Kisses Between the Lines: An Echo Ridge Anthology (Echo Ridge Romance Book 2)

by Lucy McConnell

  EMMA RUSHED THROUGH the grocery store. Mason had hurried home after lacrosse practice so she could run her errands. She had an hour to get stocked up on groceries for the week, drive back home, and have a minute to chat with her son over a crockpot dinner she’d thrown in this morning. Then Mason would have to rush out the door to work at Jack’s Pizza. He was great to babysit the girls, but between lacrosse, work, homework, and Kaitlyn, he didn’t have a lot of extra time. She should’ve just brought the girls to the store earlier this afternoon, but they’d beg for a treat or crackers that weren’t on sale and she’d either feel like a grumpy miser who always said no or spend an extra ten dollars that definitely wasn’t in the budget.

  She hurried around a corner and her cart got too close to the end display and knocked a few boxes of cereal off. “Dangit,” she muttered. Bending to pick them up, her hand brushed some long, brown fingers that she instantly recognized. A slow burn started in her stomach as she met his dark gaze. “Chayton,” she whispered.

  He grinned at her and her entire body warmed up. “Hi, Emma.” Straightening, he set the boxes of cereal back on the display and turned to her.

  She arranged the boxes, her hands trembling slightly. “Thank you. Guess that’ll teach me to slow down. I’m like a race car driver with this thing.”

  He chuckled. “Pretty impressive.” Leaning against his cart, he inclined his head to her. He always looked so relaxed and… perfect. “Are things busy for you?”

  “Insane, but that’s what I get for having three children.”

  His dark eyes took her in like he knew exactly what she was going through. Ha. That was a joke. Single man with an education, great job, talent with sports, and the best-looking face she’d ever seen. His life was nothing like hers. Not that she didn’t love and enjoy her children, but the responsibility was tough to shoulder alone.

  “Is it having three children or being Super Mom?”

  “I’m definitely not Super Mom.” She pushed a lock of hair off her face, but it fell back into place.

  Chayton tenderly brushed the hair back again. Emma trembled from his touch and the look in his dark eyes. “Raising three great kids on your own, being the Cookie Mama for the lacrosse team, making sure every lacrosse boy has a sign in his yard and a peanut butter and honey sandwich on game days, working nights so you can support your children financially and emotionally.” He nodded at her. “I call that Super Mom.”

  She felt the color rising in her cheeks. Chayton noticed things no one else did and he made her feel good, but being “Super Mom” didn’t necessarily mean he was interested in her. He was just being kind to one of his player’s moms.

  “Thanks,” she whispered. “Did you have a Super Mom?” Being shuttled from foster home to foster home she hadn’t seen great examples of how a mom was supposed to support and be there for her children, but Emma did love Mason, Addison, and Maryn with everything in her and tried her best to teach and love them.

  His entire face lit up at that. “I did. She was great. Selfless, like you.”

  “I’m not selfless, unfortunately I like to sleep sometimes.”

  “You should definitely get your beauty sleep.” He smiled and his eyes swept her frame, not leering but definitely appreciative.

  Emma felt her cheeks go red. “That’s lucky you had such a wonderful mother.”

  “It is.” He took a step closer and his voice deepened, “Emma. We got interrupted last night.”

  “Yes.” She moistened her lips and glanced up at him. Was he going to ask her out? What would she say? No, she was insane to dream of something happening between her and Chayton. She needed to stop meeting his gaze so he couldn’t read the irrational hope in her eyes. She was setting herself up for heartache just thinking of Chayton this way.

  “Would you ever want to— ”

  “Coach!”

  “And the Cookie Mama!”

  Three of Mason’s teammates came around the corner, still wearing their sweaty clothes from practice. Emma wrinkled her nose but forced a smile. “Hey guys. I’m excited for the game tomorrow night.”

  “Do we get cookies if we win?” Josh asked.

  “Of course. I’ve got to earn my name.” Cookie Mama was so much better than Hot Mama. She wanted to be a fun adult with the boys not awkward around them because they thought she was pretty. So weird that they would even look at a teammates’ mother like that.

  “Awesome.” Grayson slapped Josh’s hand. “Cookie Mama is the best.” They all smiled at her then stared from her to Chayton. “What’s up Coach?” Grayson asked, pumping his eyebrows.

  Chayton shook his head. “Just shopping.”

  “You and Cookie Mama hanging out?” Tyler whistled then grinned broadly.

  “I’d better go,” Emma shoved her shopping cart around the boys. “Mason has to work tonight.”

  “Tell him hi,” Josh called after her.

  “I will.” She glanced over her shoulder with a smile. Chayton was staring at her. His eyes filled with a longing that she wished she could assuage. No, she was just being hopeful. Chayton wasn’t looking for a single mom and she wasn’t looking for another man. It was much smarter to focus on her children and not let her heart be broken again. She was pretty sure that, third time’s a charm, didn’t work with marriages.

  ECHO RIDGE BEAT ADIRONDACK High’s lacrosse team 8-3 on Thursday night. The mild weather was perfect for a game. The evening sun brightened the green field and surrounding trees, shining onto the snow-tipped mountains in the background.

  Emma’s voice was raw from cheering for all of the boys. She enjoyed being around most of them and was grateful Mason had great friends and she could support him and his teammates, even if it was just through making cookies and peanut butter sandwiches.

  There was one of the players, Caden, who seemed to swear a lot and had said some crude stuff when she walked past him once. He made her uncomfortable and she hadn’t dared tell Mason what he’d said or her boy would probably get in a fight. Tonight, Caden had picked a fight with a player from the opposing team and been ejected from the game. Emma could hardly stand to watch the brawl. Ironic that she’d been married to an ultimate fighter but didn’t like fighting. After watching Beau get thrashed when they were first married and suffer through a coma and a brain injury that had changed his personality, she’d learned to hate fighting.

  She was grateful Mason had physically restrained a couple of the other players from joining the action and only that one player had been ejected.

  She, Addison, and Maryn waited at the sidelines for Mason. He and Chayton were the last two to come, engrossed in deep conversation. She wondered how Chayton would deal with the ejection. He obviously loved his boys, but he was a strict coach and didn’t put up with them being late, lazy, or disrespectful.

  “I’d love your input,” Chayton was saying. “The boys respect you and I’m not trying to shirk my responsibility as the coach, but I want to present a united front.”

  “I hate to say we kick Caden off the team, but his foul language has always been a factor and he has more penalties than anyone on the team. Maybe a two-game suspension and we talk to him about his language and his attitude? Give him a trial period to clean it up? He’s a good player and we’ll need him this spring, but I also hate how he keeps saying, ‘It’s just fall ball.’ Like it doesn’t mean anything because we don’t have a playoff. Every game should mean something.” Mason was focused on his coach, but his coach had stopped walking and was staring at Emma.

  “Great game,” she said, holding his gaze and loving the way he was looking at her, like she wasn’t an over-worked, exhausted mom. “Well, um, except for the fight.”

  “Yeah.” Chayton grimaced and ran a hand through his longish hair. “Sadly, I don’t even have a policy on that as I’ve never had to deal with it before.”

  Mason gave Emma a brief hug. “Thanks for coming, Mom.”

  “I wouldn’t miss it,” she said, though she’d missed more of
his games than she cared to think about over the last six years. Back when Beau had demanded she stay with him or support him at one of his awful cage fights. Thankfully, that was behind them.

  Maryn threw herself at Mason’s legs. “You rocked it, bro!”

  “Thanks, my Mar.” He picked her up and tossed her in the air as she giggled.

  Addison gave him a quick squeeze of his thigh, wrinkling her nose. “You stink.”

  Mason chuckled. “Sorry, Princess.”

  Chayton was still studying Emma when she glanced his way again. “I’m starving. Do you all want to go to dinner? My treat.”

  Emma’s thoughts scattered with Chayton looking at her so intently. She had no idea what the appropriate response would be at the moment.

  “Um, sure. Thanks, Coach,” Mason said.

  Emma shook her head to clear it. She knew Chayton didn’t mean anything by the dinner invite and she was a little embarrassed to be a charity case, but she’d been so frugal for so long she never took her children out to dinner. Their biggest dining treat was when Mason brought home rejected pizzas from work. It was obvious Chayton loved Mason and cared about her girls. He was single and probably got tired of eating alone. She should be thoughtful and invite him over to their house for a home-cooked meal.

  “Sure, if you’ll let us cook you dinner tomorrow night.” The words popped out and Emma wished she could clamp her hand over her mouth.

  Chayton’s dark eyes sparkled at her. “Doesn’t seem fair that I get the best end of this deal.”

  Emma laughed easily. “It’s definitely fair. Have you seen how much this boy can eat? Taking a night off from cooking is a pleasure I rarely get.” She licked her lips. Why had she said pleasure like that?

  Chayton’s eyes strayed to her lips before they refocused on her face. “Well, I can’t wait to provide that pleasure.”

  Mason’s head was rotating between the two of them. “O-kay, then. I’m a sweaty mess. Do you two just want to go?”

  “Oh, no.” Emma shook her head quickly. “We can go somewhere low key like, um, Fay’s maybe?”

  “Perfect.” Chayton said, still not taking his eyes off of her.

  “I’ll meet you there.” Mason set Maryn down and walked away to grab his bag. He’d driven the old Honda they called The Snow Leopard. When Beau had been arrested, Emma had been able to keep his newer Explorer. Amazingly, it was paid for. She didn’t want to think about how he’d paid for it.

  Chayton turned toward the parking lot and placed a hand on her back, comfortably guiding her. The girls trotted along behind them, talking excitedly about eating French fries and maybe even getting a Sprite. Emma winced, trying to remember if they’d ever had dinner out somewhere. Was it apparent to Chayton how strapped she was? Probably. The whole town knew about all her misfortunes, why shouldn’t he?

  They didn’t say much as he escorted her to her car, but that large hand on her lower back had her sweating more than the warm fall day. He helped her into the car. “I’ll follow you there.”

  “Thanks,” she said before he closed her door.

  She waited for the girls to get strapped in and his classic red pickup to pull up behind her. The drive to Fay’s didn’t take long. Chayton was quick to help her and the girls out of their vehicle and walk them to the diner. Mason was waiting just outside, still in his lacrosse uniform. He held the door and eyed them both strangely as Chayton’s hand was on her back again. The last time Emma felt these stirrings of excitement was when she’d dated her first husband, Jacob, as a starry-eyed fifteen year old. Before Beau had been injured she’d enjoyed being around him, but couldn’t say she felt sparks like this. She shouldn’t be this drawn to Mason’s coach. Maybe next year, when Mason left for college and Chayton wasn’t coaching her son, but not now.

  The girls were beyond excited as they entered the retro diner. Fay seated them and was grinning at their chatter about French fries. Emma loved the pink streaks in Fay’s dark hair.

  “Do you want a hamburger or chicken sandwich, or just fries?” Fay asked them teasingly.

  “Hamburgers?” Maryn’s brown eyes were wide. She bounced on the vinyl seat. “You gots hamburgers and fries? This is the best. Place. Ever!” Maryn jumped off her chair and hugged Fay’s leg.

  Fay laughed. “What a doll,” she said to Emma then glanced back down at Maryn. “I’ll bring you a hamburger, fries, and…”

  “A Sprite?” Maryn looked up at her with worshipful eyes.

  Emma had to swallow down the mixture of excitement for this experience for her girl and regret that going to a restaurant for a hamburger and fries hadn’t happened in the four-year old’s memory. She glanced at Chayton. He’d offered to buy, but was he okay with the girls ordering drinks? Beau would’ve flipped out. Chayton was smiling broadly at her and seeming to enjoy the craziness of her little family. Mason peeled Maryn off of Fay’s leg and set her on his lap. “Why don’t you play with my phone while we wait?”

  Maryn greedily grabbed the device. It wasn’t as fancy as some of his friends, but Emma was grateful they both could at least afford phones and a basic plan now. Maryn started scrolling through pictures of Mason and Kaitlyn while they all ordered. “She’s a beautiful princess,” she exclaimed over and over, showing Fay the pictures of the two of them at prom last year. Kaitlyn was gorgeous and sweet, but as a mom, Emma couldn’t help but worry about Mason having a girlfriend. She prayed night and day that he would be able to be in better control of his passions than she’d been at an age younger than them.

  Fay was watching Emma expectantly. “Oh, I’ll have, um, a water and whatever your special is.”

  “Chicken Malibu. You’ll love it,” Fay said. She glanced over Emma’s small frame. “It’ll be a lot of food for you, though.”

  “That’s okay,” Mason said. “I can eat whatever she can’t.”

  Everyone chuckled. Fay took their menus and promised to return soon with drinks. Luckily, the little girls prattled to Chayton and Mason so Emma didn’t have to say much. Chayton helped them color on a notebook Emma pulled out of her purse. They both seemed to be half in love with him before the meal was over, and not just because he bought them fries and Sprites.

  As Chayton walked them to their car, Mason got a phone call and his face split into a grin. “I’ll see you at home,” he said, giving Emma a quick kiss on the cheek. It still shocked her sometimes how close to a man her son was as he had to lean way down to kiss her and he was twice her size. “Hi, Kaitlyn. How was the concert?” He walked down the sidewalk toward his car, but then turned and called out, “Thanks for dinner, Coach.”

  Chayton waved his welcome. He focused in on Emma. “Ah, the power of a woman.”

  She blushed. “Scary.”

  “Yes, it is.” Chayton opened the back door and escorted the two girls into the seat. “Thanks for coming to dinner with me,” he said.

  “Thanks for fries,” Maryn yelled.

  “Thank you,” Addison said more properly.

  Chayton grinned, shut the door, and leaned against it, inclining his head as he studied Emma. “You’ve got amazing children.”

  “I know.” She fished her keys out of her purse and clung to them. She should open her door and get in, but she was loathe to end this fun night. “Thank you for dinner. They loved it.”

  “My pleasure.”

  She blushed at that. “Is six okay tomorrow night?” Oh, my, that was too forward. What if he’d decided against coming to dinner?

  Chayton scooted a few inches closer to her. “I was worried you might want to back out,” he said in a low murmur.

  Emma jerked her head up to stare at him. “I thought you might want to.”

  “I’d never turn down home cooking… or a chance to spend a night with a beautiful woman.”

  Emma blushed, but she was certain he talked like this to other women. She probably looked like an old, haggard mom to him. She’d never noticed him being overly flirtatious with other women when she’d been doing l
acrosse events with him, but maybe he was one of those who was naturally flirtatious. She was the mother of his player and he was a nice, friendly guy.

  A silver sports car pulled in behind them and Jessica Porter popped out. Her long, tanned legs were showcased with a flouncy red skirt that came above the knee and silver heels.

  “Emma, Chayton!” she cried out. “How fun to see you both.”

  “Jessica,” Chayton greeted.

  “Hi, Jessica.” Did Emma dare hope that he wasn’t thrilled about the interruption?

  “And those darling girls,” Jessica squealed. She blew them both kisses and they waved happily at her.

  “Hi, Princess,” Maryn yelled.

  Jessica definitely looked like a princess. Emma glanced down at her own faded blue jeans and an Echo Ridge lacrosse t-shirt that fit Mason years ago. It was boxy and threadbare. She hung her head. Chayton must be so embarrassed to be seen with her when he could be with someone like Jessica.

  “I wanted to ask you about your summer trips,” Jessica said to Chayton.

  “Oh, okay, which one are you interested in?” Chayton’s gaze strayed to Emma.

  She was certain it was time to go. She reached for her door, but Chayton’s hand enclosed over hers. Tingles spread through her even though Jessica was watching and waiting for Chayton. What man wouldn’t be interested in a beautiful, kind person like Jessica?

  Chayton pulled open the door.

  “Thank you again for dinner.” She looked past him before he could reply. “Good to see you, Jessica.”