by Lucy Score
Pep talk completed, Emma took a rallying breath and stood, straightening her skirt, and marched back upstairs. She handled a few voids on the POS, gave a birthday discount, and busted Sunny and Rupert’s make-out session in the supply closet before returning to the table.
Niko eyed her speculatively as she approached, and she winked. She could do this. She could be fun. Temporarily.
She took her seat and a flush-faced Rupert scampered over. “I have your soup in the kitchen,” he told Emma. “I didn’t want it to get cold.”
“Thanks, Rupert,” Emma said.
“I’ll go grab it for you, and sorry about… you know… in the closet.” All eyes were on him, and Emma bit back a sigh.
“Soup, Rupert.”
“Yep. Cool. Okay.” He hustled off.
“You’re such a mean boss,” Joey snickered in appreciation.
“Me? I’m sure Reva here could tell us stories about your dictatorship in the stables,” Emma shot back with a grin.
“I plead the fifth,” Reva said, studying her sandwich as the table erupted into laughter.
––—
They dined and drank and laughed. The kids provided an unexpected level of entertainment to Niko. He didn’t usually run in circles that involved kids of any age. The fact that many of the models he worked with were closer to Reva’s age than his own was enough to make him feel a mild sense of shock. The comparison was interesting. In some ways, world-weary models of eighteen or twenty had miles more life experience than Reva. And in other ways, Reva’s maturity outclassed many of the women in their mid-to late-twenties that he’d photographed.
Blue Moon was proving to be quite the learning experience.
“I’ve got to go take a lap,” Emma announced.
“Make sure no one’s burning down the kitchen,” Jax agreed.
“More like make sure no one’s making out in the supply closet,” Emma said with a head jerk in Rupert’s direction.
She rose, and Niko stood with her. He followed her a few steps away from the table. “Do you need any help in the closet?” Niko whispered.
“Not right now, but maybe after hours,” she said with a slow grin that had his blood pooling south.
“Looking at you and not being able to touch you is driving me insane.”
“I knew you were a masochist,” she teased. She glanced around them and gave a little “what the hell” shrug. When she moved in and rose up on her tiptoes, he was too surprised by the kiss she placed on his cheek to respond. He watched her leave, the chiffon pleats of her black skirt swirling around her spectacular thighs.
“Hey, Romeo, you want the last wing?” Joey called from the table.
“All yours,” he said, returning to his seat.
He liked Joey and her smart mouth, liked watching her with Jax when they put down the boxing gloves and played nice when they thought no one else was watching. More, he liked the rest of the family. It really was something that was lacking in his life. He had no solid circle of friends, no strong family ties that kept him rooted. Until now, he’d preferred casual acquaintances that could be called upon on the rare occasions that he was in the city and not working. Summer had been, and still was, his best friend. And he’d done nothing to replace her since she’d moved.
He thought of the wedding, the joining of families, the interconnectedness they shared as naturally as if they’d all grown up together. It made him think about his own father and how distant he’d allowed that relationship to become.
When his own father had found his second wife, he hadn’t felt an ounce of the joy that the Pierces felt when Phoebe married Franklin. In fact, he hadn’t even been officially invited to the wedding. It was a courthouse deal, and he’d been on a shoot in Paris. His father said he didn’t want Niko to feel obligated. He remembered feeling relieved when he found that his presence hadn’t been necessary.
In some ways, he’d expected his father to always remain faithful to the memory of his mother. But he was beginning to understand that life inevitably carried on and though new beginnings explored undiscovered paths, the past didn’t have to be forgotten.
He was wondering if perhaps he should reestablish a stronger relationship with his father and stepmother when a man with shaggy blond hair peeking out from under a ball cap ambled up to the table.
“Colby,” Jax greeted him cheerfully. “I didn’t know you were here. Pull up a chair.”
“Love to, but I think you guys are gonna want to head to the barn,” he said, taking his hat off and swiping a hand through his hair.
“Why…” Jax began the question, but Joey’s comprehension was faster.
She stood up so fast she knocked her chair over backwards. The other diners quieted and turned to stare. “Calypso?” she whispered.
“We’re havin’ a baby,” Colby nodded.
Joey whooped in victory. “Get your asses moving! We’re not missing this!” She dragged Reva out of her chair while Jax grabbed Caleb and threw the boy over his shoulder.
“You coming?” Jax asked Niko.
“Let me get my camera. You’re going to want some baby pictures,” he predicted.
They hustled toward the brewery’s front door where Niko promised to call Emma and let her know what was going on. When Jax and Joey’s entourage headed toward the stables, Niko peeled off to the house.
He burst through the kitchen door to the surprise of Summer and Carter who were stirring something on the stove.
“Geez, where’s the fire, Niko?” Summer said, patting a hand over her heart.
“Can’t talk! We’re having a baby!”
He ran for the stairs.
“Holy shit! Calypso?” Carter yelled after him.
“Grabbing my camera!”
Niko snatched his camera bag off the desk and thundered back downstairs. He heard a cry from the twins’ room and grimaced. “Sorry sorry sorry,” he said, running through the kitchen.
“I got this,” Summer said, pushing Carter after him. “Go see your baby horse!”
They hustled off the porch when she opened the screen door behind them. “And don’t think for a second I’m not going to ask you where you spent the night last night, Niko!”
Niko and Carter jogged along the dusty path connecting farm and stables. The night was alive with crickets and fireflies. “So you and Emma, huh?” Carter said conversationally.
“Yeah. It’s pretty new,” Niko said, realizing he’d never had this conversation before. How had he made it to thirty without ever telling a friend he was seeing a woman?
Carter pumped his fist in the air. “Yes!”
“I didn’t realize you were so invested in my love life,” Niko said wryly.
“I am when my wife bet Gia two nights of babysitting that you and Emma would hook up.”
“That’s what a unit is?”
“Two glorious twin-free evenings,” Carter grinned. “Beckett’s gonna freak. This almost makes up for the beard.”
––—
Three hours later, Niko watched as Calypso’s foal struggled to his feet and took his first toddling steps. He had the coloring of his father, Apollo, the dark, arrogant stallion, and a white star on his nose that exactly matched his mother’s.
Joey knelt quietly in the doorway of the stall. Jax stood behind her, resting his hands on her shoulders. Niko snapped a shot of them, catching the reverence and excitement that passed between them. Reva rested her chin on her hands as she peered over the front wall of the box stall, a ghost of a smile on her lips.
After making sure all was well with baby and mother, Carter had headed home to catch some sleep so he could check on the horses early.
“Well, we’ve got our baby, Jojo. What do you think?” Jax asked, stroking a hand through his wife’s hair.
“I think he’s pretty fucking awesome,” Joey said softly. Catching herself too late, she looked over her shoulder. “Shit. Sorry. Pretty freaking awesome.”
Reva gave a soft laugh. “It’s o
kay. Cale’s asleep.”
Niko snapped the six-year-old curled up on a bale of hay wrapped in an old quilt, sound asleep.
Calypso leaned down to gently nose her foal, and the baby’s tail twitched as if in recognition.
Instant family was fascinating to Niko.
“Is the baby here?” Emma appeared in the corridor now wearing serviceable flats and a hopeful expression.
Niko beckoned her closer, and she joined him next to Reva.
“Oh! How precious! Boy or girl?” Emma asked.
“Boy,” Joey said without taking her eyes off of the foal.
“He’s perfect,” Emma sighed. “What’s his name?”
“Thunder?” Joey threw out.
“Right because we want to name the founding member of our breeding program after every kid’s pony ever.”
“Fine, smartass. You suggest something.”
“Green Light?” Jax suggested.
Joey shook her head. “Too Hollywood.”
They all took turns throwing out and rejecting suggestions. “The Dark Knight?”
“George.”
“Octavius.”
“Clippy?” A sleepy Caleb roused himself to offer the suggestion. “We can’t call him Cloppy ‘cause we already got one of those.”
“Eclipse,” Reva offered.
The stables were quiet as everyone mulled it over. Joey nodded. “Yeah. Yeah. Eclipse. I like it.”
“Nice job, kid,” Jax said, ruffling Reva’s hair. “You just named a horse.”
Caleb yawned and settled back down on the hay bale.
Joey rose and stepped into Jax’s arms. “It looks like we’ve got ourselves a good start, Jackson Pierce.” She kissed him hard on the mouth before releasing him. “I’m going to make some coffee, and we need to get Caleb to bed or he’ll miss another day of school this week.”
She was grinning when she floated past.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Normally, Emma enjoyed a busy week at the brewery. However, the busy-ness was cutting into her time with Niko. And for the first time in a long time, she was interested in enjoying her social life.
Unfortunately, right now, she was stuck on the bar since Cheryl had come down with a head cold that was “suffocating the life out of her.”
For the first time since Rainbow had spotted her with Niko at Shorty’s, Emma didn’t even flinch when known Beautification Committee conspirers bellied up to the bar. Her fears over any meddling in her love life had been allayed, and she offered Rainbow’s husband, Gordon Berkowicz, a smile and a pint. His hairline was receding on top, making it look like his hair had just shifted back into the long ponytail he wore down the back of a Janis Joplin cover band t-shirt. His jeans looked as though they’d lived through the sixties. He and his son, Anthony—a skinnier glasses-wearing version of his father—was enjoying a mango margarita.
Gordon peered over his reading glasses at the bar menu, debating between appetizers.
“Have you gentlemen decided?” Emma asked.
Gordon put down the menu and nodded at his son. “We’re going to go with the rockfish bites.” He elbowed Anthony in the side, and Anthony coughed.
“So, Emma. You’ve been in town a while now. What do you think of Blue Moon?”
Anthony was the editor of The Monthly Moon, Blue Moon’s monthly community newspaper. Emma was aware that anything she said to Peter Parker could end up in an article.
“What’s not to love about Blue Moon?” she asked, taking their menu and keying in the order on the POS.
“So then you’re definitely planning to stay permanently?” Anthony prodded.
Emma rolled her eyes before turning around. She knew full well that Elvira Eustace would have already reported back to the entire town that she’d decided to stay.
“I’m considering,” she hedged. Of course she was staying. Her father lived here, one of her sisters lived here, and she loved her job. But that didn’t mean she had to put all her personal business out there.
Gordon cleared his throat. “I imagine you’ll probably want your own place eventually. Something a little bigger than the guesthouse?”
Emma thought of Aurora bursting through her front door and finding Aunt Em and her friend Niko naked on the couch. “I wouldn’t be opposed to it.”
The Berkowicz men looked pleased.
“I’d be happy to give Bruce Oakleigh a call for you. He’s a part-time real estate agent, you know,” Gordon offered.
“That’s very kind of you, but I’m not sure I’m ready to move forward—”
“Oh, it’s no problem,” Anthony said brightly. “We’re happy to help.”
Emma spotted Ellery a few stools down lifting her empty wine glass. “I don’t want you to go to any trouble for me. When I’m ready, I can call Bruce myself,” she smiled sweetly. “If you’ll excuse me.”
She grabbed Ellery’s glass. “Ready for a refill?”
“You look ready for a break,” Ellery smiled.
“Just escaping some well-meaning Blue Moon snooping,” Emma winked, uncorking a fresh bottle of Blue Moon Vineyards shiraz. She poured Ellery a glass.
“That just means you’re family,” Ellery chirped. “I bet you’re enjoying having your whole family in one place at the same time.”
Emma had the distinct feeling that she was walking into a setup.
“It is great,” she admitted. “I can’t remember the last time we were all together like this.”
“Eva works from home, doesn’t she?” Ellery crossed her arms and leaned forward on her elbows.
“She does,” Emma confirmed.
“Wouldn’t it be great if she decided to stay in Blue Moon?”
Emma raised a skeptical eyebrow. “It would be. What exactly are you getting at, Ellery?”
Her purple lips curled. “Well, I happened to notice that she and our very own Sheriff Cardona shared a very sweet dance at the wedding.”
“Ellery! Are you suggesting we work some Beautification Committee magic and conspire against Eva and Donovan?”
“Conspire for them. There’s a huge difference,” Ellery clarified. “You had to have noticed how Donovan looks at her.”
“Why are you bringing me into this? Isn’t this B.C. business?” Emma tilted her head.
“Who’s going to have more influence over Eva, a bunch of weirdo strangers?” Ellery cocked her head in the direction of Gordon and Anthony. “Or her big sister?”
Emma shook her head and ducked back into the kitchen for a breather. What the hell? Why was the Beautification Committee suddenly so enamored with the idea of a romance for her sister? What the hell was she? Emma wondered. Chopped tofu?
She rested her forehead on the wall for a moment. She was losing her damn mind if she was jealous that the nosiest people in town wanted to meddle in her sister’s life instead of her own. They were crazy people. And they were making her crazy.
Emma put Sunshine on the bar and squeezed in a fifteen-minute break for herself with a cup of soup at the end of the bar.
She stirred the minestrone pensively. She knew Ellery was on the Beautification Committee, Gordon and Anthony, too. Yet all the Berkowiczs wanted to do was drum up real estate business, and Ellery was more interested in convincing Eva to move to Blue Moon to fall head over heels for Donovan Cardona. None of them were fishing for information about Emma and Niko. His motorcycle had been parked on the street the handful of nights they’d managed to enjoy together before Franklin and Phoebe returned from their honeymoon, ousting Eva from her position as house-and dog-sitter.
Why weren’t they trying to secure a future for her and Niko? Emma wondered. Worse yet. Why did that bother her? Did the B.C. think she and Niko had no chance in hell at making this work? Isn’t that what she thought, too? The complete disinterest was mind-boggling to Emma. Blue Moon had been so fascinated by every single facet of her life up until Niko…
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” she muttered to herself. She wasn’t used to such
internal turmoil. This is why she was goal-oriented. There was always an end game in mind and every choice, every decision, could be weighed against the final result. Will this get me closer or further away from my goal?
Everything was too confusing when the goal was “see what happens.” The things that she knew for sure were that she was staying in Blue Moon, and she was really enjoying her time with Niko. She had no idea that the human body was capable of living on food and sex alone. Emma had felt more energetic this week than she had on her usual seven and eight hours of sleep. That physical connection she’d found with Niko had to mean something. Didn’t it?
She’d never felt so… unleashed with a partner before. He seemed to enjoy taking her to her limits and letting her decide to go just a little farther.
She spooned up her soup and stared at it. She should be enjoying their time together. Not worrying about where it could or wouldn’t go. And certainly not being offended that the Beautification Committee couldn’t be bothered to take an interest in her love life because they saw no future in her relationship with Nikolai.
She shoved her fingers into her hair before realizing she was wrecking her bun.
“Ugh!” This damn town and that damn man were ruining her peace of mind.
Her phone signaled a text, and Emma swiped the screen and read the message from Niko.
What are you doing right now?
She nibbled on her thumbnail and then typed her response.
Thinking about you.
Wait. Was that too much? she wondered, thumb hovering over the send button. Emma wasn’t sure where the lines for “casual” were drawn. She started to delete the text and then stopped.
“Boss, you’re frowning at that screen like it just told you it was calling off tonight.” Julio, his dark hair pulled back in his stubby ponytail, grinned at her as he helped himself to the soda gun behind the bar. He had a gold canine tooth and a scar that sliced from forehead to just below his eye, yet he had the charisma of a Latin soap opera star. He’d been married three times, and his current girlfriend was fifteen years younger. He was an expert on love affairs.