I blushed further. Ofcourse,the woman would ask me that, after the word vomit I’d just spewed. Not to mention the fact that she was good friends with him.
“I think he’s an attractive man; no woman could deny that. But thelastthing I want is a relationship, especially when the previous one nearly killed me.”
Her smiled dropped. “What?”
Lifting my hands, I tried to casually wave off my careless comment. “Nothing, that came out wrong. Sorry.” Glancing at my watch, I stood quickly. “I really need to get going. I wanted to swing by the store to meet Mr. and Mrs. Bishop, then head on back to the house to finish getting settled in before picking up Hadley. Thank you again for filling me in on Nancy, and some of the backstory on Aiden and his wife.”
Tammy stared up at me. I could see the concerned expression. “Sure. But you don’t have to rush off, Emma.”
“I have a lot to do. Have a wonderful Monday, and I’ll let you know about the volunteer thing.”
“Wait!” Tammy said, standing and reaching for my arm. “Let me give you my cell number.”
“Oh. Right. That would be great.”
After we exchanged numbers, I turned and practically ran out of Starbucks before she had a chance to stop me again.
CHAPTER SEVEN
AIDEN
ELKS AND WOMEN
Pulling up behind a group of people parked on the side of the road, I jumped out of my truck. “You’re too close, folks. I need you to back up. Please, let’s remember these are wild animals.”
The two guys halfway down into the meadow started walking back my way. I smiled, but what I really wanted to do was knock the hell out of them. No matter how many times we told people not to approach the wildlife, they did it anyway. Even after hearing stories of other people being attacked by animals, they risked it all for the possibility of a viral video or photo. No thought for their own safety or that of the animals.
“Just trying to get a better picture,” the one man said.
“The posted signs are clear. After four in the afternoon, all meadows are closed. You can get your picture just fine back here, or up at the observation area.”
“Ain’t nowhere to park there,” the other guy said with a smirk.
I shrugged. “Well, if you walk into the meadow again, I’m going to ticket you. We clear?”
They both nodded, grumbling as they made their way back to their Jeep.
Sometimes I wondered why in the hell I did this job. Each year, the number of tourists grew, and we dealt with more and more stupidity. People thought they could ignore the rules, or that they obviously weren’t meant for them. It was exhausting.Those two guys were exactly the type who would sneak back in here and try to hunt.
After they pulled away, I climbed back into my truck and made my way to the station. I didn’t sleep hardly at all last night.
When I got home and saw Emma giving Hadley a bath, I nearly fell to my knees. She was the only woman besides my mother whom Hadley had let in since Lisa’s death—and with Emma, their connection had been instant. From the moment she saw the woman, Hadley was taken with her. Then again this morning, watching them make breakfast together nearly gutted me. It was too much.
I was tempted to tell Emma to leave. That Hadley and I could do it on our own, and we didn’t need her strawberry-filled pancakes or her packed lunches—with a damnnoteincluded in said lunch, telling me to have a great day.
My head dropped back against my chair. I didn’t move when I heard the tap on my door and Dalton’s accompanying voice.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Rough day?”
“Rough night, rough day. Tourists who don’t want to listen. A nanny who puts notes in my lunch, wishing me a good day. I don’t think I can do this, Dalton.”
Lifting my head, I watched my best friend shut the office door before sitting down on the opposite side of my desk. When we were younger, we had both wanted to be cops. In the end, I went in that direction, and Dalton went in another and became a biologist. We did make our dream of working for the national park a reality. It didn’t matter that I was his boss; we were best friends, and he’d been there for me always. From Lisa getting pregnant and her parents guilting us into getting married, to Lisa losing the baby, to later having Hadley. He stood by me as I fought to keep my marriage going, when I decided it was time tolet it go, and through all my conflicted feelings when I lost Lisa to cancer.
Now he was here for me again.
