Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
I dropped down onto my knees in front of her. “I love you, Emmerson. I’ve only ever loved you and will only ever love you. I swear on my life, I would never lie to you.”
Cupping my face in her hands, Emmerson leaned forward and kissed me. “I know, Landon. I know. I think we need to tell our parents about this, though. There’s a reason this woman is going around saying you’re the father of her baby. If she hasn’t reached out to you yet, I’m wondering if she will.”
“Honestly, with how much the two of us have been in the press lately, I can’t believe she hasn’t already.”
Emmerson frowned. “We need to talk to our folks.”
“Let’s eat dinner first, and then we’ll go over there. I don’t think we need to go into panic mode just yet. It’s our wedding night, Emme.”
She smiled. “You’re right. I’m sorry for having to tell you this. And I’m sorry for the few brief moments earlier today that I wanted to rip your dick off your body.”
I flinched. “Jesus. Remind me to never make you angry.”
After Emmerson and I turned the oven to warm, we headed to the bedroom and made love. Then we quickly ate and drove over to our folks’ place. The only thing we told them beforehand was that we needed to speak to them about something important. Hailey and Noah were both home, so they joined in on the conversation.
As soon as we were all settled around my parents’ dining table, Emmerson explained what this Mary woman had told her. The moment she mentioned Hannah’s name, everyone remembered her. Including Hailey. Then, after Emmerson finished speaking, all eyes went to me.
“Did you really knock up the front desk chick who worked for Mom and Paislie?” Hailey asked, arms crossed over her chest.
I rolled my eyes. “No, I didn’t knock anyone up. I hardly even talked to her except to say hello, how are you, that kind of thing. I wasn’t even in town most of the time when she worked at the bed and breakfast.”
“Why in the world is she telling people you’re her baby daddy then?” Hailey questioned.
“If I knew, Hail, I wouldn’t be here talking to Mom and Dad.”
Malcolm stood up. “Everyone just settle down. There has to be a good reason for all of this, and one we’ll be able to figure out once we talk to Hannah. From what I can remember, she was a sweet girl.”
“Wait a minute,” Noah said as he stood and started to pace.
“What is it?” Emmerson asked.
Noah kept walking as his brows pulled in tighter and tighter.
“There was this one time I walked in on Hannah in the kitchen of the B and B. She was flustered and out of breath. I asked her if everything was okay, and she said something about running in from the chicken coop because a rooster was chasing her.”
My mother chuckled. “That isn’t surprising. She was scared to death of the chickens.”
Noah stopped walking and looked directly at Emmerson. “Yeah, but then I remembered that I left Bo Bo in the car and had to run back out to get him.”
Hailey gasped. “You left the dog in the car?”
“No wonder the poor thing didn’t live very long,” Malcolm mumbled under his breath.
Noah shot his father a dirty look and then turned back to Hailey. “It was one time. And it was January, so it wasn’t hot out. Anyway, can I get back to what I was saying?”
“Yes, please do,” I said with a sigh.
“When I ran out to my car, Jason was there.”
Emmerson sat up straighter. “Jason Emmes? My ex-boyfriend?”
Noah nodded. “Yeah, and I remember wondering why he was acting strange. He stumbled on his words and he was…”
When Noah’s voice trailed off, everyone leaned in closer. “He was what, Noah!” Hailey shouted. “He was what!?”
Noah looked at Emmerson again. “Sweating. Like he had just been working out or something.”
It didn’t take long for everyone to quickly piece it together.
“That douche might have cheated on Emmerson with Hannah! Do you think he was having sex with her before you got there?” Amy asked from the corner of the room where she was sitting with Lady on her lap.
Noah looked back at his girlfriend. “I didn’t think so then, but now looking back on it, yeah, I think Jason and Hannah were having a bit of fun in the kitchen before I interrupted them. They must have heard me coming around back, and Jason took off through the front of the bed and breakfast.”
“That jerk,” Emmerson said as she folded her arms over her chest.
“Okay, so we think Hannah and Jason did the deed. That still doesn’t explain why she told her family I was the father.”
My mother stood up. “Do you think Jason could be the father?”