Chapter18
2569 Words
Emma had spent most of the week telling herself that Saturday was not a date.
It was lunch.
Maybe dinner.
Possibly both, depending on how the afternoon went.
But definitely not a date.
At least, that was what she continued telling herself as she stood in front of her bedroom mirror Saturday morning holding two shirts against herself like either one might somehow provide the answer.
The boys were supposed to leave with Jackson after breakfast.
He had planned to take them back to Little Rock for the weekend, giving Emma her first completely child-free weekend since moving to Hickory Ridge.
At first, the thought had made her anxious.
Then Wade had asked if she wanted to spend the afternoon with him.
Nothing complicated.
No expectations.
He wanted to show her a few places around town she hadn't seen yet, grab lunch, maybe walk around the little downtown square if the weather stayed nice.
Emma had said yes before she could overthink it.
And now she was overthinking it.
Naturally.
A knock sounded against her bedroom door.
“Mom?”
Emma quickly dropped the shirts onto the bed.
“Come in.”
Christian pushed the door open and looked her over suspiciously.
“You look pretty.”
Emma narrowed her eyes.
“I haven't even gotten dressed yet.”
“You did your hair.”
“I do my hair every day.”
Christian gave her a look that suggested they both knew that wasn't entirely true.
“Is Wade coming over?”
There it was.
Emma turned back toward the mirror.
“Wade and I are going to get lunch.”
Christian frowned.
“Like a date?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Then why'd you curl your hair?”
Emma pointed toward the hallway.
“Go make sure you packed everything you need for your dad's.”
Christian sighed dramatically.
“I already did.”
“Then go check again.”
He disappeared down the hallway, and Emma waited until she heard his bedroom door close before looking at herself in the mirror.
Maybe the curls had been a little much.
Before she could decide, tires crunched against the gravel driveway.
Jackson.
Perfect timing.
Emma grabbed the blue blouse from the bed and pulled it over her head before heading downstairs.
Luke already had his backpack beside the door.
Christian's baseball bag, backpack, pillow and what appeared to be half his bedroom were piled beside it.
Emma stared.
“You're going for two nights, Christian.”
“I need stuff.”
“You need clothes and a toothbrush.”
“I might need my glove.”
“Fine.”
“My football.”
“No.”
“My Switch.”
“Fine.”
“My—”
“Christian.”
“Okay.”
The front door opened before he could continue.
Jackson stepped inside carrying two drinks from the gas station and handed one immediately to Christian.
“Got you a Sprite.”
Emma folded her arms.
“What did you get Luke?”
Jackson stopped.
His eyes moved toward Luke.
Luke didn't say anything.
Jackson glanced down at the second cup in his hand.
“Dr Pepper.”
Luke frowned.
“I don't drink Dr Pepper.”
Jackson looked immediately toward Emma.
She said nothing.
He knew.
Or at least he should have known.
“I can go get something else.”
Luke shrugged and returned his attention to the tablet in his hands.
“I have water.”
The tiny exchange shouldn't have irritated Emma as much as it did.
But it did.
Because that had always been part of the problem.
Jackson loved his sons.
She had never doubted that.
But loving Luke and understanding Luke weren't always the same thing.
Jackson cleared his throat.
“So, change of plans.”
Emma looked at him.
“What change of plans?”
“I figured we'd stay around here this weekend.”
Christian suddenly became very interested in the zipper on his baseball bag.
Emma noticed.
Immediately.
“You're staying in Hickory Ridge?”
Jackson nodded.
“Thought the boys might want to hang around town.”
“The entire reason you were taking them to Little Rock was because it's your weekend.”
“It still is my weekend.”
“Yes. In Little Rock.”
Jackson leaned against the counter.
“I didn't realize there was a geographical requirement.”
Emma stared at him.
Something was off.
Jackson had spent the entire week talking about taking the boys home.
He had even told Christian they would order pizza from their old favorite place Saturday night.
Now suddenly he wanted to spend the weekend in Hickory Ridge?
Emma's eyes shifted toward Christian.
He wouldn't look at her.
Interesting.
“Where exactly are you staying?” she asked.
“Hotel in town.”
“You already booked one?”
“I did this morning.”
This morning.
Emma crossed her arms tighter.
Jackson looked over her outfit.
Then at her hair.
Then back at her.
“You going somewhere?”
There it was.
“Maybe.”
“With Wade?”
Emma's eyes narrowed.
Christian coughed.
Not a real cough.
A guilty cough.
Emma looked at him.
“Christian.”
“What?”
“Did you tell your father Wade and I had plans today?”
His eyes widened.
“No.”
Too fast.
Emma stared at him.
Christian looked at Jackson.
Jackson looked at the ceiling.
Luke finally glanced up from his tablet.
“He texted Dad.”
Christian whipped around.
“Luke!”
Emma closed her eyes.
Of course he did.
“What did you text him?”
“Nothing bad.”
“Christian.”
He sighed.
“I just told him if he wanted you back, he needed to hurry up.”
Silence.
Complete, horrible silence.
Emma slowly turned toward Jackson.
He was trying not to smile.
That made it worse.
“You drove all the way up here because your ten-year-old—”
“I'm seven.”
She pointed toward Christian without looking away from Jackson.
“Not helping.”
Jackson pushed away from the counter.
“I was already coming.”
“To pick them up.”
“Plans changed.”
Emma laughed once.
“Apparently.”
Jackson grabbed Christian's bags.
“Come on, boys.”
Luke stood and slipped his tablet into his backpack.
Emma crouched beside him.
“Call me if you need anything, okay?”
“I know.”
“And your headphones are in the front pocket.”
“I know.”
“And—”
“Mom.”
Emma smiled.
“Right.”
Luke hugged her quickly before heading toward the door.
Christian hugged her next, but before following Jackson outside, he whispered:
“You should give Dad another chance.”
Emma pulled back.
“You should worry about baseball.”
“I can worry about both.”
“Go.”
He grinned and ran outside.
Jackson stopped in the doorway.
For a moment neither of them spoke.
Then his gaze moved over her again.
“You look nice.”
Emma exhaled.
“Goodbye, Jackson.”
“Have fun on your not-date.”
She shut the door in his face.
Wade picked her up at eleven thirty.
Emma had considered meeting him somewhere instead, mostly because she didn't want Jackson knowing exactly when Wade arrived.
Then she reminded herself that she was thirty-something years old and didn't need permission from her estranged husband to leave her own house with another man.
Wade stepped out of his truck when she came outside.
He smiled.
And just like that, some of the irritation Jackson had left behind disappeared.
“You ready?”
“I think so.”
“That doesn't sound convincing.”
“I've had an interesting morning.”
“Jackson?”
Emma stopped.
“How did you know?”
Wade opened the passenger door for her.
“Lucky guess.”
She laughed despite herself.
“Apparently he's staying in Hickory Ridge this weekend.”
Wade lifted an eyebrow.
“Thought he was taking the boys back to Little Rock.”
“So did I.”
“Change of heart?”
“More like Christian decided to become a marriage counselor.”
That made Wade laugh.
Emma climbed into the truck.
“You have no idea.”
Lunch was supposed to be easy.
And for the first thirty minutes, it was.
They sat on the patio of a small restaurant near downtown, talking about Hickory Ridge and everything Emma still hadn't discovered about it.
Wade told her about the fall festival.
The Christmas parade.
The farmers market every Saturday morning.
Emma told him Christian had already decided they were attending all of it.
“Sounds like he runs the household.”
“He thinks he does.”
“You sure he doesn't?”
Emma smiled.
Then Wade's attention shifted over her shoulder.
His expression changed slightly.
“What?”
He nodded behind her.
Emma turned.
And nearly dropped her tea.
Jackson was walking across the parking lot.
With Luke and Christian.
Of course he was.
Christian spotted her first.
“Mom!”
Half the patio turned.
Emma forced a smile.
“Hi, baby.”
They walked over.
Jackson looked at Wade.
Wade looked at Jackson.
The air shifted immediately.
“Didn't know you guys were eating here,” Jackson said.
Emma stared at him.
“There are six restaurants in this town.”
“Guess we have similar taste.”
“No. We don't.”
Christian climbed into the empty chair beside her.
“What are you eating?”
“You're supposed to be eating with Dad.”
“We are.”
“Then why are you sitting down?”
“I wanted to see you.”
Emma couldn't exactly argue with that.
Jackson smiled.
Wade leaned back in his chair.
“You guys having a good weekend?”
“Great,” Jackson answered.
Luke looked at him.
“We've only been gone an hour.”
Emma bit the inside of her cheek.
Wade looked down, clearly fighting a laugh.
Jackson ignored it.
“We were thinking about heading to the park after lunch.”
Wade nodded.
“That's where we're going.”
Emma slowly turned toward Wade.
“We are?”
He smiled.
“We were.”
Jackson's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly.
“Well, look at that.”
Emma knew right then.
This was going to be a very long weekend.
The park should have been coincidence.
The ice cream shop definitely wasn't.
By the third time Emma saw Jackson's truck pull into the same parking lot as Wade's, she had had enough.
“Stay here,” she told Wade.
He looked through the windshield.
“You sure?”
“No.”
Emma opened the door anyway.
Jackson had barely gotten out of his truck before she reached him.
“What are you doing?”
He looked innocent.
Too innocent.
“Taking my sons for ice cream.”
“At the same place we're getting ice cream?”
“It's a small town.”
“You hate soft serve.”
Jackson hesitated.
Christian climbed out of the truck.
“I like soft serve.”
Emma pointed toward him.
“You stay out of this.”
Christian climbed right back inside.
Jackson crossed his arms.
“You seem irritated.”
“I am irritated.”
“Why?”
“Because every place Wade and I go, you magically appear five minutes later.”
“That sounds paranoid.”
“Jackson.”
He smiled.
And there it was.
That stupid smile.
The one he'd used for years whenever he knew exactly what he was doing and wanted to see how long it would take her to explode.
Emma stepped closer.
“You changed your entire weekend because Christian told you Wade and I had plans.”
Jackson's smile disappeared.
“I changed my weekend because I wanted time with my boys.”
“In Hickory Ridge.”
“Yes.”
“At my lunch restaurant.”
“Coincidence.”
“My park.”
“Public property.”
“My ice cream shop.”
“You don't own an ice cream shop.”
“You know what I mean.”
Jackson looked past her.
Wade was leaning against his truck several yards away, deliberately giving them space.
Something hardened in Jackson's expression.
Emma noticed.
“You don't get to do this.”
“Do what?”
“Act like you don't want this marriage until someone else might.”
His eyes moved back to hers.
For the first time all day, Jackson didn't have a quick answer.
Emma's chest tightened.
Because that was the part that scared her.
Not the jealousy.
Not the childish competition.
The possibility that underneath all of it, Jackson actually meant something.
His voice lowered.
“Maybe I didn't realize how much I wanted it until I saw somebody else trying to take my place.”
Emma shook her head.
“That's exactly the problem.”
“What is?”
“I am not a place you get to claim.”
Jackson's expression changed.
“Emma—”
“No.”
She stepped backward.
“You wanted this weekend with the boys? Fine. Have it. Be with them. Take them fishing. Take them swimming. Eat all the ice cream in Hickory Ridge.”
Jackson almost smiled.
“But stop using them as an excuse to follow me around.”
“I wasn't—”
“Jackson.”
He stopped.
Emma looked toward the truck.
Christian's face was pressed against the window.
She sighed.
“And whatever you do, quit recruiting our child into your love life.”
From inside the truck came a muffled:
“I volunteered!”
Emma closed her eyes.
Jackson laughed.
She pointed at him.
“This is not funny.”
“It was a little funny.”
Emma turned and walked back toward Wade before she said something she'd regret.
When she reached him, he opened the passenger door.
“You okay?”
Emma looked back.
Jackson was still standing beside his truck watching them.
“No.”
Wade glanced toward him.
“Want to call it a day?”
Emma considered it.
That would be easier.
Go home.
Put on pajamas.
Pretend none of this was happening.
Exactly what she'd done for years whenever life became uncomfortable.
Then she looked at Wade.
“No.”
His eyebrows lifted.
“No?”
Emma climbed into the truck.
“I've spent enough of my life changing my plans because of Jackson.”
A slow smile crossed Wade's face.
“So where to?”
Emma buckled her seat belt.
“Somewhere my husband won't find us.”
Wade started the engine.
“You know this town has eight thousand people, right?”
Emma sighed.
“Then drive faster.”
Across the parking lot, Jackson watched Wade's truck disappear onto the highway.
Christian lowered the window.
“Dad?”
“What?”
“I don't think it's working.”
Jackson looked down at him.
“Get your seat belt on.”
Christian disappeared back into the truck.
Jackson looked toward the road one more time.
No.
It wasn't working.
And for the first time since Emma left Little Rock, Jackson was beginning to understand that wanting his family back and actually deserving them might be two entirely different things.
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