“Oh! You can meet Moomoo!” Daisy was still five steps ahead, already grabbing the stuffed animal from its perch at the kitchen table.
“Hey, Moomoo,” Luca said casually, perfectly, as he set his bag on the kitchen island. “Nice to meet you.”
“He protects the house when we’re on the farm,” Daisy said, voice serious, arms clutched around Moomoo’s middle.
“An important job. Glad you’ve got him around.”
Daisy inched toward Luca as he placed a carton of oat milk, a half-consumed block of cheese, something wrapped in brown paper inside Emerson’s fridge.
“Do you like yogurt chips?” she asked.
“Don’t know. Don’t think I’ve ever had them.”
Daisy gasped again.
“You can have some of mine at snack time.”
And while Emerson was leaning against the doorframe at the entrance to the kitchen, giving Luca space—staring at the way his shoulder blades pulled against his t-shirt as he hunched over the fridge—he could just see the soft smile in Luca’s profile when Luca turned to Daisy.
“That’s kind of you, Daisy. I might be busy in the fields with Jansel when it’s snack time, but I look forward to trying them when I can.” He balled up the empty tote bag in hispalms. Turned back to Emerson to say, “Hope it’s okay where I put things in there. Feel free to rearrange, or if there’s some system we can?—”
“No system required. Use my kitchen however you need.”
The corner of Luca’s mouth quirked in acknowledgement, but it was brief, professional still. Emerson wasn’t at all jealous of his daughter for receiving the easy, warm smiles this mouth was capable of.
Emerson pushed away from the doorframe. Grabbed Luca’s suitcase and turned toward the stairs.
“You’ll be down here. I have to warn you that I didn’t have a lot of time?—”
“I’m sure whatever?—”
“You’ll be staying in Gamma and Gappah’s room!” Daisy zoomed between Emerson and Luca’s legs, darting down the stairs ahead of them.
Luca sent a questioning look Emerson’s way.
“My in-laws,” he answered. He hopedGammaandGappah—pronounced by Daisy’s tongue in a way Emerson couldn’t replicate if he tried—lasted even longer thanDa-deeandPoppy. He broke Luca’s gaze and followed Daisy down the stairs. “Well, ex-in-laws. They stay in the guest room sometimes.”
Luca spoke to his back.
“I can always head back to my cabin if?—”
“No, no, you’re fine. They have no plans of visiting anytime soon, as far as I know.”
Emerson hoped it sounded casual. That it wasn’t obvious that it broke his heart a little, not knowing if Graham and Yulia would ever occupy the room again.
They had promised, when he and Jayden had broken the news of their divorce, that Emerson would always be their son. That they would still be a family. It had been promised with such confidence, with one of Yulia’s vanilla-scented hand squeezes—both of hers wrapped around one of Emerson’s—and one of Graham’s solemn nods. Emerson had received it with as much gravity as he’d accepted his and Jayden’s wedding vows, Daisy’s first cries into the world.
It had felt real when he’d joined them at their house last year for Thanksgiving. It had felt real when they’d been there at Jayden’s bungalow for Christmas. Not the same as it was, not one hundred percent, but enough for Daisy. Enough for Emerson to hang onto.
And then Easter arrived. The first holiday Emerson had custody for. The first holiday post-divorce he’d hosted at the farm.
Emerson and Jayden weren’t religious people; the holiday had never been a weighty one. More an excuse to make a ton of deviled eggs than anything else. An opportunity for Daisy to choose a favorite frilly dress.
But he still?—
Emerson had thought they’d come.
He cleared his throat in the dark hallway.
