Her gaze dips. “No. It was the most amazing experience of my life, but also the scariest.”
“Scary? Me?”
She looks back up, a smile playing on her lips. “Not you. The feelings I had, and the memories it conjured up. It was just so overwhelming and too much in that moment.”
“Do you want me to sleep in your bed with you? I’m happy to take the couch.”
“Sleep with me,” she whispers. “I’m not ready for more right now, but I think it would be comforting to have you with me while this is going on.”
I run my hands up her spine and back down it. “Whatever you want. I’m here.”
By the time we’re back down in the living room, it’s empty.
“The girls decided to give us some privacy apparently,” Emma says.
Breaking away from her, I sit back down on the couch and motion for her to join me.
She smiles and takes a seat beside me.
“There’s something I need to talk to you about.”
Her brows knit.
“When I spoke to Sean about your issue, he told me I should come clean and also said he could prepare a prenup to make it clear I have no claim on anything that Malcolm left you.”
She’s back to chewing on her lip again. “I’m happy to talk about a prenup, but come clean about what?”
“Nothing bad.” I smile. “I need to talk to you about what I did after you left.”
Her brows rise. “What did you do?”
“Well, I finished school. You know I wasn’t really academic—that was Chloe’s thing. But I was good with my hands. So, I started out doing handyman work. I dabbled in all kinds of things. It was challenging, but I wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire.”
She smiles. “You’ve grown your business since then, though.”
I nod. “I have. It took me a long time to do that. I was a one-man-band for a very long time. When I was twenty-eight, our grandfather died and left Chloe and me some money. It wasn’t a huge amount—just a few thousand, but I spent half of it buying supplies to build myself … Well, I guess you could call it a cabin in Mum and Dad’s back yard. Dad had had an accident on a building site and had to take a pay cut at work, and it didn’t feel right moving away.”
Emma places her hand on my arm. “Is he okay?”
“Yeah, he is. But he went from building to working in admin, and it was such a big blow to his pride. Chloe had gone overseas, and I was it.”
She snuggles in against me and rests her head on my shoulder. “You’re a good man.”
“I invested the other half of the money. Do you remember Landon McKenna from school?”
Emma raises her head. “He was that really smart kid? Always top of everything?”
I laugh. “That’s the one. Well, he invented some gadget—I don’t really understand it myself—for people with sleep apnea. I had a little bit of money, and he was so confident he could sell it. These days I guess you could say he crowdfunded it.”
Curiosity sweeps her gaze. “You’re telling me this story because he sold it?”
“He licenced it for millions. And as an early investor, I got my cut. I’m not filthy rich, but I have some money tucked away for a rainy day. Enough that I could have bought my own home, but after everything that happened with Dad, I chose to stay where I was and set up the company I have now.”
Emma reaches up to cup my cheek. “I’m so proud of you.”
I turn my head and kiss the palm of her hand. “It means we can tackle whatever your dad throws at us without touching anything you and the kids were left. We’ll do this together.”
“If Sean draws up that prenup, I want it clear that I don’t want anything of yours either. Malcolm’s investments mean we’re doing okay. I thought I might try and find a part-time job to fill the gap.”
