Free The Perfect Homecoming (Pine River) by Julia London Page A

around all day long. In other words, I needed someone cheap to hang around in case I couldn’t work the remote, and who should show up but Emma Tyler?
    I know, right ? Crazy!
    But if you’d lived around Pine River for twenty-seven years like I have, you would know just how crazy life has been for all those Tyler women. It started with their dad, Grant Tyler. Here’s the flat-out truth about Grant—he was a cheat and a player. He hooked up with any hoohaw that would admit him entrance, and there were a few. Emma and Libby have different moms, but at least each knew the other was out in the world. Madeline has an altogether different mom, and she was a complete surprise to them. They were to Madeline, too.
    That’s not all Grant did. He practically stole Homecoming R anch from my dad, and then he upped and died and left it to those girls instead of giving it back like he said he would. And he left the ranch in worse shape than when he got it, so it’s not worth as much as is owed on it. So when the sisters all met up in Pine River, they had all these expectations, like they’d really dig each other and could agree on what to do with the property. Anyone who knows women at all could have told them that wasn’t going to happen, at least not the way they thought it would, and long story short, they’re all living up there together trying to get along and figure out what to do with the ranch.
    I’m happy to say the Kendricks are out of the running. I mean, sort of. Luke is going to marry Madeline, so he’ll have one foot in and one foot out. But me and Dad? We like it in town.
    So aaaanyway, Emma was the last one to come into the fold, and I swear I am not lying when I say it was obvious from day one that she had a thing for me. I mean, she kept coming around and hanging out even before Marisol had her baby. I mentioned this to Luke once. I said, “Emma is totally hot for me , ” and Luke said I was taking too many pain pills again, because no way would a woman as kick-ass gorgeous as Emma Tyler have a thing for me. He hypothesized that she was bored in Pine River and didn’t have anything better to do, to which I replied with some ideas that are not G-rated, and I begged Dad to throw something at Luke’s fat head, but as usual, Dad refused to participate in “you-boys-and-your-shenanigans” business.
    Joke’s on Luke, because it turned out I was totally right . I mean, who was first in line to hang out with me when Marisol had her baby?
    Yep, Emma Tyler. Good—you’re keeping up.
    Dad said, “Look, Emma, we can’t pay you anything,” and she said, “I don’t care,” which totally proves my point, because why would she come to this dump if she wasn’t getting paid? But she started coming around every day, showing up at noon, staying until at least four, sometimes a lot later. Contrary to what everyone thinks (well, Madeline thinks), she’s really nice. But she is a little weird.
    She tried to play Deadly Dungeon Duels with me, my newest video game, but she kept asking these existential questions, like, why dungeons, why not forests, and other dumb stuff. It was annoying, but it’s okay. About that time, my right hand stopped working, and I can’t do the controller with my left, so it didn’t really matter. Emma and I started watching TV.
    Check it—one day, I’m in bed watching House of Cards on Netflix, and I’m on episode eight, and it’s totally intense, and who crawls onto the bed with me and lays there like we’re a couple? And I said, “People are going to talk. I hope you’re okay with that, because I sure as hell won’t deny anything happened since I have a reputation to protect.” She said, “I don’t care—let them talk. I have a reputation to protect, too.” Which is why I totally dig her.
    But I said, “Well, look, Emma, this is okay as long as you don’t talk or disrupt the streaming video, and for God’s sake, don’t ask me questions during House of Cards .” She said