Claiming Emma (7 page)

Behind Noah something crashed to the floor and he wretched himself free of Emma and whirled with a snarl ready to defend them both.  His eyes searched the space, seeing no one and cataloging everything for possible threats.  Meanwhile he could hear Emma breathing hard behind him, her hand on his back where it had fallen at his move.  There was a long silent moment before he felt the tension in his neck ease.  No danger here.  He had to remind himself he was not back there but on a lavender farm in Little Town, CA. USA.  No danger here.
Fuck.

He turned to find Emma's eyes on him, questions had pushed out the fire of desire enough he knew she would probably not be up to more of the same just then. 
Fuck, fuck, FUCK!

She studied him with something moving in her eyes and he let her, knowing his face was back in his perpetual scowl and not doing a damn thing to soften it.  Yes, his fucking reaction was extreme but if she asked him if he was fucking okay he was going to put his fist through the fucking fiberglass wall.  That would go over really well.

Emma sucked in a breath to speak and he waited for her questions with clenched jaw.

"Coffee should be ready," she said quietly.  "Let's get you some, me some tea, and then we can come back and I'll show you how to transfer the plants."

Noah clenched his teeth harder, making the words sound forced.  "You think caffeine will cure what ails me?"

Some of her usual humor returned to her eyes, even as her cheeks pinked with her words.  "I think after that
phenomenally
hot kiss; I need to settle my nerves a bit before jumping straight into teaching you the plant business."  She smiled that teasing smile of hers again, her eyes twinkling with it.  "Getting you some clearly much needed caffeine is just a bonus."

And just like that Noah felt the tension drain out of him.  He blew out a hard relieved breath.  Then he almost smiled.  His lip quirking up just a bit as he met the humor in her eyes with his own much rustier version.  "Hot kiss?"

"
Phenomenally
hot kiss," she corrected him.  Making big eyes at the same time to emphasize the word phenomenally.

He chuckled.  A minor fucking miracle that.  "The girl make good coffee?" he asked, taking Emma's hand to pull her away from the wall, and liked the feel of it so much in his, that he kept it while they headed back to the garden center.

"Um," Emma said and he looked at her to see she was looking at their clasped hands, a pretty rose hue back in her cheeks, as they walked around the tables toward the exit.  She cleared her throat and met his eyes, hers apologetic.  "I drink tea," she finished by way of answer. 

Which probably meant no.

"Right," he muttered.  Scratching coffee into a high priority slot on his mental to do list for that afternoon.

At his tone Emma chuckled softly, tipping her head a bit so that it briefly rested against the side of his arm as they walked hand in hand, as if she was sharing the laugh with him through osmosis. 

It set him up for the day better than coffee ever could.

Sitting in Noah's truck, with Noah driving on their way to visit with Hannah, Emma had to admit the day had been a surprise.  From the amazing kiss in the morning, the strange emotion fraught end to it, and then the rest of the day, working with Noah in the greenhouse transplanting.  He was not wrong.  He learned fast.  He also had big hands and a whole lot of muscles that made some jobs, like bagging and hauling compost and soil conditioner, easy, and others, like working with the fragile newly sprouted plants she was re-potting, not so much.  But he persevered, through that looking at first ill at ease and then as he got the hang of it strangely satisfied with the work.  It was a good look on him, much better than the thousand yard stare he occasionally had. 

They had lunch with Lucy.  Emma made sandwiches from the cold cuts she kept in the fridge, while she tortured Noah with more childcare.  It gave Paige a chance to take a lunch, and Emma another chance to giggle at Noah’s reaction to feeding Lucy.  Later Noah met the other three employees that worked under Margo while he helped her out restocking the more ungainly stock.

Louise was in her late fifties, had what Hannah referred to as an old lady fro and wore polyester pants with elastic waist bands exclusively.  She had also been a master gardener for over thirty years and knew everything there was to know about gardening.  She looked Noah over and shook her head dourly. 

"Oh, honey," was all she said. 

Emma was not sure what she meant by that exactly, but she found it funny none the less.  Ruth was her counter help and was the polar opposite of Louise, being in her early twenties, and wearing skin tight short shorts nearly exclusively.  She was a firm believer in having her nubile body on display at all times.  She was also of a sunny disposition, liked to play the field and it must be said with her long legs, d cups and white blond shoulder length hair, the male population of Little Town liked that she did.  Her parents, who were deacon and choir mistress respectively, at the local Presbyterian church, not so much.

She took one look at Noah Hale and said the same exact thing as Louise, but her "Oh, honey" was more of a purr and left Emma in no confusion about what she meant by it.

Joshua was Ruth's younger brother, had just turned seventeen and worked summer and after school at Lavender Farms when it was not football season.  He was the starting quarterback, and had been since his sophomore year.  He shared his sisters coloring including her pretty blue eyes, and like his sister used his good looks to his advantage.  He was a big deal in a very small pond and also like his sister, played the field.  No pun intended.  When he was not flirting with everything in skirts he was the heavy lifter and jack of all trades at the Garden shop.

Emma had learned long ago to roll her eyes at his teenage boy flirting and not take it too seriously.  He spread it around to anyone of the female persuasion that was not related to him, and was between the ages of sixteen and forty.  Well, except Paige, but only because she was really good at being anywhere that he was not...and her mother signed his paychecks and was not opposed to ripping him into verbal shreds if the moment called for it. 

It was unfortunate that he got to work, saw Emma and went directly into his teenage boy player mode, smiling his Lothario smile, without seeing the six foot six army ranger that was bringing a second load of forty pound sacks of compost that Emma made herself at the Farm and bagged in the Lavender Farms brand.  It was unfortunate timing because Josh opened with a wolf whistle, his eyes on Emma's ass in her jeans, just as both males made it to the display where she stood.  Noah, unseen by Josh, coming up behind him.

Emma turned and gave Josh a warning look to which he smiled rakishly back.  Emma bit her lip when she caught the look on Noah's face.  With a laugh she introduced them.

"Josh, meet Noah."  She tipped her chin behind him and the kid turned to find himself face to chest with the massive Ranger.  He blinked, losing his smile and had to step back and look up to get a good look at Noah's unhappy face.  Not something he usually had to do being six foot and built strong himself.  "He's Hannah's brother and he'll be helping out around here for a while."

With one look at the scowl on Noah's face the boy shrank just a little.

"Yo," he said and it came out a touch high, so he cleared his throat and tried again.  "Great to meet you man, Hannah's cool."  When Noah looked even less pleased, Josh went on hurriedly.  "Not that I know her that well
never having dated her
, you know, or anything."  Then his eyes widened a touch and he went on, again with some haste.  "Not that I wouldn't date her, cause she's cool like I said, but she totally shot me down."

He seemed to realize what he said and what it suggested and the color drained from his face, as if Noah had done something more threatening than just watching him, which he had not.

"Not that I tried anything on with her."  He spoke faster, and then gave a snorting laugh that was so fake it bordered on desperate, ending with a high pitched, “Huh,” then he lifted his hands and stepped back stating emphatically and seemingly out of the blue.  "I
never
touched her, man."

At which point Emma burst out laughing.  Then took pity on him.  "Josh?"

"Yeah?" he turned so fast and with such relief Emma had to bite her lip or laugh again.

"Can you go check in with Margo and see if she needs anything else filled in?"

"Fuck yeah," he said with way more enthusiasm than he had ever shown for work before and then winced when he realized he dropped the f bomb on the sales floor.  With a shrug of apology and one last look at Noah's scowling face he turned and was G.O.N.E. gone.

Emma still felt like laughing hours later in Noah's truck just thinking about that meeting.  It was tied right up there as the funniest moment of the day with Noah changing Lucy's diaper.  An action he had done under protest.  But he had done it, and Emma would never forget the look of discomfort, or the way he paid meticulous attention to her directions while he did it.  His hands impossibly careful as if he was handling a bomb that could blow up in his face at any moment.  It was cute, hot and made her want to jump his bones almost as much as the earlier kiss in the greenhouse had.

Now they had left Lucy with Margo and Paige, to go spend some time with Hannah before hitting the grocery store for coffee and Lorie's Diner for Dinner.

"What has you laughing?" Noah asked as he pulled the truck into a parking space at the clinic and turned off the engine.

"Just remembering your meeting with Josh," she said with a flash of a smile when he grimaced.  "And your first diaper change."

This time he looked pained.  At the look on his face Emma burst out laughing and opened her door to get out.  "I cannot wait to tell Hannah about today."

"Tell Hannah?" he asked catching her arm before she could jump out of the cab.

Emma shrugged.  "Nicki says it's good to talk to coma patients.  It helps make them feel not so alone, so most days I come and tell her about my day and Lucy."  She scrunched her nose.  "Though I have to say it's not usually todays level of entertaining."

Then she slipped out of the truck with a last teasing smile his way, and he followed her into the clinic, saying nothing, but his eyes had warmed noticeably when they rested on her.

Nicki met her at the nurse’s station.  The look on her face had Emma moving to her fast.  "What is it?  Hannah?"  she asked, her voice going breathless.  Noah came right up behind her, his hands going to her arms to hold her steady, his inscrutable eyes on the Doctor.  He saw it too.

"There is no change in Hannah's condition," Nicki said quickly and Emma sagged in relief, thankful that Noah was at her back, the feeling of relief was so intense she might have hit the floor if he wasn't there to support her.  The relief was short lived because Nicki went on.  "Her mother is here with her lawyer and the Sheriff," Nicki went on her face pinching at the mention of the sheriff.  "They are taking Hannah."

"What?!"  Emma was so shocked by that she almost missed Noah's reaction.

"What the fuck?" he asked, his hands, and every other part of him that Emma could feel at her back tightening.  Then he gently placed Emma to the side and was headed for Hannah's room with a thunderous scowl on his face.  Emma was still reeling from the information Nicki had just given her.  Noah had processed it and if his ground eating stride was anything to go on, he was pissed.

Emma watched him go, then turned worried eyes to Nicki.  "Can they do that?"

Nicki looked almost as unhappy as Noah.  "Legally...yes.  Hannah is still a minor."

Then Emma felt her entire body lock.  "Lucy?" she whispered.

Nicki bit her lip.  "They didn't mention her, and everyone knows Hannah asked you to take care of her if something happened to her, but...I don't know."

Emma sucked in a breath and tried not to panic.  Hannah was a minor.  She shook off her worry and focused on the now.  "You would think the baby would be the first thing they asked about," she muttered to herself.

Nicki answered her as if she asked a question.  "Yes, it is."

First things first.  Stop Noah from going to jail, then help Hannah.  And hopefully her mother would continue to have no interest in the baby she disowned her daughter for having.  Emma blew out a breath and felt Nicki squeeze her arm.  Then without another word they turned together and followed the angry voices to Hannah's room.

A handsome middle aged man was speaking as they entered the room.  Average height, fit, brown hair, brown eyes, and Emma noticed manicured hands.  From that, his suit, his expensive haircut, and by process of elimination, Emma figured he had to be the lawyer.

"Hannah Hale is a minor.  Her mother legally has the right to take her out of this facility and move her to one closer to her home, so that she can care for her properly."

Noah motioned to Hannah in the bed with an angry whip of his hand.  "Does she look like she's not being cared for properly?" he asked bitingly, the rage in his eyes had turned glacial, and no one in that room was immune.  Even sheriff Ed Dorset, who in his forty-year tenure never found a situation he couldn't talk people down from, was looking ill at ease.  Emma nodded his way, he spared her a small smile before turning his attention back to Noah and the lawyer.

"That is beside the point.  Her mother has a legal right to determine her care."

"Her mother canceled her health insurance," Emma injected quietly, and the words stopped whatever Noah was going to say so that he, and the lawyer, slowly turned and looked at her.

"Come again?" Noah asked, his voice dropping even lower.  Oh yeah, she had known he would be pissed if he found out, but he was
seriously pissed.

Emma briefly looked over the woman who she assumed was Marcella Hale standing as far away from Noah as she could get without leaving the room.  She was, Emma noted with even more anger, nowhere near her comatose daughter she professed the need to care for.  She also looked like a vindictive shrew with that cold look in her eyes, sallow skin and an excessive amount of make-up for a trip to the clinic to see her daughter.

But that might just be Emma being a little biased.

She turned back to the lawyer before she lost her temper and turned the room into a Jerry Springer episode by slapping Hannah’s mom with a chair.

"When her then fifteen-year-old daughter told her she was pregnant, her mother kicked her out of the house, canceled her cell phone and took her off her health insurance.  Hannah was essentially homeless and pregnant."  The lawyer started to speak but Emma went on.  "After the baby was born early and Emma hemorrhaged, then fell into the coma. I called her mother.  Marcella Hale informed me she had no daughter and refused to give me any information on other family members that might actually care."  She was very careful not to look at Noah, but she could feel his vibe go wired, flooding the room more with each word she spoke. 
Oh, yeah.  He was pissed.

"And you are?" the lawyer asked, his voice softer than it had been, his eyes studying her closely.  Whatever he was thinking was not showing on his face, but at least he was listening.

"Emma Younger.  Hannah is in my employ at Lavender Farms; she is also my friend."

Nicki spoke then, backing Emma's words.  "I also contacted Hannah's mother and informed her of her daughter’s troubles.  I told her long term care was expensive and Hannah's Medicare was not sufficient to cover it."  Nicki glared at the woman before motioning to Emma.  "I knew she had canceled the insurance because I was Hannah's doctor for prenatal care and when we ran the insurance we found that it had been canceled.  Luckily Hannah qualified for government assistance which included prenatal health care but it has its limits.  Mrs. Hale told me the same thing she told Ms. Younger.  She had no interest in Hannah, nor did she ask about her grandchild, then," she said, her eyes flicking contemptuously to Marcella Hale.  "Or now.  All of which does not assure me that Mrs. Hale has her daughters best interest at heart."

Emma snuck a peak at Noah to find his jaw was granite hard and his eyes were ice cold and on her.  He spoke while the lawyer was still absorbing what they said.

"Who," Noah asked his voice a low rumble bordering on a growl.  "Is paying for Hannah's care?"