She followed him to the door, and he turned back when he reached it.
"The girls are excited to see you."
"But they're not around this weekend—is that right?"She wanted to kick herself as soon as the words were out, but her mouth tended to do its own thing, even when her brain knew better.Her heart sank when he smiled—there was no need for him to look so pleased about it!
"Yeah, they're having a sleepover at Brooke's."His smile faded as he met her gaze.Now he looked a little guilty.
"I'll bet you want to make the most of an evening to yourself, don't you?"She had to press, to see what he might give away.
He shrugged."I'm still deciding what making the most of it means."She raised her eyebrows, hoping he'd elaborate without her needing to push.
He let out a short laugh."Option A is get my ass into gear—pick up around the house and do some spring cleaning.Option B is kick back with a beer and watch a movie."
"You're not going out?"she asked, before she could help it.
"Out?Hell no."He frowned."Or is everyone going somewhere that I don't know about?"
"Not that I know of.Why?"
"Because I figured that everyone knows—so you probably would, too—that the only time I go out is on special occasions.Last time was Blane's birthday.And before that...I don't even remember."
She knew the happy feeling buzzing in her chest was unwarranted, but that didn't stop it.He gave her a puzzled look.
"Are you laughing at me?That I'm a sad old fart who never goes anywhere?"
Her relief came out as laughter."Far from it.I had it in my mind that you'd packed them off to Brooke's—so that you could..." Crap.What was she doing?She didn't need to tell him what she'd been thinking.
"So that I could what?"
"I don't know.Have a wild old time, I guess."
He shook his head."Don't remember the last time I had one of those.Probably never will again.And that's fine by me."
"Oh no, mister.Don't go saying things like that.You'll make us sound old."
He chuckled."Fair enough.What about you?Do you have an evening out planned?A catch-up dinner with your friends?"
"No, just a recovery evening that'll probably look a lot like yours."She looked around the cottage."Although, I don't have any picking up to do.So, for me it'll be a glass of wine and a movie."
Her heart rate picked up, and she clasped her hands together.She could ask him if he wanted to join her.She had plenty of meals in the freezer.She could feed him—they could share a bottle of wine.
But he was already opening the door.And it was better that he left—asking him to stay would be a terrible idea.He'd given her a reprieve with the girls.The last thing she needed to do was mess that up by overstepping again.
"I'll see you next week then," he said, seeming to linger in the doorway longer than he needed to.
"You will."She met his gaze and held it."And thanks again, Emmett.I'll do my best to help.And I'll try even harder not to overstep, okay?"
He chuckled."Okay.But I think we both know that you will.And I'm kind of counting on it."
Chapter Four
Emmett looked around the living room and nodded to himself.Everywhere was as clean and straight as it was going to get.He might talk about needing to pick up after the girls and do spring cleaning, but the truth was that they were good at picking up after themselves.They always had been.He ran a tight ship; as a single dad and full-time veterinarian, he'd had to.But he liked to think that the girls were so good about helping because it was in their nature, not because they'd had no other choice.
He returned the vacuum to the closet and stored all his cleaning supplies back in the cabinet under the sink.He, Alana, and Tanya all had their regular chores that helped keep the house clean and tidy.But whenever he got a chance like this, he liked to do a deep clean without the girls feeling like they had to join in.
He went to the washroom in the hallway to wash his hands and laughed at himself when he saw the feather duster sticking out of his back pocket.He'd tucked the handle in there while he was plugging the TV back in after dusting behind the entertainment center.He'd completely forgotten that it was there.
His first thought was that he would have felt foolish if someone had seen him like that, but his smile faded when it hit him that no one would.With the girls still at Brooke's until this evening, he wasn't likely to see or talk to a soul.
