6
After school the next day, while June changed into some play clothes, Emery quickly got started on the leftover dishes, wiped down the counters, and then set out a few ingredients to start prepping dinner.
By the time June had reappeared in leggings and a t-shirt with a sparkly unicorn on it, Emery had already started peeling potatoes.
“Can I help?”
“Sure,” Emery said, sliding a step stool over. “You can rinse these green beans. And no flicking water everywhere—I know your tricks.”
June giggled but agreed, humming to herself as she rinsed the beans at the sink. For a while, it was just the simple sounds of the kitchen. Water running, vegetables being chopped, and the low volume of Emery’s phone playing some music.
Emery moved through the house as she worked, starting a load of laundry, folding the basket of clean towels that had been sitting by the dryer, and checking a to-do list she’d scribbled in her notes app. She even pulled out some frozen chicken to thaw for the next day and tucked it into the fridge.
By the time Levi’s truck crunched down the driveway again, the house smelled like roasted garlic, and gravy was bubbling gently on the stove.
June now sat at the table coloring, her cheeks pink from post-school energy and her hair wild from a dance party that Emery had indulged her in halfway through folding towels.
Levi stepped through the door, pausing a moment. The room felt… different. Like a little order had snuck back into his day without him lifting a fi nger.
He spotted Emery at the stove, barefoot, stirring the pot with one hand and a towel flung over her shoulder.
“Smells good,” he muttered, setting down his keys on the counter and emptying the rest of the things from his pockets.
Emery glanced over her shoulder with a smile that was a little extra bright. “Don’t worry, cowboy. Still nothing fancy.”
They all sat together for dinner, and Emery noticed the way the stress seemed to melt from Levi's shoulders as he listened to June talk about the new game she played at school to help her remember how to tell how many syllables are in a word.
She could see him visibly relax the more he got to just be a present dad and not be so focused on all the household chores he'd still have to tackle after already working a full day.
His smile while talking with June was more genuine than Emery had seen yet.
She thought to herself that it was probably a good thing he didn't smile more often, because holy shit, his smile was gorgeous.
She knew she'd have to remind herself over and over that he was complicated, and she was temporary here.
But in the same breath, she couldn't help but hope that maybe she had even the smallest part in the less stressed version of the cranky cowboy sitting at the table tonight.
Levi stood from the table, grabbing June’s empty plate and his own into one hand before heading toward the sink.
Emery stood too, gathering the last of the silverware and napkins, but before he could turn on the faucet, she reached out and touched his arm lightly, just above the elbow.
“I’ve got this,” she said gently.
Levi blinked, brow furrowing. “You cooked.”
Emery shrugged, starting to stack the plates with ease. “You need some time with her before the night’s over.”
He hesitated, glancing toward the hallway where June was already skipping off toward the bathroom, humming loudly, dragging a towel behind her like a cape.
“I don’t—”
Emery cut him off with a soft smile. “You don’t have to do everything, Levi. Go. This part is easy. It’s why I'm here.”
Levi stood there for a moment, as if weighing whether he should argue, but something about the calm confidence in her eyes outweighed his stubbornness. With a grumble that wasn’t quite convincing, he wiped his hands on a dish towel.
As he disappeared down the hallway, Emery turned back to the sink, sleeves rolled up and warm water already running.
From down the hall, she could hear June giggling, her voice echoing off the bathroom tile, followed soon by the low tone of Levi reading a silly line from a book with exaggerated gruffness that made June squeal with laughter.
Emery smiled to herself, rinsing the plates and placing them gently onto the dish rack. The house was peaceful, like the kind of place that held real happiness in its walls. Not perfect. But solid. Honest.
And that gruff, overworked, frustratingly handsome man was slowly, unknowingly, pulling her into it.
The sun had started to dip low behind the hills, leaving a golden glow in the deep blue sky. Crickets had begun their nightly song, and the porch light buzzed faintly overhead.
Emery sat on the porch swing, waiting for Levi to finish the bedtime routine before she took off for the day. One leg tucked beneath her, the air smelled faintly like hay and earth, a cool breeze rustling through the trees beyond the fence line.
She heard the door creak open behind her a few minutes later, the slow sound of Levi’s socked feet on the old wooden boards.
“She out?” Emery asked, handing him a jar without looking up.
“Out cold,” he said, easing down onto the swing beside her. “Didn’t even make it through the second book.”
Emery smiled into her tea. “You’ve got a good bedtime voice.”
Levi raised an eyebrow, then smirked. “A bedtime voice? Didn’t know that was a thing.”
“It is,” she said. “Very official.”
They sat in silence for a beat, the quiet between them not uncomfortable, just… full of thoughts neither of them had quite spoken yet.
“She’s a good kid,” Emery said softly.
Levi’s jaw tightened for a second before he nodded. “She is.”
The silence returned, heavier this time. Emery could feel the question pressing at her lips before she even decided to ask it.
“She talked about her mom today,” she said, her voice careful. “Not much—just said she doesn't have one, and that sometimes the other kids make jokes about it.”
Levi exhaled slowly, leaning his hands on the rail beside him. He didn’t look at her.
His voice was quiet, almost like he was talking more to himself than anyone else. “Said it wasn’t what she signed up for. That she wasn’t built for this kind of life.”
He let out a slow breath, jaw tightening as he looked out across the pasture. The sky had started to glow with the sunset, but the memory behind his eyes dimmed it.
“It wasn’t planned,” he added after a long pause.
“A baby. Us. Hell, we weren’t even really serious.
Just… two young people, I guess. She made it clear from the beginning that she wasn’t staying in Cold Creek forever.
But when we found out she was pregnant, everything changed. Or at least I thought it did.”
Emery stayed silent, giving him space. Her heart ached with quiet understanding.
“She stuck around for a little bit,” he went on. “Made it look like maybe she’ d try. But deep down? I think she’d already checked out. She didn’t want the ranch, the responsibility. When she finally said it out loud—that she wasn’t built for this—there was no convincing her otherwise.”
His eyes flicked to Emery’s. “So, she left. And it hurt like hell, but I wouldn’t beg someone to be a mother who didn’t want to be one. I couldn’t let my little girl grow up wondering if she was too much to love.”
There was a silence between them, heavy but safe.
Emery blinked, her fingers tightening slightly on the armrest. “You were alone with a newborn?”
He nodded once. “My mom helped when she could. But yeah. It was… a lot.”
“She’s never come back? Not even to visit?”
“Nope.” His voice was clipped. “Not once. Not even a birthday card.”
Emery swallowed hard, her chest aching a little as she imagined it—tiny June, wide-eyed and waiting for a mom who never showed.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly.
Levi nodded again but didn’t say anything.
A breeze stirred Emery’s hair as she sat in silence, letting the moment settle between them.
“I didn’t mean to pry,” she added.
“You didn’t.” He glanced sideways at her then, the edge in his expression softening. “Just… not used to talking about it. Most people don’t ask.”
“I’m not most people.”
“No,” he said, eyes lingering on her a little longer. “Guess you’re not.”
The swing creaked gently as they sat, both of them staring out into the dusk, the weight of old stories still hovering in the quiet, but something softer blooming alongside it.
Trust. And maybe… something else.
The crickets had taken over the quiet. The porch light cast a warm glow over the steps, and Levi now stood and leaned against the railing, arms crossed.
For a moment, neither of them spoke. It wasn’t awkward, just easy. The kind of silence that didn’t need filling. Until his voice cut through it, a low rumble with a trace of curiosity.
“What about you?” he asked, tilting his head slightly to glance at her. “Now you know my mess. Tell me your story, Emery.”
She blinked, caught off guard. “Which part? The one I tell most people when they ask, or the real one?”
Levi’s mouth twitched, just a little. “Let’s start with the real one.”
Emery gave a quiet, breathy laugh. “Okay… real version it is.”
She looked out into the evening, like she might find the right words in the trees.
“Well, first of all, I think it’s amazing … the way your mom jumped in to help you. Not everybody has th at. Parents who show up, I mean.”
“I get that. My dad left when I was young, and my mom more than made up for him being MIA. Maybe that's why I was so adamant about not begging June's mom to stay. But yours weren't around?”
She shook her head lightly. “They were… busy. Always somewhere else. Some deal to close, some conference to attend. We traveled a lot. I grew up in hotel rooms and was babysat by personal assistants.
They loved me. I think just in their own way, and from a distance. We just never had a bond, not like you and June.”
“That’s gotta be tough.”
“My cousin was the one constant. Summers with her family were the closest I ever got to feeling like part of a real family. So, when everything fell apart at work, she was the first person I called. Didn’t expect to find myself out here with a moody cowboy and a five-year-old who’s got so much sass. ”
Glancing up at her, his brows furrowed, Levi said, “I ain’t a cowboy.”
“Oh, really? You ride a horse, have a ranch full of cows, wear boots, jeans, and a hat every day of the week, but you’re not a cowboy?”
“Just ‘cause I’ve got cows, and a hat doesn’t make me some rodeo poster boy.”
“So what do you call yourself then?”
“A rancher. A man who works sun-up to sun-down so people can eat cheeseburgers without thinking twice.”
Emery let out a laugh. “Okay, Mr. Cheeseburger Provider, noted.”
“Keep it up, and I’ll put you on fence duty tomorrow. See how sassy you feel after running barbed wire for three hours.”
“Oh, you think I can’t handle a little barbed wire? I’ll bring gloves and lip gloss.”
“Make sure it’s sweat-proof, sweetheart. This ain’t a fashion show.”
“Sounds a whole lot like something a cowboy would say!”
“Keep talkin’, and I’ll make you shovel stalls with Jess.”
With a genuine full smile on her face, now relieved at how light things felt in this moment, she threw a sideways glance at him.
“I know it probably wasn't easy having me come in here, but I do think it's sweet that your mom cares. Like, actually cares. My parents probably wouldn’t even know if I moved across the country unless they got the address for their Christmas card list. So, once I was old enough, I started following their footsteps— because that's all I knew. I went to work for a corporate agency in the city. It was high-pressure, high-drama, and looked a lot more glamorous on the outside than it was on the inside. My boss was the kind of man who praised you when people were looking and tried to cross the line when no one was around. I handled it—until I couldn’t anymore. I was tired. Burnt out. Tired of constantly having to be smarter, faster, tougher, just to be left alone.”
Levi’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t interrupt, letting it sit between them before he finally asked, his voice soft and almost careful. “So… what happens after the house-sitting ends?”
She looked over at him then, really looked. “That depends,” she said. “Maybe I'll go back. Or maybe I figure out something different.”
His brow lifted just a little. “Different how?”
She smiled and stood, making her way to the porch steps. “I don’t know yet. But I think I like the idea of different.”
Levi nodded, pushing off the railing. “Different doesn’t sound half bad.” He stood at the door watching as Emery made her way down the steps with a simple wave, before getting into her SUV and starting back down the gravel driveway.