Read Being Emma for Free Online

* *
     
    Sandy and his brother, Bill, were sitting in
Craig’s office in downtown Naples. As the accountant for the
Johnson Family Trust, Craig helped them every year get ready for
their trip to Las Vegas. Sandy and Bill went annually to meet with
their lawyers involved in the cattle business. Going to Vegas
wasn’t desired, but necessary with the scope of the Johnson
ranching business. Sometimes, Craig went with them. They were going
over various figures and accounts that would be needed for the
trip.
    In the middle of their discussions, Sandy
took a good look at Craig. He had known him all his life, but he
looked different for some unknown reason. Tilting his head, Sandy
saw the good-looking man with curly hair in a new light – And he
wasn’t sure why.
    Craig glanced up and noticed Sandy’s
look.
    “Sandy?”
    “There’s something different about you,
Craig. What is it? New suit? New haircut? Something…” Craig
shrugged.
    “Ah… nothing I can think of.” Bill
laughed.
    “At least he’s not wearing his kilt
today…”
    “Ha ha, guys. That’s only in Scotland when I
visit my grandparents.”
    “And shoot with the Royal Archers…”
    “Well, yeah…”
    “Your Scottish heritage is interesting,
Craig. Would you ever want to live there someday?” Craig paused and
thought about that.
    “I think I would… But not alone… If I didn’t
bring someone with me, my grandmother would be pissed.”
    Bill laughed. “Yeah, it’s not good to piss
off your grandmother.”
    Sandy had never heard Craig talk about
settling down before and it gave him pause… Even though Craig had
been best friends with Colt since they were little guys and now
Colt was married with three children. Still Craig had never even
been engaged. Maybe that was it… he was maturing and considering
his future. But then he shook off whatever was distracting him.
    “Are you coming to the party for the
grandkids on Saturday? Meg and Carter are coming down.” He laughed.
“I think Lily’s invited half the town. And of course, Jeanne and
Sam will be there. They’ve been asking about you.”
    “It’ll be great to see them again. I couldn’t
get free for the grape harvest this year, so I haven’t seen them in
a while.”
    “So you’re coming…”
    “Sure… How could I miss it?” He smiled.
“Lily’d kill me…”
    “That she would, son.” Sandy nodded. “That
she would…”

 
     
     
    CHAPTER SIX
     
     
    The party at the ranch was in full swing by
12:30. It seemed to Janie that most of the town was in the back
yard, mingling and laughing. There were people everywhere… Her
nieces and nephews were running around with several more children
that their family and friends had brought. The gift part hadn’t
happened yet as her dad and brothers were taking turns giving the
children pony rides. She listened to happy little voices as she
made her way back into the house to replenish some of the
snacks.
    Pulling out different foods from the pantry
and refrigerator, she poured various good smelling dips into bowls
and loaded others with chips and cut vegetables. Lost in thought,
she remembered something that had happened last night. She had
tossed and turned in bed a lot of the night just thinking about
it…
    Janie had arrived home yesterday to visit
with sister Meg and her family who had just driven down from San
Francisco. She loved Meg, found her husband Carter to be a nearly
perfect male and their little daughter, Sofia, to be as cute as she
could be. Yes, she knew Carter probably had a few warts here and
there, but nothing to alert the media about…
    The thing that kept her tossing and turning
had occurred right after Meg had put Sofia to bed for the night.
Janie just happened to be standing within view as Carter walked
down the darkened hallway to see if Sofia was asleep. She really
hadn’t planned on staring, but she couldn’t drag her eyes away from
what happened next. Meg came out of the bedroom, closing the door
softly