Stronger By Your Side (Great Love Book 2) by A. Hart Read Free Book Online Page B

with a text from Emerson telling me they were here.
    I thought “they” meant Sarah and herself, but as I walked down the stairs and was greeted by Travis and his smug smile, I realized I was mistaken. I wasn’t his biggest fan right now. Not after last Sunday. We were doing fine at the cemetery. Then he abruptly left me at Charles’s Bronco, with no goodbye, no anything.
    He didn’t even fulfill his promise to Charlotte about picking her up with me from Jules’s house. My daughter was two, but she had the memory of an elephant. If you told her you would do something, she would remember. First thing she asked when I picked her up that day was “Where Uncky Travey?” I didn’t like the fact that I had to break her little heart. That really pissed me off. Then, after two days of ignoring my texts, Travis showed up to a family dinner at Aunt Jules’s Tuesday night. He acted like he hadn’t been a total jerk, and then, to put the icing on the cake, he tried to kiss me again. I felt like I had emotional whiplash.
    There were rumors that he was seen making out with an unknown woman in his truck on the side of the highway. The way his cheeks turned slightly pink and his refusal to look into my eyes told me it wasn’t a rumor. I had walked away that night, and then it was my turn to ignore him, because . . . what were we doing? What was he doing? Sarah had feelings for him, for God’s sake, and I didn’t! Why wasn’t he listening to me?
    I didn’t understand it, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to. He had been showing up with flowers and texting me for the past three nights. The school year started in a couple of days and therefore, I had bigger and better things to worry about. I was focused on getting my classroom ready and getting Charlotte prepped for preschool.
    I glared at Travis and walked right to Emerson’s window. I quickly saw that it wasn’t her driving her black Jeep Liberty this time. Instead, it was Cal. He rolled down the window as Emerson flung herself across her husband’s lap and anxiously spat out, “Hi. Okay, I’m really sorry, but Sarah had two extra passes and they would have gone to waste, and Cal’s sister, Jenny, offered to take Maxie and Mari for the night . . . and Cal offered to be D.D. and this way they can keep weirdos away from us . . .  ”
    I glared at her and shook my head. “You suck.”
    Sarah yelled from the back seat. “I agree with Meg. Guys are night ruiners!”
    Cal blew out a breath. “First of all, Sarah: ruiners? Not a word. Second, you won’t even know we’re there.”
    I walked around the jeep to get into the back seat and Travis opened the door. “After you, Princess.”
    I mumbled under my breath, “Won’t know you’re there, my ass.”
    Travis blew out a long breath, slid in next to me and closed the door. “This will be interesting.” He grunted.
    Sarah laughed. “Ha! Why? Because you’re stuck in a sardine container with two women who currently cannot stand to be in your almighty presence?”
    He chuckled to himself. His hand lightly brushed my shoulder as he laid his arm behind both Sarah and me. “Something like that, Sunshine.” Sarah gritted her teeth and I held back a giggle.
    Sarah looked straight forward as she ground out, “Unless you don’t care about having children . . . ever . . . I highly suggest you get your hand the fuck away from me.”
    That was all I could handle. A loud, roaring laugh blurted from my lips, and it felt good. Everyone joined except Sarah, who looked like she was going to kill Travis. Emerson turned on the music and we began dancing, laughing and talking about the dumbest things. Cal and Travis chimed in occasionally, but they mostly just sat there as Cal drove.
    We pulled into the parking lot of the lounge and gathered our stuff. I noticed Cal and Emerson whispering about something in the front seat. That’s when I remembered what Charles had told me about something that happened to Emerson. I gave myself a mental