Rescued by the Billionaire (Billionaire Romance Novel)
Page 16
Chapter Thirteen
“Slow down, Emma!” Dave yelled as she zipped down the highway.
“Dad, I’m going so slow. Chill out!” she yelled back over the wind whipping through the car as her hair blew in front of her face.
“The speed limit is only 70 miles per hour, and you’re doing 75!”
Emma looked down at the speedometer and saw that he was right. “Oh, sorry,” she smiled at him.
This was only her fifth driving lesson. She couldn’t believe that her dad was already letting her take the car out on the highway. She may have been a good driver, but she still needed to work on her parallel parking before she could take her driver’s test to get her license.
“Okay honey, let’s get off at the next exit so we can go pick up Davie and Alyssa from summer camp.”
Their first child together was a boy, David Jr, who they called Davie. A few years later, Alyssa was born. Every year they went to summer camp, but this was the first year their big sister would be picking them up. Davie was now seven and Alyssa was four. Emma was approaching her sweet sixteen, which Kelly had secretly been planning a surprise party for.
“All right, now take a left turn where that sign is; the one that says, Camp Clarkson. After that left, you’ll go straight for quite a ways until I tell you to turn again.”
She turned on her left turn signal and began traveling down the road that led to the camp. The warm summer air whipped through the car, threatening to tangle every strand of hair on her head as they drove down the paved country road.
“Oh, daddy! That’s my favorite song!” she said, turning the car stereo up.
Singing along to her favorite song as she followed the turns and twists of the road, he looked over at her and admired how much of a beautiful young lady she was becoming. Her hair was as blonde as her mother’s and she was the spitting image of her. She was a little on the skinny side since she had to keep so physically active due to her condition—which had been in remission for a few years now.
Emma kept herself busy with sports all throughout high school, though, her favorite sport was volleyball. She also did the swim team, track, and basketball. Now that she was learning how to drive, she couldn’t wait until she was able to take herself to all of her meets and practices. Kelly was relieved too.
Kelly spent most of her days at home, tending to their three children. Occasionally, she would help Dave when it came to buying or sell properties. She’d typically go sign off on the purchase or sale of the commercial spaces if he were occupied doing something else. Life had never been sweeter since she married Dave.
“Turn right where this road forks up there,” he said, pointing to where it was.
“I know dad! I’ve been here before. Remember? When I was younger, you and mom would send me so I could go horseback riding and do fun stuff?” she said sarcastically.
“Yep, and just look at how you turned out,” he teased her. “But you have to admit, you’re probably the only kid in our neighborhood who could survive out in the wilderness if something ever happened or you got lost.”
“That’s for sure!” she agreed.
As they pulled up to the camp, all of the kids were lined up, waiting for parents to pick them up.
“I see Davie and Alyssa!” she said, pulling over to that side of the parking lot.
“I’ll let their counselors know that we’re here and I’ll be right back,” he said unbuckling his seatbelt as he got out of the car.
Kelly was at home, enjoying one last quiet day by the in ground swimming pool before the munchkins came back. She knew once they were home, her afternoon would be filled with making finger sandwiches as she tore the crust off of them. And chasing the wet kids around the patio with towels, trying to catch them before they got inside. Although things would be hectic once they returned home, she couldn’t wait. They’d been at summer camp for three weeks and she missed them. In less than an hour, the entire family would be reunited.
Suddenly, Kelly heard a loud splash before she was drenched with water. Davie had cannonballed into the swimming pool and soaked his mom with a tidal wave.
“I didn’t even hear you guys come in!” she said wiping off her face. “Are any of you hungry?”
“I’m starving!” Emma said.
“Me too,” Alyssa concurred.
“I have some hotdogs and hamburgers. I’ll fire up the grill to make us an early dinner.”
Just a few weeks later, Emma’s hands were sweating as she waited in line at the DMV for her driving test.
“You’re going to do fine,” Dave whispered to her.
“I know dad, but I’m so nervous. What if a car pulls out in front of me? Or what if the light changes and it’s too late for me to stop?”
He chuckled, “I suppose any of those things could happen, but they won’t. I have confidence in you. And so what if a car does pull out in front of you. Show off your defensive driving skills to the instructor!”
“Emma Carr,” the woman called her for the test.
After Kelly and Dave had gotten married, she hunted down Emma’s dad, Adam, to ask him to sign over his parental rights. It wasn’t an easy task tracking him down; it took her months, but when she did, he initially didn’t want to sign over his rights. He wanted to weasel his way back into their life, but when Kelly promised to forgive all of his child support arrears, he eagerly signed the adoption papers for the newlyweds. His child support warrant would soon be a thing of the past.
“Good luck, babe,” he said to her as she headed out the door with her keys in hand.
Twenty minutes later, Emma was bouncing through the door as the instructor followed shortly behind her.
“I passed daddy! I passed!”
“See, I told you that you’d do fine!”
“I’ll be right back, I have to go have my picture taken for my driver’s license.”
He looked on as his beautiful daughter flashed her pearly whites for the camera, beaming with pride. She’d become quite the little lady and he couldn’t have been prouder. That little girl who turned into a lovely young woman had captured his heart, just as her mother had.
“Ready to go celebrate with some ice cream?” he asked as they walked out of the building.
“Definitely!”
“Okay, swing by the house to pick up your mom, brother, and sister and we’ll go where ever you want.”
Kelly was anxiously waiting at home with the kids, hoping Emma had passed her driving test. When she saw her driving the SUV as they pulled up in front of the house, she instantly knew she passed.
“Who wants ice cream?” Dave called out to the family as he and Emma exited the SUV.
“I do! I do!” the kids started screaming with excitement.
“Did you pass?” Kelly asked, even though she already knew the answer.
“I got a 94 on my exam!” she bragged.
“Yep, she did great. She was so nervous before we got there, but I told her there was nothing to worry about,” Dave smiled as he wrapped his arm around her and squeezed her shoulders.
The family of five headed out for ice cream that evening and later went to a drive-in movie. Emma was so happy and proud to have her license. She joked with her mom as they made their way back to the SUV with popcorn and soda for the whole family.
“Just think mom, you’ll never have to drive anywhere again,” she said as she tossed a few pieces of popcorn into her mouth.
“That would be nice, but I’m sure I’ll still have to do some driving.”
After the movie had ended, Emma drove them back home. It was almost midnight and Alyssa was conked out in the backseat.
“I’ll carry her upstairs,” he said to Kelly as he scooped her out of her booster seat.
“Remember when you used to do that with Emma?” she reminisced.
“I do,” he said as he watched the tall, young blonde teen help her brother inside. “I do.”
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