In Your Dreams (Blue Heron #4)(107)

True. It’d be nice if Jack jumped in here and called off the dogs, but he didn’t seem to be listening.

“I visit a few times a year, Mrs. Holland,” Emmaline said.

“Call me Goggy.”

Do I have to? Em thought. “Goggy it is, then.”

“Good! Since we’re going to be family,” the old woman added slyly.

“Stop it, Goggy,” Honor said.

“Charlie, tell everyone about your match the other day,” Tom said, winking at Emmaline from across the table. “Emmaline, our boy here is becoming quite the boxer.”

* * *

A THOUSAND OR so hours later, Emmaline thanked Honor and Tom once again and led Sarge out into the rain, which felt blissfully cold on her hot face. Jack followed.

The subject of marriage had been broached nine times tonight. Hints about babies, eleven. Goggy (that name!) had expressed her hope that Emmaline and Jack wouldn’t “live in sin”; Pops had countered with the opposite opinion. Abby unsubtly requested more cousins. Pru showed Em a website for sex toys called KinkyKitties, making Abby, Ned and Charlie go into fits of horror and hysterics.

It felt like someone had taken sandpaper to her brain.

Jack had barely said a word. And while she didn’t want to be a weenie, it would’ve been nice if her...her...her boyfriend, curse the stupid word, had come to her aid once or twice tonight. She had to wonder why he’d even invited her in the first place.

She put Sarge in the car; the dog was limp with exhaustion at the moment, though that would change the second she started the engine. The rain was harder now, soaking her hair.

“So that was fun,” Jack said.

She looked at him. He was serious. “Fun? That was fun? That wasn’t fun, Jack.”

He frowned. “It wasn’t?”

“Right, right, you weren’t exactly present, were you? Well, I’m glad you had a good time.”

“Didn’t you? Everyone really likes you.” His phone buzzed, and he looked at it.

“Everyone? Even you? Because you didn’t speak to me the entire time.”

He looked as if he had no clue what she was talking about. “I didn’t?”

“Well, let’s recap,” she said. “I think you said ‘Hi’ and...and that was it. Meanwhile, your grandmother was asking about how long my mother was in labor with me, Mrs. Johnson asked how many kids I thought I’d like to have, then actually wrote down the answer, and your niece wants me to teach her to shoot to kill.”

“That sounds about right. How many?”

“How many what?’

“How many kids?”

“I told her eighteen. Possibly twenty.”

A faint smile crossed his face. “Want to come back to my place?” he asked.

She blinked. Men. “Jack, why are we dating?”

“I have no idea.”

Then he kissed her, the two of them standing there in the rain. His mouth was gentle and soft, his body warm against the cool night. Em was torn between the desire to smack him and...and...and to just keep kissing him, because his hands were cradling her head and her arms were around his waist and he knew what he was doing. Yes, indeed, his mouth moving, lips soft and smooth in contrast to the scrape of his razor stubble. “We’re together,” he murmured against her mouth. “Get used to it.”

She stepped back and sucked in a breath of damp, cold air. “You’re very unpredictable, Jack.”

“In all the best ways. Come up to my place and I’ll show you.” He grinned, and it was like the sun coming out, causing a flare of warmth in her chest. That smile made her legs hot and wobbly. Made her think of blue-eyed babies, eighteen of them. Okay, fine, maybe not eighteen, but a few, anyway.

Being that he was Jack Holland, he got into his truck and started it, completely confident that she’d follow.

And being that she was rapidly becoming one of those swoony, lovesick females, she did.

Men were confusing.

But you know what? She had a sister, and while Angela might be g*y, she was also the smartest person on the continent. She pulled out her cell and hit her sister’s number. “How did it go?” Angela asked by way of greeting.

“Um...I have no idea. He’s happy now. Barely spoke during dinner. I’ve been told I have breeder’s hips. We’re going back to his place.”

Ange laughed merrily. “Time to rock his world?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, if I may be so forward, Emmaline,” Angela began.

“I was hoping you would be.” She started up the long winding lane that led to Jack’s house.

“Maybe you need to be a little less...careful? A little more heartfelt? Because I sense that you have very deep feelings for Jack, and perhaps it’s time he knew. He brought you home to his family...maybe he needs a sign from you, too.”

“Like what?”

“That’s where I can’t really help. But you’ll know. You will. I’m heading back now. Would you like me to walk Sarge?”

“No, he’s with me. But thanks, Angela. Thanks.”

“See you tomorrow, darling.”

Em drove up Jack’s long driveway and sat there for a second. Lights went on inside the house, and a warm sensation washed over her. The house was beautiful. The man who owned it was beautiful, and he was waiting for her. And Angela was right. Time to rock his world.