Read Close To Home (Westen Series) Online

Authors: Suzanne Ferrell

Tags: #Contemporary Romance Novel

Close To Home (Westen Series) (3 page)

“You guys get in bed and I’ll be there in a minute.”

The boys slowly shuffled off toward their room.

Shaking her head, Emma went off to check on Mama and search for some pain medicine. Her sons might not hurt too much now, but after their nap she’d be lucky if they weren’t miserable. A little preventative medicine now, to help reduce their pain later, would be in her own best interest as well as theirs.

Once she was sure Mama was safely seated on the back screened-in porch snapping beans, it still took Emma ten minutes to get the boys completely settled. Quietly, she closed the door and leaned against it. She loved her sons with all her heart. Their natural curiosity seemed to increase daily.

With a heavy sigh, she climbed into her shower. The hot steamy water served two purposes. It pounded on her sore aching muscles, and it helped to wake her.

What to do with the boys?
This summer had been the hardest by far to keep them contained. Ever since her father died last winter, the two mini-Rambos pushed the limits of her patience daily. She thanked her lucky stars she still had Mama to watch them so she could sleep in three mornings a week, but even that wasn’t working out as well as she’d planned. Today’s incident was the fourth time this month the boys or Mama had wandered off.

School didn’t start for another week and she didn’t know what she was going to do with the three of them. Between her job at the Café and moonlighting at the county hospital as a nurse’s aide, she’d run herself ragged trying to work, care for Mama and watch her sons.

She knew the boys wanted her to stay home with them, which was why they were so mischievous. But dammit, she also had to keep them all fed and clothed, and maintain a roof over their heads. Emma leaned her head against the cool tiles of the shower.

And what to do about Clint Preston?

What a great surprise it had been to awaken and find
him
standing in her doorway after all these years. At first she’d thought it was another dream. The same one she’d had the past twenty years whenever her loneliness hit her the hardest.

In all her dreams she’d been dressed in a fine dress, her hair and nails impeccably done. Clint Preston, the man who had stolen her heart at the age of fifteen, dazzled by her beauty and wit.

Emma flung both of her arms on top of her head in exasperation. Only today the dream came true. Today Clint had actually been there, but this time angry and accusatory. And how had he found her? A complete mess! Not the self-assured, sophisticated woman she’d always imagined herself to be. No, he finds her an overworked, hassled mother, asleep in dirty, wrinkled clothes, wearing no makeup, her hair falling out of her French braid.

To top it off—to completely shatter her dreams—he had no clue who she was. Twenty years ago, she fell in love with him across a banana split. Sure, he’d only been taking his youngest sister Gwen and her friend out so they would leave the adults alone, but his kindness and handsome face had stolen her heart.

Get hold of yourself, Emma, old girl! One of these days you’ll realize that dreams just don’t come true. And when they do, you probably will get the short end of the stick. Didn’t you learn that from the rat you married?

Emma straightened her shoulders and pushed away from the wall. Yes, she’d learned her lesson from Dwayne. The only person she could count on was herself. If Clint Preston could forget her, then she could forget him, too. And if he thought for one moment he could come in here and threaten her life with her sons, then he had another think coming. The good doctor might not realize it yet, but he had just awakened the tigress who protected her cubs.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, dressed in her favorite T-shirt and sweat shorts, Emma stood in her kitchen unloading her dishwasher of yesterday’s dishes, when a hesitant knock sounded on the kitchen door.

“Emma?” Suzie Miller stood on the porch, her arms wrapped around her body and a concerned expression on her face.

“Come on in, Suzie.” Emma ushered the older woman in.

“Are the boys all right?” Both embarrassment and worry etched the lines around Suzie’s mouth and eyes. Even though the pastor’s wife neared fifty in age, she still showed the beauty she’d been more than a quarter of a century ago.

“Except for each of them having a broken wrist, they’re fine, Suzie, really.” Emma quickly hugged her friend, then pulled out a chair for her.

“I am so sorry, Emma. I‘d planned to spend the afternoon with the boys and your mother, but my daughter needed me to take her to the hospital in Columbus for a checkup. When I got home, Harriet called me from the Doc’s office and said they’d come in there and that they’d each broken an arm. I wanted to rush right over, but Harriet said Doc Ray’s nephew had already brought them home. She said I should give you a few minutes before coming to apologize.” She took the glass of tea Emma handed her, swallowing a sip.

“I had hoped Mama would be capable of handling them, but sometimes…”

“…she gets a little distracted, doesn’t she? My Aunt Birdie was the same way. She’d start one thing, forget what she was doing and wander off to do something else. It’s why I thought I should come spend the afternoon with Isabelle and the boys. I just feel so bad I didn’t.”

Emma took a long drink of her own tea, hiding a smile. Suzie could get more information out in two minutes of conversation than most people in half an hour. “Suzie, it’s not your fault. The problem is with my sons. The two imps lay in wait for whoever is watching them to turn their back for a second. Then they’re off like a pair of greyhounds at the races.”

Suzie giggled. “They’re quick, aren’t they?”

“Oh heck, Suzie, when they learned to crawl, I had to check out the back yard before putting them on the ground. They crawled so fast, they nearly caught the squirrels once or twice.”

They exchanged smiles, both settling back to drink their sun tea. Emma realized she lived for these peaceful moments in her hectic life. She loved her sons to no end, but sometimes she just needed to remember how it felt to have a quiet afternoon all to herself.

“So, what’s he like?”

Suzie’s question came out of the blue.

“Who?”

“Doc Ray’s nephew. Amanda Yoder said he’s a dead ringer for that actor on TV. You know the one that plays the Navy lawyer.”

Emma thought about it. No, Clint wasn’t that pretty. Definitely handsome. Yes, he’d always been handsome. “He’s nice looking, I suppose, but I wouldn’t call him movie-star gorgeous.”

“So, tell me what he’s like.”

“Besides arrogant, opinionated and a busybody?”

Suzie cringed. “That bad, huh?”

“Worse. Do you know he threatened to report me to the county Child Protection Agency for neglect?” Emma toyed with her glass, her anger heating up.

“Oh no, because of today?”

“Yes. Seems the good doctor thinks me an unfit mother.”

Her friend laid her hand on Emma’s, stopping her fidgeting with the glass. “He can’t believe that. You’re a great mother. I’ll go speak with him about it.”

Emma shook her head. “No, that’s okay Suzie. The man didn’t even wait for me to explain and I’m sure he won’t listen to you either. I think the best thing to do is just keep the boys away from him as much as possible.”

* * *

The dinner crowd at the Peaches ‘N Cream Café was a mixture of townsfolk, truckers, and tourists on their way home from a day of shopping in the Amish country in northeast Ohio. The chatter sounded like the school cafeteria at lunchtime, except here a jukebox played a mix of Beatles classics, Elvis and old country standards.

Emma maneuvered her way through the tables spaced far enough apart to accommodate the fire code and still pack in plenty of customers to make Lorna a profit. Emma carried a round tray laden with the Tuesday evening special—meatloaf and mashed potatoes with Lorna’s special brown gravy, steamed broccoli and cauliflower. Emma had suggested the less fattening vegetables after she calculated the fat content of Lorna’s meals. Lorna hadn’t agreed to substitute them for the vegetables cooked in butter or smothered in cheese until after her husband of forty years underwent bypass surgery.

“That does smell good, girlie.” Jack, a cross-country trucker, nearly drooled over the plate of home-cooked food Emma sat before him.

“Almost as good as you, sweetie.” His nearly toothless companion reached an arm around Emma, trapping her beside him as she set his food and drink on the table.

If Clarence wasn’t such a good tipper, she’d gladly dump the hot plate in his lap. He was harmless so she’d chosen to ignore his advances over the years. “Now, Clarence, you don’t want me telling Betty Jo over at the Tasty Swirl that you’re flirting with me again, do you?” That comment gained her immediate release. “You wouldn’t want to miss your weekly bowling night, now would you?”

Clarence had the good grace to appear chagrined. “Aw, Em, you know I was just teasin’ ya.”

“Of course I do, Clarence.” She squeezed his shoulder. “But we wouldn’t want any gossip to get back to Betty Jo, now would we?”

“She’s got ya there, Clarence.” Jack guffawed, then dug into his meal.

Emma grinned as she turned away from the pair. The regulars knew her and most treated her like a younger sister or daughter.

The bell above the front door sounded as it opened. Lorna’s daughter, Rachel, entered, with Benjamin and Brian in tow.

“Hey guys!”

“Mommy!” They both ran to her, nearly knocking her over as they wrapped their arms around her hips.

“Did you guys have fun with Rachel?”

“Yup. We played one-handed tug-of-war, and I won.” Ben announced.

“But I won the dart throwing contest.” Brian said.

“Darts?” Emma glanced at Rachel, who was busy putting on her waitress apron.

“Safety darts, Em. They stick to the board with suction cups. And the guys were real good, by the way.” Rachel picked up her note pad and shoved a pencil behind her ear.

“How was Mama?”

Rachel always stayed with the boys on Tuesdays, since Mama’s younger brother and his son always took her into Newark for dinner and a movie.

“Your uncle and Gage picked her up right on time. Sometimes she reminds me of a schoolgirl going out on her first date when those two take her to the movies. I even helped her put her hair up tonight.”

Emma paused a moment. “You helped her do her hair?”

Rachel shrugged. “She was having a little trouble getting it pulled into her usual roll in back.”

“Thanks for helping her,” Emma said. For the first time in her life, concern that her mother couldn’t do her own hair nagged at her.

“No problem,” Rachel said. Chomping on a piece of gum, she went into the kitchen to hug her mom then returned with a tray laden with glasses of water for a table.

Emma pulled the reserved sign from the two counter stools next to the cash register. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, days when Mama had regular plans, the boys always ate at the café with her. She routinely set two stools aside for the boys when she started her shift. Rachel, who watched the boys at the beginning of the evening, usually brought them in for dinner while Emma took her break.

The boys climbed on their stools, each bracing their arms on the counter.

“So, what’ll it be tonight, guys?” Emma loved this part of her night, getting to take dinner orders for her two favorite customers.

“Cheeseburger and fries, mom,” Ben announced.

“Cheeseburger and fries for me, too,” echoed Brian.

“Okay, two burgers and fries, coming up.” Emma laughed. They ordered the same thing each time. Usually she convinced them to have something a little healthier. Tonight, however, cheeseburgers might be the easiest for them to handle one handed—especially if she cut them into small pieces.

While they ate their dinner, Emma spent her time between the counter and register. She let each boy have a turn helping her make change while they ate their dinner. Lorna always arranged her relief so she could spend her time with her sons.

“Now, if you can tell me how much change I get if my meal cost six dollars and seventy-five cents, and I give you seven dollars, then you may keep the change, young man.” The elderly Mr. Weaver held out his money to Benjamin.

Emma hid her smile as her older son concentrated on the task.

“That would be twenty-five cents, sir.” Ben glanced at her for reassurance and Emma nodded her head. He grinned then pushed the buttons on the antique register. The drawer popped open. He placed the bills in their proper place, extracting one bright new quarter and handing it to Mr. Weaver.

“Oh no, young fella. You earned that quarter yourself.” He patted Ben on the head, then handed each of the boys another quarter before escorting his wife out into the night.

“Look, mommy.” Brian held up his quarter. “Mr. Weaver gave me one, too. That makes five quarters tonight!”

“And I got six.” Ben nudged his brother with his hip.

Emma pushed the money drawer closed, then looked at her sons. “And do you know what you’re going to do with that money?”

“Put it in our piggy banks.” They recited it from memory. Their faces matched their voices in total lack of enthusiasm. Emma studied them for a moment. She wanted to teach them to save their money, but maybe letting them spend it occasionally might not be such a bad idea. All work and no play made them all a little unhappy.

“How about tomorrow we go out for ice cream after the T-ball game and you can spend your money then?”

“Yippee!”

“Hooray!”

The boys jumped up and down then ran around and around their mother. Emma grabbed them both and hugged them tight.

“And what is all this excitement about?” A deep voice asked from the counter behind them.

Emma cringed as she turned. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Clint sitting on a vacant stool next to where her sons’ plates still sat.

Chapter Three


D
oc Clint!” Both boys raced around the counter to scramble onto seats flanking the doctor. The joy drained out of Emma, anger quickly replacing it. So much for keeping her sons out of the good doctor’s radar range.

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