A Town Called Valentine(82)

Had she allied herself with Josh about his spreading himself too thin? She of all people knew what he could accomplish if he set his mind to it. “So now you know she’s a nice woman and a friend. Are you satisfied?”

Sandy laughed. “I am, now that she agreed to come to dinner Sunday.”

Nate briefly closed his eyes on a sigh. “You didn’t think you should talk to me about it?”

She waved a finger at him. “About who I invite to dinner in my own home? Nope. And why would I think there’s a problem since you spend so much time with her?”

Feeling tense, he answered, “There’s not a problem, Mom.”

“And she’s Brooke’s friend, too. And your grandmother’s. Even Josh seems to know her.”

That didn’t help his tension.

Nate lifted both hands. “Fine, fine, I get it. I’m looking forward to dinner already.”

“That’s good,” she said, rising slowly to her feet and reaching for her cane. She patted his cheek. “So don’t break up with her before Sunday, or it might be awkward for you.”

He opened his mouth but thought better of trying to explain things. “Yes, ma’am.”

She lifted her head, and he leaned down to kiss her cheek.

“Have a good time today,” she said.

Her grin made him grin in return. “Thanks.”

But after his mom left, he remembered the way she’d been touching Emily’s hand when he arrived, the serious, sad looks on both their faces. The memory lingered with him, even while he tried to get Monica to open up about her sister’s tense visit; then it briefly fled his mind when he saw Emily, wearing a short skirt and a V-necked top that showed more of her breasts than he was used to seeing.

She blushed. “Monica loaned this to me, said I needed to blend in in Aspen.”

“No,” Monica countered, “I said she needed to show herself off to Aspen.”

“So it’s all about Aspen, and none of it for me?” Nate demanded. He put his arm around Emily and gave her a quick kiss. “I forgive you. I don’t care about the reason as long as I can enjoy the looking.”

“Well, now that you have his forgiveness,” Monica said dryly, “all is right with the world.”

Emily was still chuckling when she hopped up into the pickup. “No Scout?”

“He stayed home today. I wanted you all to myself.” When they left Valentine behind and were driving along Route 82, he said, “I noticed that you and my mom were looking pretty serious when I got there. Everything okay?”

She looked out the window for a long minute, the breeze blowing her red-blond curls about her pretty face. Her expression was briefly pensive before she sighed and gave him a small smile.

“Your mom and I have a lot in common, and not just you,” she said quietly. “We both had lousy marriages to men who weren’t what they seemed.”

Nate kept his eyes on the road. He hadn’t imagined that the two women could so quickly touch on such a sensitive topic when they’d just met. Could women just look at each other and know when they shared something? He knew how his father had treated his mother but had assumed that Emily’s husband had been restless, or had decided he wasn’t in love. Comparing Emily’s situation to his mom’s made it seem so much darker and complex. He gripped the steering wheel tighter at just the thought of Emily being hurt.

“So Greg lied to you?” he asked.

She hesitated. “Not really. I knew what he wanted in life. I just never imagined he would go looking for it without me.”

“You mean he had an affair?” He felt guilty even asking, in the face of her pain.

“No. Nate, don’t worry about it. It’s in my past, and it’s too beautiful a day to think about sadness. So, do you have plans for Aspen, or will we just see what happens?”

Nate had to force a smile, when he really wanted to know every detail of what Greg had done to her. He felt the strong pull of sympathy and compassion and knew where they could lead to. They were only dating, he reminded himself. He wasn’t going to learn everything about her. Because if he kept feeling this way, he was going to have to end it between them. And Emily would thank him for it.

Emily was relieved when Nate dropped the subject of her ex. The fact that he was curious meant he still didn’t always succeed at keeping his distance, and she wasn’t going to be another person he regretted being with. He didn’t need to understand her or her past. She was escaping painful memories, starting a new life, finding a new Emily.