Not Part of the Plan: A Small Town Love Story (Blue Moon Book 4)

by Lucy Score

  “Reva, I don’t want to separate you from your brother.”

  “But if you put us in foster care, that’s what’s going to happen. I’ll be eighteen in ten months. I can be Caleb’s guardian then.”

  “But you can’t freaking raise yourselves until then,” Joey argued. “What the hell, Reva?”

  “Okay, hang on. We need an adult pow-wow,” Emma said.

  “Stay right there, and don’t even think about running away or I’ll have Waffles hunt you down,” Joey threatened Reva.

  “Okay, here’s what happened,” Donovan began when they huddled up. “Reva’s mom asked you two to watch her kids while she went on vacation,” he said pointing at Joey and Jax.

  “Us? We don’t know what to do with kids!” Joey complained.

  “Please,” Jax snorted. “Reva is more mature than the two of us combined.”

  “True. Continue.”

  “We’re going to take them to their house, make sure the mom isn’t there, pack up some of their shit, and they’re going to stay with you two until I can figure out a way to make sure they don’t get split up,” Donovan decided.

  “You heard the sheriff, Jojo,” Jax said. “We got ourselves a couple of house guests.”

  “Good thing we put that addition on the house,” Joey muttered.

  ––—

  Niko and Emma went with Donovan, Reva, and Caleb to the house to pack while Jax and Joey readied the guest rooms.

  Reva stared sullenly out the window of Donovan’s SUV while Caleb fell asleep against Emma’s arm. Emma felt an ages-old rage roil inside her. How were mothers still abandoning their children? And in this case, there wasn’t a second parent ready and willing to step into the void. She and her sisters had been lucky. Franklin had been father and mother and therapist and friend to them all. But who did Reva have? And who did Caleb have besides Reva?

  Emma understood Reva better than the girl could know. She knew the bitter taste of betrayal just as she knew the determination to keep the rest of her family intact. She just hoped the system wouldn’t damage them even more.

  Without directions, Donovan pulled into the dirt driveway of a ramshackle ranch. Once a shade of white, the siding shown dingy gray in the headlights. Paint peeled from the shutters and front door. But the grass was neatly trimmed and the porch light glowed a sad welcome.

  “Come on, Cale,” Reva whispered to her brother. “We’re home.”

  Inside, Reva flipped on lights revealing a worn but spotless interior. The threadbare carpet was vacuumed. The shelves holding a handful of framed pictures of Reva and Caleb were dusted. The kitchen was immaculate and empty save for a box of peanut butter crackers and a bag of apples on the counter. There was no food in the cabinets or the refrigerator.

  “I was going to go grocery shopping tomorrow. I got paid this weekend,” Reva said defensively as Donovan systematically opened and closed cabinets.

  “Reva, there’s not a one of us that’s gonna say you did something wrong. So get that through your stubborn head,” Donovan said. “We’re here to help, and we’re going to do whatever it takes to keep you and your brother together. So if you’re gonna be pissed, be pissed at someone who deserves it.”

  “You mean like my mother.”

  Niko knelt down to Caleb’s level. “Hey, man. Want to show me your room? We can pack up some stuff for your sleepover at Jax and Joey’s.”

  Caleb trotted down the ribbon of hallway tugging Niko behind him.

  “Look, we’re not here to judge,” Donovan began.

  “But you are,” Reva countered. “I come from a woman who loved pills and booze more than her own kids. That’s in me. She made me.”

  Emma laid her hands on Reva’s shoulders. “You aren’t your parents any more than any of us are. My mom left, too. And I take great pleasure in not being her. It doesn’t matter who made you. It matters what you choose to be.”

  “Do you know where she is, Reva?” Donovan asked quietly.

  She shook her head. “Said she was going away for the weekend with her boyfriend. That was three weeks ago. She emptied the checking account.”

  “Go pack whatever you need,” Donovan ordered quietly.

  Emma gave her a minute and then wandered down the skinny hallway with its flattened, stained shag carpeting. She paused outside Caleb’s room and listened to Niko explain how to pack his Buzz Lightyear suitcase so he could fit his teddy bear in it.

  “Wow!” Caleb said in wonder as Niko zipped the bag shut. “You pack good.”

  “Lots of practice, kid.”

  “Niko?”

  “Yeah, bud?”

  “Do you think Jax and Joey will have Marshmallow Munchies at their house?”

  “What are Marshmallow Munchies?”

  The little boy moved in and leaned his tired head against Niko’s arm. “It’s my favorite cereal. I had it one time at a sleepover.”

  Niko cleared his throat, and his voice was gravelly when he spoke again. “Yeah, buddy. I think they’ll have Marshmallow Munchies.”

  Her throat thick with emotion, Emma moved on to the room Reva had entered and knocked lightly. “Need a hand?”

  Reva was sitting on the bed, silent tears tracking down her face. “I’m not sad,” she said quickly, wiping a hand under each eye.

  “You’re pissed, and you have every right to be,” Emma said, sitting down next to her. “Be mad at her. It’ll fuel you better than sad ever will. But don’t forget that you still have a life to live, and it’s going to be good. Really good.”

  “You think so?” Reva sniffed.

  “This is Blue Freaking Moon, Reva. We take care of our own whether you want us to or not. Now, shove your crap in a bag and let’s get your brother home to bed.”

  ––—

  It was another hour before they had Reva and Caleb settled in at Jax and Joey’s. Waffles was beside himself with excitement over the house guests and couldn’t decide who he wanted to sleep with.

  “I can’t believe they’ve been on their own for almost a month,” Niko shook his head as they walked back to Emma’s car in the brewery parking lot.

  “That is one determined girl,” Emma agreed, wrapping her arms around herself to keep warm. Noticing, Niko pulled her up against his side, and the heat pumping off of him warmed her immediately.

  “Is there an all-night grocery store around here?” he asked.

  “In Cleary, about thirty minutes west,” Emma told him. “Why? Are you hungry?”

  “I’m gonna go pick up a couple of boxes of Marshmallow Munchies.”

  And just like that, she broke. Hard and fast and without any hope of ever recovering her sanity.

  “Damn it, Niko!”

  She grabbed him by the shirtfront and dragged him down to meet her mouth. Her body, it seemed, had been waiting for this exact moment forever. The heat and pressure of his lips against hers sent magic zinging up her spine as every cell in her body flamed to life.

  He caught up quickly, spinning her and pressing her against the door of her SUV. Cold metal at her back and the hot, hard lines of Niko’s body at her front. She felt him harden against her and welcomed it when he leaned into her, grinding hips against hips.

  She whimpered against his lips, and he used it to gain access to her mouth. His tongue swept into her like an army invading, and Emma could see the stars brighten behind her closed lids. Closer. She needed to be closer to him. His belt bit into her belly, but it only excited her more.

  He skimmed his hands over her shoulders, down her arms to her waist and hips, the silk of her dress begging to be ripped away.

  She shoved her fingers into his hair, keeping him on her, and gave up all need for oxygen as she poured herself into the kiss. Swept away. As if her common sense and her carefully laid plans were caught in the unceasing current of a river.

  It’s what he was doing to her, what she was allowing to happen.

  Her lips bruised themselves against his, finding the pain worth it now that t
he wait was finally over. She belonged right here, right now, devouring and being devoured under the night spring sky. Nothing but now mattered.

  “Baby,” Niko whispered, his breath ragged. “We’ve got to stop, or I’m going to take you right here on the hood of your car.”

  “There are worse places,” Emma said, nibbling on his lower lip.

  He growled darkly. “You deserve better, Emmaline. And I’m going to give it to you.”

  She lost her breath again at that promise. “My house. Tomorrow night. Tonight,” she corrected looking up at the night sky. “Dinner. I’ll cook for you and then after—”

  “I’ll make you very, very happy,” he promised. He pulled back slightly and stared up at the sky, swore. “Are you sure, Emma? I know you want to be friends, and I’ve got to admit, I’ve become pretty dependent on having you as a friend.”

  “Niko, you’re driving an hour round-trip to buy a little boy you just met cereal that he had one time and loved. This after spending hours documenting the happiest day of my father’s life, all because I asked you to do it. You’re not just gorgeous on the outside. You’re beautiful on the inside, too, and I’d be an idiot to not take advantage of whatever time we have together.”

  “Jesus, Emma. You gut me,” he said, resting his forehead on hers.

  “Nikolai, you’re going to feel a lot more than gutted when I’m done with you.”

  His erection flexed hard as steel against her belly at her words. “I’m worried I won’t survive you,” he admitted.

  “There’s only one way to find out. Seven. Don’t be late. And you might want to catch a nap this afternoon so you’re rested up.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Emma congratulated herself on having had the foresight to take Monday off at the brewery. Originally, it had been in anticipation of a spectacular champagne and happiness hangover. But after a few hours of sleep, she’d woken hangover-free and excited. She was going to have sex with Nikolai Vulkov, and after that kiss last night—the one that had left her hot, breathless, and weak in the knees—she would need the day to prepare.

  But first, she popped by McCafferty’s Farm Supply on the square. She had planned to pick up what was supposed to be just a few items of clothing for Reva and Caleb and somehow ended up with an entire wardrobe for them both.

  She’d dropped them off at Jax and Joey’s and found Caleb snuggled on the couch with Waffles and a blanket.

  “Hi!”

  “Hey, Caleb. How’s it going?”

  “Jax and Joey said I didn’t hafta go to school today since I was up so late last night. I had Marshmallow Munchies for breakfast, and they were the best ever!”

  “That sounds like a really good day,” Emma agreed. “Is Jax or Joey here?” God, she hoped one of them was.

  “Jax is in his office writin’ stuff. He made me grilled cheese for lunch!”

  “Cool. Well, I’m going to go say hi to him. But first, I saw this and I thought you might like it.”

  She pulled the stuffed pony out of one of the shopping bags and handed it over to him.

  “For me?” he asked, incredulous. And her heart broke just a little bit for him.

  “I thought you’d like it since you’re staying here with all the horses.”

  “Wow! Thanks! What’s his name?” Caleb asked.

  “You get to name him. He’s yours.”

  “Hmm. Joe? No. Horsey? No.” His little face was serious as he examined the pony from ears to tail, trying on names for size. She left him to it and wandered around the staircase to Jax’s office.

  He and Joey had added an addition to the cozy cabin that nearly doubled the square footage. The second floor now boasted four spacious bedrooms, while downstairs, Jax got a study for himself and Joey got a sunroom.

  Emma knocked on the doorframe and watched Jax drag himself out of the story he was telling.

  “Oh, hey,” he yawned, stretching his arms overhead. “Trouble at the brewery?”

  “When have I ever brought you a problem I couldn’t handle?” Emma demanded, dumping the bags by the door.

  “Good point. Are you clothing an army?” he asked, nodding at the bags.

  “I noticed Reva and Caleb didn’t have a ton of clothes when they were packing last night, so I thought I’d pick up a few essentials.”

  “And a few essentials turned into the entire second floor of McCafferty’s?” Jax laughed.

  “Pretty much.”

  “Between you and Niko, these kids are going to be swimming in iPads and diamonds,” Jax predicted.

  The delight she got out of just hearing Niko’s name was ridiculous.

  “So Niko made his cereal delivery?” she asked innocently.

  “He texts me at three this morning and asks if it’s okay to leave a few ‘groceries’ in the kitchen for the kids. So I let him in, and he’s got four bags of frozen pizza and cereal and chips and mac and cheese. Comfort food, he called it.”

  Emma felt her heart warm.

  “What’s with the face?” Jax demanded.

  “What? What face?”

  “I tell you Niko dumps eighty-two thousand calories in our kitchen, and you get all soft and dewy.”

  “Shut up. I did not.”

  Jax leaned across the desk. “Those crazy Beautification Committee bastards got to you two, didn’t they? When’s the wedding?”

  “The Beautification Committee has nothing to do with me being friends with Niko. In fact, I have it on good authority that they have no interest in pairing me off with him.”

  “Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. Also, they don’t call going all doe-eyed at the mention of some guy’s name ‘friends.’”

  “You’re ridiculous!”

  “He’s a good guy,” Jax said, shifting gears into serious. “You could do a lot worse.”

  “He’s not staying in Blue Moon, and I am,” Emma reminded him.

  “Emma, Emma, Emma,” he sighed. “Never underestimate the power and pull of this insane town.”

  Caleb ran into the room, hugging the stuffed horse around the neck. “Emma! I picked a name!”

  “You did! That’s great! What is it?”

  He held out the horse for his introduction. “This is Cloppy.” His face fell momentarily, and the little boy looked worried. “Are you really sure I can keep him?”

  Emma’s eyes met Jax’s, saw her own sadness mirrored in his, before answering. “Of course. I got him just for you.”

  Satisfied, Caleb smiled and then threw his arms around her legs. “Thanks! Hi, Jax!” he waved before scampering out the door. “Come on, Cloppy!”

  “Everything that kid says is like a hammer fist to my heart,” Jax said, rubbing a hand absently over his chest. “How could anyone just walk away from him?”

  “You never know why people make the decisions they do.”

  “Does this stir up a lot of stuff for you about your own mom?” Jax asked.

  Emma raised an eyebrow at him, and Jax looked chagrined. “Sorry. Nosey writer habit.”

  “Things are simmering. But that was a long time ago for all of us, and we had my dad. And it looks like Reva and Caleb have you and Joey.”

  “For better or worse, it looks like,” Jax joked.

  The timer on his phone went off.

  “What’s that for?”

  “It’s my ‘check on Caleb’ to make sure he’s alive and not ingesting forty pounds of chocolate alarm.”

  ––—

  After Jax’s, Emma convinced Eva to put down her work, and the two headed off to the Snip Shack for some pampering. She was due for a trim and let Claudette, the stylist, work her magic on her curly tresses. Next came facials and the pedis they’d both missed out on due to Fitz’s untimely arrival.

  As their feet soaked in the tubs of warm, scented water and the mud on their faces hardened, Emma broached the subject. “So listen, Eva. You know how I said you could stay with me as long as you wanted?”

  Eva glanced up over her readin
g glasses and took a sip of her diet soda. “I’m getting the feeling you’re about to give me bad news.”

  “I need you to stay somewhere else tonight.”

  “Why? Are you getting the place fumigated?”

  “Niko’s coming over for dinner and… dessert.”

  Eva straightened, nearly launching the magazine she was reading into the foot water. “Are you serious? Oh, my God! This is the most incredible news! What are you going to wear? What are you going to cook? How are you going to do your hair?”

  “So you’re not mad that I’m kicking you out?”

  “Ems, I’d go sleep in the forest in the middle of winter if I thought it meant you were happily getting laid by that gorgeous, smoldering piece of hotness.”

  “He’s not just eye candy,” Emma said, disapprovingly. “He’s pretty great on the inside, too.”

  “That’s quite the change from ‘I know his type. He’s just another womanizing bad boy.’” Eva said, mimicking Emma’s previous stance on Nikolai Vulkov. “Not that I’m complaining that you changed your mind,” she corrected quickly.

  “Could have fooled me.”

  “I just mean that after you meet him, anyone can see that Niko’s not your standard wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am guy. Sure, he’s super intense, but there’s this genuine interest in there like even if he doesn’t want to sleep with you, he’d still like to know you as a person. Even though he totally wants to sleep with you.”

  Emma stared blandly at her sister. “What goes on in your head?”

  Eva grinned. “Trust me, Ems, you don’t want to know. Let’s get back to what you’re going to wear.”

  ––—

  By six forty-five, Emma was dressed in a simple yet sexy dress in a fresh, springy green. Its sweetheart neckline was cut low enough to be very interesting while the slim-fitting skirt stopped an appropriate three inches above her knees. Her hair, expertly styled by Claudette, hung in glossy ringlets that begged for a man’s hands. She’d gone for a little bit of drama with smoky eyes and a sexy gloss on her lips.

  The meal she’d kept relatively simple with stuffed mushrooms for the appetizer followed by Florentine style cuts of porterhouse and a light prosciutto and pine nut salad. Dessert, if they got that far into the courses, was a decadent tiramisu that she’d picked up from her father’s restaurant.