Page 56 of You Found Me (The Meadow Springs #1)

Spencer

This morning, I laid awake for an hour listening to Emmy snoring softly.

She’d be embarrassed by just how much she actually snores throughout the night, which is why I’ll never tell her. Sure, I’ll joke about it and about how much she drools because the panicked look of disbelief on her face is one of my favorites.

Much like the face she made when I dropped the love bomb on her.

Internally I was panicking too. No part of this weekend’s plan involved me telling her that I loved her.

But in that moment being out of breath from our food fight, covered in brownie batter, seeing the pure joy radiating from her, and then hearing her laugh as we looked around at the mess we made, pulled it out of me.

It slipped out and somehow the moment felt right which is why I don’t regret saying it. Nor did it hurt my feelings when I saw the million and one thoughts running through her head and realized she wouldn’t be saying it back. I didn’t expect her to.

Emmaline has always been the type of woman who needs to think through big decisions—almost to an obsessive point but it’s endearing how much she cares—regarding her emotions before talking to her best friends about it.

I will wait for as long as she needs, if it means I’ll get to hear those words come out of her mouth.

After another hike out on the trails and a late lunch, we cleaned, packed up, and headed back to Meadow Springs.

As we got further away from the cabin, both of our phones started blowing up.

Mine much less than hers, since I’d made sure to tell my parents and B that I’d be out of reach.

So my messages from them weren’t anything urgent.

But since Emmy isn’t on the best of terms with her mom, she had so many texts and missed calls from Susannah and one from her dad apologizing.

“Is it sad that I feel guilty for being so upset with her?” she asks me.

“No. Especially not when your relationship wasn’t at 100% because of Chance’s interference. You have every right to be upset. But maybe put yourself in her shoes,” I say, treading lightly.

She sighs. “I have, and since I’m so much like her . . . I can’t lie. I would’ve done the same thing. I don’t want to be mad at her anymore.”

“Then call her back. Tell her all of that.”

Shaking her head, she says, “No. I need to do it in person. I’ll visit her this week.”

We don’t speak for the rest of the drive—both lost in our own thoughts. Until the Meadow Springs welcome sign comes into view. “Oooh,” she says with excitement. “We’re back in time for the tree lighting ceremony in town square. Can we go and then go get dessert at Edie’s Eats?”

I glance in her direction, her hands are clasped together, bottom lip poking out, and those beautiful brown eyes are wider than I’ve ever seen them. “How am I supposed to say no when you look like that?”

She smirks. “You’re not. So . . .?”

“Of course we can go. I know how much you love Christmas. And I’ll never pass up going to Edie’s.”

Emmaline leans over, kissing me on the cheek. “Thank you, Daredevil.”

I smile at the nickname. “Anything for you, Buttercup. ”

Twenty minutes later, I witness what’s probably the most disorganized tree lighting in the history of town tree lightings. When I look around at the people in the crowd, none of them have the same reaction as me. They’re all smiling, Emmaline included.

“ Why is no one as shocked as I am? The mayor just spent ten minutes looking for the glasses that were clearly in his breast pocket just so that he could read the sentence ‘thank you all for being here to witness the magic of Christmas in our beautiful town of Meadow Springs.’ Ten minutes for something he could have easily remembered. I was expecting a long-winded speech, leading into making a big show of plugging in the lights for them to not even work. Causing another ten minutes to go by only for them to realize some of the lights weren’t connected. ”

“Spence,” she laughs, then continues, “this happens every single year—at least all the years I can remember. Mayor Caldwell has been like, ninety years old my whole life. No one says anything because he means well, and also it’s become a sort of tradition on top of the ceremony.”

I can’t keep the disbelief off of my face. “This town is something else.”

She smiles, wide and full of humor. “Aren’t you happy to call it home ?”

Rolling my eyes, I chuckle, “Only because you’re a part of it.”

Emmy lets out a slow whistle. “That was cheesy, even for you. Come on, let’s get to the diner before there’s nowhere to sit.”

“Is this also part of the tradition?” I ask out of curiosity.

“It’s not a town tradition. Just one that I always did with my parents. We’d grab a table and have milkshakes with fries, or a banana split in my dad’s case, before going home.”

I pull her closer to me as we walk to the diner. “Thank you for including me in this tradition then.”

Emmaline gazes up at me, cheeks all rosy. “You’re welcome.”

The bell above the door jingles as we enter and I’m already looking for a place to sit when I hear her intake of breath.

I follow her gaze only to find Susannah and Andrew sitting at a table in the middle of the room—a peanut butter milkshake and plate of fries placed directly across from her.

I can’t stop my smile as Emmaline nods at her mom, causing her to rush over and hug Emmy.

I place a kiss on her forehead and excuse myself—hearing them both apologize—and walk towards Andrew at the table.

He reaches out his hand and asks, “How was your trip?”

I shake it before sitting down. “It was nice. I think it was much needed for both of us, but especially her.”

I hear a gasp followed by shushing, causing me to turn around in time to see Emmy twist her mom back towards her.

I’m sure I look crazy, watching the two of them so intensely but I know how important Emmaline’s relationship with her mom is.

I truly hope they can start to repair their relationship, they clearly needed and missed one another.

Andrew clears his throat to get my attention and when I turn around, he’s smiling. “So, when are you going to propose?”

If I were a cartoon character, my eyes would be bugged completely out of my head right now. I’m not usually one to panic, but I’m taken aback by how straightforward and out of left field his question is.

He laughs. “Sorry, kid. I know you two have only been together a few months, it’s just the way you look at her is exactly how I look at my Suze—with pure love and adoration.

” Andrew clears his throat before quietly saying, “Pardon my language, but that asshole never looked at her as anything other than a piece of property.”

“No need to apologize for your language. My favorite thing to call him is a douche-canoe,” I tell him with a shrug.

“Oh, that’s a good one. I’ll have to use it the next time he does something colossally stupid.

It’s safe to say that I never really liked him.

I mean I played nice when she first brought him around.

The second time though, he nonchalantly pointed out how much she was eating, I told Suze I couldn’t do it anymore.

She talked me down, saying his frontal lobe hadn’t fully developed and that our girl would put him in his place if he continued. ”

“But she didn’t,” I state.

He shakes his head with a sigh. “No, she didn’t.

Instead of telling him to kiss her ass, she started eating less of the things she loved.

She also started pulling away from her best friends.

Her visits became less frequent and rarely included him if she was able to make it into town.

No matter how hard I tried to talk to her about it, she’d brush it off with a laugh.

“Seeing her after she broke it off left me feeling a mixed bag of emotions. Then, once she moved in with Mia, started hanging out with the group again, and started dating you—her sparkle came back. So thank you for helping her find it again. Now,” he claps and continues, “back to my original question, when are you going to propose?”

“It’s kind of you to think I had anything to do with her getting her sparkle back, but it was all her. And as far as your question, I only just told her yesterday that I loved her—albeit unplanned.”

“Did she say it back?”

Shaking my head, I tell him, “No. I didn’t expect her to though. I’m not going to rush her. So to answer your question: no, not yet, I think we’re a little ways off from that.”

***

Emmaline

I knew there was a chance my parents would be here after the ceremony. I mean, it’s been our thing for as long as I can remember. But for Mom to have ordered my usual treat, even in the midst of our fight, makes me feel like crying.

Rather than start off the conversation about our issues, I blurt out, “Spence, told me he loved me this weekend.”

She gasps, pulling me into another hug. “Sweetie, that’s amazing. What did you say?”

I shush her, and pull her outside. “He told me I didn’t have to respond and then he professed more feelings.”

“Okay . . . what do you think about that? Did you want to say it back?”

Unbidden tears start to slip. “I’m scared. ”

“Why? He seems like a great guy. Much better than that little shit, Chance.”

Snorting, I shake my head. “He is better than Chance. There’s no doubt about it.

It’s just that, what if I let myself fall for him and I get hurt again.

I don’t want to choose to be open to loving someone, only to be discarded again.

I can’t go on feeling like I’m not the first choice.

I can’t. I’ve been living with this feeling for most of my life .

. . and I think it all started when you told me my bio dad left us when you told him about your pregnancy. ”

She starts to interrupt me, but I put up a hand to stop her.

“I’m not saying that to make you feel worse.

I’m sure you did what you thought was right in that moment.

I don’t know what I’d have done in your situation either.

But I understand. You did what you had to do to make things not so shitty for us and I can respect that.

I want you to know how grateful I am to have you as my mom. ”

She sniffles. “First, let’s put an end to our fight.

I can’t begin to explain just how sorry I am for lying to you—and your dad—all these years.

I was hurt when Rick left me, but I should’ve been honest with you.

Especially after my parents passed and keeping up the lie became unnecessary, but I couldn’t let it go.

I hope you can forgive me and will allow me to help you contact Rick if and when you decide.

Second, there’s never a promise that loving someone won’t end up hurting you, love isn’t easy.

It’s something you and your partner have to put effort into each day if you want it to work.

You put more into your relationship with Chance than he ever put into it and eventually that took its toll, on your relationship and your confidence.

The way Spencer looks at you is something I never saw with Chance.

If Spencer said he didn’t expect you to say it back, I think he meant it.

I’m always here to talk through any of it, but since you live with Mia, I figure she’ll pull it out from you eventually. ”

Wiping my eyes, I nod. “Thank you. I know I can talk to you about anything, but as little as you saw me in the last six and a half years, the girls saw me even less. I’ve been working on being a better friend—even though none of them fault me for it all.”

“Those girls love you no matter what. You’re lucky to have such close friends. ”

I nod, wipe my tears away, and clear my throat, “Fighting with you is not something I want to do ever again. So, if there’s any more huge secrets about our family, please tell me now. I don’t know how many more surprises I can take.”

Mom laughs before shaking her head. “Nope. No more secrets.”

“Thank god,” I laugh out, then look through the diner window at Spencer and Dad. “Let’s head back in before my fries and shake switch temperatures.”

As we make our way over to them, my dad is looking at Spence with a curious gleam in his eyes, and I wonder what he’s up to.

“A little ways off from what?” I ask as we catch the tail end of their conversation.

“Oh nothing,” Spencer clears his throat. He then leans into whisper, “Is everything okay with you two?”

I smile, grab a fry and dip it in my shake. “We’re great.”