Emmerson's Heart Read Free Page A

question. When she needed him, she needed him for some reason. This was that reason.
    “Are you crying?” The words came from my mom’s mouth, breaking the silence. All eyes shot up, looking at my dad wearing his best crisp, white dress shirt tucked into his best black jeans, his usual best dress clothes. No doubt his black cowboy hat would come out of the closet and on top of his head when he walked out for Emmer’s graduation.
    Pressing his lips tight, his chin quivered a little as he tipped his head. Never in my life had I seen that man, my father, be the one to turn kitten over a girl. And he just stood there. Not a word. Nothing. The tears rolling down his cheeks. Silent. Finally, what seemed like hours later, he gave his nod, straightened his broad shoulders, and pulled everything back in as if nothing happened.
    “Woman, do not question me.” Those stern words poured over us , bringing Marc and Will to their feet.
    “Jackson, you’re crying.” She poked with that little twitch at the corner of her plump lips. At my graduation, Mom cried and Dad sat proud in the chair next to her. At Marc’s graduation, same thing. Rob’s graduation, Mom cried and Dad was quiet, but that was because Rob’s friends were also Emmer’s friends and he gave them each a glaring warning to stay away from his little girl. And I am sure it would be the same at Will’s graduation next spring. But this….Emmerson Cogwell’s graduation brought something out of the man I never imagined was possible. Who knew the bear would turn into a cub at the drop of a little girl?
    Well, I knew. I knew what that man was capable of because I seen it with my own eyes. I knew how far he would go because of Emmer. I was there to witness it. I was there to stop him before he brought death onto another man. Still, we never spoke about that night. Not one word, but I knew he thought about it. I knew wherever he went, he was searching for the one man he would like to bring to an early grave. But that man, Emmerson’s father, was nowhere to be found. You don’t come back after Jackson Huck makes that kind of promise. Jackson Huck was a man that fulfilled his promises.
    “Oh my God, you are crying.” Mom clutched the boots to her chest as she made her way through the mess to him. “No shame. We all watched the woman she became….”
    “Connie….Enough.” His eyes tightened as he scanned over each of us, stopping at me with the heat in those dark eyes. “You make sure that horse stays here.”
    “I have a lock for the….” My heart skipped a beat. I knew how Ben was and Ben was an animal that was hard to lock up. If Emmer went to the school, that damn horse would follow. I should know. I had to pick him up a lot from there.
    “You’re staying back and keeping him here.” Puffing out his chest, he gave one last look at Marc and motioned to the door. “Get her back in here to go.”
    My heart sank hard. How could I not go to Emmer’s graduation? This was Emmer. Missing this day would devastate her. Hell, it would devastate me. I wanted to see her walk across that stage. I wanted to see her take this step in life. Not because she was done with school where I can step up and finally have my chance with the one woman who held my heart, but to watch the freedom fill into her even more, her getting the step out into the world. To see her graduate was not just a special day to her, but to me , too. It was what I had been waiting for this past year. In the fall, she would have to go to college, but we would make it work. We would and could.
    A year at college in Billings, staying in the dorms, was something my parents started with Marc, not me. Marc was the one who brought this whole college thing about. He wanted to go and the parents wanted him to see there was a life outside of the ranch. Marc was just the one who decided the world was where he wanted to be. Rob spent his year at college and came home right after to take the rest of his classes