Riding Shotgun by Barb Han

Author:Barb Han
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises ULC
Published: 2023-01-19T20:41:52+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

“I have a daughter.”

Emerson did her best not to stare at anyone after Rory dropped his bomb. The rim of her coffee mug became real interesting to her about then.

“Oh?” Marla said. The mix of confusion and curiosity in her voice made Emerson wonder what her mother was going to say when she showed up at the door unannounced after all these years. Presumably, her mother didn’t know if Emerson was alive or dead. Did she care? Or had she been kept in the dark?

“Her name is Liv,” he continued as his grandmother picked her jaw up from the table.

“When did this happen?” Marla asked as confusion knitted her eyebrows together. “What I mean to ask is, how old is she?”

“Twelve,” he said.

“Months?” Marla asked.

He shook his head and his shame was written all over his face as he searched his mother’s face. “Years.”

Marla’s gaze dipped down to his hand, third finger on the left. “Are you...?”

“No.” He shook his head as though for emphasis. “Not married. Not any longer anyway.”

“Okay, I’m sorry to hear that, Rory,” Marla was still walking lightly around the subject. To her credit, she didn’t freak out or start bombing him with questions. She did, however, look at Emerson. “Are you two...?”

Emerson shook her head a little too emphatically because his grandmother’s eyebrow shot up.

“This is just a friend,” Rory explained. It was true and yet those words stung.

“I’m in a bind and your son is helping me out,” Emerson explained.

“You’ve been awfully quiet, Granny,” Rory said.

“Uh-huh,” she confirmed.

“Are you still speaking to me?” he asked.

“Uh-huh,” she reassured. Now, she started lightly tapping her index finger on the table and Emerson wasn’t certain if it was a good or bad sign.

“Tell me about her,” Marla said with a warmth in her eyes that warmed Emerson’s heart.

“She’s spunky, like Granny here, and smart like you,” Rory said with the kind of parental pride that almost made Emerson tear up. “Of course, I’m biased but she’s a beautiful kid.”

“Do you have a picture?” Marla asked, but he was already fishing through his cell phone.

“Here she is,” he said, chest out, smile wide. He held out the cell first for his mother to see and then to his grandmother.

Emerson caught a glimpse of his daughter and thought the young girl was beautiful.

“You’ll have to beat the boys off with a stick,” his grandmother said. “She’s a beauty.”

“Don’t tell me that,” he warned, but it was all pride coming through in his voice. “She’s smart. Gets solid grades and doesn’t get into trouble.”

Marla sat quietly studying the picture. She seemed to be doing the math in her head. Then came, “Leah?”

He nodded and his mother seemed to catch on. She reached over and touched his other hand reassuringly.

“I’m sorry it didn’t work out,” she said.

“Turns out, she didn’t think she was cut out to be a mother after all,” he said. “Of course, it was a little too late by the time she realized it.”

“Is she involved in Liv’s life at all?” Marla asked.

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