Page 68 of Family Bonds- Emma & Warren

It hadn’t occurred to him how hard it might be for her to do this.

He didn’t have any pets and never thought much of getting them since he wasn’t home enough.

It would have been another mouth to feed in his house growing up, so that was a no.

“I would have understood,” he said.

“Give me a kiss and let me in the door,” she said. He leaned down to kiss her and then she pushed the cat carrier into his hands. “I’ve got another bag.”

She jogged back to her car and pulled out a suitcase with wheels on it.

“How much did you pack for three days?”

“I didn’t know what we were going to do or how you wanted me to look,” she said. “All you told me was you were going to bring me to the training facility tomorrow.”

He appreciated she cared enough how it would reflect on him, but he didn’t want her to be someone she wasn’t either.

He found he was falling in love with the real her that it seemed he only got glimpses of.

At least from her family’s interactions and reactions last weekend.

The shock he’d felt when he found out who Steve Spencer was though might have been the kicker.

He couldn’t believe they’d trusted him with that secret.

“Yes,” he said. “We’ll go tomorrow morning and I’ll show you around. On Tuesday, I’ve got a meeting for a few hours and then I’ll work out with the trainers. I feel bad I’ll be there most of the morning.”

“Don’t feel bad,” she said. “I’ve got work to do. You know that.”

It made him feel better he didn’t have to worry about entertaining her.

“I know,” he said. She was leaving Wednesday morning. He would have liked her to stay longer, but knew enough to not push it.

They were going to have to work out the future, but he was confident they could.

“Show me around,” she said, giving him a playful shove. He didn’t budge. “You’re not going to be Lucky’s favorite person if you make him stay in there any longer.”

“Come in,” he said. “I pretty much live in the back of the house.”

The front held a library, which he thought was awesome since he loved to read, but he didn’t do it in there. It was just another unused space.

“That’s great,” she said, popping her head in.

“I figured you’d like it. It’s more for show. I’ve got your mom’s books right in the center.”

She zeroed in on them when she walked in. “You’ll get the rest of them if you want. Just say the word.”

“Your mother has been publishing books for thirty years. That’s a lot of books.”

“It is,” she said. “And she has copies of them all to sign for people. Don’t worry about it. She will be honored.”

“She doesn’t have to sign them all,” he said. “She’ll run out of things to say.”

“She’ll never run out of things to say,” Emma said. “And she might keep you guessing on some of them. Who knows? She’s warped like me. But this is a magnificent room.”

They moved down a hall and past a guest room and full bath in the hall to the back where it was more open.

“This is where I spend most of my time,” he said.