Chapter 21

Brandt

It was Sunday, and I was whistling around my room at the inn, getting ready to meet Emma for our lunch date. I could feel the excitement in my chest, knowing I was going to get to see her soon. I glanced out the window at the clouds in the distance and hoped the weather would hold out for us. Everything had been so perfect up to that point, and I didn’t want anything, including the weather, to spoil that for us. On Saturday, I had picked her up after going shopping at the local market and took her for lunch in the park. I laid down a beautiful quilt that the innkeeper let me use and unpacked an array of meats, cheeses, crackers, and fruits for us to eat. I could tell she enjoyed being there with me. We stayed there until the sun started going down, watching a local ball game in the distance at the park’s baseball diamond. It felt like we lived in our own little world, nothing there to get in the way of our life together.

We sat on the blanket with her head in my lap and our shoes off, talking about Camden and how it was for her growing up there. She told me about her family and how her father was a fisherman and her mother an artist. She told me about all the trouble she would get into with the girls when they were teenagers running around town. I could almost imagine her young and wild in a small town with nothing else to do but torture the other people in town. It was comical, and it fit her perfectly.

When the sun started to make its descent, the hues of pinks, oranges, and blues that colored the sky were stunning. The evening light had hit Emma’s skin, and she glowed, sitting there happier than I had ever seen her before. I couldn’t take my eyes off her, and it was hard to let her go after I drove her back to her house. It was a moment that I would remember for the rest of my life. My mind came out of my daydream and focused down on my phone, which was ringing. It was Sicily’s cell phone.

“Hey there, rotten girl,” I said, answering with a laugh.

“Daddy!” she yelled. “How is Maine? I looked it up while you were gone, and it doesn’t look like a real town. I think you’re in Tahiti or something, trying to fool me.”

“It’s beautiful, little bug,” I said. “There are little shops, beautiful parks, woods, one main street through town, and no buildings bigger than three stories. Tahiti? I’ve been there before, and it’s pretty gorgeous too. You might have talked me into going there next.”

“Wow,” she gasped, ignoring my Tahiti comment. “Does everyone know each other? Is there an ice cream parlor like in that old movie you showed me?”

“As a matter of fact, there is one.” I chuckled. “And yes, for the most part, everyone knows each other here. It’s a really nice place to be. I’ll bring you here some time.”

“That would be awesome,” she said, getting quiet for a moment. “Sooo, how is that girl you went to see?”

“How did you …?”

“I know everything,” she said, giggling more.

“You need to notice the homework you still need to do,” I said. “And not be focusing on my love life, you stinker.”

“I’m almost done with my homework,” she said.

“How’s Grandma?”

“She’s good,” Sicily said. “We’re going to get frozen yogurt if I can get my reading done in time.”

“Well, you better get on it then.” I laughed. “You don’t want to miss out on gummy bears and chocolate sprinkles.”

“Yeah and grandma gets a bunch of stuff too. She isn’t like you with your dainty fruit ice cream.”

“I’m going to get you when I get home,” I said. “What else have you been doing?”

“We went shopping and then visited Grandma’s church friends.” She sighed. “Those ladies are hard to deal with. They talk to me like I’m a baby.”

“No, they talk to you like you’re a seven-year-old girl, and that is what you are.” I laughed. “They don’t need to know that you’re smarter than most everyone in the city. Besides, it’s good for you to do some normal stuff every once in a while. Let loose, girl. Don’t always have your head in the books, or you’ll miss the rest of life.”

“I like the books,” she said. “They just happen to go along with what we’re learning. No one would say anything if I read fiction.”

“You know what? You’re right,” I said. “Be yourself, Sicily. Be proud of who you are, and do what makes you happy. You have a lot of time ahead of you for the rest.”

“I really miss you, Daddy,” she said with a sigh. “When are you coming home?”

“Soon, bug, soon,” I said. “I have some things I have to take care of here first. And I miss the heck out of you too! I promise when I get back, we’ll go do something fun like the zoo or find an aquarium and go there.”

“What about the planetarium? We could go look through that big telescope,” she said excitedly.

“Sure,” I replied. “I know the head astronomer there. Maybe we can book some private time with the telescope.”

“That would be sooo amazing. My friend, Torren, her dad works for NASA, and he takes her with him when he goes to the different NASA locations in the summer,” she said excitedly. “Torren gets to see all the cool stuff and has helped take pictures with the big satellites.”

“Wow, that sounds really cool,” I said. “Maybe we can talk to Torren’s dad about letting you come. You’ve been vetted for clearance at my company, so you should be good to go. But right now, you need to focus on that homework and get to bed tonight at a reasonable hour.”

“All right, I will. I’ll talk to you later,” she said. “And tell your girlfriend I said hello.”

“Goodbye, daughter.” I laughed.

Just as I hung up the phone there was a knock at the door. I smiled and glanced in the mirror, noting that I needed to pick up some razors before I grew a beard. I opened the door and whistled, looking at Emma standing in the doorway looking absolutely radiant. Her hair was down around her shoulders, and she was wearing a pink dress that tied around the neck. It hugged her curves perfectly and showed the perfect amount of cleavage. She had put on enough makeup to look fresh and new, and the smell of lavender and vanilla hit me in the face. I loved how she smelled. It sent chills down my spine.

I leaned in and immediately kissed her, not being able to help myself. Her lips were so soft, and her perfume was intoxicating. I wanted to take her right then and there, but I was trying to be a gentleman and show her that I cared for her and not just sleeping with her. She whimpered and leaned forward, putting her hands on my chest and closing her eyes tightly. She did something to me that I just couldn’t explain, and I never wanted it to end. Maybe I had made all the right choices for once. Maybe I was finally going to get to enjoy life with someone who was so perfect. I pulled back slowly and smiled big as she blushed, looking down at the floor.

“You look amazing,” I said sweetly.

“You don’t look too bad yourself.” She giggled. “You ready to go? We should take an umbrella in case it rains. I’m sure Miss Judith, the innkeeper, has one we can use.”

I stood there looking at her for a minute, thinking about how I didn’t want to share my time with her in some crowded restaurant. I grabbed her hand and pulled her into the room, turning and smiling at her. She laughed and looked at me with confusion.

“I have an idea,” I said. “Let’s eat lunch right here. Like an indoor picnic. I don’t think I want to be surrounded by a ton of people. I want you all to myself for the afternoon.”

“I like that idea,” she said, smiling.

“I’ll be right back,” I said, jogging down the stairs and smiling at the sweet old lady. “Good afternoon. I have a question for you.”

“What can I help you with?”

“I wanted to have lunch for my guest and me up in my room. Could you make us something special? I’ll pay for it, of course,” I said, smiling.

“Of course,” she said excitedly. “Give me a few moments. I already made some really delightful sandwiches and salads for the day. I’ll set up a tray for you.”

“Wonderful.”

I waited in the lobby thinking about Emma and how everything was going so well. When the innkeeper came back out, she handed me some sparkling waters, and I helped her bring everything upstairs. She hugged Emma after setting down the trays and commented on how beautiful she looked. I hadn’t realized that Emma knew her so well. She was so sweet to the little old lady, and it melted my heart. We sat on the carpet eating, just enjoying the conversation. I looked up out the window as thunder clapped outside and rain began to pour down. I couldn’t think of a nicer day spent inside than one with such weather.

“I have dinner with my parents every Sunday night,” she said. “Will you come with me tonight?”

“I would love to,” I said, smiling at her beautiful face. “Do you think they’ll like me?”

“I know they’ll love you,” she said. “They’re just normal people, and they’ve heard me talking about you for weeks. I called them when you arrived and cleared up the whole marriage thing. My father was very happy. He’s an interesting man, though, very straightforward, and though he has a bit of a gruff exterior from all those years on the fishing boats, he’s a big teddy bear on the inside.”

“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“No,” she sighed. “I always wanted one, but my mom got sick when I was really little, and she can’t have children anymore. I adopted Caroline and Gillian as my sisters, and we’ve always been inseparable. They’re my clan, I guess you could say.”

“Trevor is like that for me, though these days, he’s on a completely different plane than me,” I said. “I guess that’s how it goes, though. Eventually, we’ll catch back up to the same place in life. He’s a little gruff, too, but deep down, I know he’s a really good guy. He’s been burned a lot and watched me get burned by Josie, so he’s a bit of a playboy.”

“I’m sure he’s happy for you, though,” she said. “If not, he will be when he meets me and sees us together.”

“Yeah, I don’t know how anyone couldn’t love you,” I said, smiling. “You’re the sweetest person I’ve ever met.”

“Only on Sundays,” she said sarcastically. “Don’t catch me on a Wednesday. Wednesdays are put aside for all my evildoing.”

“Is that right?” I laughed. “I couldn’t picture that even if I tried.”

I took her bottle of water from her hand and set it down, pulling her close to me. I pressed my lips against her mouth and skimmed my tongue over her teeth. She breathed heavily, moving over and straddling me on the floor. We kissed passionately for several minutes, our hands running all over each other’s bodies. It wasn’t my intention to get to that point, but the electricity between us was too much.

She leaned back and untied the string around her neck, letting the front of her dress fall forward. I leaned down, kissing her bare breasts and feeling her breathing intensify. This woman was going to drive me wild, and there was nothing I could do about it.