Indignation rose inside her, but before she could chew out Ward, Emerson stepped between the two of them. “Hey, back off. Your sister is doing you a huge favor, so the least you can do is act grateful. Apologize!”
“Who the fuck do you think you—”
“Apologize!”
She thought Ward might punch Emerson, but he must have seen something in the other man’s face that stopped him, because instead he stepped back and raised his hands placatingly. “Okay, okay. Chill, man. Sorry, Wye. You know how I get. It’s just been a long day.”
“For both of us,” she pointed out.
“And it’s time for us to go,” Emerson said. “Wye, grab your things.”
“But—”
“She lives here now,” Ward spoke right over Wye. “She’s not going anywhere.”
“Why should she live here?” Emerson demanded. “She’s got a houseful of friends at Two Willows who’d like to spend time with her.”
“She needs to live here because she needs to take care of the baby,” Ward said slowly, as if Emerson was stupid enough to need it spelled out for him. “She needs to get up with Elise when she wakes in the middle of the night.”
Emerson’s eyebrows shot up, and he turned to her. “Are you kidding me? Wye, are you the one getting up…?”
Wye couldn’t blame him for his surprise, but what could she say? She was a sucker for her niece. As soon as the baby started crying, she needed to comfort her, and as soon as Ward realized she’d pop in to tend to the baby, he’d made sure to wait a few minutes before he got up—and then stopped getting up at all.
“What the hell am I saying? Of course you are,” Emerson said disgustedly. “That stops today. You”—he turned to Ward—“will start acting like a father and take charge of your baby’s needs. And you”—he looked to Wye—“are moving back to Two Willows, where you’ll get the help you deserve. Every morning your brother can drop off Elise as early as he needs to. We’re all up before dawn, anyway.” He turned to Ward again. “Every evening, directly after work, you can pick up your daughter, take her home and care for her. You get off work at five, right?”
Ward just stared at him.
“Four, actually,” Wye said.
“Four? Then you have until four-thirty to pick up Elise, or you’ll pay Wyoming double.”
“He doesn’t pay me at all,” Wyoming said, then wished she hadn’t when both men turned on her. Was Emerson counting to ten? He looked like he was counting to ten. His eyes locked with Ward’s.
“That stops right now. The going rate for daycare in Chance Creek is…” He named a weekly sum. “Paid in advance so you don’t run out on the bill.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Ward started, but Emerson spoke over him.
“Come on, Wye. Go get your things. Cass will love having you back. You’ll see Elise tomorrow—as long as your brother brings the cash.”
Wye hurried to do as he said, and Emerson swept her out the door, ignoring Ward’s protests.
Outside, by their vehicles, Emerson took a breath. He wiped a hand over his mouth, hoping he hadn’t angered Wye. “Sorry if I spoke out of turn. I probably should have asked you what you want to do instead of telling you.”
“Normally I’d be pissed if someone took charge that way,” she admitted, unlocking the door of her car and setting her bag inside, “but if I’d gotten involved, I’d still be back there—working for free.”
A smile spread over Emerson’s face as he realized she appreciated the way he’d stuck up for her. “Should we send someone over to help him tonight?”
She shook her head. “Ward’s actually really good with Elise. He’s avoiding her—and the responsibility for her—because he hasn’t wanted to face what’s happening. This is good for him. It’ll get him moving on making some decisions.” She went up on tiptoe, braced her hands on Emerson’s chest and kissed the corner of his mouth. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Chapter 6
‡
Standing up for Wyoming had felt better than he’d expected. Emerson knew people thought he was mild mannered and that sometimes he got overlooked because of it. What they didn’t realize about him was he found it handy to hide in plain sight. Most of the time he was perfectly happy to be helpful and take a back seat to the action. When he needed to settle a score or protect a boundary, however, like he had tonight, the element of surprise worked to his advantage.
Ward wasn’t the only adversary who’d looked at him differently after a confrontation. Emerson was solid in his self-confidence when it came to that kind of thing. Men like Ward enjoyed bossing people around, but they also wanted to be liked and respected. When you pushed back, they surrendered quickly.
It was fun being a white knight for Wyoming, and the way she’d smiled at him afterward had him buzzing all the way to his toes. He’d be glad to be her protector—when she needed it.
They each drove their own vehicle to Two Willows and parked next to each other behind the house when they arrived. When they got out, Wye hesitated by his truck. “Do you think we’ll ever truly belong here?” she asked softly.
He sensed she wanted to talk more before joining the others indoors. She’d had a long day with Elise, and the moment she stepped inside they’d be surrounded by the usual Two Willows hubbub.
“The standing stone likes us,” he reminded her.
“Maybe it does,” she said. “I wish I was more like Cass and her sisters sometimes.”
“In what way?”
“More… I don’t know. Impulsive and in the moment rather than always choosing the practical path.”
“Cass is practical. Lena, too, don’t you think?”
“In one way. But in another they’re so…” She shrugged. “I don’t even know what to call it. When they’re mad, they get really mad. When they’re sad, they cry. They feel things.”
“We feel things. Don’t we?” He moved to stand closer to her and took her hand.
“The difference between us and them is that in a minute, we’ll go into the house, have a snack, clean up and go to bed at a decent hour so we can be rested and refreshed for work tomorrow. Cass and her sisters would… I don’t know… do something crazy under the moonlight.”
“I can be up for crazy.” He tugged at her hand. “Let’s see what the stone is doing.”
“Now? It’s pretty dark in there.”
“It was dark last time, too. Come on.”
“It’s cold.”
“None of the Reeds would ever say it’s too cold to see the stone,” he teased her.
Still, Wyoming hesitated. “What if something crazy actually happens, though? Cass told me a strange story about being in the maze once—how it wouldn’t let her out.”
In the moonlight, Wyoming’s wild curls and pixie face gave her an otherworldly look, and Emerson was compelled to touch her. He lifted a hand to cup her chin. Smoothed her curls away from her face. “Then we’d just have to stay there. I bet we could figure out how to pass the time.”