Chapter Nineteen
Nineteen
When they got home, Emmy went around plumping pillows and checking for cobwebs—despite Will’s insistence that the house looked fine—and otherwise making the place look presentable.
She placed the candles strategically, one in the bathroom and one in the den, so the scent wouldn’t get too strong or interfere with the cooking smells that would soon be coming from the kitchen.
She could tell just from the ingredients Will had bought that the meal was going to have its own enticing and homey scent.
Sure enough, by the time Will flipped the first fritter, she was salivating.
“I’m going to tell Bright to make a sweet potato fritter candle. I bet she could.”
“I’ve never been complimented in the form of home decor before.” Will smiled at her over his shoulder in that devastating way of his. “I like it. Thank you.”
“Thank you for teaching me how to make this salad.” Emmy popped a stray walnut into her mouth. “This is probably the first time in my life I’ve looked forward to a salad.”
“You are very good for my ego.”
His devastating, sexy smile melted seamlessly into one with such warmth and affection that she had no time to defend herself against it.
Before she knew what was happening, her heart began to stutter.
Fortunately, the sound of a car driving up meant that she didn’t have to address what was happening.
“Show time,” Will said, turning down the heat under the fritters. “Let’s go say hello.”
He opened the front door to reveal a smiling middle-aged man with gray-tinged brown hair and a carefully trimmed beard.
“Hey, Dad.” Will embraced his father, then looked around for his mother.
Reading the question in his son’s eyes, his dad said, “She’s still out front admiring the view.”
Will smiled smugly down at Emmy as her cheeks heated with a mixture of self-consciousness and pleasure.
“Dad, this is Emmy. Emmy, this is my father, Bill.” After they’d shaken hands, he added, “Emmy is the one who redesigned the front yard.”
“Did she now? You should go tell Will’s mother. She’ll be delighted.”
“Oh… I don’t know if I should—”
“Don’t be shy. She’s a gentle soul,” Bill reassured her.
Will gave her an encouraging nudge, and she accepted her fate.
Emmy stepped outside and walked to the woman who stood on the edge of the property, gazing at the house.
Her expression was calm and relaxed, and Emmy saw a lot of Will in the shape of her face and the curve of her lips.
When Will’s mother spotted her, she smiled so warmly that Emmy forgot to be nervous.
“You must be Bright.” She held out her hand expectantly.
“Ah… Emmy, actually.” She shook the offered hand.
A look of bafflement briefly crossed the woman’s face.
“Oh, of course. Emmy. I don’t know where my head is at.
” She dropped her hand, and the smile returned.
“It’s lovely to meet you. I’m Joanna.” Her gaze shifted to the house once more, and she let out a wistful sigh.
“I’m sorry. It was rude to stay out here instead of coming in to meet you right away, but my father loved this house, and he would have been delighted to see that Will got someone out here to give it a facelift.
” She paused, patted her chest. There might have been tears in her eyes, gathered just so as if she were putting on an act.
Maybe she was, in a way, Emmy thought, though she was unaware of it.
“Is that his old watering can being used as a planter? Oh, that’s lovely. ”
Emmy figured she wasn’t going to get a better opening than that. Steeling herself, she said, “Yeah, I hope you don’t mind that I repurposed it like that. It just felt like it belonged out there.”
Joanna gave her a look of surprise. “That was you?”
“Yeah, the whole thing was, actually. I got bored, and when I get bored, I garden.”
“Well, color me impressed. Later, you and I are going to have a conversation about our place. For now, we should get inside.”
Emmy allowed herself a quick moment to take a calming breath.
That had gone well. So what if the woman spoke a little too much like…
well… like a mom in a romance novel? The worst was officially over.
Probably. She followed Will’s mother into the house and waited while Will indulged Joanna with a long, tight hug.
“Missed you,” he said.
Joanna stepped back, but kept her hands on her son’s arms. “I love what you did with the place. Gramps would have loved it, too.”
Will’s smile was just a little pained. “I’m glad you think so.”
“Honey, Bright, here, was the one who did the redesign,” Joanna told her husband.
“Yes, I heard,” Bill said. “Impressive, isn’t it?”
Emmy cast a look at Will behind his mother’s back that clearly said: Did you tell your parents you were dating Bright? He shook his head and shrugged in response. Clearly he didn’t know what was going on either.
“Her name is Emmy, Mom,” Will tried.
“Yes, I know. Why? Did I say it wrong?”
Joanna looked so horrified by the possibility that Emmy stepped in and reassured her. “No, you said it right. It’s fine. Would either of you like a drink?”
Will followed Emmy’s lead, grateful that she had taken over the hosting duties for the moment.
He was still reeling from the reminder that his parents were just as much a part of this made-up world as everything else.
The oblivious look on his mother’s face when he’d corrected her about Emmy’s name had hit him like a punch to the gut.
All at once, he felt fatigued. He wanted nothing more than to cancel dinner and crawl into bed.
But he was stuck, and he wasn’t about to leave Emmy alone to carry the evening to its conclusion.
She was holding up like a champ. It was a relief to him that she was there.
He thought, not for the first time, how strange it was that he felt so comforted by her presence.
She was the reason for his current predicament, but she was also his greatest supporter.
He couldn’t ignore that, nor could he overlook the fact that he felt drawn to her regardless of whatever part she’d inadvertently played in throwing his world into a tailspin.
They ate at the table, sharing the meal that Will had carefully assembled.
Emmy dodged as many personal questions as she could, redirecting the conversation whenever it got dicey.
She really was something else. Will barely paid attention to what was being said, and it surprised him when he looked down to see half his meal gone.
He didn’t remember bringing the fork to his mouth or tasting the food on his tongue.
“So how long have you been together?” Bill asked, snapping Will out of his own thoughts. “I have to admit I was a little surprised to learn Will was living with someone we’d never even met before.”
“It is fairly new,” Emmy said with a touch of apology in her tone.
“I just moved into town, and I didn’t have a place to stay.
A friend of mine introduced me to Will, and we agreed to be roommates, but, well…
” She paused to smile at him, and he got caught up in the look in her eyes—a twinkle of humor mixed with sincere gratitude. “Things evolved from there.”
“Aww.” Joanna pressed a hand over her heart. “Will, how can you not kiss the girl after she looks at you like that?”
He looked at his mother. “What?”
“You’ve barely touched since we’ve been here. You don’t have to be so careful around us. Go ahead and give her a kiss.”
Emmy covered a laugh with a cough. He could practically hear her thinking “I told you so” over and over again.
“Mom… no. It’s weird that you’d even say that.”
Joanna scoffed. “It’s not weird.”
“It is, though.”
“Will, stop calling your mother weird,” Bill put in. “She asked you to kiss your girlfriend, not recite a Shakespearean sonnet. Just give her a kiss.”
“Dad…”
“Why are you fighting this so hard?” Joanna demanded with sudden distress. “Did we do something wrong? Do you not trust us?”
“What has gotten into you?” Bill asked. “You’re upsetting your mother. Kiss Bright. Just once.”
“It’s Emmy, Dad.”
“Kiss Emmy, then!” Bill slapped his hand on the table so hard that silverware rattled and Emmy jumped in her seat. “You owe us this much, don’t you think? Are you really so ungrateful for all that we’ve done for you that you won’t kiss your girlfriend when your mother asks?”
Will had no idea what was going on, but he was quickly losing control of the situation.
He opened his mouth, thinking he might try a different tactic to defuse things, but Emmy squeezed his hand under the table.
When he looked at her, she was transmitting a very clear message with her eyes.
Immeasurably grateful to her, he leaned in and touched her lips with his.
It was quick, barely a second of contact, but he felt the spark, the flare of heat that rose whenever they touched.
He found it difficult to sit back again, but he did so, glancing warily at his parents.
“So, Willy, anything exciting happen at work lately?” Bill asked, as if nothing had happened.
“Willy?” Emmy repeated under her breath.
It occurred to Will that he hadn’t told his parents that he’d quit his job. Given how they’d reacted to his refusal to kiss Emmy, he decided not to push them any more tonight.
“The usual stuff. I saved a couple lives, got to know a kid who beat pneumonia just in time for his tenth birthday.”
“That’s wonderful!” his mother chimed, sipping her wine. “Emmy, you simply must come look at our house. You see…” She glanced at her husband, got a nod from him. “Bill and I are thinking about moving, and it would be helpful if you could freshen up the curb appeal before we list it.”