Taylor Lynne: The Women of Merryton - Book Two (31 page)

Obviously the Parkers
were dealing with the fact Connor liked Maddie a lot better than Blake was
handling it.

I noticed Rachel with her
son, Drew, on the front row with Rachel’s dad. It was weird how I recognized
these people as my friends, and how much comfort it gave me to see them. When I
moved back I’d had no intention of making friends. I certainly had no intension
of getting back together with Easton, but like he said, I was beginning to feel
whole—not “again,” because I wasn’t sure I had ever really been whole. I had pretended
really well, but I didn’t need to pretend anymore. I was finally letting Easton
into my life the way I should have before. We spent most nights talking into
the early morning hours discussing everything from our own shared past, to my
past—the past I had tried to forget, the one that had never really left me
alone. Easton listened to every gory detail without judgment or trying to fix
it. He just listened and let me get it out of my system, safely in his arms.

He, too, had his demons,
and though it was difficult for me to hear, he needed to talk about his life
with Kathryn and what a train wreck it was. He was careful about what he said,
but I think he was desperate for me to understand what his life had been like after
we were separated.

Tonight, though, was all
about our daughter, not ex-wives or traumatic childhoods. I honestly couldn’t
have cared less about the game, but when Ashley and Spencer took to the field
during halftime, I felt like my heart was going to burst. She looked like
frozen perfection as she waved to the crowd.

“Can you believe we made
that?” I asked Easton through my tears—tears that were probably going to freeze
on my face.

He smiled down at me. “It
was all you.”

“So I’ve moved on from
Easton,” Cheyenne announced to us during girl’s night at Jessie Belle’s.

Easton was taking Emmy
out for their monthly father-daughter date and Ashley was out with Spencer, so
I decided to join Jessie, Abby, Cheyenne, and Rachel for a little women time.

Cheyenne’s bold statement
got all of our attention, but all the ladies turned toward me to gauge my
reaction. I smiled at Cheyenne. “That’s great. Who’s the lucky guy?” It’s not
like I was worried Easton was going to leave me for Cheyenne.

Cheyenne wagged her
eyebrows. “Andrew Turner,” she purred.

“Who’s that?” Rachel
asked.

“I can’t believe you
don’t know who he is,” Cheyenne exclaimed. “Hello, he’s the best pitcher the
Colorado Bears have ever had. And he’s gorgeous.”

I wondered if he was
really gorgeous, or if his fame made him seem so.

“Where did you meet him?”
Abby asked with skepticism.

“Last weekend when you
homebodies all refused to go out with me, I went to Evergreen to check out
Rob’s dance studio. You know Rob, right, Jessie?”

Jessie threw her a dirty
look.

“Am I missing something?”
I asked.

Cheyenne’s eyes lit up.
“He teaches Zumba here at the rec center, and he totally has the hots for
Jessie. So much so, Blake had to rough him up.”

Jessie and Abby smacked
her.

Jessie turned toward me.
“What she means by ‘roughed up’ is that Blake stared at him hard once. Rob is
married to a very lovely woman, and he has no interest in me.”

“Uh-huh,” Cheyenne
disputed. “Anyway, Rob and his wife teach a salsa class in Evergreen, so I went
to check it out. And guess whose mom lives in Evergreen? Yep, Andrew Turner’s.
I just happened to run into them as they were coming out of the restaurant next
to the dance studio.” She stopped there.

“And?” Abby said.

“And that’s it, but I
found out that he takes his mom there all the time, and he totally checked me
out. So guess where I’ll be hanging out?”

“Well, good luck with
that,” I said uneasily.

All the other ladies
looked at her like she was a little off, but in true Cheyenne fashion, she
didn’t care what the rest of us thought.

“So, how are things going
with you and the good doctor?” Jessie asked me.

I could feel myself grin.
“Very well, thank you.”

“Oh come on, you have to
give us more than that. Easton told Blake it’s the happiest time of his life.”

“We can go with that,” I
teased.

My friends all laughed at
me.

“I’m happy with where we’re
at, but we’re taking it slow,” I added.

“Are you sure?” Rachel
asked. “From the looks of it you guys are a done deal.”

I blushed. “We’ve only
been back together a month.”

“Is that all?” Jessie
asked. “Seems like a lot longer.”

“It’s probably because
Easton’s been stuck to her like glue ever since she got here at the beginning
of June,” Cheyenne added with a hint of jealousy.

“We
do
have a
child together,” I reminded her.

“It looks like you have
two,” Abby sweetly commented.

I smiled to myself. I did
love Emmy.

“You’re way better for
her than her own mother,” Jessie said.

We all nodded in
agreement. I was grateful Easton had full custody of Emmy. I was about to
respond when Blake crashed through the front doors of the café with a harried
expression.

“Jess,” he said,
practically out of breath. “I’ve been trying to call you.”

Jessie jumped up. “Is
everything okay?”

His eyes lit up. “It’s
time,” he announced.

Jessie put her hands to
her mouth and I swear it looked like she was tearing up, but they looked like
happy tears.

“Time for what?” Cheyenne
asked.

Neither Jessie nor Blake
responded. Jessie gathered her bag with this nervous energy. “Where’s Maddie?”
she asked Blake.

“In the car waiting for
us. Hurry,” he said kindly. He reached for her hand and they rushed out the
door together.

“What was all that
about?” Rachel asked.

Abby and Cheyenne
shrugged their shoulders, but Abby said, “They have been acting weird lately, almost
secretive.”

I smiled inwardly. I had
a feeling why, but I kept it to myself. I hoped I was right.

***

The evening ended with
Emmy asleep on my couch and Easton slow dancing with me in the kitchen while we
waited for Ashley to come home from her date.

We swayed to the sexy
tones of Marvin Gaye while we soaked each other in, but not too much. It was
somewhat easy to behave when you knew at any moment your child could walk in,
but that didn’t stop Easton from doing his best to make me sigh blissfully. He
knew all the right spots to kiss on my neck, not to mention when he got a hold
of my lips. Age had only refined him in every way.

“So,” I breathed out
contently as Easton nuzzled my neck, “are Jessie and Blake adopting a baby?”

His lips froze against my
neck. He stood up and eyed me uncomfortably. “What makes you say that?” His
voice was a higher pitch than normal.

“If you can’t tell me,
it’s okay. I figured I would ask, though.”

He visibly relaxed. “You
can’t say anything, but yes.”

I smiled wide at the
news.

“The birth mother went
into labor tonight. Blake and Jessie wanted me to be there to examine the baby
when he arrives, but I don’t have privileges at the hospital she is delivering
at. And they wanted to keep it a secret so they didn’t want her to deliver at
Merryton General.”

“Did you say, he?”

Easton nodded. “They’re
both thrilled, but until the mother signs the final paperwork, it isn’t a done
deal. They already lost one baby when the birth mother changed her mind.”

“I hope this works out
for them.” I was impressed they had kept it a secret in this town.

“Me too. Now where was
I?” Easton went right back to my favorite spot on my neck.

“Speaking of babies,” I
said between sighs of delight. “Did you ever want more children?”

Easton kissed his way up
to my ear. “Yes,” he whispered directly in it. “How about you?”

“Yeah,” I admitted sadly.

He ran his fingers up
through my hair and looked lovingly in my eyes. “We could still have one.”

I smacked his chest.
“First of all we aren’t married, and maybe you haven’t noticed, but we’re too
old to have a baby.”

“Women much older than
you have given birth, and you’re in great shape.”

“You’re crazy. Do you
really want to have a newborn at our age?”

He picked me up off the
ground and held me tight. “With you? Yes.”

“I think the lack of
sleep is getting to you. We should probably stop staying up so late.”

“I’m completely lucid. And
serious. I would love to have another baby or two with you.”

“Two! We have a daughter
going off to college soon.”

“So what?”

“It doesn’t matter anyway,
because we aren’t married.”

“A technicality,” he
replied.

“Let’s change the
subject.”

His lips landed on mine
and I was back to being putty in his hands. Once he was done making me feel lightheaded,
he spoke softly against my mouth, “Tell me how your presentation went today, my
love.”

I loved having someone to
share my days with and I loved that he remembered to ask. “It went really well.
I think they are not only going to extend the program, but they are going to expand
it to include some of the other departments.”

“I knew you were perfect
for that position. I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks. It will mean
some extra work and probably hiring another nutritionist, but I’m excited about
it.”

“With the extra hours do
you think you would be able to take some time off during Christmas?” he asked
with more than normal interest.

“I think so, why?”

He moved back a tad so I
could see his happy face more clearly. “I talked to Caden and Nicole today. They’re
coming for Christmas.”

“That’s terrific. I’ll
work it out to get the time off. I can’t wait to see them. Are they bringing
the boys?”

Easton nodded. “I’m
looking at renting a condo in either Vail or Beaver Creek so we can get some
skiing in. Do you think Ashley would like that?”

“I think so, but her mom
may want to stay in by the fireplace.”

He pulled me closer.
“Then that’s where her dad will be, too.”

“Is that so?”

He groaned and pushed me
against the counter.

We heard the front door
open and broke apart.

“There’s a kid in the
house,” Ashley called. I think she was more terrified to find her parents
making out than we were to see her doing the same.

Easton and I grinned at
each other.

“We’re in the kitchen,
love,” I called back, while Easton turned off the mood music.

Ashley went to Easton
first and hugged him. I found that didn’t bother me at all. I enjoyed seeing
them happy together.

“How was your date?” he
asked her.

“Pretty much perfect,”
she sighed.

“Should I be talking to
this kid some more?” Easton asked.

“No, Dad.” I could tell
she wanted to share more, but I think she wanted that to be a girl only
conversation.

She hugged me next. I
held on for a second more. She was growing up way too fast.

“I’m going to bed.
Behave,” she said to us on her way out.

“Goodnight, honey, we
love you,” I said. I loved the word ‘we.’

“Love you guys,” she
called back.

Easton took me right back
in his arms as soon as she left. “So, what do you want to do this weekend?”

“I promised Emmy I would
help her make cupcakes for her class Halloween party on Monday and I need to
put the finishing touches on her costume. She is going to be the cutest ninja
warrior princess ever.”

He stared at me
adoringly. “You are the best mom ever.”

“I don’t know about that,
but thank you.”

He brushed my cheek
lightly with his hand. “No, thank
you
. You don’t know what you have done
for Emmy. You are an amazing woman.”

“Emmy makes it easy.”

“I stand by my statement,
you are amazing. Which reminds me, Frank mentioned you visited him during lunch
today.”

I shrugged my shoulders
like it wasn’t a big deal. “I didn’t stay for very long and I still didn’t know
what to say to him. I feel nothing for the man.”

“Tay, no one expects you
to, least of all Frank. He’s happy just to have your company. You’re making a
dying man’s last days better.”

“I don’t know why. When I
was growing up, he barely paid attention to me, and to be honest, as I grew
older, I preferred it that way. Whenever he did pay attention, he was vile and
mean.”

“Alcohol does that to a
person,” Easton said gently.

“Do you really think he’s
in his final days?”

“He’s proved me wrong
before, but his body is winding down.” He paused and searched my eyes for a
moment. “Do you think we could take Ashley to meet him?”

My eyes widened.

“Honey, you don’t have to
say yes, but it would mean a lot to him.”

I found stance weakening,
but I didn’t want to give into it. Frank didn’t deserve to know her. “Let me
think about it and talk to Ashley.”

He yawned loudly. “I
suppose I should get Emmy and myself home.”

“I suppose.”

“I’m going to sell my
house,” he said out of the blue.

“Oh yeah?”

“I’m going to move into
town, closer to you.”

“I like the sound of
that.”

“Maybe … someday we can
look at building a home together?”

I smiled at the thought. “Maybe.”