Prejudice Meets Pride (26 page)

Did I mention I was bored?

Are you sure you can’t save a little popcorn for me when I get back? Because I really like popcorn. The more butter, the better.

Emma had saved each and every message. She couldn’t wait to see him and snuggle up next to him. She also couldn’t wait for him to see his finished office. Last night, Becky and Sam had been kind enough to have the girls over for a sleepover so that Emma could pull an all-nighter and finish up the project. Now, it was done. And Kevin was coming home.

“You’re it!” Kajsa slapped Emma’s hip, then darted away.

“You little sneak!” she called. “I’m going to get you for that one.”

Kajsa squealed and ran for the playground, with Adelynn close on her heels.

As Emma caught up, the phone in her pocket vibrated, alerting her to a new text. She lunged for Adelynn, tapped her on the shoulder, and said, “You’re it!” Then she pulled the phone from her pocket and grinned when she saw Kevin’s name. He was home.

She quickly opened the message.

Something came up, and I won’t be able to make it tonight. So sorry. Will call as soon as I can.

Emma’s heart plummeted, and her fingers tapped out a quickly reply.

Plane get delayed?

No. Something else. Call you later.

It read like a dismissal. The smile faded from her face, the skies seemed to turn overcast, the air frigid, and she suddenly felt drained of energy. Emma thought of the mud pie sitting in her fridge at home and how the girls had spent the morning helping her make it so they could surprise Kevin. And now—now he wouldn’t be surprised. Day-old mud pie didn’t taste nearly as good as same-day mud pie. The girls were going to be just as crushed. They’d been looking forward to hanging out with their favorite uncle for days.

“Aunt Emma, aren’t you going to get me?” Adelynn looked at her with her head cocked and her hands on her cute little hips. She looked so adorable that Emma couldn’t help but smile.

“I did get you, remember?”

“I got you back.”

“Oh.” Emma had no idea. She must have zoned out.

Shoving the phone back into her pocket and her worries with it, Emma charged forward, making Adelynn squeal. Happy giggles filled the air once more, and Emma felt her spirit lift slightly. As long as Kevin wasn’t planning to call it quits, the mud pie could wait, the girls could wait, and she could wait.

Eventually, the girls finally got tired of the park, so they headed home. Emma took the opportunity to break the news that Uncle Kevin wouldn’t be able to make it for movie night after all. Just as Emma expected, they were sad and disappointed, but as soon as she suggested they have a sleepover in the family room together that night, all was right with the world again.

If only she could cheer up that easily.

They approached their house, and Emma noticed an unfamiliar car parked in Kevin’s driveway. She wondered if that was the “something” that had come up and found herself glancing toward his front window, wishing she could see inside.

“Curiosity killed the cat,” she muttered to herself and forced her gaze away.

Inside, while Emma prepared dinner, the girls decided to play a game of Sorry. They giggled, talked, argued, and were still playing by the time Emma had the spaghetti ready.

She poked her head out of the kitchen doorway “Who’s winning?”

“I am!” Kajsa said.

“Only because she’s cheating,” said Adelynn with a pout.

“No I’m not,” said Kajsa. “When I land on you, it’s not cheating. It’s how you play the game.”

Adelynn folded her arms and huffed, “A stupid game.”

Emma smiled. “But yesterday you told me it was your favorite.”

“You’re just a bad sport,” said Kajsa matter-of-factly.

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

Adelynn jumped up and stamped her foot. “Am not!” she yelled, glaring at her sister. “I hate you!”

Emma rolled her eyes heavenward. Where were the happy giggles now? She wanted them back.
“Adi, that was uncalled for. I think you need to spend a few minutes in your room until you can calm down and apologize to your sister.”

“I don’t want to go to my room!” she yelled, this time at Emma. Then she picked up the game board and flung it across the room, scattering pieces all over the ground. Wow. Dr. Jekyll had suddenly become Mr. Hyde.

“Adelynn, you can either choose to spend a few minutes in your room right now, or you can choose to go to bed early and miss the movie and the sleepover. Your choice.”

Her face crumpled. “But I don’t want to miss the movie and the sleepover.” Tears welled up in her beautiful dark eyes, but Emma refused to give in.

“Then I suggest you go to your room.”

“I want my daddy! He never makes me go to my room!” She balled her little fingers into fists, flashed a defiant look at Emma, and stormed down the hall.

Emma sighed and collapsed on the couch, completely worn out. This day wasn’t ending at all like she’d anticipated. Kajsa came to kneel on the couch beside her and rested her head on Emma’s lap. “I miss Daddy, too,” she said, her voice quiet and sad.

The words broke Emma’s heart, and she pulled Kajsa into a hug. “I know. Me too.”

“How much longer?”

Emma brushed at the strands of hair around Kajsa’s face. “He’s coming for Thanksgiving, remember? That’s not far away at all. Only a few weeks. And you and me and Adi—we’re strong. We can make it until then, right?”

“Sometimes I don’t feel strong.”

Emma had that same thought often, but it sounded way too grown up coming from a little girl. She continued to run her fingers through Kajsa’s soft brown hair as she tried to think of the right words. “You don’t always have to feel strong to be strong, did you know that?”

Kajsa shook her head, clearly not understanding.

“Kajsa, honey, you’re the strongest six-year-old I know. Even though your daddy’s far away and your mom’s in heaven, you wake up every morning with a smile on your face. You go to school, you work hard, you play harder, and you find happy things in life even when there’s so much to be sad about. But it’s okay to be sad sometimes and think about what we don’t have—like your daddy—because everyone gets sad sometimes. But you’re too strong of a girl to let that keep you down all the time. Does that make more sense?”

Kajsa nodded. “I’ll be happy again tomorrow. I promise. I just don’t like it when Adi’s mad at me.”

“Me neither.” Emma smiled. “Do you think she’s cooled off yet? I’m thinking that she might need to hear that she’s strong too.”

Kajsa perked up, her head bobbing up and down once again.

“And maybe my two strong little girls can eat the dinner I made and get even stronger. Then we can make some popcorn to go with our mud pie.”

The corners of Kajsa’s mouth tugged into a smile. “Can we take the pie to Uncle Kevin instead? We could go right now.”

Both strong
and
sweet. That was Kajsa. Emma hated to disappoint her again. “He’s busy tonight, so maybe we can take it to him tomorrow instead.”

“But you said it tastes better fresh.”

Strong, sweet, and
smart
. Emma touched a finger to Kajsa’s nose. “It does taste better fresh, smarty-pants, but that’s what he gets for ditching us tonight, right? Maybe we should add some worms to it too.”

A giggle escaped Kajsa’s mouth, and Emma grabbed her hand, pulling her up. “C’mon, let’s go see if we can make Adi giggle, too.”

“Almost ready, girls,” Emma called as she donned her favorite old flannel PJs and wrapped a towel around her wet hair turban-like. “Do you have your pillows and blankets all spread out?” Kajsa and Adelynn had been instructed to get the family room all ready for the movie and sleepover by gathering as many pillows and blankets as they could find.

When they didn’t respond, Emma called out again, louder this time. “Girls? I’m all ready. Are you?”

Again, nothing. The silence felt almost eerie. Even when they were trying to not be found, they could never be this quiet.

Emma peeked down the hall, then into their room. Empty. Their bed was devoid of all pillows and blankets, so they had to be somewhere. “Kajsa? Adi? Don’t mess with me or we won’t have time to watch the movie.” Emma walked into the front room, noting that the girls had done their job well. The floor was covered in blankets and pillows. But still, no girls. Where were they?

A chilly breeze prickled Emma’s skin, and she glanced toward the front door, which was cracked open. What in the world? Emma rushed forward and flung it wide. “Adelynn! Kajsa! Where are you?” she yelled, straining to see any movement in the darkness. No lights were on at Becky’s so they couldn’t have gone there. That left only one other option.

Emma’s gaze moved to Kevin’s house, where that unfamiliar black car still sat in the driveway. Light spilled from his front window, indicating that he was home. Oh no. Had the girls seen that? Was that where they’d gone? There was a very good chance that Kajsa’s big heart wouldn’t stand for Kevin getting day-old mud pie. Emma ran to the fridge, where, sure enough, the shelf that once held the mud pie was now empty. The girls had obviously taken it upon themselves to deliver it.

Kajsa! You are in so much trouble!
Emma closed the fridge and pulled the towel from her hair, dropping it on the couch as she headed outside. Her fingers frantically raked through the wet locks as she crossed the lawn towards Kevin’s house.

At his front door, Emma raised her hand, took a deep breath, and knocked. Only then did she hear giggles coming from shaking bushes at the side of the house. To her horror, both Kajsa and Adelynn jumped out and raced back toward their house. Before Emma could follow their lead, Kevin’s front door opened, revealing a middle-aged woman with dark hair who looked a lot like Kevin. She was carrying Emma’s mud pie.

The woman looked her up and down before lifting an eyebrow in question.

Emma glanced back at her house—at freedom—and watched as the girls disappeared inside and shut the door. Oh, they were going to get it. How could they do this to her? She turned her attention back to the woman, frantically racking her brain for a non-crazy reason she’d be standing on Kevin’s front porch with wet hair and in her PJs. “I, uh, just wanted to… uh… make sure that, uh…” That what? The mud pie got delivered safely? How lame did that sound? “That everyone’s okay.” she finished.

“And why wouldn’t we be okay?” said the woman, looking confused. “Did something happen?”

Oh, geez. How did Emma get herself into situations like this? “No, it’s just that… I, uh, saw two suspicious looking people hiding in your bushes, so, you know, I thought I’d check.” Emma forced her mouth into a smile. “Neighborhood watch and all that.”

The woman continued to watch Emma in confusion. She opened her mouth to say something when Kevin came up behind the woman. “Emma? What are you doing here?”

Great. She should have fled like the girls had done. In hindsight, she could see that now.

“She saw some suspicious people hiding in your bushes and wanted to make sure we were okay,” the woman unhelpfully replied.

Kevin leaned forward and glanced outside. “Suspicious people? Where?”

“I believe she’s talking about the people who left this on your doorstep.” The woman held up the pie for Kevin to see.

Emma stifled the urge to roll her eyes. She’d made that pie as a gesture of kindness—to show Kevin she’d been joking about not having enough popcorn for him. But now, it had all backfired. It wasn’t right.

Kevin glanced from the pie to Emma. “Did you make this for me?”

She was tempted to deny everything, but that would only lead to more trouble, since, really, who else would have made him a mud pie? “Yes, but I didn’t deliver it.” Emma gestured down at her ensemble. “In case you couldn’t tell, I’d planned to stay in tonight, but Kajsa and Adelynn had other ideas.”

“What do you mean?
They
delivered it?”

“That’s right.”

“And are they also the suspicious people you were referring to?” The way Kevin said it made Emma feel like she belonged in the crazy house. Come to think of it, as long as Kajsa and Adi were under her roof, she
did
live in a crazy house.

Emma let out a breath. “I was taking a shower, okay? They were supposed to be getting the front room ready for our movie night, but when I came out, they were gone. I thought they’d come here, so I knocked and out they jumped from the bushes, leaving me here looking like an idiot. I honestly didn’t mean to barge in on you like this, especially when I knew you had other things going on.”

“Why didn’t you just say that in the first place?” Kevin asked.

“Because…” She threw up her hands. “I really have no idea. Can I plead the Fifth on that one?”

The woman looked from Kevin to Emma, then took a step forward and held out her hand. “Since my son seems to have forgotten his manners, let me introduce myself. I’m Victoria Grantham. Kevin’s mother.”

“Good to meet you.” Emma shook Victoria’s hand slowly as she tried to put two and two together. His mother was in town? Why hadn’t Kevin just told her that in the first place? Why all the mysterious something-came-up mumbo jumbo? A simple “Mom’s in town. Can’t come tonight.”
would have done the job just fine. Instead, he’d made Emma feel like he was keeping something from her on purpose. Something he didn’t want her to know. But why?