Chapter Seventeen
Emily blinked to get her eyes accustomed to the light inside the barn when a piercing squeal tore through the air, and a curvy blonde woman half walked, and half hopped toward them.
“Remember what I told you and brace yourself.” Cole chuckled as Beth rushed to them.
Emily gasped at how beautiful this little blonde woman was.
Emily could see her blue eyes from several feet away.
Her eyes were so pale they looked colorless when the light shimmered across them.
Within a second, the little ball of energy was in front of them.
She pulled Emily from Cole’s arms and into a tight bear hug, trying to jump at the same time.
Emily giggled and held on, afraid they were both going to fall.
Beth laughed and backed off a bit but held Emily’s shoulders.
“I am so excited to meet you. Cole has told us all about you. But there is so much more I want to know.” Beth clapped her hands and laughed. “I have so many questions. Where are you from? Where are your daughters? Do you have siblings?”
Emily tried to keep her footing when an arm banded around her middle, holding her against a hard chest and keeping her steady.
“Jesus Christ, Sparky, don’t you think...”
Beth frowned up at Cole and waved her hand as if to shoo him away. “Not now, Pinky, I’m meeting my new friend.”
Emily looked up and back, catching Cole's attention, and whispered, “Did she just call you Pinky?”
Beth squealed again, making Emily jump, and held an arm straight up in the air. “Oh, me. Pick me. I have the answer.”
Emily laughed. This woman’s energy and happiness were contagious.
“Okay, Beth, why did you just call him Pinky?”
Beth clapped. “Okay, when we were ten or eleven, Cole used to pick on me something fierce.” Both women ignored the snort that came from Cole.
“Anyway, he started calling me Sparky. I don’t know why.
” She frowned over her shoulder when several people laughed at the table behind them.
“I kept telling him to stop it, that he was hurting my tender feelings, but he wouldn’t.
” Beth leaned close to Emily and in a loud whisper said, “He was a mean child.”
“Jesus, Beth, I was not,” Cole sputtered.
Beth nodded but otherwise ignored him. A sweet smile crossed her face. “Then Brant came to town.”
The look of unadulterated love was a little overwhelming. Emily had never seen such a raw display of such intense emotion.
“Well, one day Brant heard Cole be mean to me, came to my rescue, and punched him in the nose. It bled something fierce.”
Beth slapped her hands over her mouth when a giggle slid out. “That was the day I fell in love, and those two became best friends.” A huge smile spread across Emily’s face.
“But why do you call him Pinky? You haven’t told me yet.”
“Well, unbelievably, Cole still found time to call me Sparky when Brant wasn’t around, of course, until one day I got really mad.
I couldn’t cuss because I was forbidden to, but I thought of the worst name I could call him, and I came up with Pinky.
You see, he hates the color pink. His mother had washed one of his white shirts with something red so the shirt came out light pink.
Well, he wanted to throw it away, but his mom made him wear it. He’s hated the color pink ever since.”
Both women laughed. Beth leaned forward and whispered something in Emily’s ear, and their laughter became louder. “Guess what he did with the shirt?” Beth giggled and clutched her stomach.
Emily laughed. “What?
“He picked a fight with my Brant. You see, my man was the biggest boy in school, and Cole knew if he fought with him, his shirt was probably going to get trashed, and it did. Oh, his mother was mad.”
Cole groaned. “Great. I can already see you two getting into trouble. Maybe Brant and I should separate you.”
Emily watched a large man, clearly several inches over Cole’s own six-foot-four frame, walk up behind Beth and place his massive hands on her shoulders.
Not only large, but everything about him was dark.
Dark hair, his eyes so dark brown they looked almost black.
His skin was tanned to a rich mahogany, from his face to his hands, and in the open, unbuttoned part of his shirt at the top, he showed he spent a lot of time outside in the sun.
He was in a western shirt, nice jeans, and boots like Cole wore.
“What’s she up to now?” The tone of his voice was low and gruff.
Emily guessed that this would not be a man anyone would want to mess with.
“Causing trouble and making me look bad,” Cole grumbled.
Brant laughed. “Ahh. She told the story about when you bullied her?”
Cole groaned. “Oh, for God’s sake. I was teasing her.”
Brant shrugged and smiled. “You know that, and I know that, but she won’t let it go.”
Cole looked back at Beth and frowned in frustration. “Jesus, Beth. It was over thirty years ago.”
Beth crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. “Yeah, well, emotions aren’t determined by time.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Cole barked.
Brant leaned down and whispered something to Beth before pointing at something over Cole and Emily’s shoulders.
Emily jumped when Beth squealed and ran toward a couple just coming in the door.
Brant laughed and looked at Cole.
“You owe me one, buddy.” He turned his attention to Emily. “This must be Emily? It’s nice to meet you.”
Emily raised her hand, and it was engulfed in the largest hand she’d ever seen. “It’s nice to meet you. Your wife is lovely.”
Brant’s eyes lit on his wife, and a look of such devotion crossed his face it made tears burn her eyes.
“Yes, she is. Now I’d better go help the Hendersons. I’ll be back.”
They both watched him walk toward his wife and heard her laugh at something which made Emily smile.
Cole just snorted and propelled Emily over to the table and sat her down and handed her a drink.
He had already gotten her a lemonade before he went looking for her.
“Thank you.” She lifted the glass and took several sips of the tart drink. She watched Brant grin, shake his head as his wife tore off again, and walk to them.
Brant sat down across from them, but his eyes were on his wife. A sloppy smile crossed his face as he watched her hug everyone between them and the door.
“My wife is a sweet cuddle bear. Isn’t she?” His voice was so filled with love it was awesome to see but unexpected from such a large man who looked as hard as nails.
Some lemonade caught in her throat, making her cough. Those are not the words she would use to explain Beth.
Cole laughed and patted her on the back. “I know, it’s disgusting, right? Think about me having to deal with this for years,” he whispered in Emily’s ear.
Emily sputtered out a laugh as she looked at Cole. Her breath caught in her chest at the look of affection on his face when he looked at her.
Dinner came and went far too quickly for Emily. Between Cole’s attention and watching Beth and Brant together, it was hard to say goodbye to them.
The other couple promised to come for dinner again soon and asked them to dinner at their house. Emily looked forward to that. She wanted to meet the two children they still had at home. Their four other children had gone off to college and had lives of their own.
Emily couldn’t believe this little woman was old enough to have six kids, several of whom were already adults. She had more energy than anyone Emily had ever met, and a vitality that made the area around her glow.
She hoped they would become good friends. She’d never had the chance to have one when she was married to her ex. He hadn’t liked her spending time away from home.
She realized, looking back, how truly awful he really was. She was glad that he was out of her life forever.