Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Emma
M y house is all lit up when I pull into the driveway. Walking up to the porch, I snicker at the big bowl of candy and the sign that says Take As Many As You Want . It screams Molly. There’s an eighty percent chance she’s half drunk and got tired of getting off the couch to answer the door for trick-or-treaters.
I push open the door and walk inside, surveying the scene. A pile of Hallie’s beloved Reese’s Cups, one of Reese’s Pieces and, oddly, black licorice Molly loves, a pile of Snickers and Milky Ways because Julie settles when it’s not peppermint Hershey Kiss season and she doesn’t have access to the never-ending supply Asher mysteriously provides, and a pile of M he just didn’t need me. So, I sent him Jeremy—another injured athlete—and went to my parents’ house. When I was there, my mom told me that part of being a good partner is knowing when your person needs something you can’t give them and finding it for them. She said it’s impossible to be everything to each other even when you are each other’s everything, and she was right. Jeremy needs brothers right now, and he needs parents. The guys and my parents will know what to do. Rachel Parker always knows exactly what to do.”
We all laugh a little because truer words, and all that.
“They’ll help him in ways you can’t right now. When he’s ready for all the ways that you can help him, he’ll come to you. Jeremy loves you, Em. It’s the real, forever kind of love. Trust that. This rocked his world and broke him a little, but we’ll all help him pick up the pieces. He belongs to us, and in this family, no one ever gets left behind.”
Molly sniffles a little and wipes under her eyes. “Christ, Jules. I’ll never get sick of your Asher-era wisdom.”
Julie waves her away. “It’s mostly Rachel Parker wisdom.”
“It’s not.” I lay a hand over Julie’s. “It’s you, and it was exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you. I don’t say this very often because I feel like after all these years, it’s a given, but I’m so damn lucky to have you. All of you.” I look around at Hallie and Molly too.
Hallie wraps an arm around me. “We’re all lucky, Em.”
“Damn right we are,” Molly hoots from the floor. “We’re fantastic.”
“Why is there so much noise down here?”
We all look up to see a sleepy Maddy padding into the living room. Her hair is tangled around her face, she has a stuffed dog under each arm, and her hand grips her wand. The cape she’s wearing over her puppy pajamas hangs off one shoulder. My heart aches with love for her.
My daughter.
My child.
Mine.
It’s the first time my brain has conjured that thought, and it heals something deep inside of me. A part of me that has been fractured since the day I lost my parents all those years ago stitches itself back together, mended by a seven-year-old girl and the man who is a little bit broken but full of more love than I ever thought I would feel in a lifetime.
“We’re just talking. Want to come sit for a while?”
She nods and Julie scoots over, making space for Maddy to slide in. She snuggles up next to me and leans her head on my shoulder, pressing her feet against Julie’s legs. Hallie tosses me a blanket from the basket next to the couch and I’m covering Maddy up when the doorbell rings.
“Tacos!” Molly pops up from her seat on the floor to go answer the door.
“Why did you order tacos in the middle of the night?” Maddy yawns and hugs her dogs tighter.
“Maddy girl, middle of the night tacos are one of life’s greatest pleasures,” Molly says, coming back in and setting the take-out bags on the coffee table. “Want one?”
Maddy looks up at me. “Can I?”
I grin at her. “Definitely. It’s girls’ night, isn’t it?”
“I’ll do you one better,” Hallie says, grabbing one of the bags and tearing into it. “Sleepover?”
Maddy looks at us with wide eyes. “Like, with all of you?”
“You bet, Mads.” Julie squeezes Maddy’s feet and then winks at me. “Welcome to your first grown-up sleepover.”
Maddy snuggles up closer to me and lets out a little sigh, speaking quietly so only I can hear.
“I love it here.”
I kiss her on the head, my chest expanding with more love than a person should be able to reasonably feel.
“I love it here too, Maddy girl.”