“Damn, I wish we had thought about a towel,” Aidan said.
Emma grinned. “Ask and you shall receive.” She walked over to the edge of the dock where a worn, wooden box the size of a steamer truck sat. It was something Granddaddy had made a long time ago for his grandchildren to house their swimming gear. She pulled out two checkered picnic blankets. “Not exactly towels and they’re a little musty, but they’ll do the trick.”
Aidan appreciatively took one from her. “Sounds good to me.”
As he dried off, Emma wrapped herself in the faded blanket. When she shivered, he reached over and started rubbing her arms to warm her. “Ready to go back inside?”
“Let’s stay out here awhile.”
“Are you serious?”
Emma nodded and motioned towards a hammock drawn between two massive oak trees. “It’s a beautiful night, and we can do some stargazing.”
Aidan snorted. “Stargazing in a hammock? That sounds like a bad romance novel cliché.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize you enjoyed reading bodice ripper novels with their throbbing and pulsing members.”
“Ha, ha,” he replied, playfully smacking her ass.
After Emma threw on her gown and Aidan put on his boxers, she took his hand and led him over to the hammock. After she lay down, she pulled him down beside her. Once she wrapped her arms around him, she titled her head up at him. “So is this really so bad?”
He grinned. “Nope. It’s quite nice, actually.”
“Good. I’m glad you think so.”
“I can’t believe how much brighter the stars are once you get out of the city. Being up in the mountains makes you feel like you could reach out and touch them,” Aidan mused.
“Everything is more beautiful out here.”
“Do I detect a hint of homesickness in your voice?”
Stalling, Emma’s gaze followed a droplet of water as it trailed down Aidan’s bare chest. “Em?” he prompted.
She sighed. “Sometimes I think I’d really like to move back up here—especially to raise the baby.”
Aidan tensed beneath her. “Are you serious?”
“This is where I grew up—the place I hold most dear in the world. All my family is here. If something happened to me or with the baby and I needed her, Grammy’s almost an hour away.”
“Are you trying to say you feel alone back in Atlanta?”
“Well, no, I mean, Casey has always been there…and you’re there.”
Aidan grunted. “Wow, I rate after Casey, huh?”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” She raised her head to meet his intense gaze. “You know how much you mean to me, and how much I…care for you.”
Relief filled her when Aidan’s expression lightened. “But I don’t know anything about babies, nor am I a certainty, right?”
“Exactly.” She then held her breath waiting for him to say that she had nothing to worry about in the certainty department. That he wanted even more with her. That he would be there always—in the middle of the night if the baby got sick and she was scared to death or if she was exhausted from a long day at work and needed a few minutes to decompress.
“If you’re worried about being all alone, you’ve got my dad, my sisters, and Megan. I promise you’ll have a support system in them.”
“That’s good to know,” she murmured, fighting the tears. Her chest clenched in agony with Aidan’s response. He didn’t mention anything about being more of an official couple or him being there for her. So how could she truly count on him? Instead, he had skirted responsibility and commitment once again. When was she going to learn? Or more importantly, when was she going to give up on him?
***
The sharp jolt of the hammock’s sway woke Emma up. Fluttering her eyelids, she looked up at the sky. Early morning sunlight streaked across it, making it a swirling mixture of blues, pinks, and oranges. Somehow she and Aidan had managed to fall asleep under the stars. At the sound of someone clearing his throat, Emma tried scrambling out of the hammock, but Aidan wrapped his arms tighter around her. “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked sleepily.
Emma swept her gaze from Aidan over to where Granddaddy stood, arms folded over his chest. “We have company,” she whispered.
Aidan’s blue eyes flew open, and a look of horror crossed his face when his drowsy eyes focused on Earl. He immediately jerked away from Emma and held up his hands in mock surrender. “I’m really sorry about this, sir. I never meant to go against your wishes by sleeping with Emma under your roof,” he said, sounding more like a pleading teenager than a man.
Earl peered around the woods and then up at the sky. “Don’t quite look like you’re under my roof, does it?” he asked, the corners of his lips turning up.
Emma exchanged a glance with Aidan. Was her grandfather really going to let them off the hook so easily? “I’m sorry, Granddaddy.”
Earl shrugged. “Guess there ain’t much I can say about it. You’re both grown adults. What you do is your business, even if I don’t agree with it.”
“But I still don’t want you to be disappointed in me,” she replied.
“I could never be disappointed in you, Emmie Lou.” He patted her leg. “I love ya too much, even when you drag a poor feller out of his bed to go skinny dipping.”
Emma’s hand flew to her mouth while Aidan burst out laughing. “But how…?”
“That don’t matter. I’s not comin’ out here to give you two a hard time. Your grandmother just wanted me to tell the two of you that breakfast was ready. Then we’re going to church.” He gave them a knowing look. “All of us.”
After Earl shuffled off, Aidan threw his arm over his eyes. “I cannot believe he caught us.”
She giggled. “I can’t believe you’re complaining about that, rather than having to go to church.”
“Trust me, I’m not thrilled by the prospect, but I’ll go, especially if it makes him and Grammy happy.”
“It will.”
“Then come on. Let’s go get ready to be holy!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Aidan fought his suspension of disbelief as he sat in the backseat of a car bound for Earl and Virginia’s church. The last time he had been to Mass was Mason’s baptism, and he couldn’t even remember a time before that. So much for keeping the promise he made to his mother about attending once a week. At least she would be proud he was getting some kind of moral guidance.