Magic Kiss (Hope Falls Book 11) (20 page)

Emma smiled. She hadn’t thought about the day she’d met Andrew in a long time. “All day, every girl I saw was trying to get his attention. I remember I thought he was so good-looking and funny, but I was shy. Plus, his last girlfriend was the head cheerleader, the most popular girl in school, and everything I wasn’t.”

She chuckled. “Anyway, right after the last class of the day, I was at my locker. I felt a tap on my shoulder, so I turned around and your dad was standing there with a piece of paper in his hand. I was so in shock that
Andrew Locke
was right in front of me that I don’t think I said anything. I just stared up at him.

“He handed me the piece of paper in his hand and said, ‘I think you dropped this.’ I looked down, and it just had a phone number on it that I’d never seen. I figured it must’ve been a mistake, so I shook my head and told him that it wasn’t mine. When I tried to hand it back to him, he had a pen and paper out, and he said, ‘I know. It’s mine. And I think it’s only fair that you give me yours.’”

“He said that?” Drew asked, smiling.

“Yep.”

“Did you give it to him?”

Sighing with a reminiscent smile, Emma nodded. “Yes, I did. I really didn’t think he’d call. Actually, I thought it was a prank. But, about an hour after I got home that afternoon, the phone rang, and I picked it up and we talked until dinner. Then, the next day at school, he sat with me at lunch and walked me to my classes. And I think, by the end of the second day at school, I was already in love with him.”

“Whoa. Two days. My dad had
game,”
Drew emphasized.

Both Logan and Emma laughed, briefly looking at each other.

“Yeah, he did,” she confirmed.

“Logan said that dad loved you too. He said that when the guys would make fun of him, he didn’t care because he said he had the best and you don’t mess up having the best.”

“He did?” Emma’s eyes began to water as she glanced over at Logan.

“He did.” Logan nodded, holding her gaze for a moment before looking over at Drew. “Your mom was it for him. You know, he told me about the first time he saw her.”

“What did he say?” Drew asked excitedly.

Emma was all ears. She had no idea what Logan was about to say.

“He said that it was at lunch on the first day of his senior year. He was headed to the parking lot with his friends. Because he was a senior, he got to go off campus. When he realized he’d forgotten his new Braves hat in his class, he told his friends he’d catch up with them and he went back to get it. When he was walking across the quad, he saw the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen before. She was sitting by herself, reading a book.

“He told me that he couldn’t take his eyes off her. He just stood there, watching her. The next thing he knew, the bell rang and lunch was over and everyone was going to their next class. He never made it to get his hat. Didn’t make it back to his friends. Didn’t have lunch. He said he spent math and science trying to figure out how he could get her number, which normally wasn’t a problem for him, but your mom made him nervous.”

Drew’s head fell back and he laughed. She guessed, to a ten-year-old, being nervous about a girl was pretty funny.

Logan grinned as he continued. “So he came up with a plan to give her
his
number first. He said, when she was standing at her locker, she looked so beautiful he almost lost his nerve. But then he saw some guys walk by and check her out and he knew that, if he didn’t make his move, some other idiot would. So he manned up and tapped her on the shoulder.”

“Just think. If he chickened out, I wouldn’t even be here.” Drew shook his head. “That’s crazy.”

Emma nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Not a day went by that she didn’t think about Andrew, but she didn’t get new information about him. Hearing something she hadn’t known brought back a lot of emotions she’d thought were behind her.

When Logan’s eyes met hers, there was sadness in them. He missed Andrew, too.

They all ate in silence after that. She was pretty sure all three of them were thinking about Andrew. Looking over at the empty fourth chair, she felt the reality again that he was gone. He wasn’t going to sit there.

No matter how much she loved him, which she did. No matter how much she missed him, which she did. No matter how much she needed him, which she did. He was never going to walk through the front door. Never going to hold her. Never going to kiss her like he needed her more than anything else in the world.

As she cut her chicken, she noticed the ring she still wore on her left hand. Maybe it was time to…

“Oh, Mom, I almost forgot. Justin and Amanda are taking a group up to the falls tomorrow night and they’re camping up there. He said that, if it’s okay with you, Noah and I can go and help out. Can I? Can I go?”

“Ummm…” It took her a moment to switch gears. This entire night, she’d felt like she was swinging on an emotion pendulum, from one extreme to another. But if there was one thing she’d gotten good at over the last few years, it was hiding from Drew any emotional baggage she was carrying. After taking a deep breath, she said. “Let me talk to Amanda to get a few more details and I’ll let you know.”

“Can you call her now?” Drew asked.

Before Emma had become a parent, she never would’ve guessed that eighty percent of the job was answering questions and making decisions. But it was. There was always something else she had to decide. A call she had to make. It never ended, and it was beyond exhausting. Not to mention terrifying.

What if she made the wrong choice?

What if she said no when she should’ve said yes?

What if she said yes when she should’ve said no?

She used to think that the hardest thing ever was when Drew had been a baby because he’d never slept through the night. Then, once he’d started walking, she’d thought that
that
was the hard part because he had become mobile. Then, when he started kindergarten, she’d thought that
that
was hardest it was going to get because she’d had to make him go, even though he’d cried every day and held on to her legs. Then, when he started withdrawing and not talking to her as much, she’d thought that
that
was it. It was the worst. How could she be a good parent if her son didn’t even speak to her?

A month and a half ago, it was asking if he could go to camp in California with his school. Now, he was asking to go on an overnight hiking expedition. In the woods. Where there were bears and mountain lions, not to mention all kinds of creepy-crawly things. She wanted to say no and that would be the end of it. But she couldn’t do that.

Emma realized that each stage of Drew’s adolescence was going to hold its own set of challenges. It wasn’t going to get easier.

“I’ll call her after dinner.” She needed a few minutes to get used to the idea of her son out in the woods. All night.

“But, if everything’s okay, I can go?” The puppy-dog eyes were back in full effect.

“Yes,” she conceded begrudgingly. Over Drew’s celebratory cheering, she reiterated, “I still need to talk to Amanda.”

Her conditional response was obviously received as a definite yes. In all fairness, it pretty much was. She seriously doubted that her conversation with Amanda would raise any red flags. If anything, Emma was sure her new friend would put her at ease and reassure her that Drew would be well taken care of.

“I’ve never slept out in a tent overnight,” Drew told Logan.

“Well, you would’ve if you’d actually stayed at the camp you’re supposed to be at,” Emma pointed out.

“Oh, yeah. I guess so.” Drew sheepishly glanced down at his plate. Then, in a clear attempt to change the subject, he bounced his gaze between the adults at the table. “Soooo, what are you guys going to do tomorrow all by yourselves?”

“What?” Emma and Logan shot back.

Drew continued, oblivious to the shift in the room. “Are you going to watch a movie or have game night?”

Emma aimed for casual. “I’ll probably just work.”

“I need to work on my bike,” Logan said matter-of-factly.

Drew shook his head. “You guys are boring.”

“Yep. Boring.” She took a drink of her water and hoped that it would cool the heat in her cheeks.

She and Logan were going to be alone. Tomorrow. All night.

After that kiss in the hall, her mind was filled with all kinds of things she’d like to do tomorrow night. And none of them had to do with writing.

‡

A
s Logan stepped out of the shower, he grabbed the towel that was hanging on the back of his door. After a quick dry-off, he wrapped it around his waist. Leaning his hands on the counter, he felt any energy he had left drain out of him. His arms were heavy, and his shoulders sagged.

His current state likely had nothing to do with the fact that he’d been out working on his bike all day. Yes, he was physically tired, but this exhaustion had more to do with the kiss he could never take back. Talking about Andrew at dinner, about how he and Emma had fallen in love had also taken an emotional toll.

As if Logan hadn’t felt like a total piece of shit before that topic had come up, seeing the look on Emma’s face had practically ripped his heart open. She was his best friend’s wife, and he’d accosted her in the hall.

He needed to talk to Emma about what had happened. His plan was to drop Drew off at Justin’s in the morning and come right back and apologize his ass off. Make sure she knew he would never do that again. If she was even still there in the morning.

She had barely looked at him during dinner. Then there had been a moment when he’d thought everything might be okay, but right after that, Andrew had become the topic of conversation and she had gone right back to avoiding him. Not that he blamed her.

Pushing off the tile countertop, Logan headed into his room and grabbed a pair of sweats. As he pulled them on, his mind raced with theories of what Emma could have been feeling, thinking. Was she mad? Was she upset? Was she confused?

He sure as hell was. Especially after sharing a kiss that had put all other kisses to shame. And it had been more than a kiss. Never before had a kiss felt so real. So pure. So honest.

Just thinking about it made him get a half-chub. Which was ridiculous, because he’d just taken matters into his own hands in the shower. And to add to his asshole checklist, he’d thought about Emma while doing it. It’d only taken a few pumps before he’d exploded.

He hadn’t pictured her naked. Hadn’t thought about all the things he wanted to do with her. No. All he’d done was relive that kiss. The feeling of her soft lips. The taste of her sweet, wet tongue. Her moans of pleasure as he licked and explored her mouth.

Damn. How could a kiss, just a kiss, be so hot and so sweet at the same time? It was unreal.

It was also wrong. No matter how good or perfect it had been, it was wrong and it couldn’t happen again. He didn’t want Emma to feel uncomfortable while staying there, thinking that, at any second, he was going to push her up against the wall and shove his tongue down her throat.

No matter how much he wanted to.

Knowing there was nothing he could do about the situation at the moment, he lay down on his bed. Reaching back, he punched the pillows behind his head. Partly to get comfortable and partly to let out some pent-up frustration.

He knew that life wasn’t fair. When he’d been growing up, things hadn’t been easy. His mom had struggled with depression before passing away. His father had been nowhere to be found.

His big brother had walked away from a promising boxing career to take care of him and his twin, and never once did Logan see him feeling sorry for himself. Nope. Levi had done what had to be done and never complained.

That had been a powerful lesson for Logan at a young age. So he’d never been one to ask “why me?” or get mad when life dealt him a shitty hand of cards. Or even feel sorry for himself.

But, Emma… This was different. He found himself doing both of the above. He was asking why. Why in the hell did he feel the way he did about her, but had never felt that way with any of the other women in his life? He wondered why Andrew had to die, why he had to lose his best friend. Why Emma had to lose her husband. Why Drew had to lose his father. Why Emma had to be a single mom.

Those were definitely shitty cards, and he was pissed about them. He wasn’t quite at the feeling-sorry-for-himself part, but he figured that would come after the inevitable talk about that inappropriate kiss.

Rolling to his side, he hit his pillow again. As he laid his head back down, a floorboard in the hallway creaked.

On alert, he sat up. Chances were it was just Drew going to the bathroom or getting water, but instinct—or the cop in him—drove him up and out of bed. In two strides, he was at his door. As he turned the knob and pulled it open, he fully expected to see the kid on his way back from the can or the kitchen.

Instead, he saw the woman who had turned his life inside out in just a week. Emma was standing with her fist raised, poised to knock. She was wearing bright-pink shorts that had tiny Hello Kitties all over them and a white tank top with the cartoon character’s face. Her hair was piled up on top of her head, and her face was makeup-free. Her large, ocean-blue eyes were staring up at him, and her full, pink lips were parted in what his mind was telling him was an invitation.