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Plus, now that Em and I were on a sexy path, I didn’t want anything getting in the way of that. I didn’t know where it was going, but fuck if I didn’t want to find out without getting grief from my family.
“Can someone contact Emily and see what’s the hang up?” Tammy asked, as she added yet another chafing dish to the growing collection. This one contained my mom’s homemade waffles, which were the best I’d ever had. “We’re ready to sit down.”
And just as I pulled my phone from my back pocket, Jimmy walked into the kitchen, followed by Emily and Dustin.
“I think we’re all here, now,” Jimmy said. “Let’s eat!”
Jimmy and Tammy always seemed to be in tune and had such respect for each other; anyone who knew them admired their relationship. Personally, I had no idea how Jimmy put up with Tammy’s stubborn streak, but he seemed to worship her, and she him. If I had the good fortune to have a long-term relationship with a woman, I hoped it could be as good as theirs, despite Tammy’s willful disposition.
As soon as I saw Em, with her hair piled up on top of her head, wearing a loose-fitting bright pink top, jeans, and cowgirl boots, I knew I wanted that woman to be her. But damn if I didn’t already know that Gabe and Dustin felt the same way. And from the way Dustin looked at Em, I knew they’d had sex… and probably recently… like within the last hour.
Thunder boomed through the house as if we were engulfed inside it as I dealt with my jealousy. I wasn’t jealous or angry that they’d had sex, just that they had it without me.
Damn if that thought didn’t go right to my dick, and I had to stop thinking about it or I’d embarrass myself in front of my family.
I had to get out of there for a moment, so I disappeared into the living room where I spotted Bernie talking on his phone, sitting on the piano bench near the front windows. It was a grand piano, made of lovely dark wood. I knew Dustin would have to play something the moment he saw it. We’d only been in and out of Aunt Tammy’s house once since we’d arrived, and that didn’t take long. We were getting the keys to our cabin. The room was decorated for comfort, both for listening to music and watching TV. A flatscreen hung on a wall across from the piano, and two large recliners faced the TV. Not that anyone probably used those recliners much. I knew that both Tammy and Jimmy spent most of their time at their country dance hall.
I made a move to leave, to give Bernie some privacy, but he gestured me in, then disconnected.
“Been trying to make this situation work for me,” he said. “As the saying goes, things don’t happen to you, they happen for you. I’m trying to make this storm work for me, and I’ve already set up a Learning Lesson on my site to help folks who get sidetracked. I’m teaching them how to use the time and make it work for them. I’ve already dictated ten pages for my next book, sent those ten pages to my assistant to transcribe into a Word doc, did a couple of TikTok videos on the subject, and wrote a five-hundred-word essay on the matter that folks can print up. Also thinking of creating a journal just for moments like this, with scholarly quotes.”
It exhausted me just listening to him.
“Do you ever take a break?”
“What do you mean? I’m on a break right now.”
“And what does that look like to you?”
“Breakfast with the family. Talking to you. Watching the rain fall through these windows.”
“While you do a hundred other things?”
He plopped down on the overstuffed, steel-gray sofa. “Okay. You seem a little edgy this morning. What’s up?”
I hated that my moods were that obvious, even to Bernie who I hadn’t been around that much.
“I’m fine, besides, breakfast is almost on the table.”
“Emily just arrived. Saw her and Dustin run up to the door through the windows.” He nodded in the direction of the bank of windows on the front of the house. “It’ll be at least another ten or fifteen minutes before the greetings settle. Spill. I’m forever in debt to you and the guys. I don’t know if Natalie and I would’ve made it to the altar without your help. I’m here for you, brother. Whatever you need, if it’s even remotely in my power, I’ll get it done for you.”
I flopped into one of the two monster recliners that practically engulfed me. “Speaking of stacking…”
“Were we?” he asked, smirking.
“It’s what you do without thinking about it.” The man was so into his profession that he no longer knew when he was in flow.
“Yes, I guess I do. Okay. I’m totally focused. Tell me what’s going on? If you’re going to tell me you need to get out of this town, I have to tell you it’s not going to happen. At least not today.”
The rain intensified outside, as if he’d given it a cue.
“Nothing like that,” I told him. “Here goes… I’m falling for Em, and when I say I’m falling for Em, I mean I’m falling for Em.”
“I already know this.”
“Am I that obvious?”
“Even more than you think. If you’re worried about Natalie, don’t. With the state she’s in right now, you could tell her you and Emily were having a baby, and she’d be delighted. Never seen a woman change so quickly. But I think there’s more to your story.”
