Emma's Home (The Fairfield Series) (18 page)

Looking deeply into her eyes, he held her close. “Are you all right, Emma girl?” he asked, pushing her hair back from her face. Emma looked up into the bluest eyes she had ever seen and smiled.

“I’m perfect,” she purred. “We’re perfect. Just being with you, makes my world so much better.”

Jake brought his hands up to cup her face. He peered into her dark chocolate eyes. “I love you Ms. Dodd,” he said with a smile.

“I love you back, Mr. Campbell,” she answered with a grin.

Jake could not believe his good fortune. Five months ago, he had been alone, working long hours and taking care of his mother. He did not begrudge any of those things, certainly not taking care of his mother, and he really enjoyed his job. But the being alone…. well that was something he had convinced himself did not bother him. Once Tom and Carol got married and then Rob found Laurie, he found that he felt more than just being alone – he felt lonely.

Then Emma walked into his life, and nothing was the same.
Tell her. Don’t be an ass – tell her what she means to you.

“Emma,” Jake said seriously. At the tone of his voice, Emma looked up questioningly. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I plan on spending the rest of my life living to earn your devotion. I’ve been alone for a long time, and you make me not want to be alone anymore,” he said softly, holding her close with their hands clasped between them.

Emma could feel tears forming in her eyes at his words. It had been years since she had felt so cherished.

Jake continued, “I know you have been on your own since you were eighteen. You raised and took care of Laurie, changing your whole world to give her the life you knew she deserved.”

Emma opened her mouth to speak, but Jake put his fingers over her kiss swollen lips.

“No, let me finish,” he said. Emma nodded, understanding this was important to him. “I know you say you didn’t give up anything raising her so I won’t argue the point. But you
did
change your life and changed it greatly. You do that so naturally. You put others first. You do it in your job. You do it with your friends. And I have felt you do it with me. But Emma darlin’, remember what I said a long time ago when you were swimming in that pool?”

Emma grinned at the memory and nodded. “You said I had better get used to you taking care of me,” she answered softly.

“You make me a better man and one who plans on taking care of you from now on.”

Staring at the gorgeous man standing in front of her, declaring his feelings. Emma could not believe her good fortune. He was everything she could have ever wanted.

You are keeping something from him.

She pushed those thoughts from her head, knowing she had no choice if she were going to keep everyone safe. Smiling back up at him, she touched her hand to his chest, over his heart.

“I love you, Jake,” she declared.

Emma’s cuckoo clock on the wall chimed and they both startled. “Oh my god, I’m going to be late!” she exclaimed.

“Yeah, Tom is gonna wonder where I have been,” Jake complained. He helped straighten her clothing, and with a quick kiss and a warning to be safe, he headed back out of the door. He hated that she was going to be at a bar without him tonight, but was satisfied that enough people in town now knew that they were dating. Plus Bill and Wendy would be handling the bar so the girls would be well protected. Jake trusted Bill, knowing he would not hesitate to call him or Tom if there were any problems.

Emma quickly showered and changed into a casual outfit. After wearing heels all day, she was glad for the excuse to throw on some dark skinny jeans and a navy long sleeve blouse. Pairing that with her comfortable boots she was ready to head out of the front door. She was excited to spend some time with girlfriends, never having time to do that when she was younger. Careful to turn on all of the outside lights, she also left lights on inside as well. She double checked to see that the security system was alarmed and the doors locked.

I guess it was a good idea that Jake insisted on an alarm system.
Grinning to herself, Emma hopped into her car and headed out.

E
mma walked in, seeing Laurie and Carol sitting at the bar talking to Wendy. Laurie always complained that she had to wear comfortable shoes during the workday as an elementary school teacher, so Emma wasn’t surprised to see her in her four inch heeled boots. Carol, as always, looked impeccable in her designer jeans.

“Hey girls!” she called out in greeting. The three women looked over and smiled back.

“Hey Bill,” she said as she hopped up on a bar stool, leaning over to hug her friends. Bill looked over and scowled at the three women sitting at the bar.

“What’s wrong with Bill?” she asked Wendy. Wendy just looked over at her husband and laughed. Laurie and Carol burst into laughter as well. “What am I missing?” Emma asked.

“Tom called earlier and told Bill that he was supposed to look after us tonight to make sure no other men were hanging around,” Carol answered, tossing her blonde hair back away from her face, showing off her delicate features.

Laurie, never at a loss for words, jumped in. “Rob called also, not knowing that Tom had called, and told Bill that he was holding him personally responsible for us,” she said through giggles.

Wendy finished up the tale, as she continued to wipe down the bar in front of them. “Then guess who called next?” Emma looked up at the beautiful older woman.

“No way!” she said incredulously. “Jake?”

Wendy chuckled and nodded as Bill grumbled down at the other end of the bar.

“It’s not like I don’t have enough to do running this place without having to keep an eye on the prettiest women in this bar. Now I gotta be waiter, bartender, and head bouncer of this joint.” He leaned over and kissed Wendy on the head. “I’m used to having to watch out after this beauty, but now I gotta watch out for you three.”

Wendy just playfully slapped her husband’s shoulder, calling him an old coot. The girls laughed, but each coveted the love that was so obvious between Wendy and Bill.

“I want Tom and I to still have that in twenty years,” Carol said with a dreamy look in her beautiful green eyes.

“I just want Rob and I to hurry up and get engaged so we can start that.” Laurie declared, pulling her long brown hair up off her neck to cool off and then letting it fall back down her back.

Emma couldn’t help but notice how much Laurie looked like Sarah. She smiled wistfully. Both girls looked over to Emma.

“What about you?” Laurie asked gently. “What about you and Jake?”

Emma smiled at the other women. “I’m in no hurry,” she said honestly. “Right now I’m enjoying being the center of someone’s world. Someone who makes me feel as though we have forever right now.”

Hopping down from the bar stools the three women hugged closely. Making their way to an empty table, they ordered dinner. They talked, laughed, and shared for hours, never noticing the men who looked hungrily over at the three beautiful women.

Bill took his duties seriously, and whenever someone looked like they were circling their prey, he stepped in quickly. Soon all the men gave up, realizing that the three women were untouchable.

Looking up when Ted and a few other coaches from school came in, Emma’s eyes followed them as they sat at the bar. He did not seem to notice her, but the bar was crowded. After about half an hour, he left and Emma felt herself breathe easier.

At one point, Emma noticed Wendy leaving the bar and walking into the back office. Emma excused herself to go to the bathroom. She made it to the office, unnoticed by Carol or Laurie, wanting to talk to Wendy privately.

Wendy looked up from the desk and smiled when she saw Emma. Emma glanced around the office, amazed at the pictures on the walls. The dark paneled walls were filled with shelves, loaded with photos of Brad and many of his sports trophies. Emma knew how proud Wendy and Bill were of their son, and she so hoped that whatever was happening with him would not jeopardize his future.

“Hey sweetie, whatcha need?” Wendy asked, looking up smiling.

Emma, not sure how to express her concerns just decided to jump in. “I’ve been concerned about Brad.” Wendy looked confused for a second, so Emma plunged on. “His grades are slipping and I just wondered if there was anything going on that I could help with.”

Wendy nodded in understanding. “Yeah, his dad and I have been on him lately. He seems so absent minded recently, not doing his chores or forgetting to do his homework. At first he just said he had too much going on.”

Emma nodded, hoping the woman would continue. Encouraged, Wendy went on. “Bill called Brad’s boss to tell him to cut Brad’s hours when Brad wouldn’t do it himself, but the shop owner told him that Brad had already cut his hours way back. When we confronted him, he got mad and said we needed to stop getting into his business.” Wendy shook her head, lost in that memory for a moment.

“That was a bad night. We have
never
had a family fight like that. I used to hear people talk about teenagers being so difficult, but Brad has always been a model student and son. This really caught us off guard.”

“What happened?” Emma gently probed.

“Well, after we all calmed down, Brad promised that he would bring up his grades. He apologized for lying about the job hours and just said that he was hanging with friends more since they would all be going to college next year and not get to see each other. He didn’t tell us that he broke up with Suzy though. I had to hear about that from Bernadette.” Wendy shook her head as she paused in thought.

“He’s been better in the last week or so. He seems to be trying to be cautious about keeping his dad and me from being on him about things.” Looking up at Emma, she smiled. “Just typical teenagers stuff, I guess.”

Emma nodded and smiled back. Everything Wendy said had sounded very normal for teenagers. But for Brad to have such personality changes so quickly continued to make her suspicious. Leaning over, she hugged Wendy and promised to keep an eye out for him at school. Emma returned to the table to finish her girl’s night out.

*

As the evening came to a close, the women headed out to their cars. Emma felt lighter than she had in weeks.

This is just what I needed. Food, fun, friends!

Reaching her car first, Carol turned to give each of her friends a close hug. Laurie and Emma walked over to their cars, arm in arm. Reaching Laurie’s car next, they stopped to chat for a minute.

“So Em,” Laurie said. “Are you happy with Jake? Is he everything you ever wanted? I mean, you guys seem great, but I just want you to be happy. You deserve everything, you know that don’t you?”

“Oh sweetie, I am happy. Jake makes me happy. You make me happy. Being in this town makes me happy,” Emma assured her. “I feel like I am home here with all of you.” Hugging her niece tightly, she said goodbye and stepped away so that Laurie could get in her car.

Laurie waited until Emma had started her car, then she drove away. Emma started to back out of the parking space when she realized there was a piece of paper stuck under her windshield wiper.

I couldn’t have gotten a ticket – I was in a parking space.

Getting out of her car, she walked around to grab the paper and opened it.

Oh no. Not another one.

Are you keeping quiet? Remember – no asking questions or your student will get hurt.

Emma quickly jumped back in, locked her car doors and started the engine again. She did not see anyone lingering around but she could not help but feel that eyes were on her everywhere. She pulled quickly out of the parking lot and drove home. Fear and anger warred within her, battling for dominance. She looked down at her hands on the steering wheel and saw them shaking. Even that made her angry.

How dare someone threaten me! How dare someone threaten a child!

Pulling into her driveway, she looked carefully at her house. The woods that in the light of day make her feel as though she is living in a fairytale forest, now seem dark and foreboding. Emma could imagine eyes peering at her from deep within the trees. The porch lights were still on and she could see her inside house lights lit as well. She had a clear view of the front porch and door. Looking carefully from the safe confines of her car, she could see nothing unusual. Feeling fearful, Emma jumped out of her car running to the front door with her keys in her hand.

She entered, quickly hitting the security alarm pad to re-alarm, shutting and locking the front door. Breathless, she leaned against the front door, willing her heartbeat to slow, as Mister swirled around her legs. As she stood there a moment, she remembered the last time she had been leaning against this very door. Was it really just a few hours ago she had been in Jake’s arms, as he fucked her up against the door?

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she pushed herself away from the door and moved into her living room. Looking down, she saw she was still grasping the note in her hand. Taking a deep breath she sat down on her sofa and ironed the wrinkled paper with her hands so that she could read it again.