Authors: Lily Santana
Unexpectedly You (18 page)
Epilogue
It was a perfect fall day, the slight breeze carrying the dewy musk-brine of the ocean. Bursts of yellow and purple petunias absorbed the sun from flower boxes hung across the newly constructed second-story deck overlooking the ocean. Emma stood on the porch, staring at Sammy’s jam-packed compact car and drew in the piney scent of the rosemary bush, its furry leaves and tiny blue flowers wrapped tightly around the wooden railings.
She reminded herself again for the umpteenth time today that San Diego was only eighteen hours away by car and a short three-hour flight. She and Mitch could always visit Sammy or she could send her daughter a ticket to come home for the weekend. It wasn’t like she was going to another continent, for God’s sake. But the gloom she’d expected to feel turned into panic in her heart as she watched Sammy saying her goodbyes to Bogie and Lulu.
Emma turned around when Mitch came up behind her, carrying a tinfoil-wrapped package.
“Didn’t you want to take this with you?” he asked Sammy, motioning to the package in his hand.
Sammy beamed. “Thanks, Mitch. I would have gone back in for it.”
“No worries. I need the workout after eating three cupcakes.” He winked at Emma, who rolled her eyes.
“Whatever. I counted five,” Sammy teased.
He chuckled, jogging down the steps toward her. “Here I thought no one noticed.”
Sammy lunged for the package Mitch offered. “In case you change your mind and decide to hog these too.”
Emma watched the easy interplay between her fiancé and daughter, and tears stung her eyes. Most days, she had to pinch herself to make sure this was her life and she hadn’t conjured it out of her dreams.
In less than a year, her world had shifted. It was as if the colors were brighter, her steps were lighter and her senses sharper. Dorinda had commented more than once when she’d caught her looking off into space with a silly grin on her face about how youthful and animated she looked. Change, unwanted and uninvited, had bulldozed its way into her life and ripped the heavy gloom she’d been hiding under.
Pulling herself from her reverie, she moseyed over to the car and inspected the heavy load. “Are you sure she can see out the rearview mirror?”
Mitch bunched his brows before slipping into the driver’s seat. He made adjustments to the stack of boxes in the backseat.
Emma walked over to Sammy’s side. “You promise to drive safe and call me as soon as you arrive?”
“Yes, Mother. You’ve reminded me a million times in the last hour.”
“Sorry.” She resisted the urge to give her daughter another hug.
They both stared at Mitch, who was now inspecting the car’s tires.
“He’s pretty wonderful, Mom. You guys look so happy. I feel so much better leaving you here, knowing Mitch is with you.” Her daughter’s voice was thick with emotion.
Emma clasped Sammy’s hands. “It doesn’t mean I won’t miss you.”
“But you’ll be preoccupied,” Sammy teased. “Don’t forget your promise.”
She squeezed her daughter’s hands and tried to stop the stupid grin that threatened. Her face warmed nonetheless. “What promise?”
Sammy rolled her eyes. “You promised when I turned twenty-one, you’d tell me exactly how Mitch proposed.”
Emma’s gaze shifted back to Mitch and how sexy his butt looked as his body stretched to buckle Sammy’s luggage on the roof-rack of the car. “I’ve already told you the story. It was our seventh-month anniversary. We were camping out on the beach, having a bonfire. Mitch got down on one knee and proposed.” She turned back to her daughter but couldn’t quite meet Sammy’s pointed look without heat overcoming her face.
Sammy grinned. “See what I mean? Every time you tell the story, you get so embarrassed. I know you’re not telling me everything. I just know it.” Her mouth rounded to an O. “Were you guys naked?”
She was spared from having to lie to her daughter when Brandon Landis’s Jeep tore around the corner and pulled up, kicking off a bucketful of gravel in its wake.
“Someone wants to say goodbye,” Emma whispered in her daughter’s ear.
“Mom, stop it. He’ll hear you,” Sammy whispered back.
Brandon rolled down his windows. “Good morning. Thought I’d stop by to let you know I’d just heard on the police radio that there’s a big accident on I-5 South around Redding. Sammy, make sure you girls drive safe. Don’t speed.”
Sammy cheeks flushed a pretty pink. “I
know
how to drive.”
Emma frowned at Sammy’s brusqueness.
Brandon winked. “I know you know how to drive. I’m just reminding you to drive safe.”
Mitch sauntered over to the Jeep, an amused expression on his face. “That’s why you stopped by, to tell us about the accident? That’s very sweet of you, Officer.”
Emma smothered a grin.
Brandon shrugged. “Just doin’ my job. Well, you all have a good rest of the day,” he said before backing out and driving off.
She turned Sammy whose eyes shimmered with tears. “You okay?”
“I forgot something inside,” Sammy uttered before running back in the house.
Emma strolled over to Mitch and slipped her arm around his waist. “That was nice of Brandon to stop by.”
Mitch drew in a long breath. “Boy’s working overtime.”
She glanced up and met his deep blue gaze. Her pulse rate exhilarated. “I bet I know what you’re thinking.”
He wiggled his brows and curled his lips in a look that never failed to send a shiver up her spine. He leaned in and kissed her openmouthed, using his tongue to tease and arouse. After a minute, he pulled back reluctantly and cupped her face in his palms. “Do we have any more of the sweet icing you used for the cupcakes?”
She wet her lips seductively. His eyes followed her action. “Buckets,” she whispered.
His gaze darkened and he expelled a quick breath. “Goddamn. Let’s get this kid on the road.”
* * * * *
About the Author
Lily Santana is a native of the Philippines but stewed for twenty-five years in the melting pot of New York City, to which she credits her respectable ability to curse in multiple foreign languages. Fortunately, she also discovered the New York Public Library where she spent countless hours daydreaming of one day becoming an author.
Like many of her readers, Lily began reading romance as a tween when she stumbled fortuitously upon her mother’s stash of Harlequin and Mills & Boon novels. She loves sexy alpha heroes with a sense of humor and a little bit o’ grit.
These days, Lily lives in the rainy Pacific Northwest with her real-life hero and their two stage-five clinger dogs. When she’s not writing, Lily spends her time splashing into puddles, shucking oysters and learning to eat ice cream in the rain.
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IISBN: 978-14268-9601-9
Copyright © 2013 by Susan B. Liwanag
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