22. Kess

22

KESS

Ten minutes after I got home from Rowdy’s, there was a knock at the door.

“You here?” Emery asked, letting himself in.

I smiled, knowing what was coming. “In the kitchen.”

He startled. “Oh, didn’t see you there.” He joined me at the sink, a weird expression on his face. “How’s it going?”

“Great. You?”

Em stood there hemming and hawing while I made a fresh pot of coffee. Not sure why I was torturing my friend, but the second he walked in with that face, I decided I wasn’t going to make this easy on him. If he wanted to talk about me and Rowdy, he was going to have to bring up the topic.

“You want some?” I asked as I poured myself a cup.

“Uh... sure.”

“Cream and sugar?” I asked, damn well knowing his coffee preferences.

“ Kessler .”

I couldn’t help the smile. “ Emery .”

He rubbed the back of his neck, clearly frustrated. I raised my brows.

“Why did I just now get a text from my husband telling me he saw you leaving Rowdy’s cabin?”

I lifted a shoulder. “I dunno. He’s your husband, and you and I both know that he’s always been sort of a gossip.”

“ Kessler ,” he repeated, annoyed.

I chuckled into my mug as I took my first sip of coffee.

“Kessler, I swear to God, if you don’t...”

“He’s mine,” I said, setting my mug on the counter and crossing my arms over my chest. “We kissed, among other things. It’s new, but it’s not. And...Rowdy is mine.”

The frustration on Emery’s face bled into a big, bright, beaming smile. “Really? He’s yours?”

I uncrossed my arms and rubbed my sternum. “We’re taking things slowly?—”

“Sure, Jan,” Emery said, quoting our favorite meme.

“—but we’ll get there in due time.”

“You were leaving his place this morning.”

“I slept over,” I said, holding up my hand. “But it was mostly just sleep. We are taking our time and stopping at some delightful spots along the way.”

“Is that why you’re smiling like a jackass?” he asked, clearly enjoying this.

“He’s beautiful, Emery. I’d always known he was sexy and smart and had a sharp mouth, but...”

“It’s better?”

I let my head drop back and closed my eyes, remembering how he felt in my arms. “So much better. So much more . There’s so much more to him, Em.”

“Like what?” he asked, leaning in.

“A lot of it’s private, so I’ll respect that. But he’s a man with a lot of integrity, and he needs and deserves something slower, more substantial.”

“This already sounds very serious,” he said, a note of warning in his voice.

I nodded along. “It is. There’s not a lot I wanna share about him right now, but I think he’s had feelings for me longer than I realized.”

Em tilted his head to the side. “I wonder if you’ve had feelings for longer than you realized, too.”

“I definitely have,” I admitted. “I have to keep reminding myself to stop picturing him as the father of my children.”

Emery’s eyes blazed wide. “Rowdy? Really ?”

My throat constricted, and I took in the bright, open space. The way the gnarly branches of the junipers outside threw shadows, snaking through the space, interspersed with bright sunlight.

I envisioned Rowdy walking into the living room, our children hanging on him like he was a mobile set of monkey bars, screeching with laughter as he spun them and hugged them and loved them unconditionally. The way he would look at me, love shining out of his eyes as he kissed their sweet heads.

“Holy shit. You’re thinking about it right now.”

“I am, Em. I very much am.”

We stood there, drinking our coffee as Emery seemed to look at me with fresh eyes.

“I’m happy for you, my friend,” he finally said. “Some of it feels sudden, but it’s also been building for a while.”

“That it has.”

After we finished our coffees, he raised a brow at me. “So, obviously, you joined him yesterday for the volunteer work. How did that go?”

“Amazing.” I boggled at how brave he’d been. “He is so good at working with these kids.”

Emery nodded to himself. “I can see that. He’s amazing with Stevie.”

“He’s also vulnerable with them, and that was a side of him I hadn’t seen before.”

“Not to sound like a broken record, but this is still Rowdy we’re talking about, right?”

He nudged me, and I nudged him back.

“It’s not easy for him to do—definitely not something he fell into naturally—but he shared things to make the kids in the class feel not so alone.”

“That’s actually harder, isn’t it?”

“I think so. More to the point, it was effective.”

“And that kid was there? The big one?”

I nodded. “Jaxon. I sat next to him, and we ended up having a pretty deep conversation. Found out a lot about what he and his mom—Sadie—are going through. And...I’m with Rowdy on this one. We need to help them get out of that situation.”

“I was just talking to Woody this morning, and he thinks Kit has another opening that might work even better.”

“That would be awesome,” I said, worrying a hangnail.

“What’s this face?” he asked.

“I saw where they live.”

“It’s bad, right?”

I clenched my jaw. “Sadie and Jaxon are hanging on by their fingernails. And the car she’s driving...” I cursed. “It’s the worst.”

“What are you thinking?”

I lifted a shoulder, unsure. I was happy to open my checkbook, but from our brief encounter, I suspected they’d prefer the kind of help that allowed them to take care of themselves.

Emery snapped his fingers. “Woody and I have talked about upgrading some of the equipment for the sanctuary, including Rowdy’s truck.” He held up his hand. “Not because it’s a shitty truck or anything, but it’s smaller than what he really needs, especially for hauling feed and other supplies. Do you think they’d want his Ranger?”

I let out a relieved breath. “I think so. It’ll be a damn sight more comfortable for Jaxon, and it’ll give Sadie something reliable.”

Emery scratched his chin for a second, thinking it through. “I think Woody would be on board with that idea. It moves up our timetable a little, but it was already gonna happen.”

“And you know I’ll pitch in.”

Emery rinsed out his mug and set it on the counter. “I’ve got to take Stevie to pick out a new saddle. But I’ll keep thinking on it, and I’ll talk to Woody.”

“Thanks, friend,” I said, smiling.

“You’re welcome, friend,” he said, his expression sincere. “I’m happy for you.”