Sweetwater

Chapter 1

Outside the bus windows, the woods thinned until Emma Randolph spotted only one or two every fifteen minutes. That’s when she knew she was close to Sweetwater. Granny had told her that it would be a lot different than Nazareth, Pennsylvania, where she had grown up. Emma knew it would be different, Granny lived in Texas after all but she wasn’t sure she could handle not being surrounded by trees.

Whenever she was scared or stressed all she’d had to do was walk a few blocks from her apartment to the woods that surrounded the city park and pick a path. Forests or woods, whatever you wanted to call them always calmed Emma or scared the hell out of her if it was dark. She’d seen way too many horror movies to walk through the woods or cornfields at night.

She leaned her head against the bus window and continued to watch the scenery or lack there of to pass by. There was no going back now. Suck it up buttercup, she told herself. Sweetwater, Texas, and Granny was her only option since Marcus had asked for a divorce. One good thing about moving two-thousand miles away was that she couldn’t play his yo-yo game of emotions anymore. For five and half years, Emma had played along because she thought she needed him to survive, that she loved him and he loved her. She had been so wrong. She loved him but he never really loved her, he felt sorry for her, responsible even, but he never loved her. All Emma ever was was a rebound affair from the girl he truly loved, Anna, who had broken his heart with his best friend at the time.

When Marcus told her the day before Valentine’s Day “i don’t love you anymore and I want a divorce,” it had been after almost 6 years of the “yo-yo game”. One week Marcus loved her and then the next he didn’t. Three years of “I want to marry you, I don’t want to marry you, wait...yes I do” and three years of “I want a divorce, I don’t want a divorce,”. Every time he did this Emma would beg him not to leave her. She would change herself in some new way to make him happy, and it would work for a little while, but it seemed like he was never satisfied. Emma had given up a lot friends because Marcus didn’t like them. She stopped listening to certain music because he didn’t like it. She even stopped seeing her family on holidays because he hated her parents. All of it was for nothing. On the 13th of February Emma’s brain finally clicked to life and when he told her he wanted a divorce, she heard herself saying, “OK.”

Marcus was nice enough to pay for her bus ticket to her grandmother’s house in Texas, but he didn’t giver her more than twenty bucks for food the whole trip. Emma didn’t work, Marcus did. It wasn’t that he wouldn’t let her. Emma had wanted to be a stay at home mom and both times she had gotten pregnant she had miscarried. She hadn’t looked for a job because she was depressed and honestly, a bit lazy. She could admit that now that she had time to look back at their relationship. She was so naive and immature and just unprepared for the real world. But this move was her chance to start all over, to forget her past and correct the flaws in her personality Marcus had helped her find. Getting over Marcus, even as horrible as he was to her, was not going to be as easy to fix. She still loved him more than anything else in the world. She deserved this punishment he was giving her. She had cheated on him with his best friend Bill, the same thing Anna had done but with a different friend. In her defense, it was right after they had lost the first baby and she had been so depressed. Bill had given her attention that Marcus never had. It was no excuse though. She had to suffer the consequences and hope that one day she could prove to Marcus that she really had changed and then go home.

“Welcome to Sweetwater, folks. We’re going to do a bathroom stop here and be back on the road in ten minutes,” the driver called over the intercom.

Emma stood up and grabbed her backpack before getting in line for the exit. She tried to look out the windows as she walked and find her grandmother but she couldn’t see her. The bus station looked as though it should be in a horror movie. The paint was peeling, the foundation and cement walls had cracks in them, and the windows were so grimy she could barely see inside them. Right next to it was a busy town road though so that made her feel a bit better. Crazed horror killers didn’t kill people next to busy roads, and it was only six o’clock so the sun hadn’t gone down yet. Everyone knew murderers did their job at night, but she still didn’t see her Granny. There was a really good looking guy staring her down leaning against a silver pick up, but she didn’t know him. If it hadn’t been for her previously listed reasons in her brain, she might be scared he was a serial killer. Instead she put on her best attitude face, grabbed her trunk the driver had pulled out from underneath the bus for her and walked past him to the front doors when he spoke and grabbed her elbow, almost making her drop her antique trunk. Marcus had called it a hunk of junk because it was solid wood and falling apart, but she loved it.

“Excuse me, ma’am, are you Emma Brandon?”

Emma jerked her arm free the second he had grabbed it out of natural reaction and turned and faced him. “Why? Who are you?”

“I’m looking for Emma Brandon. Her grandma Serena, asked me to pick her up because she was busy. I’m sorry to bother you ma’am. Must be on another bus.” The man turned and went back to leaning against the hood of his truck.

“Huh? How do you know I’m not her?” She stepped away from the bus station door and walked a few feet closer to the pick up.

“Well, no offense ma’am, but Miss Serena said her granddaughter was the prettiest girl in town, had a smile that would charm the devil and sweeter than honey. You don’t seem to be any of those things.” The rude man had the nerve to smile and wink at her.

“So let me get this straight, you don’t think I can be Serena Brandon’s granddaughter because I’m too ugly, too mean, and I have a horrible smile...is that right?” Emma placed her trunk on the ground and took a step towards the stranger. “Mister, I don’t know who the hell YOU are, but I hate to disappoint you. I AM Serena’s granddaughter Emma, but my last name is Randolph not Brandon. And I don’t give a damn if you think I’m pretty or not. I’ve been on a bus for the last two and a half days with no shower, barely working ac, no food or coffee and no cigarettes. I’ve been wearing the same clothes since I left Pennsylvania because we never stopped long enough for me to change and I haven’t been able to brush my teeth because I packed it in my trunk on accident, which has been under the bus the whole time. You wouldn’t look so hot either if you were me, so you can kiss my ass and take me to my grandmother.” Emma grabbed her trunk and threw it in the bed of the truck, wincing slightly when she heard the wood on the bottom crack. Then she stomped to the passenger door climbed inside and slammed the door fuming.

The stranger stood staring at her through the windshield smiling. After a minute or two he calmly walked to the driver’s door and climbed inside. Starting the engine, he turned towards her, “there she is.”

“Excuse me?” Emma replied turning to face him.

“Miss Rena said you were a feisty one back in the day but that husband of yours probably broke you. She said if I could get you mad and you told me off good, I’d know it was you because you’d sound just like her. Miss Rena asked me to help you find yourself again. What better way than to piss you off?”

“W-, what,” was all she could manage to get out at first. “My husband didn’t break me, not completely anyway, and you don’t even know him so you just keep your mouth shut about Marcus. As for ‘finding myself’ that’s why I moved here. I doubt I’ll need your help with that. Just take me to my Granny. Please,” she started to stare at her hands.

“My orders were clear. I’m to take you to the house to drop off your things and let you get a shower and then I’m to take you to the cafe for supper. Miss Rena will take you back home from there. You don’t disobey Miss Rena. She’s scary when she gets mad.” He put the truck into drive and eased onto the busy road that a few minutes ago had eased Emma’s serial killer fears.

“If you know my Granny at all then she never loses her temper with people she loves unless they do something really stupid, and then she finds the worst punishments So, what did you do to deserve this punishment?” Emma smiled.

“What makes you think this is a punishment? Maybe I volunteered to pick you up, ever think about that that?” He raised an eyebrow at her and continued driving.

“Oh yeah, what Texan wouldn’t jump at the chance to pick a Yankee up from the bus stop that smells like body odor and bad breath, and has a bad attitude? Seriously?”

“Good point, I got into a fight with my best friend in the cafe parking lot when I was a little drunk.” He smiled back.

“OK, Mister whoever you are, you know my name but I don’t know yours, and you must be crazy to fight around Granny. She’s meaner than hell when she wants to be.”

“Jake,” he laughed.

“Do what?”

“My name is Jake, Jake Andrews. I’ve known Miss Rena since I was sixteen. That’s when she started cooking for my best friend and his family at their ranch. His mama died that year and his daddy just ran off and left him with his little sister and brother to raise and a farm to take care of. Miss Rena practically moved in and forced him to finish school before she’d leave. Apparently she was good friends with Ryan’s mama.”

“Wait, Donovan...Audrey Donovan?”

“Yes ma’am, you know her?” Jake gave her a curious look.

“Yeah, she used to babysit me while my mom was at work. What? What’s that look for? I lived here until I was nine before my parents moved us to Pennsylvania. They moved back a few years ago before they died.” Emma began staring at her hands and picking at her nails.

“I’m sorry to hear about your parents. Miss Rena said y’all weren’t very close, but it still sucks. Trust me I know.”

“Granny told you a lot about me,” she smiled a sad smile. “I’m not the same person I was when Granny knew me though, a lot has changed. Are we almost there?”

“Miss Rena is a smart lady. I bet that girl she knew is still there somewhere, or else she wouldn’t waste her time on you. It’s about another fifteen minutes or so.”

They pulled up to a one story white house with green shutters, and a large cement porch and parked in front of it. Other than needing a fresh coat of paint, it was a very pretty house.

Emma looked up. “Where are we? This isn’t Granny’s house.”

“No ma’am, it isn’t. This is my mama’s house. I need to check something real quick before we head that way.” Jared explained as he opened the truck door.

Rolling down the window she yelled at his back as he walked up the front walk. “Granny told you to pick me up and take me to her house so I could shower, she didn’t say anything about stopping to visit your mother.”

Jake paused for a second before turning around and walking back to her truck window. “Lady, I know exactly what Miss Rena told me to do, and I plan on doing exactly that. But I also know that my mother forgets to take her medicine sometimes, and her house is on the way to Miss Rena’s. I know that if I didn’t stop and make sure she takes it and Miss Rena finds out I was in the neighborhood she’d kick my ass. I have been really patient with your attitude and smart mouth up to now. Hell, I even thought it was a little amusing and, yes, I even antagonized it a little, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to get a lecture on what I was told to do by a woman who was told to bring her ass home years ago to bury her parents by the same woman that told me what to do today and didn’t listen.” He spun around and walked back to the house and entered the front door.

Emma was so mad she couldn’t even speak. She was mad at him for having the balls to say that to her, but she was also pissed at herself because she knew he was right. She should have come home when her parents died. She should have helped Granny pay for their funerals. She was so wrapped up in making Marcus happy at the time that she forgot bout doing what was right by her grandmother. She had come to visit when Pawpaw was in the hospital though, right before he died. He was almost as special to her as Granny was. Didn’t that count for anything?

Either way, who the hell did this guy think he was reprimanding her for something that was none of his business? If this wasn’t Texas, the state where everyone owns a gun, she’d march right in there and tell him what she thought whether it was his mama’s house or not. Instead, she climbed out of the truck and walked back to the bed, grabbing her trunk and suitcase. She was done dealing with asshole men who thought that they could order her around. Granny had told him she was feisty, and he laughed about it. Well, she’d show him just how feisty she could be and then see who was the one laughing. She took out her cell phone, Googled directions to Rena’s cafe and started walking.

“Emma! I told that boy to take you to the house first, I’m gonna kick his ass. Where is he?” Serena Brandon pulled Emma into a bear hug. “I’ve missed you, girl. It’s about time you came home.”

“That boy can kiss my ass. I left him at his mother’s house and walked here.” Emma smiled as her grandmother finally released her. “He thought it was OK to stop there first and then give me a lecture about doing what I’m told when I tried to remind him of what you told him to do. So, I googled directions, grabbed my stuff and walked here.”

“You did what? Emma Joselle Brandon, I know damn well you didn’t have the audacity to be rude to a complete stranger that was helping you out, did you?” Miss Rena put her hands on her hips and glared up at Emma.

“Are you kidding me? He was the one being rude from the start! He said you told him to piss me off so he’d know it was me. You told him an awful lot about me as a matter of fact. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let a complete stranger lecture me on anything.” She knew better than to yell at Granny no matter how angry she was, or whether she was 25 or 105. Miss Rena had a back hand swing that could make a brick wall bleed.

“I sure as hell did tell him that, and I won’t apologize for it. As for leaving him at his mama’s house, that was not only rude but really dumb. Jared Andrews has a stubborn streak in him a mile wide, and he’s not somebody you want mad at you. As for his mama, she’s been fighting cancer in her brain for the last two years. If he wanted to stop and check on her while he was in the neighborhood, he knows I wouldn’t give a damn. You’ve been gone so long, Emma, I think you forgot you’re manners. I think you owe Jared an apology.” She turned and walked back into the diner. It looked like a step back in time to the forties and fifties, with a long counter with red leather cushioned stools and booths. There was an old jukebox in the back corner by the rest rooms, and wood paneling on every wall that hung black and white photos of small town life long ago.

“Are you kidding me right now? You want me to apologize for being rude to some dude who was rude to me first because my granny told him to be. I literally just got here and you’re already picking a fight with me over some asshole who needs to mind his own his business. Yet, somehow I’m the one who needs to apologize. You know what? Coming here was a mistake. I knew I should have just gone somewhere where no one knew who I was. I don’t belong here anymore than I belong in Nazareth.” Emma grabbed her suitcase and stormed out of the cafe. She half hoped Granny would stop her but she knew better. She was just as stubborn as Emma was, and would never back down.

She walked across the street to a giant building with the letters “Nolan County Courthouse” across the front and sat on the bench in front of it. What was she going to do now? She refused to apologize to that Jared guy, she’d pissed Granny off within five minutes of saying hello so she was pretty sure she had no place to stay now and not a penny to her name. Years of anger and sadness burst from her and putting her face in her hands she began to cry. Huge, body shaking, gulping sobs broke free that she tried to keep silent so passersby wouldn’t hear her and stare. She just couldn’t hold it in anymore. All her anger at her parents, at Marcus, at Granny...her entire family. None of them had ever been there for her growing up except Granny. They all treated her like she was some sort of nasty piece of trash her whole life and they were far superior.

She cried for all the pain from her marriage ending, for the two babies that should be by her side right now as adorable little toddlers but were sitting in boxes in the ground of the cemetery back in Pennsylvania. She cried for the pain of never being able to visit their graves again, for her broken heart, her stupidity, all the mistakes she made. She cried to release all the pain that she had been fighting for the last six years that she just couldn’t hold in anymore. Her rain was full and like a soda bottle when you shake it up before you open it, all her misery and pain exploded out of her at once. Now that she’d started she couldn’t stop so she just sat there and let it come, wave after wave. Suddenly, she felt someone sit down next to her and put their arms around her. She looked up quickly, and saw Jake looking back at her. She couldn’t stop her emotional release even if she wanted to at this point, so she just pushed him away and covered her face back up and let it go on.

He didn’t say a word he just pulled her head onto his chest and hugged her lightly, letting her cry until her nose ran and her head hurt. It felt so good to be held when it felt like very wound to her mind and heart was being ripped open all over again, that she just enjoyed the feeling of his arms around her. It was oddly soothing considering that the fact that she barely knew him and didn’t really like him. Once the tide of gasping breaths, and soul wrenching wails had quieted down, Jared pulled her onto his lap and continued to hold her. Positioning her head on his shoulder, he rested his head on top of hers before she spoke.

“I’m so sorry,” she choked out before the tears started flowing all over again and her body began to shudder from another silent sob. She hoped he understood she was apologizing for the way she acted before and they way he had found her now. She didn’t think she could talk well enough to explain at the moment.

“Shh. No need to apologize. If I had been holding all that in, I’d of acted the same way. Miss Rena told me you were broken, remember? I shouldn’t have said that stuff about you coming home. It was none of my business and it was a low blow. If anyone needs to apologize it’s me. I’m really sorry.” He hugged her tighter and began to slowly rub her back up and down. Soothing her as if he was soothing a child who’d had a bad dream. She could only shake her head as another wave of grief and emotional and mental exhaustion shook her body once more and cling tighter to the flannel shirt on his chest. She felt as if she let go of him she’d float away on her own tsunami of grief.

After a few more minutes she had calmed down enough that only a stray tear fell every now and then. Once her breathing had become closer to normal she lifted her head and moved to get off his lap but he held her still. Her eyes met his for a second before he finally released her and she took the seat next to him on the bench.

“I’m sorry for the way I acted before, for...all this,” she made a waving motion with her finger between the two of them. “You didn’t need to apologize, it was all my--”, he placed his finger to her lips.

“Don’t. I told you, no need to apologize. I’m not trying to lecture you by the way, but if you keep that bottle corked for too long it’s going to blow up on you eventually. Even the strongest people have moments of weakness, that’s what makes them stronger.”

“Ha! Well, when you see one of these strong people, please give them my number. I could use some training.” She couldn’t bring herself to look at him. She was too embarrassed.

He lightly grabbed her chin and turned her face to look at him, “honey, you’re one of the strongest people I know to be able to hold all that in and still manage to not only get out of bed every morning but to be able to put one foot in front of the other with all that weight on your shoulders. People should be taking lessons form you.” He released her chin and stood up. “Miss Rena said I should take you out to her place and make you something to eat.”

Giving him a confused look she stood up as well. “You mean she’s still going to let me stay with her? I was kind of mean to her earlier, and--” He placed his finger on her lips again.

“I told you no need to apologize, not to me or Miss Rena. She understands, besides did you really think she was just going to throw you out on the street because y’all had an argument? You’re her family.” He walked to his truck she just noticed was parked at the curb right in front of the bench she had been sitting on. She must have been so lost in her “bottle” as he’d called it that she never even heard him pull up.

“Hmm, my experience with family must be a lot different than yours then. How do you think I ended up down here?” She grabbed her suitcase, that was really just a really big duffle bag, and lugged the strap on her shoulder and attempted to grab her trunk.

“Well, I guess it’s time you saw what a real family is like then, huh? Nope, I’ll get that, you just throw that bag in the bed and we’ll get going.” He gently placed her trunk in the truck bed. She could tell he’d noticed the large crack in the wood on the bottom corner. One big enough bump and it would fall apart completely. She climbed into his truck once more and put on her seat belt. She was still too embarrassed to look at him, let alone strike up a conversation. So, she sat patiently, staring through the front windshield when he climbed in and began driving.

After a few minutes of silence, most of it spent with her staring out the window to avoid looking at him, he finally spoke again. “Can I ask you a personal question? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” He glanced her way for a second before turning back to the road ahead.

“I just spent like ten minutes bawling my eyes out on your lap, I think we passed the point where you have to ask if you can a long time ago, go ahead,” she smiled into the passenger door window before looking at her hands.

He gave a small laugh’ “well, I was just going to ask you what you meant by what you said about your experience with family being a lot different than mine.”

“She gave him a surprised look. “Oh, I thought you were going to ask me what I was crying about,” Emma smiled. “Or maybe about my soon to be ex-husband.” She let out a deep breath.

“Oh I plan on asking you about that too, but I figured I’d start out with something a bit less nosy first.” He gave her a big smile and Emma felt her heart do a flip. He really was sexy as hell, which made her melt down even more embarrassing, before her brain gave her a kick for even being attracted to another man already before her divorce was even final. Her face must have shown the mental beat down she was giving herself at that moment.

“I didn’t mean to upset you, I was just trying to make you smile a bit.” He stretched his arm along the back of the front seat and placed a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off gently.

“You didn’t, I’m just...,” she shrugged her shoulders. “I’m being dumb is all,” she mumbled under breath.

“I don’t think you’re dumb at all.” He leaned her way a little, “I’m fluent in mumbling, just so you know.” He gave her that sexy smile again and winked, “now stop avoiding the question. What did you mean back there?”

“My family...hmm. My family has always treated me like I was the proverbial black sheep. I was always a disappointment to them, no matter what I did. I thought when me and Marcus got married that I had finally done something they would be proud of you know? And instead, he wasn’t exactly like them so he was just another thing to look down on me for. My whole life my aunts and uncles and cousins, hell my own parents, treated me more like a burden than a blessing. They were never there when I needed them to be, and they’ve never had my back. They are the church on Sundays, country music loving, stereotypical southern middle class kind of people, and that’s just not me. I cuss like a sailor, listen to bands like Nine Inch Nails and Nirvana, and read books on Wicca and Paganism. Instead of trying to accept me for me, they gave up when they couldn’t change me and I haven’t spoke to most of them since I was nine, when me and my parents moved up north. And then we come to Marcus and his family, who were supposed to be my family too, and kicking someone out because of an argument is kind of expected. I was made very aware of the fact that my in-laws didn’t like me, didn’t accept me and never would.” She turned her head back to the door window to hide the fresh tears that began to fall.

He didn’t say anything, and she was glad for it. Emma always believed herself to be a lot like Scarlet O’Hara from Gone With the Wind in a very special way. Whenever something bad happened to Scarlet, in both the book and the movie, she would always say “I can’t think about that right now” and push it to the back of her mind, which is what Emma always did. The only problem is that occasionally episodes like she’d just had with Jake would occur from time to time for both women. This was definitely a “Scarlet moment”, as she called it and tried to push all the painful memories and emotions to the back of her mind once again.

“I thought you said back in town we were only fifteen minutes away from Granny’s house?” She tried to give a friendly smile but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

A sly grin crossed his face, “I never said that it was fifteen minutes to Miss Rena’s. You asked how much longer and I told you...until we got to the next stop.”

“Ah. Well, how much longer to Miss Rena’s house now?” She couldn’t help the genuine smile crossing her face as she finally turned to look at him.

“Wow.” He was looking at her with amused surprise.

“Wow what?” She scrunched her eyebrows in confusion.

“I’m just amazed at how beautiful you look when you put a real smile on that pretty face.”

Emma blushed uncontrollably, “I don’t know who you’re looking at, or what you’ve been smoking but maybe you should look into getting some glasses. I’m as far from beautiful as you can possibly get. Inside and out.” Her smile slowly faded back into it’s comfortable falseness.

“We should be there in about a half hour.” She gave him a shocked look. “Miss Rena sold her house back when Ryan’s mama died. Like I said, she practically moved into his house, only she kept all her things at the guest house.”

“She never told me she sold her and Paw Paw’s house. It’s really nice of him to let her stay out there. The diner must be doing really good for her to be able to afford to rent a guest house at a ranch. I’ll have to start job hunting tomorrow so I can help her with all the bills.”

Jake laughed loudly, “Wow, you really are a Yankee if you think the cook pays rent on a ranch, and why would you need to go job hunting?”

“I just said so I could help her pay the bills, and what are you talking about ‘if you think the cook pays rent’?”

Jake gave her that heart flipping smile again, “Miss Rena is the cook for the Donovan Ranch. Ryan hired her on after he found out she sold her house. She was going to sell the diner too just to cover all the debt your parents left behind but he wouldn’t let her. He paid for it all and she made him hire her as the cook till she paid him back. Every time he tried to giver a paycheck she refused to take it from him. Said she was working for free until she’d paid him back every penny he loaned her, and to just keep track of what she would have earned if he’d been paying her. Told him to let her know when she was out of debt.” Jake laughed and continued to stare out the windshield, “after a year of two of trying to convince her they were even, he finally gave up on paying her at all. Now, she’s like family to him. He never charged her for rent or food, or anything for that matter. She still checks in on the diner twice a week, to handle the paperwork and all but her heart isn’t really in it anymore, not since Mr. Warren died anyway. But, I guess the diner is doing good enough. She never had to borrow money to keep it open, and besides Sweetwater is a small town. Rena’s Cafe is the only place to get a decent meal unless you want to drive forty-five minutes to Abilene or Snyder.”

Emma studied him for a minute before speaking, “you know an awful lot about my granny. You talk as if she was your grandmother.”

“She might as well be. While you were growing up in Yankee-land, Miss Rena was down here keeping all of us kids in line on the ranch. I have nothing but the utmost respect for that woman.”

“It’s funny. I remember Miss Audrey, your friend Ryan’s mom but I don’t remember him at all. And if you lived on the ranch with them growing up I should remember you too, but I don’t.”

Jake laughed again, “You don’t remember me because I didn’t move out there until I was in high school. But I’m sure you’ll remember Ryan with a little help. He was...let’s just say Ryan was a little shithead when he was growing up. Kind of hard to forget.” She leaned her head on the window and tried to remember, but nothing was coming to her. “After Miss Rena told him you were coming to stay, Ryan asked her if you still had that scar on your left wrist from when he tried to brand you.”

It was like a light bulb had lit up above her head like in the cartoons, “Oh my God! Are you telling me that your friend, Ryan, is the same bastard that jammed a lit cigarette into my arm when I was six?” She stared at him with squinted eyes and mouth agape.

“Well, I wasn’t there when it happened but that sounds like Ryan alright.” Jake was laughing hard now and it was infectious, because it made her laugh too.

“Stop laughing! It’s not funny! That kid tortured me everyday his mom would babysit me. He used to put cow manure in my hair, and throw my books into the barn loft because he knew I was too scared to climb up there and get them. I remember he put axle grease in my hair once and Miss Audrey had to cut almost all my hair off because she couldn’t get it out. He was such an asshole back then. I hope he’s not like that now, I don’t want to have to cut all my hair off again.” She laughed harder than she had in weeks and it felt good. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

He turned his back to the road, “just enjoying the view. Why don’t you go ahead and take a nap?” She’d tried to hide her yawn but failed miserably. “I’ll wake you up when we get there, and I promise I won’t let Ryan brand you again or put grease in your hair while you’re asleep.” He winked at her.

“Hmm, you better not. Granny’ll beat you good if you do,” she laughed again. “Are you sure you don’t mind?” She asked as she slid her butt down the seat a little to get comfortable.

“Emma, you’ve had one helluva day, you must be exhausted. Besides, you’re going to need all the strength you can get to avoid Ryan.” He smiled at her and tried to dodge as she made to slap his arm.

“Turd,” she laughed and rested her head against the window. She was asleep the second she closed her eyes.