Emmitt didn’t respond right away. Instead, he reached for the radio, pressed the knob, and then tapped the volume down a few notches as a rock song filled the air. A Christmas rock song, she realized.
Sloane couldn’t help but take offense. Was he trying to silence her? Stop the conversation altogether? He must be.
But then he spoke up. “Time for family dump now,” he said. “I’ll start. I have an older brother, an older sister, and two younger brothers who are twins. You already met Maverick—whomyoucalled Mav-reek.He happens to be a bigger player than me. They’re all pretty cool, but I’m the most level-headed one of the bunch. Our parents were killed in an accident six years ago and we all went on to live separate lives. But then my sister, Andie, suggested we move out here and run The Homestead together so that we could be more like a family instead. We all agreed, so here we are.”
Sloane spun to face him in her seat. “You all left your homes and your jobs and… everything?”
He nodded. “We all worked, of course, but none of us reallyhadto, financially anyway. We come from a wealthy family. Notcrazyrich or anything, but…” He shrugged. “What’s your family story?”
“I am still trying to process yours,” she admitted, heart stinging from the shocking fact he had shared. “You lostbothof your parents at the same time. I am sorry. I cannot even imagine.”
“Thank you,” was all he said.
She’d have to take notes on everything he’d told her once she got back to the cabin. For now, she needed to give Emmitt what he was asking for. Her own altered version of it, anyway.
“Okay, here is mine. I have one older brother named Gabriel who I call Gabe. We lived in France until I was seventeen years old. My father, who worked in law enforcement here in the states, was killed in the line of duty four years ago. My mom remarried, and she now travels with her new husband, so I don’t see her often.”
“Is that why you said you’d be fine if you were stuck here over Christmas?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“What about your brother? Is he married? Kids?”
“No, neither. Gabe travels for his job too. He would agree to it if I insisted we get together for the holidays, of course. But he is also fine if we do not. He is quite social, so if he’s in a town of perfect strangers, he will go out, make new friends, and have a great time. I mostly feel he would have abettertime doing that than being with me, since I am not big on the club or party scene.”
“Huh.” Emmitt seemed to reflect on that as he stared into the darkening night. “I hope you’ll like The Homestead’s idea of a party. They’re down to earth and a whole lot of fun.”
That reminded her—she and Emmitt had another date coming up. A rush of excitement pulsed through her blood, warming her from the inside out. She forced her mind back to a certain detail he’d shared. During the helicopter ride, he’d mentioned his soon-to-be nephew.
“How many of your siblings are married?”
He paused in answering, eyes squinting at the road ahead. “Huh?
“Your siblings,” she said. “Are they married? You said you had a future nephew, so I was wondering.”
“Oh, yeah. That’s…” He cleared his throat. “Memphis is dating our licensed massage therapist at the inn. Her name is Ty. She’s a single mom, has a boy named Lucas who’s pretty much the coolest eight-year-old you’ll ever meet. Ty’s great too. Memphis hasn’t proposed to her yet, but he showed me the ring the other day and says he plans to pop the question by New Years.”
“Mon Dieu, that is so soon.”
Emmitt nodded. “I guess when you know, you know.”
Sloane waited in the silence that followed, wondering if he’d volunteer anything else. The truth was, it didn’t take any special device to detect his hesitation to answer the question. Was that because he was hiding something? Or someone? There were more brothers to speak of, after all.
“What about your sister and your other siblings? Are they married?”
“My sister, Andie, got married recently. In fact, she married the other owner of the inn, if you can believe it. He’s a cool guy though. They make a great couple.”
“So the rest of you are bachelors, no?” She hoped her curiosity wouldn’t put him off, but it was best to ask now while they were on the subject.
“Yep, we are.” He cleared his throat again and pointed to a sign near the fork in the road. “See that sign right there? We got that put in recently. People kept going the wrong direction and ending up on Andie and Trenton’s property. This preventsmostguests from taking the wrong turn, but not all.”
She eyed the sign.Veer left for The Homestead Inn.
He did as the sign directed, and Sloane guessed they had between five and ten minutes before they pulled up to her cabin. It was definitely not time to press him further about his family. That would have to wait. Besides, he’d been forthcoming enough, hadn’t he?
But as she reflected on his response, Sloane wasn’t so sure he had. And he’d definitely taken the focus off the topic with that odd mention of the sign. For someone who came across so natural, that hadn’t felt natural at all.
If Emmitt truly was hiding something regarding his family, it meant there was something worth hiding.
