“Please, we’ve been planning this godforsaken wedding for ten months, and over the last month or so you’ve had a glow about you. I’m assuming he’s terribly handsome since Bea said he was a race car driver and all the women swooned over him.”
I laughed. “He is handsome, but he doesn’t race cars anymore. He owns a restoration shop in Waco.”
Mary stopped walking for a moment. “What?”
I stopped as well and looked at her. “A restoration shop. You know, they restore old cars and trucks and things like that. He’s always wanted to open one. It was his dream even before he started to race for our fathers’ NASCAR team.”
Mary’s brows rose up. “And you said he owns the restoration shop here in Waco?”
I nodded. “Yes. Landon owns it.”
“Oh, well, my goodness. We’re more connected to each other than I thought!” she said with a chuckle.
With a frown, I asked, “How do you mean?”
She tilted her head as if I should know. “Well, William, of course! Hannah didn’t say anything to me about the father of her baby getting married!”
I shook my head in confusion. “What are you talking about, Mary? Who are William and Hannah, and how are they connected to me?”
Mary brought her hand up to her mouth as she gasped. “Oh my goodness. You don’t know about Hannah and William?”
I shook my head and laughed. “No, I don’t know anything about them. Are they getting married or something? Did you think I was planning their wedding?”
Mary dropped her hand to her pearl necklace and quickly looked away for a moment before turning back to me. “Emmerson, please don’t tell me your future husband hasn’t told you about the child he has?”
I nearly stumbled backward. “A…a child? What are you talking about?”
“Oh dear. You really don’t know.”
The ground felt like it was about to be ripped out from under my feet.
Mary reached out and took my hands in hers. “Before you marry that man, you better have him tell you about the son he had with my niece.”
I struggled to swallow the lump in my throat. “Who…who is your niece?”
“Hannah Marie Patterson.”
It felt as if someone had opened my chest and sucked the air from my lungs as I fought to take a breath. “Hannah Patterson is your niece?”
Mary nodded. “Yes, so you do know her?”
Turning away from Mary and dropping her hands, I stared out over the golf course in a daze. “She worked at my mother’s bed and breakfast a little over a year ago.”
I wasn’t sure how in the hell I’d made it to Landon’s house. My entire body felt numb. I was confused and downright pissed off.
There was no way Landon had a child with another woman. None. Of that I was positive.
So why did I feel so numb as I sat parked a block away from Landon’s house? He had texted me an hour ago, saying he was home and asking what time he should have dinner ready. I’d told him I was still meeting with a bride and that I would be home in about an hour. What I had really been doing was sitting at a park, watching the grass blow in the breeze as I tried to wrap my head around everything Mary had said.
At first I was so angry. All I wanted to do was confront Landon. Then after my head had cleared some, I thought more logically about it all.
Could Landon have slept with Hannah? Yes.
Could she have gotten pregnant with his child? Yes.
Would he ever not tell me about something so big that had happened in his life? No. If it was true, he would have told me, especially before we got romantically involved, and definitely before he married me. If somehow that child was Landon’s, then he simply didn’t know about him. Everything inside of me told me that this wasn’t his baby, though. And I was going to go with my gut feeling.
With a deep breath in, I started my car and drove the block to Landon’s house, which I guess was now my house as well. I pulled into the garage, grabbed my bags from the backseat, and made my way into the house. The moment I stepped in, I took in the heavenly smell of something cooking.
“Welcome home, darling!” Landon called out as I made my way through the mudroom and into the kitchen.
The sight before me left me breathless. Landon stood in the kitchen in nothing but an apron. I laughed when I saw him leaning against the island, Lady at his feet.
“Are you always going to greet me this way when I come home from a long day’s work? Nearly naked with something delicious-smelling in the oven?” I asked, walking over to him and reaching up onto my tippy toes to kiss him. For a few blissful moments, I forgot all about Hannah, William, and brides from hell.
With his lips pressed softly to mine, he whispered, “I will greet you however you want, wife.”
I wrapped my arms around him, and we were soon lost in a kiss that seemed to last forever. Or maybe I simply wished it would last forever so I wouldn’t have to have this conversation with him. Especially on the day we had just gotten married.
When he drew back, he leaned his forehead against mine. “Talk to me, Emme.”
I jerked back and looked up at him. “What? What do you mean?”
“I’m standing here naked with nothing but an apron on, and you look like someone just stole your favorite toy right out of your hands. And you forgot that we have tracking apps on each other’s phones, so I saw that you were parked down the street for damn near thirty minutes. Before that, you were at a park. So, I need you to tell me what’s wrong. Do you regret that we got married this morning?”
I gasped. “No! God, no, Landon. I would never regret that for a single moment.”
He nodded, a look of relief passing over his face. “Okay. Tell me what’s wrong then.”
Looking at the oven, I asked, “How much time before dinner is ready?”
Landon glanced over his shoulder. “It’s chicken spaghetti casserole, and it’s got about twenty more minutes to go.”
Chewing on my lip, I said, “You might want to put some pants on.”
A serious expression moved across his face as he said, “You’re starting to freak me out, Emme.”
If he thought he was freaked out now, he was in for a surprise.
Landon
I RUSHED INTO my room and pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt before I made my way back into the living room where Emmerson was curled up on the sofa with Lady snuggled next to her.
The moment she’d walked into the kitchen, I could see the tension on her face and feel it in her body when she kissed me.
“Okay, what’s going on?” I asked, sitting on the ottoman in front of her.
Emmerson drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out. She closed her eyes for a few moments before meeting my gaze.
“First, I want you to know that I don’t believe it. I’ll admit, I was thrown by what I’m about to tell you, but I truly believe with all my heart this is not something you would keep from me.”
My heart started to pound as I tried to figure out what in the hell she was talking about. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I nodded for her to keep going.
“Today I met with a client and the groom’s mother at a country club to go over last-minute things for her wedding. After the bride left, the mother—her name is Mary—started asking me about you. When I mentioned you owned the restoration shop in town, she started saying all this nonsense about her niece and her niece’s baby son…and how you were the father.”