Page 50 of From the Embers
Eason, however, took a much slower path when processing his emotions. He’d get quiet, sit on it for a few days, and work out all the different scenarios in his head, and only when he’d looked at it from every possible angle would he come to a conclusion.
Yes, I was curious if he’d consider a DNA test to confirm or disprove what we both feared, but it wasn’t my place to even suggest such a thing. When Eason was ready to talk about it, he knew where to find me. And after last night, that somewhere would not be on the other end of the couch around the firepit.
He kissed me good morning, slow and reverent.
He stroked my thigh under the breakfast table where Luna couldn’t see.
And when I told him I needed to get home to Asher and Madison, Eason—being even more incredible than I already knew him to be—gave me a hug and told me to give him a few minutes to pack his stuff because he was coming too.
Unfortunately, some things were still the same, mainly the house we had to go home to and the memories that would forever live inside it. As much as I would have loved to move and get a fresh start somewhere new, it was important for me to maintain stability for the kids. Rob was still their dad regardless of how he’d broken me. It was my job to keep his memory alive for them, and if it meant pictures hanging on the wall in the house he’d called a home, then that was a sacrifice I would have to make.
Given the situation, it sucked knowing Eason had to make that sacrifice too.
However, not all change was bad.
While he packed up Luna’s stuff and prepared the cabin for us to leave, I made a phone call to Jillian. As I explained our situation, I was met with outrage on what Rob and Jessica had done, curses banishing them to hell, and, finally, pleas for all the details on what Eason was really like in bed. But by the end, she promised she would take care of a few things for me at home. With it only being a four-hour trip back, I didn’t have high expectations for how much she could accomplish.
Though, as we pulled up to find two furniture delivery trucks and three others marked Hud Construction filling the brick horseshoe driveway, I couldn’t help but laugh. Clearly, Jillian’s skillset was far greater than answering the phones and providing vibrator coupon codes.
Damn, that woman needed a raise.
Smirking, I parked on the street. Eason pulled up behind me to do the same.
“What’s all this?” he asked, folding out of his black Tahoe.
“I’m not entirely sure.”
Confusion crinkled his forehead. “Does that mean you know what’s going on and were expecting one truck instead of six or that you have no clue and I should probably stretch out in preparation for hand-to-hand combat with whoever the hell is robbing us right now?”
I chuffed and walked over to him, fighting the urge to kiss his handsome face off. “Chill out, Chuck Norris. I asked Jillian to do me a favor, and clearly she was up for the challenge.”
“What kind of favor?”
“You’ll see.”
He narrowed his eyes but didn’t delay in getting Luna out of her car seat. Together, the three of us meandered up to the house.
“No,” Jillian said as she walked out the front door, jogging down the steps, a clipboard held against her chest. “You two aren’t supposed to be back yet. What happened to bathroom breaks or quickies in the back seat?”
“Excuse me?” Eason’s eyes flashed wide.
I bit my bottom lip. “Yeah, so I may have told Jillian about…um, us. She’s kinda my only friend.”
“Only and best,” Jillian corrected, her gray bangs bouncing as she gave a proud nod.
“Right,” Eason clipped, but with the way the side of his mouth tipped up, he wasn’t fooling anyone. He liked the idea of there being an us and that I was already comfortable with it enough to spread the word.
Jillian bent down and offered Luna a high five. “Well, hello there, beautiful. Auntie Jillie Bean has quite the surprise for you.”
Leaning into her father, Luna hid her face against his leg and tried to disappear. Eason had heard her loud and clear though.
“You have a surprise? For Luna?”
Jillian’s face damn near glowed. “Yes. And several for you too, handsome.” She winked and rose to her full height, turning her attention on me. “Soooo, I may have gone a teensy, tiny bit overboard.”
I pointedly glanced around at the trucks. “Ya think?”
She lifted her chin. “I don’t feel bad about it, but if you don’t like it, you can always…suck it up and be grateful. I had to strike a deal with the devil himself to get this done in the time frame you gave me.” She swept her hair away from her face. “I’ve always known that I looked like an angel, but I never realized until today that I am also a miracle worker.” Turning on a toe, she called over her shoulder. “Come on, you two, the kiddos are in the pool, so let’s start out there.”
