Taylor Lynne: The Women of Merryton - Book Two

by Jennifer Peel

I was more than glad when it was time to eat. Eating, at least, trumped gawking at me, or it did until I found myself sandwiched between Emmy and Easton outside on the well-crafted stone patio. Easton needed a girlfriend, stat. I decided then and there I was going to mention Rachel to him when we could speak privately.

  “Are you getting ready to go back to school in a few weeks?” I asked Emmy.

  She gave me a noncommittal shrug. “I guess.”

  I put my arm around her. “I have a feeling this is going to be a great year for you. How about you come with Ashley and me to buy new school clothes?”

  I looked at Easton to make sure that was all right, although I knew it would be. He looked beyond relieved I made the suggestion. I’m sure he had been thinking of a way to ask me to do it.

  Emmy looked happy, which made me happy.

  Easton and Emmy never seemed to be far from me, but I decided to take it in stride. What else could I do? In a way it was comforting to know that I had people. It also allowed me the opportunity to observe those around us. No one, it seemed, wanted to disturb our little group other than to pass by and say a few words. It was interesting to watch the dynamics of each family. Take Jessie’s, for instance. You could tell Blake wasn’t overly fond of having guests over, but you could tell he was trying to be sociable—or at least present—for his wife. Or maybe he was trying to keep an eye on his daughter—she was a beauty. I had a feeling they were in for a rollercoaster ride with that one.

  Then there was Abby’s family. They reminded me of a sitcom family from the nineties, right down to the adorable yet sassy five-year-old.

  I couldn’t forget Cheyenne. She brought some over-muscled, tanned guy who was obviously way more into her than she was into him. She had eyes for Easton. I thought it would cause her to have contempt for me, but I think she knew it would be an unrealized conquest for her. I almost felt sorry for her. I think deep down she desired to have what her friends had, but I think she knew she would never have it with the guy that was hanging all over her.

  I also watched Easton. He had obviously settled well into Merryton. He was definitely well liked and respected. I wasn’t surprised. Maybe a little miffed at first. Though nobody really stayed and talked to him, I think everyone there came by to greet him. You could easily see how people felt about him.

  Easton, Emmy, and I left at the same time. Easton insisted on walking me to my car and opening the door for me. On the walk to my car, I made sure Emmy was between us. I needed all the buffer I could get. Besides, I liked her close.

  He opened my car door. “I’ll call you later.”

  I nodded in agreement. I was going to talk to him about Rachel, and I’m sure he wanted to talk about the camping trip I wouldn’t be going on.

  “Bye, sweet girl.” I waved at Emmy.

  They both watched me drive off.

  For a moment, I wished … I wished for things that weren’t mine and could never be.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “Did Ashley make it home safely?” Easton asked when he called later that night.

  “Yes, and as far as I can tell there were no tongues involved.”

  Easton chuckled.

  “Did Emmy have trouble falling asleep?”

  “Yes,” he admitted reluctantly.

  “Poor thing. Hopefully it’s just a passing phase.”

  “It’s been a long phase.”

  “Have you taken her to see someone?”

  “I’m a doctor,” he reminded me. I think I ruffled his feathers some.

  “I remember.”

  “Sorry,” he responded. “It’s so frustrating not being able to fix it.”

  “Maybe … you could get a second opinion,” I suggested with great hesitation.

  He sighed loudly on his end.

  “I know it’s not my place. I’m just trying to help.”

  “I know, Taylor. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about camping—”

  “First, I want to talk to you,” I interrupted.

  “Okay.”

  “What do you think about Rachel Whitney?”

  “She’s a great insurance agent,” he said without even thinking.

  “I agree, but what do you think of her as a person?”

  It took him a minute this time. “Well, she’s competent, as far as I can tell. I admire her for raising Drew so well, and from such an early age.”

  “I’ve been really impressed with her.”

  “Great,” Easton commented. “But what’s with the interest in her?”

  “I was thinking that you should consider asking her out.” It came out in a rush. I was nervous suggesting someone for him to date.

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “No. I think you two are well suited for each other.”

  “I can’t believe you are suggesting women for me to date. And to top it off, a woman that I could practically be the father of.” He sounded angry.

  “You are nowhere near old enough to be her father, plus she’s mature for her age.”

  “Taylor, I’m not the least bit interested in Rachel.”

  “Why not? She’s gorgeous, not to mention smart and motivated.”

  “We’re not having this conversation,” he sighed in frustration.

  “Fine. I was only trying to help.”

  “Let’s talk tomorrow,” he snapped. “I need to go think.”

  “Goodnight,” I said. I don’t know why he was getting snippy with me. I was only trying to help him … and maybe me.

  I think he may have mumbled goodnight, but he practically hung up on me.

  I stared at my phone for a few seconds after the call ended. I didn’t expect that reaction at all.

  Easton was distant at church the next morning. He didn’t even bring Emmy by for me to do her hair, which disappointed me, but she was getting better at fixing it herself. I missed her. I brought some barrettes to church just in case she wanted me to do something with her hair before church started.

  Easton and Emmy were already sitting on our regular pew when Ashley and I arrived. Easton was leaning forward on his legs with his hands clasped. It looked as though he was praying, and I was suddenly hit with a sweet memory. I remembered the first time I saw Easton kneel by our bed and pray after we were married. I had never seen a man do that. I remembered watching him as he silently prayed and asked him when he got off his knees what he prayed for. “For you; for us,” he had said. In that moment I had never loved him more.

  It had disappointed me when we moved here and he stopped doing that, just like he stopped going to church.

  “Taylor, Ashley,” Emmy said when we appeared.

  The girls immediately embraced each other.

  Easton looked up and smiled at his daughters before his eyes met mine. His smile was replaced with a scrunched brow. He scooted over to make room for us on the pew. He placed both girls between us.

  “Good morning,” I said to both Emmy and Easton.

  Easton nodded and Emmy asked if I would fix her hair.

  As I combed her hair and clipped two barrettes in, I felt Easton watching me, but as soon as I looked up, he leaned forward and put his head back down.

  Ashley looked between the two of us and gave me a questioning glance. I shrugged my shoulders. What could I say? Your dad is unhappy with me because I suggested he date someone. Perhaps that news wouldn’t make her happy either.

  The service was good, as always, but I swear Pastor Bates always directed his message toward me. His sermon was on letting go and letting God. Something I wasn’t remotely good at.

  I slipped away after the service and took myself up to the old musty room. I didn’t think Easton would care for my company in Sunday school.

  The room wasn’t empty. I found Rachel there looking a little distraught.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked immediately.

  She wiped at her beautiful violet eyes. “Drew asked me if I could find his dad this morning.”

  I sat down next to her and to
uched her knee, but didn’t speak.

  “Sometimes I worry when he asks me who his dad is it means I’m not enough for him. That I’m failing in some way.”

  “Believe me, every mom feels like that from time to time, no matter the circumstance. You’re a terrific mom. He’s curious is all. I remember Ashley asking me all sorts of questions about her dad and wishing he was around more. That’s not a bad thing, and it’s not a reflection on you. They see their friends with both parents and it’s natural to want that.”

  “So it never bothered you that she wanted her dad?”

  I shook my head and smiled. “I didn’t say that. It got under my skin. I wanted to be her everything, but I guess dads bring something else to the table.”

  “I don’t even know where to begin to find Drew’s dad. My sister would never say who he was. I’m not even sure the guy knows Drew exists. And judging by the losers my sister usually dated, I don’t want to bring this guy into our lives.”

  “Maybe you’ll meet someone and make him the luckiest stepfather ever.”

  She rolled her eyes. “There’s no one in this town to fill those shoes.”

  I was about to suggest Easton when the door opened and there stood Jessie, shaking her head and laughing. “I thought I might find you up here.”

  Rachel and I looked between each other, not sure who she was talking to.

  Jessie pulled up a chair next to us. “I just had a very interesting conversation with Easton and my husband.”

  “I thought Blake didn’t do church,” Rachel said.

  Jessie grinned mischievously. “He has incentive now.”

  “Incentive?” I questioned.

  “I’ll explain later. Anyway, Easton grabbed us after the service and asked if he could talk to us. He looked terrible.” Jessie grinned at me.

  I tried to play it off like I was an innocent bystander, but I knew it was about me.

  Rachel went to stand up. “I’m sure Dr. Cole doesn’t want me to hear this.”

  Jessie took a hold of her hand. “You’ll want to hear this since it involves you, too.”

  Oh no, I thought to myself.

  “Me?” Rachel asked with surprise.

  Jessie smirked. “Oh yes. It seems Taylor has been trying her hand at matchmaking, and she suggested to her ex-husband that he date you.”

  “Dr. Cole?” she said as if that was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard.

  Both ladies looked at me like I had lost my mind.

  “I merely suggested he consider it.”

  They both laughed.

  “Why is that so funny? You’re both single, intelligent, attractive people.”

  Rachel took my hand while still snickering. “For one, Dr. Cole is old enough to be my dad.”

  “We’re not that old,” I said defensively.

  “Close enough,” she countered. “But even if that weren’t true, the poor man is besotted with you.”

  “Oh, no, no. See, that’s why I suggested you. He’s lonely and his attraction to me is due to oxytocin and dopamine.”

  “I don’t know what oxytocin and dopamine have to do with it,” Jessie said through some gut-holding laughter, “but I’m certain that isn’t it.”

  Rachel nodded and laughed in agreement.

  “Seriously, it’s true. Once you’ve been with someone … intimately, when you spend time with them, it releases oxytocin and dopamine into your system, making you feel a bond with the other person. It’s purely a chemical reaction.”

  I almost thought they were going to fall over they were laughing so hard at me.

  For some reason I felt like crying.

  When their laughter was under control, I looked sternly at both of them. “I left him and he never came for me. We’ve spent most of the last fourteen years hating each other. Easton is confused and lonely right now. He and I aren’t a good idea.”

  That wiped the smiles off their faces. They each reached for a hand. It was then the emotion I had felt swelling within manifested itself out of my eyes and down my cheeks. I’m not even sure why.

  “Taylor, we aren’t making light of what you’ve been through,” Jessie said. “But trust me when I say Easton’s feelings for you have nothing to do with a chemical reaction. He deeply regrets that he didn’t try to save your marriage when he could have and should have. I think he sees this as a second chance, a chance to right those wrongs.”

  “We just can’t. I can’t.”

  Both women looked at me sympathetically and squeezed my hands.

  “Anyway,” I said through a fake smile, “I thought you taught Sunday school, Jessie.”

  “I used to, but I’m going to be … a little busy, and Blake’s not really comfortable being here, so I promised I wouldn’t leave his side.” She popped up. “Speaking of which, I better get back to him.” She looked down at me with a sweet smile. “I think you have a lot more than oxytocin and dopamine to offer Easton.” She didn’t let me respond before she flitted out of the room.

  I looked back toward Rachel.

  “She’s right, you know,” Rachel said.

  I sat there contemplating and drying my eyes out for a while after both ladies left. Why did I move back here? I thought. This was not turning out at all like I’d hoped.

  I reluctantly made my way back downstairs. Church was about over by that time. The first person I ran into was Easton.

  “Hey, can Emmy go home with you?” he asked in a rush.

  “Sure. Is everything all right?”

  “I received an emergency call. I need to head over to the hospital.”

  “Is it … Frank?” I asked hesitantly. I thought about him more than I liked. I knew I couldn’t put off visiting him forever, but knowing and doing are two entirely different things. I mean, what would I even say to him?

  He looked at me with compassion before he shook his head no. It was better than the unhappy look from earlier. It bothered me now to think he might be unhappy with me.

  He briefly rested his warm hand on my cheek. “Thank you. I don’t know how long I’ll be.”

  I almost reached up and placed my hand over his as it rested on my cheek—out of instinct or a long ago habit—but I stopped myself in the nick of time. “Don’t worry, Emmy can stay as long as needed.”

  “You’re the best. I’ll call you later.”

  I nodded and watched him walk off.

  A couple of older ladies that had attended my seminar—Gerri and Fran—took the opportunity to loop arms with me, one on each side.

  “Rekindled romances are the hottest ones,” Gerri said awfully loud.

  “Um … excuse me. We aren’t rekindling anything.”

  “You kids are so cute,” Fran said.

  We could hardly be considered kids.

  “I’m happy to see the good doctor smiling again,” Gerri said with way more connotation than necessary.

  “If I were thirty years younger,” Fran sighed, “I wouldn’t mind giving him a go.”

  I cleared my throat. “Ladies, we’re in church.”

  “I’m not saying anything God doesn’t already know,” Fran admitted.

  I peeled myself away from them. “Have a nice day.” I practically ran away to find the girls.

  It didn’t get much better when I returned home with my little schemers. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought Easton had coached them.

  I wasn’t allowed to lift a finger for dinner or when it came time to clean the kitchen. That was when I really knew something was up. I offered to do the dishes since they cooked, but they emphatically declined. They pulled me to the couch, all smiles. They made me sit and fluffed pillows around me and brought the ottoman over for me to rest my feet on. They even thought to bring ice water with berries and lemon in it, just the way I liked. Ashley even turned on my “old” music.

  I played along while sipping my water and reading my book. I probably wouldn’t have been so relaxed had I known what they were angling for—I thought they w
ere angling along the lines of what they wanted as far as school clothes went. We had planned a shopping trip to Denver during dinner for that coming Saturday.

  They pulled out all the stops when they returned with a small basket filled with my pedicure kit, right down to the foot massage cream.

  I eyed them warily as they each took a foot to massage. “What are you ladies up to?” I asked.

  “Nothing,” they replied innocently.

  “Uh-huh. So what do you want?”

  They both cracked a smile. It reminded me so much of their dad.

  “Okay, so we were thinking that it would be so much fun if …” Ashley looked at Emmy who was trying her best not to look at me.

  “If what?” I asked.

  Ashley looked up at me and batted those beautiful brown eyes of hers. “Momma, you know, soon I’m going to be off at college and I know you want to spend as much time with me as possible, and when I was little, you promised some day you would take me camping and you never did.”

  I pulled my feet away from the sisters. “When did I promise that?”

  “I don’t remember the exact date and time, but it happened.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her. “Nice try, darlin’.”

  They weren’t done.

  “Dad knows you don’t like to camp, so he rented this really nice cabin for you to stay in. Come on, Momma. It will be so much fun.”

  “You can have so much fun without me.” I was not taking trips with Easton.

  Ashley looked at Emmy and mischievously smirked at her. It must have been their signal to switch to plan B. Before I knew it, they each took a side and cuddled up to me. I was surrounded by manipulative cuteness.

  “Momma, I love you,” Ashley sang.

  “That’s sweet,” I said with a tad of sarcasm.

  Ashley giggled.

  But it would be Emmy for the win. “Taylor?”

  “Yes, honey,” I responded.

  “I get scared sleeping in a tent. I have to leave a flashlight on all night, but if you come, we can sleep in the cabin together. Please?”

  Her little please got to me. If it wasn’t Emmy, I would be worried that she was going to grow up and be a world-class con artist, but she was nothing but pure and simple sweetness.

  I tried my best to think of a way to say no without crushing her, but was coming up blank. She dug her way into my side and whispered, “Please?” again.