He had that lavender lemonade he’d made for Emma and as soon as he approached her Delilah gave him a wink and walked around him.
“Hiya, Gavin, I’ve been wanting to ask you more about that scone recipe you mentioned,” Delilah said.
Red mentally decided he owed her a drink.
“Hello, Emma.”
“Red, it’s good to see you.”
Her voice was low and her words sweet and slow like Texas honey. She took her time when she spoke, like she did everything.
“Good to see you too,” Red said. He could hear Gavin wrapping up with Delilah and knew if he was going to make a move, he needed to do it now. “I made you something.”
“You did?” she asked.
“Yes. I figured you’d be getting hot out here with your kids’ group and not able to go get refreshments, so I have this thermos of lemonade for you.”
He held it out to her, and their fingers brushed. A shiver went through him and he tried to ignore it but didn’t succeed. He stood a little taller and fought the urge to flex his muscles to show off for her. He knew that wasn’t the kind of thing she normally paid much mind to, but he couldn’t help himself. She made him want to preen and prove his strength.
“Thank you, Red,” she said. “That was very kind.”
She opened the top of the thermos and poured some into the cap. After the first sip she looked over at him, her brown eyes wide with surprise.
“This is lavender lemonade,” she said.
“It is. I got the recipe from your grandmother.”
“It’s my favorite,” she admitted. “How’d you know that?”
“I’m a noticing kind of guy,” he said.
“Are you?” she asked tipping her head to the side, which jostled her cowboy hat causing it to start sliding off.
He reached out to steady it, seating it back on her head. “I am.”
“What else have you noticed?”
He took a deep breath. She’d nibbled at the bait on his pole, but he didn’t want to rush it and scare her away.
“That you like picnics on the Pedernales,” he said. “I’ve seen you out there when I take my tours up the river.”
“I do like them,” she admitted.
“How would you feel about lunch with me tomorrow?” he asked.
She took another sip of her lemonade and then nodded. “I’d like that. But it only seems fair that I pack the lunch. You can bring more of this lemonade.”
He nodded. “I’ll do that. See you at noon, Emma, at my place, okay?”
“See you then, Red.”
He turned and walked away, nodding at Gavin as he went, trying not to feel too smug but he knew he’d selected the right bait for this opening foray into wooing Emma Corbyn.
If a woman conceals her affection with some skill from the object of it, she may lose.
~lesson learned from Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice
Chapter Two
“Red finally asked you out?” Delilah asked as she stood in the kitchen of the house they shared, watching her as she tried to assemble a lunch for herself and Red.
“Duh. Are you going to be helpful or just stand there asking me dumb questions?”
Delilah laughed as she walked over to the pantry and started pulling out ingredients that Emma didn’t even know she had. But then Delilah tended to do the food shopping and all of the cooking. As a trained chef her younger sister had skills that Emma didn’t. And usually Emma was more concerned about finishing one more chapter in her current book than what she was eating.
But this was her first date with Red. And though she didn’t want to get her expectations up, she was excited. She’d dated a lot of different types of men and every one of them had said some version of the same thing to her when they ended things. Her expectations were too high. No real man could ever live up to the heroes in the books she liked to read.
Which Emma had dismissed as rubbish, but maybe they weren’t wrong? She had always measured men by a ruler. It wasn’t formed from fictional men though, but by the men who had been in her life. Her father. He was always going to set the standard and he cast a pretty long shadow.
“Em?”
“Hmm?”
“I asked if Red had any food allergies,” Delilah said. “Daydreaming again?”
Emma shook her head. “I don’t think so. Surely, we’d have heard something by now if he did. I mean he doesn’t look like the sort of man who has allergies; not that you can tell from looking at someone. But Red is pretty robust.”
“I agree,” Delilah said. “But I’ll be safe anyway and leave out nuts. What about strawberries?”
“He likes them. He purchased three strawberry shortcakes from me last summer at the Friends of the Library fundraiser,” Emma said. That was when she’d first started noticing Red as more than just another guy around town. He’d had on a T-shirt that advertised his outdoor expedition company and it had clung to his washboard abs and his muscled biceps. She knew that was shallow but there it was. They’d had a few conversations and when she’d asked what his favorite book was…he’d told her he didn’t like to read, which honestly shouldn’t have surprised her. She knew he’d struggled with dyslexia growing up.
“Emma, really, I’m not going to help if you’re not going to pay attention,” Delilah said. “I have to get back to the Dragonfly to start prepping for the day.”
“Sorry. I’m just…do you think I did the right thing by saying yes?”
“Of course, I do,” her sister said as she held up two boxes of crackers. “Herbed or just lightly salted?”
“Herbed. Red and I have nothing in common,” Emma said. “He’s not much of a reader.”
“He’s a doer. You need someone like that in your life. And you can’t take your eyes off of him when he’s in the same vicinity as you.”
She flushed a bit and turned to the fridge to grab the strawberries and blackberries from the container that Delilah had put them in the other day. “So?”
“So? I’m just saying it’s about time you both went out. See if there is more to this than just that initial attraction. I’ve been out with plenty of guys I thought were hot and sometimes there just isn’t anything other than that. After today y’all will know.”
She nodded. Her sister was right. She had been trying to play it cool…well actually playing it cool was kind of her thing because getting her heart broken wasn’t something she was interested in experiencing. She’d always been a little standoffish because the truth was once she let someone in, she couldn’t just shut off how she felt about them. And in her experience people who loved her tended to lie.
“I know,” she said quietly taking out a plastic container and putting some of the fruit in it.
“Don’t overthink this. It’s a picnic on a really nice summer day. If I know Red, he’ll have picked out the perfect spot. Just enjoy it. Don’t make it a date. Make it a chance to get to know Red better,” Delilah said.
Emma nodded again. It probably seemed to her sister that she was a bobblehead with all her nodding, but she was thinking. Doing that deep processing that meant she didn’t want to talk and interrupt her own thoughts. “I’ll do that. That’s really smart, Dee.”
“I know. I’m way smarter than y’all realize.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Emma said. “After all, I’m the brain…you’re the…”
“B—”
“Hellion. I like that better. Bitch has a negative connotation and I have always hated that some of the guys in town call you that.”
Delilah shrugged but Emma knew her sister hated it too. Dee might act tough on the outside, but her sister was probably the biggest softy of them all. She used her attitude to keep people at arm’s length—the same way that Emma used books. “Do you ever wonder why we all always try to keep people at a distance?”
“Nope. I figured it’s because Mama had that big secret and even though we weren’t aware of it, she was projecting on to us to keep ourselv
es safe,” Delilah said. “I’ve got three types of cold cuts, some olive spread I made from scratch last week. Two types of cheese—someone ate all of the herbed goat cheese spread I made yesterday.”
“It’s delicious so that’s sort of your fault. We have about thirty minutes until I have to leave to meet him. You could make some more.”
“Love to, Em, but I can’t. We don’t have any of the ingredients left. This is better—you won’t be tempted to scarf it all down quickly,” Delilah said with a wink.
“True,” she said, laughing. She had a bad habit of eating really fast. And she wanted to make a good impression on Red. On their not-date.
*
Red got back from his early-morning fishing expedition, smiled with his guests, took pictures for their social media accounts and then waved them off.
He’d had just enough time to open his email and read the latest from his attorney. His pulse always started racing and his nerves made it harder for him to concentrate on the words in the email. He used an app that Braden had suggested that read the email out loud for him.
William,
I’m happy to inform you that the courts have agreed that you have a right to seek custody of your daughter Molly Odem. I have notified her temporary guardians and maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. J. Odem, of your intent to seek custody.
The courts have suggested mediation. I am awaiting their response. In the meantime continue with your plans to decorate a room for Molly in the house you are building. I’ve attached the state of South Carolina’s requirements for custody of a toddler for you to read over.
I’ll be in touch as soon as I have more information.
T. Henry Rimmer
Red had been trying since January when he’d learned of Molly’s existence to get custody of his two-year-old daughter. It was all he’d been thinking about other than wooing Emma Corbyn. He’d never thought of having a child but once he’d known that his one-night stand with Lori down in New Orleans a few years ago had made him a father, getting custody of his daughter had become his focus.
He’d even let his desire to date Emma slide while he tried to figure things out. But he knew he couldn’t keep his life on hold forever. He’d tried to visit her but the Odems had refused to let him see her.
Which had straight-up ticked him off but the truth was he’d understood part of it. Their daughter had been killed in a car crash after which they learned of his existence. Lori had apparently left it in her will. Just his first name and Last Stand. That was all she’d given them and their attorney had found him.
They had temporary custody but wanted to keep her with them. Felt that Molly had been through too much and the initial report on him hadn’t been great, Red thought. He lived in a cabin next to the outfitters. Worked all day and spent most nights at the saloon drinking.
But he was changing.
He was building a house—the foundation had been laid, the roof was on and the framing up. All that he had to do was the interiors and frankly, he wasn’t the best at that. He had electricity and running water as well. The house would be a permanent home for him, and he hoped his daughter. He had made a move with Emma and no one could fault her for anything. If things worked out with them…well, that would definitely be a plus. And he’d have his daughter with him.
He responded to the email using the talk-to-text function. He was almost afraid to believe that the little girl he’d never met but already loved would one day live with him.
For now, for today…he’d just concentrate on his date with Emma. He had checked out a few of his favorite spots earlier and two of them were already overrun with locals and folks in town for the rodeo. He wanted to find the perfect spot for this date with Emma and while he knew it wasn’t realistic to expect he’d find complete privacy, he didn’t want everyone in town to be looking at them while they were on their first date.
Date.
Man.
He’d hardly slept a wink last night trying to go over everything in his head. He was by nature a man of action. Like he’d mentioned to Braden yesterday there was something uncanny about Emma and Big Bertha. They were both crafty, elusive and something he didn’t mind waiting for. But at the same time, he knew that he had one shot…realistically he might be able to get a second shot with Emma, but he didn’t want to blow this. He wanted this picnic to be all the things she liked and perfect.
But he’d never been perfect, and it worried him a little bit that he was striving for that. He knew that perfection was its own demon. His father had said to accept the flaws in life and that was the path to contentment.
But who wanted simple contentment when they were going out with a woman?
He heard the shop door open and then sound of boots on the tiled floor of the expedition outfitters.
“Red, you in here?”
Mr. Corbyn.
“Yes, sir,” he called as he came around the corner and saw the older man standing in the doorway. He had on a pair of khaki pants and a shirt that protected him from UV rays. “How can I help you?”
“My brother and his family are coming to town in two weeks and I was hoping you could take us out fishing,” Jasper said. “I know you book up fast, so I’ll take any spot you have open.”
“Let me check my calendar. Come on back to the counter and we’ll get you set up. How many will be in your party? I might be able to squeeze you in with another group,” Red said.
“Well it will be me, Johnny, Mom and our wives for sure. Johnny’s youngest son probably. I doubt any of my girls will want to go,” Jasper said. “So that’s six.”
Red pulled the paper planner that his parents had given him for Christmas toward him and looked at his bookings for the next two weeks. He had one that was tentative so he could bump them for Emma’s dad if he needed to. “I’ve got a father and son on one day so I could take your party with them. That would be a nice size group.”
He and Mr. Corbyn settled on a date and Jasper offered to leave a deposit but Red told him just to pay on the day. He wasn’t worried about that.
“If you want to block off that afternoon, we’re grilling out at our place afterward and all the kids will be there along with the Delaneys. Would love to have you there too,” Mr. Corbyn said.
“Thank you, sir,” Red said. “I’ll jot it down and if I don’t have any other tours, I’ll take you up on that.”
“Good. See you then.”
Jasper walked toward the front of the store and the door opened. Emma walked in wearing a green-colored sundress and carrying a picnic basket.
“Hi, Daddy. What you are doing here?”
“Booking a fishing trip for when Uncle Johnny is coming. What are you doing?”
“Picnicking with Red,” Emma said.
“Perfect day for it. I’ll leave you two to it,” Jasper said, kissing his daughter before leaving the shop.
Red smiled over at Emma who had left her hair down. It curled around her shoulders and swung when she walked over to him. “I’m waiting for Tim to get back and then we can go.”
Tim was one of his other guides. Tim had taken a tour out but was due back to mind the shop for the afternoon.
“No hurry. Can I put this on the counter? I want to look at some more of those sun protection shirts you carry. I need a new one for Dad’s birthday. I could order one, but I’d rather buy it local.”
“We have a nice selection. I noticed your dad has been wearing a lot of those lately,” Red said. “My dad had some spots removed that were skin cancer. I hope your dad doesn’t have that.”
“The doctor doesn’t think so, but Mom worries less if he wears them. So, we’re all getting him as much sun protection clothing as we can,” Emma said.
“That’s a good idea,” Red said, leading her over to a rack. “Here ya go.”
She flipped through them, selecting a couple of different shirts. “You should think about wearing these too.”
“I do try to wear them,” he said.
“Ugh. I didn’t mean to sound like I was lecturing but you know redheads have a higher chance of developing skin cancer,” she said, looking him over. “I don’t want you to have to worry about it in forty years.”
“Thank you,” he said, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re fairer than I am, you know.”
Her lips parted and he felt the brush of her breath against his cheek as she exhaled. It smelled minty fresh and she licked her lips, which drew his eyes to her mouth. She had a lush-looking mouth. Her top lip was a perfect cupid’s bow and her bottom lip was full. He’d had a lot of time to think about her mouth last night and he groaned as he realized he needed to step back. This wasn’t part of his plan. He didn’t want to spook her off.
*
“Homemade” by Jake Owen was playing on the radio as Red turned off Main Street and started driving out of Last Stand. Emma rested her head against the back of the seat and sang along with the radio. Red glanced over at her but didn’t start singing along. Her entire family always sang along with the radio.
She stopped and turned so she could watch him better.
“You don’t have to stop singing,” he said.
“I know. I was just wondering why you weren’t,” she said. She had the chance this afternoon like Delilah said to get to know Red better. Of course, almost kissing him in his shop hadn’t been part of her plan but she’d liked that too. Liked that he’d almost kissed her before he’d pulled back. It made her think that maybe they were both sort of trying to figure this out.
“I’m not much of a singer,” he said. “Plus, I like listening to you.”
She smiled. It was a sweet thing to say but she wasn’t sure that was true. “Where are you taking us?”
Red Hot Texan Page 2