“I have been thinking about it at odd moments. What does she look like?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t even ask. I was too busy being hurt and making it all about me,” Emma said.
“It was all about you,” Delilah said. “He should have told you but being Red he probably wasn’t sure what to say or how to say it.”
“You might be right,” she said out loud.
“I am. Also…Lea said that she heard from Alex that an older couple named Odem checked into the Harwood House with their granddaughter last night and she’s totally adorable. Word around Whiskey River is that her dad is from around here.”
“So?”
“So the father has to be Red. Want to drive over to the Harwood House and have lunch? I’m working the dinner shift so I’m totally available,” Delilah said.
Of course she wanted to see Molly but the timing wasn’t right. She needed to fix things with Red before she met his little girl.
“I can’t,” she said. Sneaking over to see her felt wrong. He’d invited her to meet his daughter, and Emma had said no. She couldn’t figure out why he’d chosen to keep Molly to himself unless he didn’t trust her.
Which was totally within his rights because she’d asked him to sneak around town. But he had to know she wasn’t just toying with him. Didn’t he?
She was trying to marry the two things she believed deep in her soul together. He’d lied to her. No matter what her parents had said or how they’d justified it there was a part of her that couldn’t understand the need to ever do that. Then there was the other side. She loved him. He’d seen parts of her she’d never whispered a word about out loud and he’d made them come alive. It wasn’t just the sex, she thought sternly. Though the sex was incredible. It was the knowing her. No one had ever made her feel like she mattered more than Red did.
She knew that outweighed him not telling her about Molly but she hadn’t figured out how to get herself back to him. How to go from feeling that she might have overreacted in the moment to the hurt and shock of learning Red had a kid with another woman and let that hurt her. But she hadn’t let it hurt her. It had really hurt her. She wanted to pretend that if he’d told her that first day when they had picnicked by the river, she would have been all understanding, but the truth was she wasn’t sure.
She might have just read that as Red being the kind of man who was careless with the women he slept with. Though as conscientious as he’d been about wearing a condom every time with her, she didn’t know what to believe.
“Em? Yes or no?”
“No,” she said. “First I have to figure out how to win Red back. I think I hurt him by leaving the way I did.”
“I’m sure you did. But he hurt you too. It’s okay for you to be upset that he lied to you,” Delilah said.
Emma loved her sister. She knew that Delilah would defend her even if everyone else in the world had said she was wrong. That’s what sisters did. She had Dee’s back and Dee had always had hers. “I know. But now I have to make it up to him. I didn’t tell you, but he built me a library in his house.”
“He did? Emma, he really loves you. You have to forgive him,” Delilah said. “You’ll always regret it if you don’t.”
“I know. I just have to figure it out,” Emma said. Then remembered how Red had used the 1950s Texas fishing guide to woo her. She wondered if she could use it to woo him. Surely the same techniques would work on him. But he’d set the bar pretty high. How was she going to be able to match it?
“So we’re definitely not going to Whiskey River?”
“No. I need to make a plan,” Emma said.
“Do you need me for that?”
“Maybe to fix some food later,” Emma said. “Why?”
“I am curious about Red’s kid. I might go over and check her out on my own,” Delilah said. “I wish you’d come too.”
Should she? She debated it for a minute and then decided she’d made the right choice not to go. “No. I’m not going to do anything dishonest when it comes to Molly and Red. I want to meet him in the open. I think my asking him to sneak around set the tone for our relationship and I want to fix it.”
“Okay, what are you going to do?”
“Find the right kind of bait,” Emma said.
“What? You are talking crazy.”
“I know it. Red won my heart by finding the right kind of bait to lure me to his line and reel me in, but I slipped away and now I’m going to have to lure him back,” Emma said.
“You know because I know Red that makes perfect sense. But you’re not a fisherman, Em.”
“I know, but I love one so there’s no other way I can win him back but to use these techniques. I don’t know how else to do it.”
Delilah nodded. “Okay. Well he really likes lemon freezer pie. He stops by the Dragonfly once a week and orders two of them.”
Emma jotted that down. He also really liked being on the water and she wondered if there was something, she could get him for his dock. She knew he had all the gear he could ever need, and she didn’t have the expertise to buy that for him. But she needed something he wanted for himself but wouldn’t ask for.
She was doodling ideas when she thought about his parents. He’d never had his mom in his life except on her turf. Was there some way she could bring him his parents? Give him something from them he wouldn’t ask for?
She also realized that him telling her he loved her and her leaving had to remind him of his mom. She hoped she hadn’t hurt him too deeply and maybe lost him forever.
She decided she wouldn’t let that happen. She hadn’t waited a lifetime for the man of her dreams to come into her life only to lose him.
A good marriage/relationship challenges both partners to grow.
~lesson learned from Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice
Chapter Sixteen
Red hadn’t slept at all since Emma had left. He worked outside and took tours out but it wasn’t the same. He’d lost his love of the outdoors…well it had dimmed. Everything was different without Emma. But he was going to see his daughter tomorrow in Whiskey River. He couldn’t wait. He had wanted to go to South Carolina to get her but the Odems had made a good point that if they brought her it might be easier on them.
He heard a car in the driveway and hurried to the foyer, seeing his own reflection in the highly polished marble. Was it Emma? Had she come back?
He opened the door and saw an old Chevy pickup like his dad’s. Then he realized it was his dad. As soon as the engine shut off his mom jumped out of the passenger side and ran over to him. She pulled him into her arms and hugged him tight. “Will, we got here as soon as we could.”
He hugged her back, breathing in the scent of Chanel No. 5 and the warmth of her hug. His mom was one of the best huggers. Red always cherished them.
“Thanks. I’m glad y’all are here,” he said, waving to his dad who was looking up at the house.
“This is nice,” his dad said. “I guess you built it for your daughter.”
“Yeah, I did. I wanted her to have a nice home to come to,” Red said.
“I like it,” his father said, clapping him on the shoulder. “I’m going to look around.”
His mom linked her arm through his, but didn’t walk; she just looked at the house. “Is this the home you wanted?”
He thought about just keeping his feelings to himself as he always did with his parents but remembered what Emma had said about lying to protect those he loved. That sometimes the lie hurt more than the truth. “Maybe not this grand, but yes.”
She turned to face him. “You were always so strong I think I treated you like an adult instead of a child. I should have stayed home more.”
He’d longed to hear those words more times than he cared to admit when he’d been a kid, but he knew that he wouldn’t be the man he was today if she had stayed. “Mom, when I was little, I didn’t get it, but as I got older, I understood how rare it was for you to achieve the level of acclaim yo
u did. It meant something to me that you were my mom and so successful.”
“It means more to me that you know I love you. If I could—”
“Don’t wish for a different life. I like the life I have, and I love you, Mom.”
“I love you too,” she said, hugging him again. She moved to his side and looked up at the house. “Is this based on the chateau we stayed at that summer you were ten?”
“It sure is. I loved that place. We had a good summer. Dad and I fished all day and we saw you every night. I wanted that kind of love to surround Molly when I brought her here.”
“Oh, Will, me too,” she said. “Tell me all about your daughter. Do you have a room ready for her?”
“I do,” he said. He brought his mom into the house and she remarked on the décor and the luxury that had been seamlessly woven into the design along with a natural and relaxed feeling.
“This place is special. Did you do all the interiors?”
“No. A friend helped me,” he said. It was hard to be in the house and not see Emma in every part of it. Not remember all the discussions they’d had about each of the rooms.
“She did a very good job. Is she just a friend?” his mom asked.
“She’s more, but it’s complicated,” he said.
“Want to talk about it? I might be able to help,” she said.
It was the first time she’d ever offered and Red realized he did want to talk. He wanted a woman’s opinion on the entire thing. He and his mom went down to the patio and she picked out a bottle of rosé and poured them both a glass.
Red told her all the details of the relationship. How Emma had wanted to keep things quiet and how he’d done everything he could to respect that, to be a better man for her, but hadn’t felt secure enough to share his feelings.
“I miss her, Mom. I don’t know how to undo this and get her to trust me again. And do I even have a right to ask her to trust me?”
“Tell her that. Like you told me, we can’t undo the past but sometimes we can use that hindsight to find a new way forward. And, kiddo, the woman who decorated this house for you isn’t going to fall out of love with you that easily. Every part of this house feels like a love letter.”
Red wasn’t sure he saw it the way his mom did, but she made him feel better about Emma. He had to figure out how to win her back, but he needed time. And he was slowly realizing as he spent the evening with his parents talking about Molly and his future that he had plenty of time to get the woman he loved back in his life.
*
Braden had offered to come with him to meet Molly for the first time at the Harwood House in Whiskey River, but Red had declined. He had hoped maybe Emma would come but the hurt he’d caused her ran too deep and she’d said no. Which was fine, he thought running his hands over his hair.
“You look good, William,” his mom said. “They are going to love you as soon as they get to know you.”
“Thanks, Mom,” he said. He hadn’t asked his parents to come but when he’d gotten downstairs his dad had simply said they were going with him.
“We’ll wait in the lobby until you’ve talked to her first,” his dad said.
Both of his parents hugged him and Red realized how lucky he was to have them as his parents. He’d never felt left out…maybe a time or two on mother-son events at school but the both of them had always loved him and always encouraged him to be true to who he was. Had he forgotten that with Emma?
He’d been so busy trying to impress her he’d forgotten who he really was.
The Odems were waiting in the garden of the Harwood House. He’d video-chatted with them a day earlier to just let them know when he’d be there and to talk to Molly.
They waved at him when they saw him and then Molly noticed and turned to face him. She had red curls and an easy smile, and she was holding a stuffed animal in one hand and was sucking her thumb.
He walked over to them and then dropped down to her level. His heart was beating so loudly he thought it was going to burst. God, he loved this little girl. “Hey, Molly. Remember me? I’m your dad.”
“Hi,” she said, around her thumb.
Oh, God. Please don’t let him screw this up. He loved his daughter so much he wanted to be the best dad in the world, could he? She held her stuffed armadillo.
“This is Dilly. Dilly, this is my papa,” she said, then threw herself into his arms. He scooped her up and hugged her close.
They spent the rest of the afternoon talking and playing. She chatted a lot and Red had to admit he didn’t understand everything she said but she kept smiling at him and didn’t want to let go of her hand. His heart was so full. He’d never wanted to be a father, hadn’t thought of having children but somehow his life seemed brighter now that she was in it.
*
Red’s parents had asked him if they could take him and Molly to Austin for the day and though Red had wanted to stay in Last Stand and try again to get Molly to meet Emma, he’d agreed. His parents and the Odems had both gotten along well and he and Molly were bonding as father and daughter. She’d crawled into his lap at lunch and had fallen asleep against his chest. Every day she was inching herself into more of his heart and the only thing that was tingeing his happiness was the fact that Emma wasn’t here to share it.
He’d been busy getting to know his daughter and setting up her bedroom. Which she’d sort of helped with, but two-year-old Molly didn’t have a lot of preferences. Surprisingly his mom and Mrs. Odem had gone shopping and come back with furniture and décor that not only suited his house but pleased both his daughter and him.
He’d enjoyed the day fishing with his dad, Mr. Odem and Molly. His daughter really liked the toy fishing pole he’d given her, and she looked adorable in her waders. His phone had a dozen new photos of her every time they tried something new. And it was all new. He’d sent a bunch of photos to Braden and his friend was just as excited to be a new uncle.
His life was falling into place in a way he’d always wanted as a child.
“I hope you don’t mind but we are heading back to town early,” Mr. Odem said. “Why don’t you and Molly enjoy the ride back together? I have to say we weren’t sure what kind of man you would turn out to be. Lori didn’t remember much of the night y’all were together other than your name and that you were from Last Stand or maybe she didn’t want to tell us much, but you are more than we could have hoped for.”
“Thank you, sir. I’m sorry I wasn’t there before this.”
“Honestly, son, I don’t think she wanted you to be,” Mr. Odem said. “But Molly needs a dad not just grandparents.”
Red agreed. He was going to be sorry when the Odems went back to Charleston, but they promised to visit once a month and Red was already talking to his builder about adding on a guest house that would suit them when they visited.
His folks drove the Odems back to their hotel.
“Looks like it’s just you and me, Molls. You ready to go home?” he asked her. She’d been playing on the big Stevie Ray Vaughan statue and he’d played her some of his music on the ride over. She was a happy child with big eyes and large curls. Every time he looked at her, he wanted to apologize for not having been in her life for so long. He would make up for it so she’d never feel that emptiness he’d felt when his mom had been gone.
He wanted to give her all the things he’d never had, which Cal said was what parents did. He’d spent a lot of time with the Delaneys. They’d sort of circled around him and shown him that they thought of him as a brother the same way he considered them.
He drove back to Last Stand listening to Paw Patrol—Molly’s favorite show—and trying to figure out if it was too soon to go back to Emma. To try some different bait and maybe start trying to win her back. But a part of him knew that he couldn’t do it again. He didn’t know what he’d do if he lost her once again. He needed to win this time. He needed her to come back to him.
And Emma wasn’t going to do that. He’d lied to her. She’d
said herself that lying was the one thing she couldn’t forgive so it wasn’t like he blamed her, but he missed her. He hadn’t slept right since she was gone and he wanted to share his daughter with her. His daughter who was always holding the book that he’d given her when he’d visited her in Charleston. That small hard-bound book of Beauty and the Beast because Red figured that every girl should grow up knowing that beauty was more than skin deep and that sometimes the monster didn’t always look like one.
Just as he got to the outskirts of Last Stand, he got a text from Braden asking him to stop by the Corbyns’ for dinner.
He used the voice command to text back that he wasn’t sure he’d be welcome.
Braden texted back just to get there.
Red looked in the back seat and noticed his daughter was watching him. “You okay, Papa?”
“Yeah, angel, why’d you ask?”
“You were loud,” she said.
“I was loud. Sorry sometimes I forget how loud I can be,” he said. “We’re good. We are going to see Uncle Bray and Lane.”
“Yay. Whoz Lane?” she asked, lifting her feet up and kicking her legs.
“Uncle Bray’s nephew,” Red said. He smiled at his daughter before turning his attention back to the road.
He wasn’t sure that going to the Corbyns’ house was a good idea. In fact, he’d just decided that wooing Emma back into his life was something that he wasn’t going to do and he was pretty sure she’d be at her parents’ house.
He was just going to be chill.
Except he’d never been good at playing it cool around her. This summer had been so damned hot and not just because of the temperature. It had been down to Emma Corbyn and he wasn’t sure that he was going to deal well with seeing her again.
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