Chapter 44
LENNON
“We should do this every Sunday,” Emma said. With her eyes glued to the shirtless, sweaty cowboys battling through a brutal game of Blood Ball, she leaned over her iced tea, searching for the straw with her mouth. She grimaced when it bumped against her lip.
“No argument here,” I said.
With Blair at a friend’s house, we had decided to have a lazy afternoon. We had shamelessly set up lawn chairs facing their game. Jeremiah looked like some kind of superhero mashup. Half golden Viking, half dirty cowboy, one hundred percent delicious.
“So, Grace was asking about you the other day.” Emma finally managed to get her straw in her mouth and sipped her iced tea. “She wants to know if you’re still going to look into getting tested for dyslexia.”
“I thought about it. But to be honest, it seems more hassle than it’s worth.
It’s not easy to diagnose an adult, and I’d have to drive pretty far to see a specialist.” Jeremiah knocked Seb down, and I grinned.
That’s my man. “A diagnosis won’t change anything for me.
I’m not in school, and I don’t have the kind of job where it matters a lot.
Mostly I just wanted proof that I’m not stupid. ”
“Lennon.” Emma squeezed my forearm. “You’re not stupid.”
“Thanks. But I’m actually feeling pretty good about my intellect lately. I mean, I escaped my stalker and made the most wonderful man in the world fall in love with me. Pretty damn smart of me, I think.” I smirked. “I do struggle with reading, though, and maybe Grace could help me with that.”
“I’m sure she would love to.” Emma’s attention was back on the game now. “I’m so glad you’re staying. Mercy River needed another woman around. I love Tamilee, but she has no interest in gawking at half-naked cowboys.”
“I’m here whenever you need me. Happy to be of service.”
She giggled. We watched Liam swing his mallet, sending a ball flying with a loud whack, the muscles in his back as defined as a Greek statue. Emma sighed.
I glanced at her curiously. From the pictures I’d seen in her house, Liam looked a lot like his younger brother, Daniel—Emma’s deceased husband.
“Is it hard for you?” I asked carefully.
When she gave me a questioning look, I continued, “Seeing Liam all the time. He looks so much like Daniel, doesn’t he?
I don’t mean to pry,” I added hastily. “But if you want to talk about it, I’m here. ”
She blinked, looking a little surprised by the question.
“Huh. I don’t…” She paused rolling her lips.
“I think about Daniel a lot. But Liam doesn’t remind me of him at all, to tell you the truth.
They’re so different. Liam is…Liam.” She shrugged.
“So, no. It’s not hard for me having Liam around.
If anything, he’s made everything so much easier.
I don’t know what I would have done without him after Daniel died.
Liam and Grace held me and Blair together. I—”
The sound of tires skidding over gravel cut her off. We both pushed to our feet to see a forest green sedan swerving up the road. The cowboys noticed it to, halting their game and moving toward us.
We gasped as the car swerved again and clipped a boulder with the bumper.
“Are they drunk?” Emma shouted. “What the hell!”
The car careened to stop ten feet from the lodge. Dust flew into the air. We were already jogging closer when the door opened and a woman stumbled out.
“Help!” she called. “Please!”
She reached for me with one hand, her other pressed to her side where a large red stain seeped through her shirt. “Please—”
Her arms went around my neck just as her eyes rolled back in her head and suddenly I was buckling under her dead weight. I took us both down to the ground as gently as I could. “Help!” I shrieked. “Jeremiah!”
But it was Seb who pushed me aside to check her pulse. “Move!” he barked.
I moved. He dropped to his knees and started CPR.
“Come on, baby,” he muttered. “Don’t do this.”
Baby? I stared wide-eyed at his blanched face. “Who is she?”
“My wife.”