Emma's Home (The Fairfield Series) (13 page)

Emma was glad she had bought enough food although it helped that many of the guests brought dishes, desserts, or beer.

“Do you have enough, dear?” Mary asked, walking back into the kitchen. Emma looked up and smiled at Mary as she walked over to hug her. She pulled out a chair and helped Mary to sit. “Don’t fuss over me” Mary ordered with a smile.

Emma admired Mary so much, knowing that Mary was in pain most of the time but never complained. “I’m not fussing,” Emma said. “Just being a good hostess like my momma taught me.”

Mary laughed, loving the beautiful woman who had captured her son’s heart. Jake walked in, looking at his mother and Emma laughing and his heart warmed at the sight of the two women that meant the most to him enjoying each other’s company. Walking all the way into the room, he stooped to kiss his mother’s cheek before continuing over to the counter to wrap his arms around Emma.

“Just came back in to get some more hamburgers, doll,” he said, reaching around Emma to grab the plate of meat. “Everything is almost ready so I wanted to make sure my two favorite women were ready as well.”

Emma grabbed a couple of more dishes and handed a small platter to Mary to carry out. Mary smiled as the made her way out into the back yard.

Jake looked at Emma’s face. “How did you know that would make her happy?” he asked in amazement.

Reaching to cup his face in her hand, Emma smiled. “Everyone wants to feel useful, Jake. Your mom needs help with so many things, but she doesn’t want to feel helpless. So even something as simple as me giving her a dish to take out, makes her feel as though she is contributing.”

Jake stared in wonderment at the woman in front of him, not believing that he had the good fortune to be able to call her his own. “Emma darlin’, just want to put it out there… I am falling for you,” he told her softly.

“Jake, just putting it out there…. I already have,” she whispered back. Jake’s eyes grew wide but before he could respond, Emma grabbed her platter and headed out to the yard.

His eyes followed her as Emma walked in front of him. Lordy, he would never get tired of looking at that ass, cupped just perfectly in her tight skinny jeans. Her light green sweater was slightly large and hung off of one shoulder.
God, how can a sweater that is so big, look so goddamn sex
y
and show off her tits?
Growling, Jake grabbed the next platter and followed her out.

The dinner had been consumed, games had been played, and now the guests sat around the fire pit relaxing in the comfort of good food and good company. The sparks from the fire rose in the air as the wood crackled and snapped. Everyone’s faces were illuminated only by the firelight, casting shadows all about them.

Emma’s cat, who she simply named Mister, walked around sneaking tidbits from the plates, then sat by the fire watching the sparks. Sitting on a blanket, Emma snuggled up against Jake’s chest. The fire gave off heat, but she was aware that the heat coming from Jake’s body was providing all the warmth that she needed. She wiggled, wanting to burrow down deeper in his arms. Jake chuckled and wrapped his mighty arms around her tighter.

Leaning down to whisper in her ear, “You warm enough, babe?” Emma sighed in response and leaned back closer.

Mike looked around at her yard and nodded toward Emma. “This is a great place, Emma. You’ve really done a nice job with it,” he said.

Emma, full of pride, smiled back. “I can’t believe it is all mine. It feels so good to finally put down roots and know that when I drive down the driveway, I’m coming to
my
home. I seem to remember when some of you couldn’t believe that I was actually going to even look at this place.”

“How many acres do you have?” asked one of their friends.

“About ten acres, but it feels like more. There is a small part of the river that backs to the property and beyond that is the state park, so I have no neighbors back there,” she replied.

“Have you walked it all yet?” Ted asked.

“No, but I was thinking that I needed to do that soon. Mike keeps scaring me with stories about critters around in the woods so I didn’t want to go by myself.” she answered. “There is supposed to be a tiny hunter’s shack near the river, but I haven’t seen it yet. I was thinking of walking down there tomorrow.”

Mike looked across the fire at her. “Emma, I don’t think it would be safe to go by yourself and I know Jake is on duty tomorrow.”

Jake, walking back from the house having run in to get more beer, agreed. “Babe, wait a little longer until we can go together.”

“I’m not helpless,” Emma huffed.

Laurie, leaning back on Rob’s chest spoke up. “I could go tomorrow with you.”

Emma smiled at her niece. “Perfect, it’s a date!”

The conversation continued to flow until the guests began to leave. Emma hugged them all, feeling for the first time in her life she was really home. Home with friends, family, and a house that welcomed them all.

Jake was finishing the cleanup from the party, when he looked over at Emma’s face. He saw exhaustion mixed with her contented smile. He left the room for a few minutes and when he came back, took her by the hand and led her down the hall to the bathroom. Emma looked in and was shocked at what she saw. The tub was full of bubbles, and candles were lit on the bathroom counter. She turned around, looking up into his baby blues, that were sparkling in the candlelight.

“Baby, you’re about to drop on your feet. Strip off, climb in that tub, and have a good relaxing soak.”

Emma, overwhelmed that he did this simple and yet poignant act for her, just stood there staring at him.

“Baby, don’t let the water get cold.” He pulled her shirt over her head and peeled her jeans off her body. Her underwear followed quickly and he assisted her over into the tub. As much as Jake loved looking at her body, he wanted to take care of her.

Emma looked up and invited, “Sure you don’t want to join me?”

“Emma girl, first of all, I don’t think I’d ever fit in that tub and second, you need to relax. If I stay here with you naked under those bubbles, you’re never gonna relax.” With that, Jake headed back to the kitchen to take out the last of the garbage.

A few minutes later, he went back into the bathroom, finding Emma sound asleep with her head resting on the back of the tub. He sat next to the tub and watched her for a while. Her dark air was piled on top of her head, with a few tendrils falling around her face. Dark, thick lashes lay upon her ivory cheeks that were slightly blushed from the warm water. He leaned over the tub and gently placed a kiss on her lips. Emma’s eyes fluttered open and she slowly smiled.

“Come on darlin’, let’s get you out.” With that he lifted her out of the tub and patted her dry with a big towel.

“Jake, I can …” Emma started, but Jake immediately shushed her, shaking his head.

“I know, Emma. You can do it yourself. But I want to,” he said simply. Emma just nodded and let him continue to care for her. He then carried her into the bedroom and placed her in the middle of the bed before he stripped and joined her.

That night, Emma and Jake made love. Slow and purposeful, worshipping each other’s bodies long into the night. Then they drifted into a peaceful sleep, limbs tangled, breath mingled, heart’s beating together.

E
mma awoke, needing to go to the bathroom. Slipping unnoticed from under Jake’s arm, she padded softly into the bathroom. Finishing up, she flushed and walked to the sink to wash her hands. As she looked into the mirror, a strange light was reflected in the mirror. Confused, she leaned closer before realizing that the glow was a reflection from the bathroom window. Turning around, she walked to the window to see where the light was coming from. An unusual orange glow was radiating from over the tree tops in her back yard. Staring out of the window for a minute, she tried to force her sleep fogged mind to clear enough to figure out what she was seeing. She grabbed her glasses off of the counter to bring the scene into focus.

Oh my god, NO!

“FIRE JAKE, FIRE!” Emma screamed as she ran through the bedroom, flying out of the door heading down the hall. “Call 911,” she continued to scream as she was throwing open the front door.

Jake, jarred awake at her first scream bounded up and out of the bed. He threw on his jeans and jammed his feet into his shoes, grabbing his phone as he followed her down the hall. Assuming the fire was in the house, he couldn’t understand why the smoke detectors were not alarming.

“Emma!” he yelled as he pounded down the front porch steps, seeing her running across the yard towards the woods. “Emma!” he yelled again, trying to get her attention. Looking up he saw the orange glow in the woods.

“Goddamn it woman, get back here!” he yelled once more, sprinting across the yard. He caught up to her right before she entered the woods. Grabbing her around the waist, he took her down, rolling over so that he took the impact of the fall and she landed on him.

“Where the hell are you going?” he continued to yell as he rolled over pinning her under him.

“Jake, the woods are on fire, we have to go!” she screamed, struggling to get up.

“Dammit, Emma, you scared the shit out of me. I thought the house was on fire!” Standing up, he reached down to pull her up as well, while pulling out his cell phone. He dialed 911, talked to the dispatch and told them where the fire was. He kept one arm firmly around Emma’s shoulders holding her in place. Ending the call, he looked down at her, still wiggling to get free.

“Emma,” he said. “Emma, look at me,” he ordered. Her frantic eyes looked up and focused on his. “Baby, breathe. The house isn’t on fire, we are safe, and the fire department is coming. You are out here with no pants, no shoes, no jacket. Let’s go back to the house, wait until Rob and Mac get here and see what needs to be done.” Emma slowly nodded.

“Babe, you got me?” he asked gently, holding her chin up so that she had to focus on his face.

Emma took a shaky breath and nodded again. “I got you,” she replied softly.

They heard the sirens in the background and started walking back towards the house. The fire truck pulled into her driveway, Mac and Rob jumping out first, running up to Jake and Emma.

“We’re fine, we’re fine,” Jake assured them, knowing that was first on his friends’ minds. Pointing towards the woods, Jake said, “My guess is that the old hunting hut is burning.”

After several more trucks pulled up, the men start gathering equipment they could haul and plotted the closest way to get to the fire. The hut, while a walkable distance from Emma’s house was unable to be accessed directly with a vehicle. There was an old tractor path that followed the western edge of her property, leading around towards the back. Having made their decision, the firemen moved out.

“Babe, stay here. I’m going with them,” Jake said, leaning in to kiss Emma’s forehead.

The men headed off as Laurie pulled up in her yellow Volkswagen. She hopped out, running up to give Emma a hug. “Oh my gosh, I couldn’t believe it when Rob called to say there was a fire here!” The two women walked into the house, heading towards the kitchen.

“We can make coffee for the men when they come back,” Emma said as she went over to the kitchen cabinets to pull the coffee down. Her cell phone rang, and she saw Tom’s number coming up. “Boy, news travels fast around here,” she said as she answered the phone.

“Emma, is Jake there?” Tom asked.

Emma explained that Jake had gone with Rob to take the fire trucks to the old hut. “Do you need him?” she asked.

“We got a call that some kids may have been hanging around in the state park, near the back of your property. I just wanted to let Jake know in case they are still around. I’ll keep trying to get him on his cell, and I am heading there now. Mike’s already heading out that way.”

Hanging up the phone, Emma looked over at Laurie. Explaining what Tom said, she exclaimed, “Laurie, what if the kids are still there? What if they were in the old hut?” Pausing only for a second, Emma grabbed her sneakers near the door, some shorts from the laundry room and started out the back door.

Laurie caught up with her. Looking over at her aunt as they ran through the woods, she yelled, “I can’t let you go alone!”

Following a direct path through the woods, the two women ran towards the fire. They could see the fire trucks off to the left as they were making their way towards the hut on an old cart path that ran along Emma’s property line. They ran into the clearing seeing the small hut engulfed in flames. Emma ran as close as she could, yelling to see if anyone could hear her.

Laurie grabbed the back of her shirt, shouting “Emma, if anyone was in there, it is too late.”

Right then the fire trucks pulled into the clearing from the path and the two women looked over as men began hauling equipment out of the trucks. Emma and Laurie stared into the furious faces of Rob and Jake stalking over to them. Mac, quickly looking over to see that the women were all right, began shouting orders to the other fire fighters.

Emma had never seen Jake so angry. The enraged visage in front of her was nowhere near the gentle lover she come to know. As towering as she knew he was, he seemed to grow larger as he came closer. Feeling intimidated, she began to back up.

“Fuck, woman! What the hell are you doing here?” he cursed. Fury and fear poured off of Jake rivaling the blazing hut.

“Jake I had to come. Tom called and said that some kids were sighted out this way in the state park. I just had to make sure no one was here,” Emma pleaded for him to understand. By this time, Jake had reached her. He grabbed her by her upper arms, careful not to hurt her, hauling her backwards, farther away from the fire.

“Jake, please,” she said quietly. Jake immediately let her go, took a step back and ran his hand through his hair.

“Emma,” he said, walking back a few steps. She could feel the anger pouring off of him, but she was not afraid. She stood quietly, knowing that Jake needed to work through his anger, and he needed some space. She took the chance to look over to see Rob yelling at Laurie and Laurie yelling back.