Eight

Emery

“I cannot believe you’re making me do this,” I said to Kimber as we stood outside of our mother, Autumn’s, house.

It was the house we’d grown up in. Small and squat with red clay bricks and dark roofing. Like everything in Lubbock, it had a monstrous fence for the entire backyard. A tree her mother had planted when she moved in towered over the property. The house was in one of those timeless parts of town. Nothing had changed, not even the people. They’d just settled here like dust.

“You were never going to come over here unless I made you,” Kimber said.

She mashed the old, smashed-in doorbell, and I could hear it hollering through the house, announcing our presence.

“Don’t act like you know me.”

Kimber snorted. “Okay. Done,” she said with a sarcastic bite.

The door popped open, and my mother’s face appeared in the doorway. She was gorgeous. Even at her age, she was still a knockout. It was a bit unfair to think that Kimber had gotten all of my mother’s beauty-queen looks, and I had only gotten her snarky wit and unbearable attitude.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” she said.

“Funny, Mom. I’ve never heard that one before,” I said with a grin.

“You’re not too old to have your ass paddled, young lady.”

Kimber nudged me forward, and I laughed. My mother had never paddled me in my life. Believe it or not, Kimber was the troublemaker.

The three of us wandered into the living room, and my mother closed the door behind us. Everything was exactly how it had always been—same brown fabric furniture with our initials scrawled into the wooden paneling on the side, my great-grandmother’s china cabinet full to the brim with my mother’s Precious Moments collection, and a sea of pictures on the mantel. At least some of those were new, the pictures with Noah and Lilyanne as additions.

But not a trace of my father. He had been swept clean out of the house since he walked out on my mom when I was a kid. Only a forgotten old military medal and a box of photographs in the attic crawl space remained.

We all took seats around the living room, suffocating from our past.

“If I’m not too old for a paddling, that means you’re not too old either, Mom,” I told her, searching for levity.

“Oh, I know, honey.” Then, she winked at me. “You know, I’ve been talking to Harry Stevenson across the way, and he used to be a police officer.”

“Oh God, Mom!” I said, covering my ears.

My mother cackled with glee at my embarrassment. “Now, where is my granddaughter? You can’t make me feel old by popping out babies, Kimber Leigh,” she said, patting my sister’s very pregnant belly, “and then not bring them around when you come visit.”

“Lilyanne is with Noah. We’re going to meet up with them at the church.”

“I suppose that will be fine,” Autumn said with a sigh of dejection. “How am I supposed to spoil her rotten?”

“You’re doing just fine at that,” Kimber said.

My mother’s eyes returned to me, assessing me in that uncanny way only she could do, and then she smiled softly. Light wrinkles crinkled around her eyes. Happy wrinkles. The ones I adored.

“I’ve missed you, Emery,” my mother said. “But, girl, what have you been eating in Austin? Is anyone feeding you? You’re skin and bones.”

I glanced over at Kimber, whose eyes were wide with amusement.

Out of Kimber’s closet, I’d chosen a plain black dress for church this morning. She couldn’t wear it and had insisted that I should since we all knew I didn’t have church-appropriate attire in the bags I’d brought from Austin.

“I’m eating fine. And…I left Austin,” I blurted out. “I dropped out of the program.”

“Oh. I was really looking forward to having another doctor in the family,” Autumn said with a mischievous grin.

“Ah, if only I had been guaranteed Noah’s salary.”

“If only we all were,” Kimber agreed.

“Are you sad about it? You don’t seem sad,” my mother asked.

Strangely, I wasn’t. I thought I should have been. But, even though I’d dedicated three years to this endeavor, sad was not the word. I was relieved.

“Nope. I think it’s the right choice. Just have to get a job and clean out my apartment. I know someone who will sublet it for next semester. At least that’s covered.”

“Maybe you’ll change your mind,” my mother said with a nonchalant shrug. “Let me put on my Sunday best, and then we can go.”

As soon as my mom exited the room, I breathed out heavily.

Kimber swatted at my knee. “It was not that bad,” she whispered.

“You’re right. It wasn’t. Probably because you’re here.”

“You’re so dramatic. She’s happy you’re home.”

“Yeah,” I said, looking around the room again. “Maybe so.”

“Okay, all ready to go,” Autumn said, strolling back into the room. She was in a red dress with a black shawl, and she was wearing her signature red lipstick. “Think Harry Stevenson will be able to resist me?”

I groaned as I stood. “If we talk about your sex life one more time, I will vomit on your floor.”

“We could talk about yours,” my mother said.

“Let’s not,” I said with a sigh.

She followed Kimber out to her enormous SUV and took the front seat. Kimber pulled out of the driveway and headed toward the church down the street.

“I heard that you saw the Wright family yesterday,” Autumn said.

“Good news does travel fast,” I said dryly.

At the mention of the Wright family, my head spun…but not from Landon. It was because of Jensen. Seeing Landon had been…awkward, like seeing an old friend from high school you’d rather avoid. But Jensen…that was a different story. I hated to admit how much he had affected me. So much for swearing off men. It had been a total of one day, and already, I’d made out with Jensen fucking Wright.

“If you had told me that you were in town, I wouldn’t have had to hear it from Barbara,” my mother said. She peered at me in the backseat, and I blankly looked back at her. “Tina was there, too. She said you looked very pretty, and all the boys were staring at you.”

Sometimes, I forgot that, my mother knew everyone. Born and raised and never left. She was a total extrovert and made instant friends with everyone she met. Another thing I had not inherited.

“Heidi did my hair and makeup. Only reason anyone looked at me all night. You know, Landon didn’t even recognize me.”

“What?” Kimber gasped. “You didn’t tell me that.”

“So, funny story, Landon didn’t recognize me, and then his wife showed up and flipped her shit.”

“Language, Emery,” my mother said.

I rolled my eyes. Yeah, I did need to watch my language since we were about to walk into a church.

Kimber drove into the parking lot that was already more than half full. I knew Kimber and Noah only still went to this church because my mother had been going since she was a kid. Otherwise, they would find one a bit more…contemporary.

Lubbock was the kind of city that had a church on every street corner. Huge whitewashed buildings and old brick edifices dotted the brick-lined roads downtown. Giant pickup trucks with metal Texas Tech decals on the bumpers filled the parking lots. Jeans and cowboy boots were acceptable attire. The preachers were just as likely to give a sermon as spout political drivel. And, every week, there was a fifteen-minute interlude, mid sermon, for people to shake hands and greet their friends who lived down the street from them. In a town where crosses on walls in the living room were an interior design statement, church was practically mandatory.

We piled out of Kimber’s SUV and meandered over to the entrance. I left my mother behind as she chatted with every Tom, Dick, and Harry—gross!—who stood in the entranceway. I trailed Kimber past the ladies handing out pamphlets, and I took one with a half-smile before going into the sanctuary.

The ceiling was mile high with stained glass windows over the chancel. The choir was already seated off to the right, and the pastor’s wife was playing the piano nearby. A large wooden pulpit was rigged with a microphone, and there was a semicircle of cushioned prayer benches to be used for communion.

This wasn’t exactly where I’d thought I’d be this early in the morning after drinking a couple bottles of champagne last night with Heidi. Mercifully, I didn’t have a hangover. I’d had a bottle of Gatorade and some Tylenol before bed, and Kimber had babied me in the morning. But that still didn’t mean I was prepared for this.

“Kimber,” Noah said.

He waved from his spot near the front of the room. Lilyanne was seated in the pew, tapping away on her iPad.

We moved up the aisle, and Kimber kissed the top of Lily’s head. “Hey, baby girl. Are you excited to see Grandma Autumn?”

“It’s not autumn, Mommy,” Lilyanne said, looking up very seriously. “It’s winter.”

“Actually,” I interjected, “the winter solstice isn’t until the twenty-first. So, it still is autumn.”

“But it’s cold,” Lily said.

“Sound logic.”

Noah cracked up and scooted Lilyanne down so that we could take our seats on the end of the row.

“So, tell me about seeing Landon,” Kimber said, elbowing me in the side.

“Shh, Kim, we shouldn’t gossip in church.”

Kimber rolled her eyes. “It’s not gossip if it comes from the source. Aren’t you all about firsthand accounts in history?”

“Meh. Let’s not talk about history right now. I’ve thought of next to nothing else for nine years. I need a break.”

“A break like Landon Wright?” she whispered.

“Uh, no. Landon is married, remember?”

“Oh, right,” Kimber said, sounding disappointed. “Well, there are a lot of other hot guys in town.”

Noah’s head swiveled around so fast, and Kimber’s cheeks turned pink.

“What was that?” he asked.

“Oh, shush, you!” she said, flustered.

Kimber and Noah were a year older than Austin, the middle brother, so they never had a Wright in their grade. Though they knew the family, of course. Everyone knew the Wrights.

“I’m just asking if you are looking for some fun while you’re here,” Kimber said with a wink.

“Speaking of hook-ups in church?” I said, crossing myself in mock horror.

Kimber laughed and shook her head. “You’re horrible.”

“Lilyanne!” my mother said.

She burst onto the scene, as if she owned the place. But Lily adored her. She jumped from her seat, iPad abandoned, and threw herself into Autumn’s arms. She twirled Lily around and then placed her on the ground before claiming the seat beside her.

“She sure loves your little girl,” I said.

“She does. I couldn’t have asked for a better grandma,” Kimber agreed.

“Who would have guessed?”

“Everyone,” Kimber said. Then she grinned. “Look who just walked in the building.”

I swiveled in my seat just in time to watch the entire Wright family stride into the building. My eyes first latched on to Jensen in a crisp black suit, white button-up, and burgundy tie. He looked…sexy as hell. In fact, I would not mind so much seeing what was underneath that suit. My cheeks burned with the thoughts running through my head. I was in church, for Christ’s sake.

My eyes darted down the line of people—Austin, Morgan, Sutton, and Maverick. Huh, I guess not all the Wrights were here. I couldn’t help but feel grateful that Landon wasn’t here with his wife. Then, I didn’t feel as bad about checking out Jensen.

As Jensen passed my row, he turned all his attention to me. A smile dimpled his cheeks, and I stopped breathing. Fuck, I had made out with that face.

Then, he and the rest of his family took their seats in the front row. I distantly remembered that they came to church every Sunday after their mother died. They did it to honor her memory since she had been such a devoted churchgoer. It was pretty amazing that they still did it. Even the morning after Sutton’s wedding.

Maybe I had judged them all a bit too harshly after Landon.

Maybe it wasn’t the worst thing to fantasize about those dimples.

Maybe…just not in church.