Page 36 of You Found Me (The Meadow Springs #1)

Emmaline

This past week has been awful.

The stupid gossip column ran another story and since this one painted Chance in a negative light—despite the allegations against me—he decided to do interviews with a couple different sports writers. He made it seem like I cheated on him with Spencer while we were engaged.

Even going as far as insinuating that I was having family issues and instead of turning to him, I found a random stranger to take solace in. Then he stressed that he’s willing to forgive everything and still marry me because of how much he loves me.

While I know Chance’s words are just lies, and not what happened . . . having people think I could do something like that hurts. Spencer said he hasn’t heard anything from his mom, which is one of the few plus sides.

It started drizzling a little bit ago and when I checked the forecast for Willow Beach, it said storms were headed that way. I’m in the middle of looking for my rain jacket when there’s a knock on the door. I shout, “Come in,” and continue searching.

I hear the door open and shut. “You and Mia seriously need to start locking your door,” Spencer says with a loud sigh. “You’re gonna invite someone in without meaning to. ”

I turn and chuckle. “I knew you’d be here soon and unlocked it for you. It’s not like I’m letting everyone come in. That’s how the vampires get you.”

“I’m sorry, the what?”

“Sorry. I forgot who I was talking to for a sec. It’s a common thing in vampire media you know—that they have to be invited in.”

Spencer’s forehead wrinkles in confusion. “Interesting. I wonder where that originated from.”

And when he says interesting, I know that he means it sincerely. I’ve come to learn that he’s genuinely interested in the things I say.

“I’m not sure. Aha! Found it,” I say, grabbing the jacket.

“Need me to grab anything before we leave?”

“Actually, yes. The pan on the counter. I made brownies to take.”

“Shortstack, I told you—”

I cut him off, “Yeah, yeah. You said not to bring anything. However, my mom would be ashamed if I went to your parents’ house empty handed.”

He grabs them, and after I lock up, we head to his truck.

A little over halfway through the trip, the storm catches up to us. Spencer senses my anxiety and reaches over placing a hand on my thigh. He squeezes it gently. “If you had to pick only five movies to watch for the rest of your life, what would they be?”

I whip my head towards him so fast. “Only five? That seems rude.”

He chuckles, shrugging, “I don’t make the rules of the game.”

“Um, I think you do since you asked the questions.” I sigh dramatically when he doesn’t change the number.

“Fine. My all-time favorite is The Princess Bride . I’ve seen it thousands of times.

I’d probably pick a comedy like Stepbrothers because it’s never failed to make me laugh.

On days when I’m feeling sad that I’m all alone and want to feel sadder, A Walk to Remember is that movie.

And yeah, I know how crazy that sounds,” I say when he looks at me, eyebrows raised. “I never said I was sane.”

Spencer pats my leg. “Sane would be boring anyway. ”

Smiling, I continue, “I think the last two would have to be a musical, or a movie with singing where everyone knows they’re singing.”

“You keep throwing me,” he laughs out. “Would those not be the same thing?”

I shake my head. “Nope. Pitch Perfect is one where they’re singing for a purpose, while in Rent they don’t. And those would be my other two choices.”

“The only one of those I’ve seen is Stepbrothers —it’s one of my favorites as well.”

“That’s not surprising. The others don’t really jump out as something you’d watch on your own. What would your five movies be?”

“ Back to the Future, Pearl Harbor, The Shawshank Redemption, Stepbrothers, and Homeward Bound.”

“You didn’t even have to think about it?”

Chuckling, he says, “Nope. Only because it was an ice breaker in one of my college classes.”

“And they haven’t changed at all?”

I watch him shake his head at the question. “There are others that’d be close, but none have knocked them from the top.”

“I’ve obviously seen Stepbrothers . The only other one of yours I’ve watched is Homeward Bound. ”

“You don’t know what you’re missing out on,” he tells me.

“We’re about ten minutes out. So, I want to tell you what to expect once we get there.

Mom is going to be all over the place, cleaning things that are already spotless while trying to throw together the food.

She doesn’t let us help. Dad gave up trying years ago and Beckett is banned from the kitchen unless she specifically asks for his help. ”

I laugh. “He’s banned? Does that hurt his little chef’s heart?”

“It did at first. Then he quickly realized it was in his best interest to stay out. Mainly for his anal tendencies.”

“As long as the system works,” I tell him with a shrug.

“It does. I only wanted to give a heads up because she’ll be running around like a chicken with its head cut off and refusing help.”

Smiling, I nod. “Good to know. ”

A few minutes later, we’re pulling into the driveway. The house is a cute, pale blue two-story house. There are flower beds and boxes on the porch railing, that I’m sure are absolutely stunning in nicer weather. Once we get out and rush to the front door, he opens it without knocking.

“Mom,” he calls out, “we made it.”

“In the kitchen,” she sings back.

Spencer and I look at one another, smiling. We stop to say hi to Beckett and for him to introduce me officially to his dad. Bill stands, hugging his son, then moving to hug me. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“It’s nice to see you, too. And happy birthday.”

“Thank you,” and with that, he sits back down on the couch to watch the weather channel.

When we walk into the kitchen, his mom turns off the hand mixer. “I’m so glad you made it safely. It’s nasty out there.”

June wipes off her hands, then walks over to us, grabbing Spencer to give him a big hug. When they pull apart, he grabs my hand. “Mom, you remember Emmaline.”

“Don’t be silly,” she waves him off. “Of course I remember this gorgeous girl.” She hugs me while whispering loud enough for Spencer to hear, “He acts like I’m senile but I’m far too young for all of that.”

He sighs, throwing up his arms, completely exasperated. “I can’t win. I’m going to sit on the couch.”

As soon as he walks away, June and I finally let our laughter loose. “He and his brother are just so easy to mess with.”

“You’d get along with my best friend, Mia. She loves messing with Beckett anytime he’s around. We even got to mess with Sebastian at his game last week. He called us cruel after we said we’d get some embarrassing childhood pictures of him and put them on the internet.”

“Oh honey, I’ve got so many hilarious photos of the three of them, that would make them want to crawl into a hole and die if anyone saw.”

“I absolutely must see those before we leave tonight.”

“You got it,” she says with a wink. “What’s that you have in your hands? ”

“I was raised to never show up empty handed. So, I made homemade caramel brownies. You can always save these for after the party since you’ve got a cake.”

“Thank you. I was raised the same way and have tried to make sure my boys are the same. It’s nice to see Spencer found such a perfect girlfriend.”

I let out an uncomfortable chuckle. “You’re welcome, but I’m nowhere near perfect. Do you need any help here?”

“No, no. But do you think you could wrangle the boys into setting up the tables and chairs?”

“Absolutely. Any particular way . . .?”

“Nope. Whatever you think works best.”

***

A couple of hours later, the house is full of people eating, drinking, and talking over one another.

It’s chaotic and reminds me of my dad’s side of the family.

I was able to meet Sebastian’s parents. His mom is so nice, and I can see how she and June would be sisters.

She has the same twinkle of playfulness in her eyes as June does.

Though Sarah is eight years younger than June, with striking ice blue eyes and blonde hair.

His dad, Ellison, is an absolutely handsome and huge man — not super surprising after seeing Sebastian. When I told him about meeting his son, there was a little sparkle in his eyes before he politely smiled and said he was lucky to have such a talented kid.

Spencer obviously knew something I didn’t because he told his uncle, “Maybe you should tell that to Bastian. I know how much he’d want to hear it.”

Ellison gave a grunt then walked off. “What was that about?”

“Uncle Ellison’s hard to get a read on and he never tells Bastian those things—he never has. He thinks his dad isn’t proud of him because he only ever points out the things Bastian could improve on. ”

“Sebastian has to know that his dad is proud. I mean he’s successful, kind, and seems like a good person.”

He shrugs. “I’m not sure if he does. Uncle Ellison was an NFL player back in the day but after an injury, he was taken out of the game in his fifth season. I think he puts so much pressure on Bastian to make smart decisions while playing to keep him from getting hurt.”

“Dads are so hard sometimes.”

“Luckily for us, our dads are pretty great.”

Before I can respond, the power goes out.

The storm rages outside causing the power to continue to flicker on and off. Bill lets out an ear-splitting whistle to get everyone’s attention to let them know that the storm looks like it’s going to turn into a tropical storm off the coast and that he doesn’t want anyone out in it.

Once the last person is gone, we clean up while Bill turns on the radio to the news station for weather updates. Tuning in just in time to hear that there are trees down all over the roads, causing traffic delays as people try to make their way back home.

June looks at the three of us. “You guys probably need to stay here for the night. The roads won’t get cleared while it’s still storming. Both of your rooms are clean and there are fresh sheets in the closet.”