“Says you.”
Will bumped her gently with his elbow. “Trust me. Before the night ends, you will be an expert on real lettuce.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
Nineteen
When they got home, Emmy went around plumping pillows and checking for cobwebs—despite Will’s insistence that the house looked fine—and otherwise making the place look presentable. She placed the candles strategically, one in the bathroom and one in the den, so the scent wouldn’t get too strong or interfere with the cooking smells that would soon be coming from the kitchen. She could tell just from the ingredients Will had bought that the meal was going to have its own enticing and homey scent. Sure enough, by the time Will flipped the first fritter, she was salivating.
“I’m going to tell Bright to make a sweet potato fritter candle. I bet she could.”
“I’ve never been complimented in the form of home decor before.” Will smiled at her over his shoulder in that devastating way of his. “I like it. Thank you.”
“Thankyoufor teaching me how to make this salad.” Emmy popped a stray walnut into her mouth. “This is probably the first time in my life I’ve looked forward to a salad.”
“You are very good for my ego.”
His devastating, sexy smile melted seamlessly into one with such warmth and affection that she had no time to defend herself against it. Before she knew what was happening, her heart began to stutter. Fortunately, the sound of a car driving up meant that she didn’t have to address what was happening.
“Show time,” Will said, turning down the heat under the fritters. “Let’s go say hello.”
He opened the front door to reveal a smiling middle-aged man with gray-tinged brown hair and a carefully trimmed beard.
“Hey, Dad.” Will embraced his father, then looked around for his mother.
Reading the question in his son’s eyes, his dad said, “She’s still out front admiring the view.”
Will smiled smugly down at Emmy as her cheeks heated with a mixture of self-consciousness and pleasure.
“Dad, this is Emmy. Emmy, this is my father, Bill.” After they’d shaken hands, he added, “Emmy is the one who redesigned the front yard.”
“Did she now? You should go tell Will’s mother. She’ll be delighted.”
“Oh… I don’t know if I should—”
“Don’t be shy. She’s a gentle soul,” Bill reassured her.
Will gave her an encouraging nudge, and she accepted her fate. Emmy stepped outside and walked to the woman who stood on the edge of the property, gazing at the house. Her expression was calm and relaxed, and Emmy saw a lot of Will in the shape of her face and the curve of her lips. When Will’s mother spotted her, she smiled so warmly that Emmy forgot to be nervous.
“You must be Bright.” She held out her hand expectantly.
“Ah… Emmy, actually.” She shook the offered hand.
A look of bafflement briefly crossed the woman’s face. “Oh, of course. Emmy. I don’t know where my head is at.” She dropped her hand, and the smile returned. “It’s lovely to meet you. I’m Joanna.” Her gaze shifted to the house once more, and she let out a wistful sigh. “I’m sorry. It was rude to stay out here instead of coming in to meet you right away, but my father loved this house, and he would have been delighted to see that Will got someone out here to give it a facelift.” She paused, patted her chest. There might have been tears in her eyes, gathered just so as if she were putting on an act. Maybe she was, in a way, Emmy thought, though she was unaware of it. “Is that his old watering can being used as a planter? Oh, that’slovely.”
Emmy figured she wasn’t going to get a better opening than that. Steeling herself, she said, “Yeah, I hope you don’t mind that I repurposed it like that. It just felt like it belonged out there.”
Joanna gave her a look of surprise. “That was you?”
“Yeah, the whole thing was, actually. I got bored, and when I get bored, I garden.”
“Well, color me impressed. Later, you and I are going to have a conversation about our place. For now, we should get inside.”
Emmy allowed herself a quick moment to take a calming breath. That had gone well. So what if the woman spoke a little too much like… well… like a mom in a romance novel? The worst was officially over. Probably. She followed Will’s mother into the house and waited while Will indulged Joanna with a long, tight hug.
“Missed you,” he said.
Joanna stepped back, but kept her hands on her son’s arms. “I love what you did with the place. Gramps would have loved it, too.”
