Reunited on Sugar Maple Road, page 14
“I’d rather you finish what you were going to say, Em. Bri is too nice to tell me the truth.”
“Hey, I always tell you the truth,” Bri protested.
“Yeah, but you sugarcoat it. And sometimes people need you just to lay it out there,” Em said. “What I was going to say, Raine, is why would any of those guys put themselves out there when it was obvious you had eyes for only Quinn?”
“That’s not true.”
“I was sitting beside you, and I know what I saw. And if I did, so did they. If it makes you feel better, I doubt any of the women Quinn met tonight wanted to date him. He spent the entire time watching you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really. So why don’t you just admit you’re in love with him and try to make it work?” She frowned at Bri who was grinning at her. “What?”
“Look at you, all romantic.”
She shrugged. “None of us know how long we have with the people we love. It’s stupid for Raine to keep Quinn at arm’s length just because she’s afraid of getting hurt.” Em caught Bri and Raine sharing a glance and decided a subject change was in order. “So, I should probably tell you Seaton House is haunted.”
“Why are you just telling us that now?” Raine asked.
“Because we’re here, and I thought you might like a little warn—”
“Boo!” Josh popped out from behind a bush, the flashlight under his chin illuminating his ghoulish grin.
Raine screamed, and Bri jumped, grabbing Em’s arm. “Really? I did the same thing, and you didn’t react.”
“Face it, Em. I’m better at it than you are,” Josh said, opening the gate for them and then glancing up the road at the sound of several vehicles headed their way. “It could be the kids. We’d better get out of sight.”
“Where are Quinn and Cal?” Bri asked as they hurried after Josh.
“Doing a sweep of the main floor,” he said just as the front door swung open and Cal and Quinn ran out.
“I think you forgot to tell us something, bro,” Cal said.
“Oh right. The house is haunted.”
“You two suck,” Raine said, crossing her arms. “Now what are we supposed to do?”
Josh held the door open. “Stick to the plan and keep the kids safe.” Approaching headlights illuminated the gravel road, and he ushered everyone inside, closing the door behind them. “Okay, so we’re going to split up. Cal and Bri, you take the kitchen. There’s a broom closet you can hide in.” He glanced at Em. “Don’t worry, I checked. Jenny must’ve cleaned it sometime this week. Leave the door open a crack and leave the lantern on the kitchen table,” he instructed them.
Bri and Cal looked down the hall. “I’m not sure this is a good idea,” Cal said, reaching for Bri’s hand.
“If it makes you feel better, Em and I are taking the upstairs. That’s where we saw the ghost.”
“So you really did see a ghost?” Bri asked.
“We think we did.” A door slammed upstairs, and Em winced. “Sorry,” she murmured, thinking she’d offended the ghost. “We saw a woman in the turret window, and we heard a lot of door slamming.” A red ball bounced down the stairs.
Josh grinned. “And Em played ball with a ghost kid.”
Quinn swore under his breath, putting an arm around Raine’s shoulders and drawing her close. “Your plan isn’t going to work, Josh. Not if the kids hear or see any of what you’re talking about. They’ll be back every weekend.”
“Let me worry about that. For now, put your lantern on the fireplace mantel, Raine, and then you and Quinn hide in here.” Josh walked to the wall beside the fireplace and pressed his palm against it. A segment of wood paneling popped open, revealing a hiding place. “Cool, eh? Neil told me about it. There’s a peephole so you’ll be able to see what’s going on.”
He typed on his phone, and theirs all pinged. “It’s a link to an alarm like the one Em mentioned. If you press activate, a siren will blare, and lights will flash. So if the kids get out of hand or we think someone’s going to get hurt, we’ll sound the alarm. I texted Izzy so she knows what to expect. She’ll tell the kids the house is monitored and to get out before HFPD arrive.”
Raine sent a nervous glance up the stairs. “Why can’t we just do that now?”
“Because, if everything goes according to plan, they’re going to come in and look around and see nothing but an old house in need of renovating.” Car doors slammed, and they could hear kids laughing. “Places, people.” He motioned for Em to follow him, lighting the way with the flashlight on his phone.
“Okay, so how do you plan to get the ghosts to cooperate?” Em asked, sprinting up the stairs after him.
As they hurried past the bedrooms to the front of the house, he called out quietly, “May, Clara, Willy, we know you’re here, and Em is going to help Jenny clear your names. But right now, we need you to stay quiet. Just until the kids leave,” he said as they reached the turret room.
Em stared at him. “You actually think that’ll—” She broke off at the sound of a woman softly weeping.
“Did you hear that?” she asked Josh, who’d crouched near the window, looking outside.
He nodded and then turned to her, mouthing Showtime. Staying low as he crossed the room, he motioned for her to get behind the half-open door and joined her there.
Downstairs, the front door opened. “It’s just a lantern. Don’t be a bunch of lame-asses. Mike’s dad must’ve been working here and left them on. Come on, or do you want me to hold your hands?”
Josh rolled his eyes, obviously recognizing the voice. Em imagined he knew the majority of the kids coming into the house. And from the stampede of footsteps, there were a lot of them.
As if he read her mind, he held up his hands, closed his fingers, and held them up again. At least twenty teenagers. He must’ve seen them coming up the path. They were roaming around downstairs. “Hey, don’t touch anything. It’s private property, Drew.”
Izzy, Em mouthed, and Josh nodded.
“You’re such a goody-goody.” It was the smart-ass kid who, Em figured, must be Drew. “Let’s check out upstairs. You should probably stay down here, Johnson. We wouldn’t want you to freak…” A high-pitched cry was followed by, “What the hell was that?” The panic in Drew’s voice came through loud and clear.
Josh muttered, “Damn it.”
A bunch of the kids started laughing. “She got you good, Drew.”
“Maybe I should lead the way,” they heard Izzy say. “We wouldn’t want you to freak out, Drew.”
Em and Josh smiled and high-fived each other. Ten minutes later, they did it again when some of the kids started complaining that coming to Seaton House had been a lame idea. At the sound of them heading down the stairs, Em and Josh stepped out from behind the door in the turret room.
“Okay, I have to admit it. Your plan totally work—” Em began.
She was cut off by a muffled scream coming from the living room, a scream that was echoed by several of the kids, followed by the pounding of feet as they raced for the front door.
Josh bowed his head when it slammed behind the kids before raising his gaze to hers. “Looks like we’ll be spending our Saturday date nights hanging out at Seaton House.”
From downstairs they heard Raine say, “I couldn’t help it. A rat ran across my feet!”
Chapter Fourteen
Josh walked down the hall of Highland Falls Elementary. It was a stone’s throw from the high school, which made it easy for his mom to have him run errands for her. Today was her volunteer day, and she’d forgotten her lunch.
She’d called him ten minutes ago, asking him to pick her up something to eat. He’d been too busy to leave the campus and brought her his lunch instead. But as he approached the kindergarten classroom, he heard a familiar voice and knew he’d been had.
He leaned against the doorjamb, watching Em, who sat in a kid-size chair at a round table finger painting with a group of kindergarteners. She wore jeans, a green sweater, and a frown on her face.
“Thanks. I like your tree,” she said to the boy beside her, who was holding up his artwork.
“It’s not a tree. It’s my dad,” the boy said, and Josh pressed his lips together to keep from laughing.
“Oh, he’s, uh, tall,” Em said and went back to dabbing her orange-and-yellow-coated fingers on the paper in front of her.
“Do you like my painting?” the little girl beside Em asked.
“I do.” Em nodded. “You did a good job painting your dad.”
“It’s not my dad. It’s a tree. Like yours,” the little girl said, her bottom lip pushed out.
Josh could almost hear Em swearing in her head. She leaned over as if getting a better look. “You’re right, it is. Only your tree is better than mine.”
The little girl beamed, and a dark-haired little girl with pigtails across from Em held up her painting. “What about mine?”
“It’s really good,” Em said.
“No, you’re supposed to say what it is,” the dark-haired little girl said in a demanding voice that didn’t bode well for Em if she guessed wrong.
Josh pushed off the doorjamb. “Hey, how come no one told me it was finger painting day?” He grinned at Em, who looked like he’d saved her from a fate worse than death.
“Look at mine, Coach. Look at mine!” several of the kids in the class called out, holding up their artwork.
He usually stopped in once a day when his mom was volunteering. Although he’d recently begun staying away when he’d discovered Allison Parker, a woman he’d dated six months ago, was their substitute teacher. She was at the speed-dating event Saturday night, and she’d opted to give him a second chance.
“Wow. They’re amazing.” He leaned over Em. “Good job, Picasso. Is that Gus?” he teased, knowing full well it was a tree stump.
“No, it’s you.” She glanced around the table as if it had dawned on her how the kids might misconstrue her words. “I’m just joking,” she said, but it was too late.
“Is Officer Em your girlfriend?” the dark-haired little girl asked.
His mom, who’d been helping at another table, looked up with a smile. As if sensing he was about to say no, she sent a pointed glance in Allison’s direction.
Josh nodded slowly. “Yes, she is.”
His answer resulted in Em bowing her head with a groan and a barrage of questions about when they were getting married shouted by half the class while the other half sang about him and Officer Em sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g.
They were cut off by Allison moving to the front of the classroom and clapping. “All right, boys and girls. Let’s thank Officer Emma for spending the morning with us.”
When Em stood up, the kids at her table begged her to stay. “I’d love to but I really have to go. Thanks for having me, and thanks again for my gratitude rocks.” She held up her hands. “I just need to wash up.”
Allison directed her to the tiny sink at the back of the classroom. While Em washed her hands, Josh admired the paintings being thrust his way as he walked over to his mom, handing her his lunch bag.
“What’s this?” she said, frowning at the bag.
“The lunch you asked me to bring you.”
“Oh right.” She peeked inside. “Salad and an apple, how nice.”
He took back the bag. “I’ll eat this, and you can eat the lunch you have hiding in your cubby.”
She wrinkled her nose. “You know me too well. But I wanted you to see Em with the kids. Wasn’t it just the cutest? They loved her, and she was so good with them.”
He glanced over his shoulder. Several of the kids had followed Em to the sink like she was the Pied Piper, and they were foisting their paintings on her as she dried her hands. She gingerly accepted them, promising to put the paintings on her fridge at home.
“Yeah, she is pretty cute,” he said, as Em gave him a wide-eyed look when the kids started hugging her. Then he realized what he’d said. “Don’t get any ideas, Mom. You know the deal.”
She ignored him, walking to Em instead and giving her a hug. “It was so sweet of you to drop in today. You have to do it more often. The kids loved having you, and so did I.”
“Yeah, it was… fun,” Em said, looking down at her sweater that was now dotted with red, yellow, and orange paint from the artwork she’d pressed to her chest when his mom hugged her.
“It’ll wash out,” his mom assured Em, patting her arm. “Don’t forget our family dinner on Sunday.”
“Family dinner?” Em asked, looking from his mom to Josh.
“Josh, did you not tell Em?” His mother waved her hand. “I knew I should’ve sent the invite directly to you, Em. Anyway, yes, dinner’s at five, but you come early. We can have some girl time.”
Em narrowed her eyes at Josh before she smiled at his mom. “Okay. Sure. Sounds good.”
She’d never say no to his mom, but Josh had a feeling he was going to hear about this. Placing a hand at the small of Em’s back, he nudged her forward, and they waved goodbye to the kids.
“A little warning would’ve been nice,” Em said as they walked into the hallway.
“Sorry. She sent me the invite just before I went out on a call last night, and I forgot about it.”
“Not about that, although yeah, I would’ve appreciated knowing we were expected for dinner at your parents’.”
“Oh, you meant about me telling the kids we were dating.”
“No, that wasn’t what I was talking about either, but yeah, what were you thinking?”
“I was thinking about the reason why this works for me as much as it does for you.”
“I’m having second thoughts about that now,” she said, turning down the hall toward the office. “Your mom might’ve been happy I was there, but Allison wasn’t. You could’ve told me she was one of the women you dated and dumped.”
“I didn’t dump her. I just didn’t ask her out again, which, by the way, was the reason I said you were my girlfriend and why our fake-dating works for me as much as it does for you. But how was I supposed to know you were going to show up here today?”
“Sorry, you’re right.” She smiled her thanks at the secretary who buzzed them out. “You should probably send me a list of the women you’ve dated so I’ll be prepared for the bitchy looks and cold shoulders.”
“Okay, I guess I can do that.”
She looked at him. “Exactly how long will this list be?”
“Long,” he admitted sheepishly.
She shook her head and headed for her car.
“Hey, Em,” he called after her. “Don’t forget to bring Gus to practice this afternoon.”
“Why? Aren’t you picking him up?”
He rubbed the back of his head. “I kind of told the guys my girlfriend would be showing up at practice today, and I expected them to be on their best behavior.”
Josh nearly swallowed his tongue when Em walked onto the field later that afternoon. There was nothing remotely sexy about her outfit. She wore a gray It’s Football Y’all sweatshirt with a pair of denim shorts and white sneakers. The problem was her legs—long, tanned, and toned. He knew Em worked out and was in great shape, but he could’ve done without visual confirmation. And her hair, shiny and loose, swinging across her shoulders like she was in a shampoo commercial, didn’t help either.
She didn’t look like Em, his best friend’s kid sister, the girl he’d known since grade school. She looked like… someone he’d like to date. He’d had the same reaction Saturday night at Highland Brew, and he wasn’t sure what to do about the inappropriate tightening in his gut as she closed the distance between them.
Run, was the first thought that popped into his head, but instead he said, “Why did you get all glammed up? It’s just a football practice.”
She looked down at herself. “What are you talking about? I’m wearing shorts and a sweatshirt.”
She raised her narrowed gaze. Her lashes were darker, thicker, longer, making her eyes stand out more than usual. He was as tongue-tied as he’d been the day he’d first noticed there was nothing ordinary about Emma Scott and her eyes. He’d been nineteen, and she’d been seventeen. He’d shut down the feelings as fast as they’d appeared, unwilling to damage his long-standing friendship with Cal.
Josh crouched to hug Gus and then took his time working the football jersey over the dog’s paws in an effort to get his head straight. It’s just Em, he told himself as he stood up. He tugged on a long strand of her auburn hair, wondering if it had always been this silky.
“You have your hair down, and you’re wearing makeup, Freckles.” He teased her like he always did. Only this time it felt different. He was using her nickname to remind himself of the girl she used to be. Ironically, calling attention to the cinnamon sprinkles scattered across the bridge of her nose and the top of her high cheekbones had the opposite effect. There was nothing cute about her freckles today. They looked come-to-me sexy.
He curled his fingers into a fist to keep from touching her soft, flushed skin, from tracing a line from one freckle to the other. There was something seriously wrong with him. The best thing he could do, for both of them, was end their fake relationship. Laughter drew his attention from Em and the running commentary in his head. His team walked across the field, reminding him of the reason he’d suggested fake-dating in the first place.
Em followed his gaze. “You told the guys on your team that I was your girlfriend. So I thought I’d better look like someone you’d date.”
“Okay, just to be clear. I’m not shallow. I don’t choose who to date based on what they look like.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You sent me your list, remember? I checked them out, and you have a type. None of them were plain Janes or sporty girls, and neither was your ex-wife. Oh, and do yourself a favor, don’t go on their social media.”
Leave it to Em to investigate the women he dated. “How bad is it?”
“Let’s just say you probably need to fake-date me more than I need to fake-date you.”
