Page 69 of You Found Me (The Meadow Springs #1)

Emmaline

Six months later…

To say that the first half of the year has been hectic would be an understatement.

The fallout with the Cougar Callout piece about the night of the Gala wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

Unfortunately Chance can’t say the same.

And I know I told Quinn I felt bad that all of this happened, but he couldn’t take accountability for his actions—instead, blaming me for everything that went wrong.

For weeks, Chance talked to anyone who’d listen about the debacle.

However, he wasn’t met with a warm embrace.

Not when he chose to keep bad-mouthing Spencer and me.

My master’s program started up soon after my interview with Quinn, my half-sister. Two months after we met, I finally talked to my biological father. Quinn had given me his number and said maybe I should start with a phone call—which I did. That first conversation was hard.

I could tell he was upset with my mom but said that while he wished he knew about me from the start, he wouldn’t have changed breaking it off with my mom. Completely understanding his reasoning, I told him how sorry I was that he had to lose someone he loved in such a horrible way.

Neither of us have had the time to meet in person and instead have a biweekly phone call.

My dad has been nothing but supportive in my endeavor to get to know Rick.

Even going as far as to say he’d throw a barbecue for all of us whenever Rick was going to be back in the state.

When I mentioned it to Quinn, she laughed and said to count her in for the inevitable awkwardness.

As far as my love life, Spencer and I are going strong, and I fall more in love with him with each day that passes.

We’ve made a good amount of progress with the renovations to our home—only having a few more rooms to go. He even insisted on paying Mia to find a few pieces of furniture and decor that she felt were us .

After leaving Coleman confused.

It isn’t until I hear Lettie gasp as she moves closer to where our weeping willow stands and see a board with a rendering of a large building.

Spencer squeezes my hand and when I turn to him, he says, “Trust me when I say I’m not taking the tree down. Go take a closer look.”

I nod, then quickly walk to where the girls are standing. I hesitantly let my eyes roam over the board, and then I see it. Right next to the drawing of a beautiful building, is a drawing of a huge playground near this very willow tree .

Just like the one from my childhood.

I look at Mia, Colette, and Cori, with tears forming in our eyes, and smile.

“I take it you didn’t know anything about this,” Cori says.

“Not even a little,” I let out a breathy laugh. Thinking back a little, I ask, “How did you three get convinced to go along with getting here blindfolded?”

“Teddy,” Mia answers, wiping her eyes. “He said there was something he needed to show us and to get Cori here this morning. The blindfolds took a little extra convincing since he was the one insisting we put them on.”

Colette sighs. “I’m sorry I was being difficult.”

Mia waves her comment off. “It’s definitely a weird request.”

“It helped that Beckett was there to help when Theo started floundering,” Cori says with a half-smile.

Colette and Mia chuckle while I look at the carving in the tree.

“Spencer and Theo know what this place means to all of us, and for them to want to revitalize the town while also giving us back a piece of our childhood, is so sweet,” I think aloud and sniffle.

“Ooooh, Spencie is gonna get lucky tonight,” Mia quips.

“Damn right he is,” I agree with a huge grin.

I look back to where Spence, Theo, and Beckett are standing and blow Spencer a kiss.

Theo sees and steps in front of Spencer to catch the kiss.

He very dramatically slaps it against his cheek before turning to Spencer and saying something I can’t hear.

Whatever it was has Spencer putting his best friend into a headlock.

My laughter pulls the girls’ focus in their direction and they join in.

Cori yells out, “Take him down for my sister, Spencer!”

Colette smacks her twin’s arm and hisses, “Shut up, Corinne.”

The two of them start bickering and walk away, while Mia steps closer, looping her arm into mine. “You look really happy, Ems. Like the happiest I’ve seen you in a long time.”

I smile. “I am happy. Everything truly feels like it’s going to work out for the best. And as scary as that thought was when I felt that way about Chance, this time, it’s comforting. I’m excited to see what the future holds for us.”

Mia sniffles, albeit in a dramatic fashion before she jokes, “Don’t forget to invite me to the wedding.”

I stop walking, waiting until she faces me. “You know very well that you’ll be my maid of honor if Spencer decides to propose.”

She squeals as her eyes twinkle. “I hoped you’d say that. And don’t be naive, that man is going to propose and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was in the very near future. But don’t you even think about making us wear ugly dresses in bright colors that’ll only wash us out.”

I shake my head, not wanting to let myself think about him actually proposing to me.

Instead, I focus on the dress comment and start walking back to the boys who have ceased their roughhousing.

“I’d never hear the end of it if I tried to put you in something less than stunning.

Besides, can you imagine trying to get Cori into anything remotely resembling a dress? ”

Mia snickers. “Okay, but wouldn’t that be a fun afternoon of torture?”

I smile. “We might have to make that happen.”

“I like this side of you, it feels more like the old you. Too bad you’ve found the love of your life and all,” Mia sighs. “You’d have been the best wingwoman.”

“Right. Such a shame,” I joke, playfully knocking into her with my hip. “It’s not like you were going out on the town much in the months we lived together. What’s up with that?”

“I’ve gone on a few dates in the last few months, but my luck is starting to resemble Colette’s and Piper’s,” she smiles weakly.

“There’s someone out there for you. Even if you’re not ready to settle down.”

“Maybe you’re right,” she says.

Rather than looking at me, her eyes have strayed across the field to the guys. And I have to wonder if she’s been holding out on her usual brand of dating because of crappy luck like she said, or because of the shy, tattooed Clark Kent standing next to my boyfriend.

** *

Spencer

When I brought up this location as a potential spot for the co-op, I wasn’t sure Theo was going to go for it.

However, as I went more into all of the things we could do with the area without completely destroying the wildflower fields, he said we should do it. Neither of us thought it would take six months before it was approved, but that’s exactly what happened.

After countless meetings with the mayor and city council members, we finally got the green light earlier this week. I called Beckett up right away because I told Theo that I wanted a portion of the build to go towards B’s restaurant and he agreed.