Chapter 49
Chapter Forty-Nine
Emma
“ S o you’re doing good with the pregnancy?” Mom asked, standing in the doorway of the kitchen. “And you’re happy with moving in without a ring?”
“You mean like being engaged?” I shot back at her, making a face.
“You know what I mean,” she snipped, shaking her head at me. She had surprised me with a visit, and while it wasn’t unwelcome, she was already on my case about everything.
“I know, and I think that it’s not my responsibility to worry about when he’s going to propose. I don’t want to get married while I’m pregnant, anyway.” I shrugged my shoulders. “We have a lot on our plate right now.”
“Yes, I read the paper this morning at the café, and it was just crazy. All those missing cattle, a barn fire—are you sure you’re safe living here? It seems this whole town is just up in arms. ”
“Mom, it’s fine,” I said with a sigh, picking up Jess’s purse from the living room floor. As I did, a phone clattered to the floor, and I grimaced. She had forgotten her phone at home this morning, apparently.
“You shouldn’t let her go to school without that,” Mom said over my shoulder. “Not in a town like this. You need to be able to get ahold of her all the time.”
“Mom,” I spun around, shaking my head at her. “Please stop. I have it handled, okay? Besides, I’m going to take this to her.”
My mother pursed her thin lips, folding her arms across her chest. “I think I’ll stay here and keep working on the nursery. We still have a way to go with the new wallpaper.”
“Okay,” I replied. “Thank you for working so hard and being here.”
“Of course,” she said, finally giving me a smile. “I can’t wait for our little girl to get here. I can’t believe it’s just a few months away.”
“I know,” I agreed, grabbing my car keys. “She’ll be here before we know it.”
“Have you decided on a name yet?” Mom asked as I opened the front door.
“Not yet, we’re still working on it,” I answered. “Love ya, Mom.”
“Love you!”
As soon as the door shut behind me, I let out a sigh of relief. I was happy to have her there, but damn, she hounded me all the time. I glanced down to the iPhone in my hand, and as I tilted it, the screen lit up.
And I saw a text from Cody.
Lucas paid my bond.
I furrowed my brow as I saw that there were three more texts from him available to be viewed on the screen. I almost continued to read, but then stopped myself. It didn’t matter—and it didn’t matter if Lucas paid his bond… That was up to him. However, as I slid into the SUV and placed the phone on the console, it buzzed again.
Jess, I didn’t do it. I swear. Please just read my messages.
On the fence about reading what else he had sent, I sat there in the driveway, leaving the car running. I didn’t want to be the stepmom that went through her phone. I wanted to have an open and honest relationship with Jess—and that was what I would have done…
But I was still going to ask her to read the messages.
I headed to the school and checked the time. It was ten minutes from lunch, and I knew that Jess had off-campus lunch. I pulled out my phone and dialed Lily.
“Hey girl, how’s the visit with your mother?”
“Painful, but yeah, you know how it goes,” I laughed. “Could you send Dara a text and let her know to tell Jess that I’m at the school. She forgot her phone, and so I’m bringing it to her.”
“You can just take it into the office and drop it off,” Lily suggested. “It might be easier than making it through the flood of teenagers.”
“Yeah… But you know how Cody was arrested for the fire?”
She was quiet for a moment. “Yeah?”
“I saw that he’s sent her some texts—and I’ve only read the two that popped up on the screen—but he’s saying he didn’t do it…”
“Okay… Well, it’s not that crazy for a kid to lie about what they did.”
“Yeah, but he says that he knows who did,” I said quickly. “I just don’t want to go through Jess’s phone. I don’t think that’s starting us out on the best foot. I just want her to read them. If he knows who did it, then we can go to Mason.”
“You’re right,” Lily said, her voice growing distant. “I’m texting her right now to tell Jess to meet you in the parking lot. You know, Dara is convinced that Cody didn’t do it, either.”
I leaned back in the seat, waiting for the lunch bell to ring. “How come?”
“Well, she swears that Cody has changed since everything happened with his dad. He’s not arrogant or rude. He hangs out with her and Jess most of the time, not those other kids. She doesn’t think that he would start the fire. She said it just doesn’t make any sense.”
“Well, I guess, but you don’t think he did it for his dad or Brittany?”
Lily let out a sigh. “You know, if he did, it would be because they manipulated him to do it. However, Dara told me that he hasn’t even talked to his dad since he was arrested. He throws his father’s letters in the trash. He’s been living out at the ranch with Lucas, and Brittany hasn’t asked for him to come back to the house.”
“I knew he was out at the ranch,” I admitted. “I just don’t know. Jackson said that he caught him on the other side of the barn with a gas can.”
“But he could’ve been doing anything with that.”
“But when Jess asked him why he did it, he said he didn’t know…” I knew I was just throwing out the reasoning behind thinking that he did do it, but I had to admit that I was leaning more toward the idea that maybe he didn’t.
“Maybe he just didn’t know what else to say,” Lily suggested. “But I don’t know. ”
“I feel like there’s something off with it, too, though,” I agreed. “I just don’t know what it is… And maybe these texts hold the answer.” The lunch bell rang, and I drummed my fingers against the steering wheel.
“Dara said that Jess will be there shortly.”
“Okay,” I said, taking another breath. “I guess we’ll see if there’s any answers. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Perfect. See you and your mom for dinner later,” she added with a laugh before hanging up. I waited for Jess’s familiar face in the sea of teenagers, and it only took a few minutes before she showed up.
Jess trotted up to the passenger side of the car, and pulled at the door handle, giving me a sheepish look as she climbed into the passenger seat. “Did you read them?”
“Read the texts from Cody?”
“Ugh,” she facepalmed herself. “I just wanted to know if he was okay. I know that I shouldn’t have reached out, and I know that he’s not even going to get them because he’s in jail.”
I reached out, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I didn’t read your texts,” I said softly. “I just read the couple from him that popped up on the screen when I found the phone. And I think you should read them. He said that he didn’t do it, but he knows who did—but to read all of his messages.”
Jess’s eyes went wide. “Well, what did they say?”
“I don’t know,” I handed her the phone. “I’m not going through your messages. I didn’t think that was the right thing to do. I figured that maybe you should read them and see what they say.”
She nodded, a surprised look on her face. “Thanks for not going through my phone.”
“You’re welcome,” I chuckled. “Now, read those messages. ”
“Okay, okay,” she slid the screen open to the messages, her mouth immediately dropping open. “We need to find Dad.”
“Why?” I demanded, my heart racing. “What is it?”
“He didn’t do it,” Jess turned to me. “He didn’t have anything to do with the fire or the cattle rustling, but the night of the fire, he found out who did…”
“And who is it?” I nearly burst with anticipation, throwing my hands into the air.
“It was Jackson.”
I shook my head. “No… No, there’s no way. There’s no way that happened.”
“He says that Jackson was trying to get revenge on Lucas for family reasons? That makes no sense,” she added, shaking her head. “But either way, we have to find Dad. Maybe he just heard something wrong.”
I nodded, though something in my gut told me something was very, very wrong. “I’ll call him and see where they are.” I clumsily clicked on Mason’s number and held the phone to my ear, my heart pounding.
“Hey, honey, how’s the day going with your mom?” Mason’s voice sounded cheery, and I could hear the sound of people talking in the background.
“It’s going well, but I was hoping to come and talk to you,” I said, keeping my tone as calm as possible.
“Okay… Well, I’m at the café right now. Sarah’s doing a great job of running things. I think she’ll do fine when you go on maternity leave.”
“Yeah, thanks. I’ll be there soon. Love you,” I said quickly, hanging up the phone and letting out a sharp breath. “If it’s my guess, I bet he’s eating lunch with Jackson right now. ”
“Great,” Jess muttered, her face mirroring the same worry I was feeling. “This is going to be interesting.”
And just then, my phone rang…
It was Lucas.