Free Secondhand Sinners by Genevieve Lynne

learn.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER EIGHT
     
     
    Emily
     
    After her shower, Emily went downstairs to put her clothes in the washing machine. She found Jack outside watching Miller clean and de-bone the fish. Her son had never been in such close proximity to knives and boiling oil. Actually, her son had never been in such close proximity to a man who showed interest in him. Her stolen glances at Jack evolved into stolen glances at Miller. The muscles in his back moved underneath his t-shirt as he lowered the fish into the fryer and then stepped back. He motioned for Jack to move back, and Jack obeyed. Then he said something and put his hand up, and Jack gave him a high five. That made Emily smile.
    So this was really happening. She was going to have dinner with Miller and his daughter, after taking a shower and putting on Miller’s sweatpants, which were pretty baggy on her, thank God. This was weird, right? It had to have been. Although it didn’t feel weird. It was…comfortable. No. That wasn’t the right word. Comforted. That was it. She was comforted by being in Miller’s house, possibly because it was once the house she lived in with her brother. Or it was because he seemed to be pretty happy with his life. Maybe it was because when they were in the pond, and she brushed his wet hair out of his face, she felt something spark between them.
    Or it was all her imagination, and she was a fool to hope.
    Since Miller and Jack were busy with the fish, Emily and Abby looked in the kitchen for the ingredients to make her grandmother’s famous fried potatoes and a salad. They found what she needed, including some bonus items to make fried pies. She hadn’t made anything her grandmother had taught her to cook since she was a teenager, probably because she always hated the way Ma’am would tell her she needed to learn how to cook because that was the only way she’d ever be able to get a husband. Truthfully, thanks to Ma’am, she was a pretty good cook, and she taught Abby a few of the basics.
    “Emily?” Abby asked.
    “Huh?”
    “I asked what it was like to be back on your family’s property after all these years?”
    “I don’t know. I guess I haven’t thought much about it. Actually, though, I used to live in this house.”
    Abby’s eyes widened. “No way.”
    “Yep. My grandfather built it for my mom and dad when they got married.”
    “Did you have my room?”
    “Sure did. I shared it with Levi until I was about ten. My parents decided we needed our own rooms, so they built the house they live in now.”
    “So you used to live in my room?”
    “I did.”
    “Hold on.” Abby disappeared up the stairs and came back with something in her hand. “Is this yours?”
    “Oh my God.” Emily took the mass of silver and held it up. “My charm bracelet. I thought I lost this. Where was it?”
    “I found it on a shelf in the closet.”
    “I wonder how it got there.” As she inspected each charm, her mind pummeled her with the memories of her grandfather coming to pick her up on her birthday every year and taking her to the jewelry store to pick out a charm. She got the horse for her seventh birthday, the painter’s pallet for her ninth. There was one missing. “There was a tree, like a family tree. Have you seen that one anywhere?”
    Abby shook her head. “I would have seen it if it was up there. I cleaned my closet out really good after my mom moved out.”
    “You keep it.” Emily opened the clasp and motioned for Abby to put her arm out. “Think of it as a gift from me and my grandfather.”
    Abby inspected the new jewelry on her arm, wearing a huge grin. “I’ll never lose it. I promise.”
    “All right, then. Let’s cook.” Emily picked up a tomato and washed it.
    “What do you do in Dallas?” Abby asked her. “You know, like what’s your job?”
    “I don’t have a job. I was a receptionist at an accounting firm. I quit when I had Jack.”
    Abby opened a drawer and pulled