Emily's Choice Read Free Page A

she was standing next to him this afternoon. Emily
had snorted and rolled her eyes. What difference could it make? They’d known
each other their whole lives, had lived together for four years at college in
Santa Fe, and had made a baby together. Bad luck? Please.
    Emily waited
in the shadows of the trees, shivering in the cool fall air, until Jason’s
buddies had him safely in the house and were on their way home. She watched as
her brother, Tyler, waved the guys off and turned toward the trees and the
house. He was staying at the ranch for the weekend for the bachelor party and
her wedding. The house he shared with his wife, Sophie, was on the other side
of the ranch—a good 45-minute drive since there wasn’t a road through the land.
Sophie had opted to stay at their house with their three boys until the
wedding. No doubt Tyler was enjoying the short break away from his family. The
boys were rambunctious and crazy full of energy. But they were also the
sweetest, too. Sophie didn’t leave the house often. With three boys under five,
Emily thought she probably wouldn’t go many places either.
    “Tyler? How’d
it go?” she asked when he was about three feet from her hiding spot in the
trees.
    Tyler
brought his hand to his heart and swore loudly. “What the hell, Em ? You just scared twenty years off my life!”
    Emily
giggled and hugged her brother. “I’m sorry. I thought you saw me!”
    “How could I
see you? It’s pitch dark out here and you’re mostly in black, hiding in the
trees,” he said against her hair, hugging her back.
    “Did you
guys have fun?” She felt Tyler nod and stepped back out of his embrace. “So,
how drunk is he? Did you show him any mercy?”
    “I tried,
but the guys weren’t so nice. He’s hammered,” he said, thumbing toward Jason’s
house. “I doubt he can make a coherent sentence. But he’s up in his room. Jake
and I deposited him there ourselves. Good luck!”
    “I don’t
need to talk to him; I just need to snuggle with him. I miss sleeping with him
every night. BUT,” Emily said, pointing a finger at Tyler’s chest, “he better
not be a wreck for our wedding today or I will personally take it out on you
later!”
    Tyler held
up his hands. “No way, it’s not my fault. I tried to be the voice of reason,
but no one wanted to listen. Anyway, I’m beat and I had my fair share of booze.
I’m heading to bed. See you later.” He turned and walked through the trees to
their house.
    Emily
watched him walk up the steps to the kitchen and disappear into the house. Once
he was gone, she skipped to the back door of Jason’s house and quietly slipped
inside.
    The house
was dark, but she knew where she was going. She’d spent as much time in this
house as her own. Jason’s father, Joe, never changed anything. It was the same
as before his wife, Kelly, had died. The same carpet, the same paint, the same
decorations, the same furniture, the same school pictures hanging on the wall.
    The same
couldn’t be said about her own home. Grace had changed some things when she’d
married Emily’s father, but for the most part, Emily had always been the one to
change things. It had started with her own room. Growing up, her bed, dresser,
and desk were never in the same spot. Sharing a room with her new stepsister
had made the constant moving around a little harder. With an extra bed and
dresser, there had only been so many configurations she could imagine.
Thankfully, Hope hadn’t cared much about the ever-changing bedroom and
sometimes had offered up her own ideas, which Emily was only too glad to
incorporate.
    She would
have liked to redecorate as well, but her father and Mama G had drawn the line
there. It cost nothing to rearrange furniture, but the same couldn’t be said
about redecorating. Emily had talked about repurposing old furniture and sheets
and stuff. Sometimes she could talk her way into acquiring something new, but
more often than not, she was limited to just