CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Aidan reluctantly let go of Emma’s hand. Frankly, he wanted to be a downright pansy and run after her. The last thing in the world he wanted was to be left with the old man. He shifted uncomfortably on his feet, wiping the sheen of sweat off his face with the back of his hand.
Earl spit out a stream of tobacco juice. “So you plannin’ on stickin’ around after the baby is born?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You gonna help out with raisin’ it?”
“Well, we haven’t really worked all that out yet.” As Earl’s expression darkened even more, Aidan quickly replied, “But I’m going to try. Honest, I am.”
Earl’s eyes narrowed. “What about marryin’ her?”
Aidan felt like he’d been kicked in the balls. He fought to catch his breath. Shit, if I answer this question wrong, this dude is seriously going to kill me. His mouth ran dry, and he licked his lips. Is it getting darker out here, or am I’m going to pass out?
“Son, you didn’t answer my question. Are you gonna marry my Emmie Lou or not?”
“Granddaddy!” Emma cried, her eyes wide with horror. Aidan wheezed in relief that he was momentarily off the hook.
“What darlin’? It’s an honest question.”
Emma flushed red from her cheeks down to her neck. Even her bare shoulders were tinged. “No, it isn’t. Aidan and I are comfortable with the arrangement we have. If we get ready to change anything, we’ll let you know, but until then, we don’t want to feel any pressure, okay?” When her gaze flickered over to Aidan’s to see if he was okay with her answer, he nodded.
Earl kissed the top of Emma’s head. “Fine, Baby Girl. I won’t mention it again.” He gave Aidan one last smoldering look of disgust before strolling away.
“He’s just messing with you,” Emma said. When he didn’t reply, Emma reached over and rubbed his arm. “You aren’t really afraid of him, are you?”
He glanced back at Earl. Surrounded by four of his grandsons, he sat whittling on a stick. The long blade of his knife gleamed in the sunlight causing Aidan to shudder. “Hell yes, I am! I know he seems like your sweet little grandfather, but the man could end me if he wanted, probably with his bare hands. And I’m sure your uncles and cousins wouldn’t mind helping him bury me in a shallow grave.”
The corners of Emma’s lips turned up. “You aren’t serious?”
He snorted. “Frankly, I’m a little scared to go to sleep tonight for fear he’ll sneak in my room and whittle my dick off for getting you pregnant.”
“That would be a tragic loss now wouldn’t it?”
“Oh yes, it would.”
Emma giggled. “It’s not just about me being his only daughter’s child or his baby granddaughter or the typical grandfatherly/fatherly protecting me from the Big Bad Wolf aka men stealing my virtue.” Her amused expression turned dark. “He’s taking my pregnancy a little harder than Grammy because he’s old-fashioned. Being a deacon at his church, he’s never going to be able to accept that I’m bringing a ‘bastard’, so to speak, into the world.”
Aidan sucked in a sharp breath and narrowed his eyes. “He actually said that to you?”
“Not in those exact terms, but yes.”
“That’s a hell of a way to think about his great-grandchild.”
“Yeah, well, your father felt the same way. Remember how he wanted to give the baby his name?”
“That’s true,” Aidan relented.
The clanging of a bell interrupted them. Aidan whirled around to see Virginia holding an old cowbell. She grinned. “All right everybody! Dinner time!” she shouted, motioning towards the barn.
“Hungry?” Emma asked.
“Famished.” He grinned and draped his arm over her shoulder. “I worked up quite an appetite this afternoon.”
Her mouth dropped open before she elbowed him in the gut. “You’re terrible!”
“You know you love me,” he teased.
When she stiffened slightly, he knew he had said the wrong thing. His loaded words had a different connotation than what he intended. Quickly, he tried recovering. “I mean, what’s there not to love about a foul mouthed pervert who is always looking for the sexual innuendo in life, right?”
“Exactly,” she replied, with a grin.
Aidan’s couldn’t stop his jaw from dropping when they reached the barn. The outside rustic appearance was quite deceiving when it came to the inside. All the stalls had been cleared out to leave one giant room. There were ten to twenty round tables set up with folding chairs. In the center of the room, a small, wooden stage rose from the ground where several guys were tuning their instruments.
“Pretty cool, huh?” Emma asked.
“I had no idea you guys took it this serious.”
“Yep. There’s even a small kitchen in the back, too.” She giggled at what he assumed was his bewildered expressions. “With as much extended family as I have, we needed a place where we can all get together.”
“Jesus, I don’t think I even know this many people, least of all be related to them,” he mused, as she steered him toward the food table.
“Trust me, by the end of the night, they’ll consider you family. I like to think of us as the family in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, except we’re Southern.”
Aidan wasn’t sure if that was really such a bad thing. Everyone had been so welcoming and friendly to him—even with him technically being the a*shole who had knocked Emma up and not married her.
After fixing teeming plates of BBQ along with mouthwatering sides, Emma led him to an empty table. When he bit into his sandwich, he moaned. “Oh.My.God. This is delicious!”
Emma smiled. “The sauce is Grammy’s own recipe.”
“Really? She could seriously sell bottle and sell it. It’s ten times better than most of the BBQ joints in Atlanta.”
“You’ll have to tell her that. It’ll make her day.”
“I’ll be happy to.”
An elderly man shuffled up to the table. “This seat taken, Em?”
“No, Uncle Pete. We were saving it just for you and Aunt Ella.”
Pete smiled broadly at Emma before giving her a hug. Aidan couldn’t help reveling in the effect she seemed to have on everyone up here. She was always charming to everyone back in Atlanta, but there was something almost angelic about her up here.
More people crowded inside the barn, and the band started playing. Aidan had just polished off his second plate of BBQ and was debating a third when Earl sauntered up to him. Aidan warily eyed the Mason jar in Earl’s hand that was filled with clear liquid.
“Ever had any homebrew, City Boy?” he asked.
“Granddaddy, his name is Aidan,” Emma hissed.
“Excuse me. You ever had any homebrew, Aidan?”
“No sir, I don’t believe I have.”
Earl thrust out the Mason jar. “Why don’t you try a little?”
“Is that a trick question, sir?”
“Whaddya mean?”
Aidan sucked in a ragged breath before he spoke. “Well, it’s just Emma told me about you being a very religious man, so I wouldn’t imagine you do a lot of drinking. If I accept, you’ll think me a drunkard who doesn’t deserve to date your granddaughter. On the other hand, if you do enjoy a drink once in awhile and I refuse, then you’re going to consider me a sissified city boy. Right?”
Earl stared Aidan down. Finally, a wide grin broke on his face. He thumped Aidan heartily on the back. “I like your way of thinking.” Without breaking Aidan’s gaze, he brought the Mason jar to his lips and took a long gulp. “A little sip of spirits never hurt anyone.”
Aidan laughed as he took the moonshine from Earl. The moment the liquid entered his mouth it burned a fiery stream of torment down his throat and into his stomach. With Earl watching him expectantly, he did his best to fight his watering eyes and the urge to choke and hack. “Good stuff,” he replied, mustering the manliest voice he could. He quickly passed the jar back before he could be expected to drink anymore.
With a chuckle, Earl turned to Emma. “Maybe he’s a keeper after all, Emmie Lou.”
She widened her eyes as Earl walked off. “I can’t believe you’ve managed to win him over, especially so fast. It took Travis ages not to get a death glare 24/7, and we’d known each other our whole lives.”
Aidan smirked at her. “After everything we’ve been through, I can’t believe you doubted my ability to charm the pants off your grandfather.” He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Let’s not forget all the times I’ve managed to charm the panties off of you.”
Playfully, she pushed him back. “You seem to forget the first time you tried to play Marketing McDreamy with me at the Christmas Party, and I said absolutely and totally not.”
Aidan chuckled. “That’s the truth. Worst rejection of my life.”
“I doubt that.”
“Trust me, babe. It was.”
She couldn’t hide the surprise on her face. To change the subject, she said, “Would you go get us some dessert?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Still hungry?”
She laughed. “Asks the man who ate two plates of BBQ to my one.”
“All right. I’ll go get you something sweet.”
She kissed his cheek. “The baby and I thank you for it.”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re going to milk this pregnancy thing for everything it’s worth, aren’t you?”
“Damn straight,” she replied.
Chuckling, he rose out of his chair. “Anything specific you’d like?”
“Maybe a little sampling of everything?”
He gave her a mini-salute. “Yes, ma’am.”
After hitting up the desserts in a major way, Aidan started back to the table with two plates filled to the brim. When he got there, Emma held a tiny infant in her arms while chatting up a young couple. “Oh, Aidan, these are my cousins Stacy and Mark.” She glanced down at the baby in her arms and a broad grin stretched on her face. “And this is my namesake, Emma Kate.”
“You’re kidding.”
Stacy smiled. “Well, Emma Katherine was our great-grandmother’s name, but I couldn’t imagine a sweeter person to name my baby after than Em.”
“Neither could I,” Aidan replied, winking at Emma.
“Come on, hon, we better go get a plate before all the food is gone,” Mark suggested.
When Stacy reached for the baby, Emma shook her head. “I can watch her while you guys eat.”
“Really?”
“Of course. It’ll be good practice.”
Mark chuckled. “Wow, I don’t think we’ve had a baby free meal in the six weeks since Emma Kate was born.”;
“Thanks, Em,” Stacy replied.
Aidan eased down beside Emma as Mark and Stacy walked off. Her appetite seemed to have evaporated with the baby’s appearance. So he started working his way through his plate of sweets as Emma cooed at the baby. “Isn’t she beautiful?” she asked.
Aidan cut his eyes over to the infant swathed in pink from head to toe. “She’s almost as beautiful as her namesake.”
Emma laughed. “Aren’t you the charmer?”
When he had overloaded himself with sugar, he pushed his plate away. Emma leaned over, holding the baby out to him. “Want to take her for awhile?”
“So you can eat?”
“No, I just thought you might like to be around a little girl for once. You only have younger nephews.”
Aidan eyed Emma Kate warily. She was so tiny and fragile compared to Mason’s bulk. He was afraid he might break her somehow. “Seriously, Em, I don’t know anything about little girls.”
“And we could just as easily be having a girl.” She then handed Emma Kate over to him. Reluctantly, he nestled her in the crook of his arm. Her eyes fluttered open, and she stared up at him. Her face began to crumple, and she looked like at any minute she was going to scream.
“Shit! I’ve pissed her off!” Aidan moaned.
Emma laughed. “No, you haven’t. Just rock her a little and put her pacifier in.”
Aidan fumbled for the bib where the pacifier was attached. When Emma Kate opened her mouth to cry, he popped it in. Immediately, she started sucking on it and calmed down. He swayed his arms back and forth, and within a few minutes, her eyes grew heavy. When she was asleep, Aidan glanced over at Emma. He couldn’t fight the proud grin that stretched on his face.
“You’re a natural,” Emma replied.
“I don’t know about that.”
Mark and Stacy came back to the table with their food. “Good for you, bud. You know, preparing for the future,” Mark said, motioning to Emma Kate in Aidan’s arms. “I’d barely been around a kid before I had mine.”
“Well, I’m lucky to have lots of nieces and nephews.” He shifted Emma Kate in his arms. “And from them, I know enough about dirty diapers that I’m pretty sure she’s soaked through.”
Mark groaned. “Fabulous.”
Emma rose out of her chair. “No, no. I’ll go change her.” Aidan happily gave her the baby before glancing down to see if he was wet as well.
Stacy handed Emma the diaper bag with a grin. “You’re the best, cuz.”
“No problem.”
As Aidan watched Emma’s retreating form, a piercing giggle erupted in his ear. “Hey, handsome, I’m Mary. You wanna dance?”
Aidan turned around to see a girl—a very gorgeous girl, but a teenage one at that, beaming at him. “Um, I don’t think so.”
Her ruby red lips puckered in a pout. “Why not?”
“First of all, I’m here with Emma, and second, I think I’m a little too old for you.”
“I’m nineteen. Besides, Emma is my cousin. She won’t mind.”
Aidan fought the urge to say Like hell she wouldn’t! Even pregnant, Emma had enough hellcat in her to knock Mary into next Tuesday for flirting with him. With an exasperated sigh, he held his hands up. “Look, it’s really nice of you to ask, but really, I have to say no.”
Emma picked that moment to come back with the baby. She surveyed the two of them before speaking. “What’s going on?”
“I wanted to dance with Aidan, and he won’t,” Mary admitted.
Aidan gritted his teeth. “And I clearly explained to her that I was here with you.”
“One little dance wouldn’t hurt.” Emma then titled her head up at him—giving him a sickeningly sweet smile. “I don’t mind, if you don’t.”
Oh no, she had not just sold him out to her horny cousin. He knew she must have some motive for doing this. It was some way of getting a dig at him for not making them more of an official couple—to illustrate he was more available or something. That or he was just way too paranoid about her motives.
“Fine,” he muttered, as Mary jerked him by the hand and dragged him to the dance floor. Thankfully, it was an upbeat song, so he wouldn’t be forced to press up against her. He had no idea how to dance like the music called for, and by the look of pure amusement radiating on Emma’s face, he knew he was making a fool of himself. He was going to get her back for this if it was the last thing he ever did.
When the dance ended, he forced a smile. “Thank you, Mary.”
“Anytime, hot stuff,” she replied, smacking his ass. She gave him a wink before hurrying off to join a gaggle of girls in the corner.
“What the f*ck?” he muttered under his breath.
“Still up for a dance, stud?” Emma asked.
“Considering your cousin just mauled my ass, I’m not really feeling it.”
Emma giggled. “Oh please? I wanna dance with my man.”
The music turned over from a fast breakdown to a sweet ballad. Aidan reluctantly let Emma wrap her arms around him. “I’m sorry you got molested,” she said, gazing up at him.
Aidan snorted. “Whatever. I just can’t believe you pawned me out like that to her. I thought there would be a catfight when you saw us talking.”
Emma rolled her eyes. “I’m not that jealous.”
“Oh really?”
She grinned. “Besides, when I was changing Emma Kate, I heard some of the girls saying they had bet Mary she wouldn’t have the balls to dance with you. I figured I should let her win big tonight.”
Aidan threw his head back and chuckled. “I cannot believe they were doing that.”
“You’re a good-looking older man, why wouldn’t they?” She wrapped her arms tighter around him. “Back in the day, I might have even put a little money on getting to dance with you.”
His lips nuzzled her neck. “Babe, I’m yours for free anytime, anywhere.”
“Hmm, I just might have to take you up on that,” she replied.
After swaying to another slow song, they returned to their seats as the band appeared to be taking break. The lead singer, who Emma had introduced as Dave, took the microphone. “I just want to take a moment while all my friends and family are here to make a big announcement. Yesterday, I asked Laurel, the love of my life, to marry me, and she said yes!” Dave said.
While the crowd erupted in bellowing cheers and whistles, Aidan felt Emma tense beside him. Although she plastered a beaming smile to her face, he could tell her cousin’s engagement bothered her. It didn’t take much for him to understand why. He knew that even though she was thrilled to be having the baby, she still wanted what Laurel had—love, commitment, and a sparkling diamond on her finger. Aidan wondered if he was the man who could give Emma that or if she was just wasting her time believing he could.
“Now, I’d like to take a break for a few minutes and dance with my lovely fiancée.” His gaze searched through the crowd until it honed in on their table. “Em, would you come up and do the honors?”
If Emma had tensed before, she went absolutely rigid at the prospect of singing. “No, no, no! I haven’t sung in so long.”
“That’s not true. You regaled Mason and me with your vocal stylings a few months ago,” Aidan argued.
Emma shot him a death glare. “I think there’s a hell of a lot of difference singing a baby to sleep in the privacy of my own bedroom than in a barn full of people!” she hissed under her breath. She then shook her head at Dave. “Really, I couldn’t.”
A tall, leggy blonde came bounding up behind them. It didn’t take Aidan long to deduce she was Laurel. “Oh please, Emma, sing Cowboy Take Me Away! You were singing that the night Dave and I met!”
Aidan brought his lips closer to Emma’s ear. “Go on. You know you could knock their socks off singing in the shower.”
She jerked away to stare at him, her mouth a perfect o of surprise. “Really?”
He nodded.
“Okay, okay, I’ll do it.”
Another cheer went through the crowd when Emma rose out of her seat. As she climbed onto the stage, Aidan leaned forward in his chair. He couldn’t wait to actually see her perform.
Emma’s shaking hand took the microphone off the stand. She cleared her throat a few times before speaking. “I think you all know I haven’t sung professionally in two years, so you have to believe me when I say that only pure and true love could get me on this stage. It’s the love I feel for Dave, who over the years has been like a brother to me, and it’s the love between him and his sweet, beautiful fiancée that makes me able to sing this song for you.” Her gaze went to Dave and Laurel who were already wrapped in each other’s arms, waiting expectantly on their song. “This one is for you.”
The twang of the rosin coming across a fiddle’s bow coupled with two guitars echoed through the barn. Aidan watched as Emma’s nervousness faded away the moment she heard the familiar chords. With complete confidence, she brought the microphone to her lips and began singing. The room filled with people melted away, and for Aidan, it became only the two of them. Pinching his eyes shut, he let her velvety voice wash over him. He didn’t care if the lyrics were about a cowboy sweeping a woman away from the big city into the wide-open spaces of the country. He just focused on the immense pride that filled him at her performance.
When she finished, applause and cheers roared through the room so loud they stung Aidan’s ears. Emma flushed a deep crimson, but a beaming smile filled her face. She curtsied prettily. “Thank you,” she murmured.
“Now sing Sweet Dreams, Emmie Lou!” Earl shouted.
Emma shook her head furiously as she started to put the microphone back on the stand. “No, Granddaddy, I’ve sung enough for one night.”
Earl stomped his foot on the sawdust floor. “Emma Katherine Harrison, your granddaddy wants to hear some Patsy Cline, so sing Sweet Dreams!”
Aidan couldn’t help chuckling at the stalemate between Emma and her grandfather. “Uh-oh, Em, he’s calling you by your full name. Better do what the man says,” he called.
She shot him a murderous look before turning back to her cousins. “I assume you guys remember Sweet Dreams?”
Dave, who had rejoined the stage, held up his hands. “Oh no, this one is all a cappella, little cuz.”
Pointing a finger at them, Emma said, “I just want you to know I’m going to hurt each and every one of you for this!”
The boys laughed heartily as they shuffled off the stage. Emma turned back to the crowd and pointed her finger then at Aidan. “That goes for you, too.”
He grinned. “I’ll happily take whatever you want to dish out. Now make your granddaddy happy and sing.”
When Aidan glanced over at Earl, he nodded and smiled at him. Maybe he was really off the hook…or at least his dick was. He settled back in his chair and focused his attention on Emma.
The moment Emma began singing the old country song a hush fell over the barn. If she had been good on Cowboy Take Me Away, she was hitting this one out of the park like a grand slam. Closing her eyes, she belted out the lyrics with such feeling and emotion that Aidan noticed tears sparkling in several people’s eyes.
Aidan’s enjoyment began to fade when Emma got to the second verse. A haunting, aching quality entered her voice as she sang Patsy’s lyrics about never wearing the ring of her lover or having him reciprocate her love. His chest tightened at how so much of the song could relate to him and Emma. He wondered if she often had sweet dreams of a life together with him—one that might never come true.
Thundering applause jolted him out of his thoughts. Emma had finished singing and now half the room were on their feet cheering for her. She flushed and grinned. “Thank you,” she murmured into the microphone.
Dave and her other cousins joined Emma back on stage. Each one hugged and kissed her before picking up their instruments. They started up a song as she came back to join him. “So what did you think?” she asked breathlessly.
“Absolutely amazing.”
Emma beamed at his compliments. “Really?”
He nodded. “You were spectacular singing to Mason, but damn…you were like American Idol good up there.”
She giggled and kissed his cheek. “Thanks.” After eyeing the couples on the dance floor, she turned back to him with a pleading look. “Want to dance again?”
He groaned. “If we must.”
***
It was after eleven by the time the last guest left. Pleasantly exhausted, Aidan dragged himself up the hillside to the house. After grabbing their suitcases out of the car, he joined Emma as they trailed behind Earl and Virginia. “Now Aidan, you’re going to be sleeping here,” Virginia said, pointing to a bedroom.
He dropped his suitcase in the doorway. It didn’t take him long to surmise his bedroom just happened to be next door to Earl and Virginia’s. It was a nice way for them to keep tabs on him. He smiled back at them. “Looks cozy. Thank you.”
“Emma, you’re going to be in your mama’s old bedroom.” Earl then looked pointedly at Aidan. “Way down the hallway from us.”
Aidan turned a laugh into a cough. It was so absurd that he and Emma were in their thirties and being treated like teenagers. “Then I suppose I should say goodnight now,” he said. Wrapping his hands around her waist, he pulled her against him. “Sweet dreams, Emma.”
“Sweet dreams to you, too, Aidan,” she murmured.
And even though he knew Earl wouldn’t like it, he gave Emma a chaste kiss on the lips. She grinned at him before saying goodnight to her grandparents. With a final wave, she went on down the hallway.
Reluctantly, he went inside and closed his door.