Defending My Heart by Lorana Hoopes

Author:Lorana Hoopes [Hoopes, Lorana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lorana Hoopes

Chapter Eleven

With a sigh, Mia shut off the alarm on her phone and set her pencil down. She hadn’t gotten as much done on the designs as she wanted to, but it was time to head to the hospital for Carter’s appointment.

She wandered out of the dining room, where she had been working, into the living room. Carter sat on a footstool while Emmitt sat in a chair next to him. Some racing video game was on the screen, but that wasn’t what caught her eye. No, what caught her eye was the smile on Carter’s face, the light emanating from his eyes that she hadn’t seen in a long time, and the matching expression on Emmitt’s face. He was like a big kid himself. Always had been.

She’d met him in high school when her family moved to Kempton. Her dad had thought it would be a nice sleepy town to retire in. Mia had thought it was just sleepy, but then she’d met Emmitt, star defensive player for the Kempton Kings, and he had stolen her heart. Well, first he’d stolen her notebook. Then he’d stolen her heart.

Mia had always been a sketcher, and she took her notebook with her everywhere. Emmitt had tried to get her attention, but she’d been too angry at moving to the small town to care about anything, including boys. Then one day her notebook had disappeared. When he returned it later, he had drawn a horrible picture of the two of them with the words ‘Will you go out with me?’ underneath. Annoyed and flattered at the same time, Mia had agreed, and they’d quickly become inseparable. They’d even attended college together, though Mia had been a year behind him, but when he got drafted everything had changed.

And she would do well to remember that. He might look different now and say the right words, but she was sure he was the same selfish person inside. The person who had spent a night with her and then left without a word. The person who had shattered her heart into a million pieces.

“Carter, buddy, we have to go.”

“Aw, Mom, do we have to?”

“Yes, we have to. We have an appointment in an hour and I have no idea how bad the traffic might be.” In fact, she didn’t even know exactly where she was going. She would be relying on her map app to lead the way. It was usually correct, although once or twice it had led her into a neighborhood when she was looking for a restaurant or vice versa.

Emmitt looked up at her. “How about you let me drive?”

Mia shook her head. “No, that’s not necessary. I’m sure I can find it.”

“I’m sure you can as well, but I was hoping we could do some Christmas shopping afterwards. This place could use some seasonal cheer.”

A smile stretched across Carter’s face. “Yeah, Mom, can we? We haven’t decorated for Christmas yet and it’s only a week away. How will Santa find us if we don’t decorate?”

Mia sucked in her breath and bit her lip.

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