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The house felt both incredibly empty and too crowded after the Palmer family returned and Caleb went home. Emma didn’t spend much time in the company of Sophia’s siblings, mostly because she knew that the more people who saw her, the more likely she’d be found out.
Her pictures were all over social media and the news. Each passing day was like a ticking time bomb. She could already imagine what it would do to this town if someone recognized her and called the paparazzi. Coming to Copper Creek had sounded like a good idea in the beginning, but now she could see just how big of a mistake she had made.
Perhaps it wouldn’t have been too bad if she’d only stayed for a few days—the reprieve she’d been planning. But she’d ended up falling in love.
Her heart twisted and knotted. Not only had she fallen in love with the town, she’d fallen in love with a cowboy. How couldshe have been so stupid? She’d known this was a possibility. Emma wasn’t a stranger to growing attachments to the people she worked with. She’d thought she could just throw caution to the wind and not get hurt or hurt anyone in the process.
It wasn’t like her, and now she was regretting every decision she’d made since that afternoon in the airport.
There was a knock on her door before it was pushed open. She sat on the edge of Sophia’s bed, her legs folded, unable to bring herself to leave the room. Sophia inched inside and shut the door behind her. “You doing okay?”
Emma nodded with a faint smile. “I’m just not feeling too well.”
“Do you want me to take you to urgent care? We could?—”
“Oh, it’s nothing like that. More…” Her voice trailed off as she tried to come up with a reasonable excuse.
“Homesick?”
Her head snapped up and she stared at Sophia once more. “Yeah. I suppose it might be.”
“I get that.” Sophia moved farther into the room and sat down beside her. “I know I told you that you could stay here as long as you want to. Anyone with eyes could see that you weren’t quite ready to head home. But maybe there’s a reason that you’re feeling this way.”
Emma stared down at the floor. She knew exactly why she wasn’t feeling well. She was stuck. She’d been trapped by her own idiotic and selfish decisions. She was in love with a man who had constantly told her he had a hard time trusting people. He didn’t put his faith in humanity as easily as the next person. And she’d lied to him.
She’d lied about everything.
If she came clean now, he’d be hurt. If she didn’t tell him and he found out, he’d be hurt. There was only one way around it that she could see, and it would end up hurting both of them.
“Do you have any family you could talk to about how you’re feeling?” Sophia’s soft voice pulled her from her thoughts. Besides Caleb, out of everyone Emma had met while in Copper Creek, Sophia seemed to be the one other person who gave her any degree of solace. It was funny because she was also in the dark about so much.
Emma nodded. “I suppose I could call my sister… though… she’s not all that thrilled with me.”
“I’m guessing it’s because you extended your stay?”
Emma stared with surprise at her new friend. She couldn’t possibly know what was going on, and yet it almost felt like she knew everything.
Sophia chuckled. “It would be understandable. Most people spend a couple days on vacation. You’ve extended your trip to two weeks by my count, and so far, you haven’t given us any clues as to when you might go.”
“If I’m outstaying my welcome?—”
“Of course not!” Sophia briefly placed a comforting hand on Emma’s leg. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you need. We’re not going to be the ones to kick you out. I mean, we couldn’t. You helped us so much. And then there’s the issue with that ride that went terribly wrong.” She released a soft laugh that seemed to be covering up her embarrassment. “Mateo was furious when he found out, you know. He said that I should have never taken you out riding—or at least given you one of our really old horses.”
“It’s fine,” Emma said. “Now I can say that I’ve been thrown from a horse. Who else can say that?”
“I’d say all of Copper Creek has had that experience at least once in their life.”
Emma laughed. “Okay, who else who doesn’t live in this town?”
“You got me there.” Sophia smiled. “Well, if you’re not feeling so great, maybe you reach out to your sister. Family can usuallyhelp in this regard. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has a bit of advice for you.”
Advice.
Now Emma really did wonder if Sophia knew more than she was letting on. Had she heard about the budding relationship between herself and Caleb? That was possible. Caleb’s own brother had caught them nearly kissing once. And even though she thought she knew Caleb well, she wasn’t willing to bet he wouldn’t share what had transpired between them.
She took a deep breath and released it with a nod. “You’re probably right. It would be a good idea to fill her in on certain updates. I’m just worried she’ll try to convince me to head home before I’m ready.”
“In my experience, when you’re not feeling up to staying, that’s the first sign that a trip needs to end.”
