“I’m not sure,” Emma said, and that summed up just about everything in her life at the moment. “Ted looked up the license plate, and it was someone who worked for my old boyfriend.”
She employed her bravery and lifted her eyes to Ginger’s. “Do you think badly of me?” She didn’t want Ginger to see her in a different light, but Emma knew she would. That was what secrets did. They shed new light on situations and people.
“Of course not,” Ginger said.
“I wasn’t married,” Emma said. “He was the father of one of my students.”
“It was a long time ago,” Ginger said. “Everyone has things they’ve done that they regret.” She took Emma by the shoulders, her eyes intense and blazing. “You’re a good woman, Emma. You work hard, and you’re kind. You don’t have to carry your mistakes forever.”
Emma nodded, because she wanted to believe that. Deep down, she did. She’d been to church as a little girl and a teenager, and she’d learned that God forgave even the vilest of sinners. She’d tried to do the right thing. She’d operated within a sphere she knew and understood.
“She has a good life,” Emma said. “That’s all I ever wanted for her, and now everything might be compromised, and I don’t know what to do. I don’t know where to turn.” Fat tears slid down her face, and she made no move to wipe them away.
“We’ll figure it out,” Ginger said, and it sounded like a promise. “Together, okay?” Ginger reached up and wiped her tears for her, the kindest, most compassionate look in her eyes. “We’ll figure it out together.”
Emma nodded, utterly spent. She’d been so tired for so long. She kept everything laced so tight, and it was extremely hard to carry so much, day in and day out. She needed a reprieve. She needed help. She needed someone to take the burden for just a few minutes.
“Okay,” Ginger said, some of the hardness returning to her face and her voice. “Let’s get you to bed, because you look like you could use a good night’s sleep.”
Emma let Ginger walk with her into her bedroom and stay while she quickly changed into a pair of pajamas. She let Ginger stroke her hair off her forehead as if Ginger were her mother, and she looked up at her the way she’d been admiring her for so long now.
“Anything else I need to know?” Ginger asked.
“Not right now,” Emma said. Her friend got up, switched off the light, and left the bedroom. As the door shut behind her, Emma closed her eyes and thought of Ted Burrows.
Tall, strong, sexy Ted Burrows, with his warm skin and his musky cologne and those deep, caring eyes. Yes, she could keep him and their budding relationship a secret for a little bit longer.
Tomorrow, she’d face whatever she had to, and she whispered, “Please bless me and Missy and Fran and Matt that this will all work out. Please, Lord, I need to keep my daughter safe.”
Chapter Eleven
Ted spent the next few days feeding the foals with Emma in the morning and evening. If there was no one around, they strolled to the stables hand-in-hand, and took an evening walk together too. He sure did like holding her hand, and talking with her, and getting to know her.
She never brought up anything sensitive, and he learned she had two sisters—both married with children—and he told her about his younger brother and older sister.
“Ah the middle child,” she teased him, and Ted nodded.
“That’s right,” he said. “You’re the youngest. I think we both have issues.” They laughed together, and Ted wondered—not for the first time—if he could kiss her before he dropped her off at the West Wing.
She’d taken him down a dirt road lined with trees, and he was pretty sure this was where Nate had kissed Ginger for the first time. His best friend didn’t do a lot of kissing and telling, but Ted had asked a few questions, and Nate had been open and honest with him.
Just be careful with her, Teddy. Nate’s advice was good, and Ted once again pushed on the brakes of their relationship.
“My mother is coming tomorrow,” Ted said into the glorious night sky. He never spoke too loud at night out here. It felt like the sky would amplify the sound and broadcast it to the whole world.
“Oh, that’s right,” Emma said. She looked up at him, and though the darkness had gathered quickly, the weight of her eyes still landed on him. “Are you nervous?”
“Yes,” he admitted.
“Why’s that?”
“My mother hasn’t seen me in a while,” he said. “The trip to River Bay became…difficult for her as she aged, and Britta’s girls got older. Everyone got busier.” And he’d missed it all. In fact, he’d only held his nine-year-old niece a couple of times when she was an infant before getting shipped off to the low-security facility.
Britta had brought their mother to visit, and Ted’s brother, Shane, had come often too. At least in the beginning. Neither of them had ever brought their children, for which Ted was grateful.
“How long?” Emma asked, squeezing his hand.
Ted got the feeling she’d asked once before, but he’d been too deep inside his own mind. “Oh, uh, at least three years. Britta’s come in the last year or so. Shane too. But not Mom.”
“What about your father?”
“He stopped coming before she did.” Ted looked out into the deep purple sky, watching it turn navy in the blink of an eye. That part of the Earth was covered with water, and Ted wanted to walk right up to the edge of it and feel it lap against his ankles. “My dad and I have a rocky relationship,” he admitted. “It wasn’t great before I went to prison, and it actually improved while I was behind bars. But then he stopped coming when he got pneumonia a while back….” Ted shrugged and tipped his head back.
“I can see so many stars here,” he said. “It’s incredible.”
“You’ve said that every night for the past three nights.” Emma giggled and tugged on his hand to get him to keep moving. “Come on, the mosquitoes are eating me alive.”
An extreme measure of gratitude moved through Ted that he was alive enough to be eaten by bugs. A smile slipped through his soul, and as he and Emma increased their stroll to a walk, he asked, “Do you go to church, Miss Emma?”
“Occasionally,” she said.
“Would you take me on Sunday?” he asked. “There was a preacher that would come to River Bay sometimes, and I liked listening to him.”
“Sure,” she said. “I’ll take you.”
“Great.” He released her hand and slung his arm around her shoulders. “Are you going to come out of the office to meet my family?”
“Do you want me to?”
“Yes,” he said simply. “I can’t leave the ranch alone, and Ginger told me today I can’t leave with only them either. I have to be with her or Nate…or you.” He looked down at her, but it was hard to see her features very clearly. “She specifically said I could leave the ranch with my family if you came with me.”
“Hmm,” Emma said.
“Have you been tellin’ her things about us?” Ted asked quietly.