“The fur capes the girls were supposed to wear.”
“Lydia likes to be livid,” I responded, going for overly cheerful.
“What?”
I waved him off.
“She was furious about the girls not wanting to wear the capes. It meant a lot to her that there would be a specific look to the ceremony.”
“Okay,” I said as I walked to the doggy door with Winston and slid the metal piece up that opened it for the day. Last one to bed slid the guard down at night, which lately had been all Emery. He was the one coming in at all hours.
“Okay?” he said sarcastically. “Is that all you have to say?”
“What?” I wasn’t even following him, having been barely listening.
“Did you hear me?”
Why was he giving me crap so early? If he wanted to yell at me, he really needed to wait until I had more coffee. “Sorry ’bout that, the cape thing I mean, but if you’d heard the alternative, then—”
“But I didn’t, Brann,” he snapped at me from where he was, leaning against the counter by the refrigerator. “I don’t hear anything from the girls because they’ve already told you. They’ve already confided in you, and they don’t care about talking to their father anymore.”
I was going to blast him and tell him that was total crap, but I had no right, and more importantly, I didn’t want him to throw me out of his house and cut me off from his kids before I had to be. So instead of ripping him apart, I turned to leave instead. I could change and go for a run and get coffee while I was out. He made crappy coffee, anyway; it was weak and—
Emery caught my wrist before I could charge by him, and his strength was startling as he held me in place, as well as the fact that he’d moved really fast to intercept me.
When I turned to look at him, to figure out what was wrong, I was surprised to find him staring at me. There was all that gorgeous, melting chocolate brown, and he kept me there, locked in his gaze, as he closed the distance between us down to nothing.
“Stop running away from me,” he said tightly, plaintive and demanding at the same time.
My mind went blank. I forgot to breathe as my mouth went dry. The lump in my throat would have made it impossible to speak, so it was fortunate I didn’t have to, because again, him touching me had shorted out my brain.
“I know what’s going on. I’m not stupid.”
“What do you—when did I ever say you were stupid?”
“I walk into a room and you walk out, and I’m… I’m sick of it.”
I had no idea what to say.
“And then last night… I came home, absolutely drenched from the rain, and all of you were in your room snuggled up in your bed.”
I waited, marveling at him, watching as he lifted his hand to my cheek, and I felt each brush of his fingertips like a tiny brand on my skin.
“At first I was furious,” he confessed, and I felt my face heat as he held my gaze. “Or, more truthfully, I was angry again because lately I’m mad at you all the time.”
“Me?” I ground out, barely, the sound more like a croak than an actual word.
He nodded as he slid his thumb across my bottom lip, slowly, decadently, and I realized that his entire focus was there—on my mouth. “I feel like you’re taking my place with the girls. I’ve felt that way for a while now, but then I heard what you said, and you told them the absolute truth… that I love them more than anything.”
He spoke the words haltingly, roughly, like they were being dragged out of his throat, and I wanted to help him, soothe him, make him feel better, but he was still holding on to my wrist and the pressure there, how tight his grip was, made it hard to think about anything else. The man was holding me still, keeping me close, and I had no idea how to react or what to say.
“I’m so sorry, Brann,” he said gruffly, and I heard the need in the low, aching sound. “I was such a coward that night, and I should have stayed and talked to you, and—”
“No,” I choked out, shaking my head, taking a step back. “I wasn’t thinking, and—”
“Stop,” he pleaded, following me, reaching for my face, even as I turned my head away. “I need you to—”
“Emery—”
“Hello!” Lydia called out as she walked in. Apparently Emery had left the front door unlocked when he came in the night before. “I’m using my key, so I hope everybody’s awake!”
Key. Of course.
We stepped apart, didn’t rush, neither of us, as people walked in the front door—Lydia first, followed closely by two women, one of them Shelby, and then three men after that, who were talking together, in mid-discussion about something.