us. She’ll be here in a few hours. They were just leaving the airport.”
“Why isn’t it all soggy here?” Josh asked.
“We only got a little shower, not a downpour like you must’ve gotten near the mountain range,” Arty said. “We just got enough to cool the temperature down a little and water Filly’s rosebushes. We’re supposed to have sunshine for the next week, so Sophie’s homecoming today will be nice.”
“You two get on home and take a shower, and then I want Em to come straight to my trailer and work on decorations. Josh, you are to help Arty with the outside stuff,” she bossed.
“Yes, ma’am.” Emma nodded. “But first, will you take a picture of me and Josh with my phone? I don’t ever want to forget this adventure, and if my mother gets hateful with me again, I will send it to her.”
“Of course,” Filly agreed.
Emma took her phone from her hip pocket and handed it to Filly. “I want one of each of us, and then one of us together.”
“Good Lord, darlin’ girl, did you drop this in the mud puddle? The only thing clean on it is the camera lens.”
Arty whipped a red bandanna from his hip pocket and tossed it to her. “Wipe it all off before you take the pictures.”
Filly caught it midair, wiped most of the now-dried dirt from the phone, and took several pictures of Emma and then a few of Josh. “Now, the two of you together.”
Emma wasn’t quite sure what to do since this was her first picture with a guy. Josh had sat down on the tailgate of the truck and patted the place next to him. She eased down beside him, and he scooted over closer to her. Then he draped an arm around her shoulders and said, “Say cheeseburger.” She giggled but said the word, and Filly snapped half a dozen pictures of the two of them covered in dried mud.
“One of those will definitely send your mama into a cardiac arrest if she ever sees it.” Filly handed the camera back to her.
“Thank you so much,” Emma said. “Now, I’m going to go get cleaned up. I’ll be over to your house as soon as I get all the dirt and mud off me.”
Josh walked beside her to the end of the porch steps and said, “Thanks for being such a good sport about everything.”
“I was serious when I said this was an adventure,” Emma told him. “I never got to play in the mud when I was a child. Sophie talked about making mud pies, and she told me about her and Rebel taking off their shoes and wading through puddles. Yesterday and this morning have been the stuff dreams are made of, even if I am past thirty, and, Josh . . . ,” she started.
She glanced down at his lips and then back up at his eyes. He was going to kiss her, and her lips and face were still smeared with dirt and mud. She wanted him to kiss her, but her first kiss ever should be special—something that dreams were made of, not just the taste of dirt in her mouth when it ended.
“I know,” he said, and then brushed a soft kiss across her forehead. “I’ll give you the space to find yourself.”
“Thank you,” she said.
She floated into the trailer and went straight to the bathroom, wondering if it would be possible to clean her face without washing her forehead.
Chapter Eighteen
Josh had wanted to kiss Emma for days. He had envisioned all kinds of scenarios and hoped that he would have the nerve to actually kiss her when the opportunity arose. When it came right down to it, everything happened in a split second, but it did not take one thing away from the effect it had on Josh.
>
“I’m thirty-two years old,” he grumbled as he kicked off his boots on the porch of his trailer. He went straight to the tiny laundry area in the hallway and put his dirty clothes in the washer. “I should have kissed lots of girls before now. Kiss nothing—I should have had sex by now, too.” He continued to fuss at himself as he got into the shower. “But I’ve been afraid to even talk to girls until Em came into my life. Besides, it wasn’t a real kiss on the lips.”
Has any other woman ever made you feel like Emma does? The voice in his head sounded a lot like Filly.
“No,” he answered out loud.
His heart had quit doing double-time when he turned off the water and wrapped a towel around his waist. He shaved, brushed his teeth, and grinned at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. “She makes me feel like a superhero, like I could move mountains and wrestle with a bear and win,” he whispered.
He dressed in a pair of denim shorts and a bright-blue polo shirt and combed his hair. He didn’t like going to the barber with all those other people around, so he cut his hair himself and kept it just long enough to slick back into a short ponytail.
He and Emma came out of their trailers at the same time. Josh stopped and watched her cross the courtyard to Filly’s place. She’d gained a little weight since she’d been at the park, and it looked good on her. Her dark hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, and the sun’s rays appeared to give her a halo.
She turned around when she reached Filly’s trailer and waved at him. The smile on her face made her appear even more angelic, and Josh felt like a king when he waved back at her.
Emma knocked on the door and then stuck her head inside and called out, “I’m here. What can I do to help? I’m hyper, so please give me something to do to keep me busy.” She truly felt like she was floating on clouds—Josh had kissed her on the forehead and Sophie was coming home.
Hummingbird Lane Page 23