Free Every Little Kiss by Kendra Leigh Castle Page A

underneath the weathered siding and grime. The wooden sign that hung outside had TWO ROADS GALLERY etched into the wood and painted gold. A mud-spattered SUV was parked out front, a sight that piqued Emma’s interest despite herself. She knew what the truck meant, and she had a sudden itch to see one of the epic battles Sam had described to her.
    The only sticking point was her outfit, but she didn’t think there would be many people milling around right before Zoe closed up for the day. Curiosity getting the better of her, Emma slowed.
    “Mom, I’m going to stop into the gallery, okay? I’ll give you a ring later.”
    “Are you actually outside? In the sun?” Andi asked.
    “Yes. I haven’t even burst into flames yet.”
    “Good. You know your sister isn’t working today. I think she and Jake were going out on his friend’s boat. The nice friend. Not the redhead.”
    That did make her chuckle. “Fitz, then. She said something about that. The not-nice redhead is probably with them, you know. Shane gets pouty when he’s left out.”
    “Shane might make it to nice someday. But he’s probably going to need a good ass-kicking to achieve it.”
    Emma snorted. Shane Sullivan was built like an NFL quarterback and was not likely to have his butt kicked by anyone. That was at least part of his problem. To his credit, he did openly admit to being a jerk, though he also seemed to think that exempted him from doing anything about it. Still, Emma figured he must have a few decent qualities, since when Jake had dumped most of his tight-knit circle of friends last year over their refusal to accept Sam, Shane had behaved enough like a true friend for Jake to keep him.
    It was hard for Emma to picture, but Sam assured her that Shane wasn’t always bad. Usually, but not always.
    “I figured I’d stop in and see Zoe.”
    “Oh.” Andi didn’t bother hiding her surprise. “Getting out, taking a walk, visiting people . . . This is actually so unlike you, it’s scary. Are you okay?”
    Emma rolled her eyes. “I’m f—”
    “Fine, I know,” Andi finished. “I know. Okay, I’ll let you go. You’re still coming for dinner tomorrow night, right?”
    “I told you I’ll try, Mom. The wedding I’m handling that day has an early reception, so it’s definitely possible, but I may be a little late. I’ll call.”
    “Well, bring Boof so he can play with Peaches andLoki,” she added, referring to her own cat along with Sam’s mischievous little black one.
    “Yes, Mom.” She stopped at the head of the walk that led to the gallery door.
    “I can hear you rolling your eyes. Keep it up and I’ll invite the Andersens’ nephew.”
    It took Emma a few seconds to make the connection, but when she did, her mouth dropped open. “Don’t you dare! How did you even . . . Just don’t!”
    “I’m your mother. I know everything. Have a nice afternoon, honey!” Andi did her best villainess laugh and hung up, leaving Emma to look disgustedly at her phone before stuffing it in her back pocket.
Great.
She knew her mother wouldn’t actually invite Seth, but that wasn’t the end of the teasing by a long shot. Andi was friendly with Ginny Andersen, because of course she was. And he’d obviously been woven into the lore developing around her. It was beyond thrilling.
    She stalked up the walk to the gallery and opened the door. The sound of Zoe’s raised voice greeted her, along with the sight of an uncharacteristic amount of dirt on the wood floors.
    “Jason, I realize you think you’re allowed to do what you like in here because you
occasionally
buy something, but I swear to God, if you think you’re going to continue coming in here once or twice a week just to spend ten minutes dumping the great outdoors on my clean floor, we are going to have a problem.”
    Zoe Watson, hands on her hips, stood in the middle of the gallery’s large front room, staring down a six-foot-ten man as though she were an angry giantess instead