Chapter 86 Part 86
Asher
Emerson emerged a few minutes later and Asher smiled. She looked completely different from the city girl Mark had dropped off. She wore the jeans well, and with the snap-on shirt and cowboy boots, she looked like she belonged. He liked that she’d scrubbed off the makeup. She didn’t need it.
“I don’t even look like me,” she said.
“That’s the whole idea. Now we can go to town.”
Asher opened the truck’s door for her, and helped her up. She was a bit shorter than Eden, almost too skinny, and Asher almost dwarfed her.
“Do you always do that?” she asked him, as they drove away from his house.
“Do what?”
“Open car doors,” she said.
“Yeah. My pops would run me down on horseback with a whip and teach me a lesson I’ll never forget.”
She grinned, and leaned back against the seat. “It’s nice.”
“Grover didn’t open doors for you?” he asked.
“No. I was always behind him, never next to him.”
Asher didn’t say anything for a while. They drove past the main house, then they were on the road heading to town. He forced himself not to glance at The Lansing House, and he sped up as the road went from dirt to tar.
“Why exactly are we going to town?”
Asher glanced at her, she’d crossed one leg over the other. “It’s Friday. I always buy groceries on a Friday, and I wasn’t sure if you needed anything.”
She didn’t say anything, but turned her head to look out of the window. Asher slowed as they drove into town and a few minutes later, he parked the truck in the grocery store’s parking lot.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. You’re just…a lot to handle.”
“Me?” Asher chuckled.
“Sorry, I’m being silly. I’m fine,” she said, and her hand went to open the door.
“Nope. You sit until I open your door. It’s how we do things around here,” Asher said.
Asher walked around the truck, and opened her door. Tears had welled up in her eyes, and Asher wiped a stray one away with his thumb. “It must be overwhelming. I get it, Emma. You’ve been through a lot.”
“You’re just very nice, Asher.”
“Do you need a hug? You look like you do,” he said.
She smiled and nodded. “Actually, I do.”
Asher opened his arms, and beckoned her forward. “Come on, bring it in. I’m pretty good at giving hugs.”
Asher pulled her out of the truck, and she wrapped her arms around his waist, and his hands settled on her back. She took a few deep breaths, and after a moment, her arms loosened. “Thank you.”
“Anytime,” he said. He let go of her and they crossed the parking lot where Asher grabbed a shopping cart.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you, I’m not allergic to anything.”
“That’s good. You’re not a vegan or one of those weird fruitorian people, are you?”
“Fruitorian? Is that even a word?”
“Yeah, those people that only eat things that fall from trees and stuff,” he said.
Emerson laughed. “They’re fruitarians, and no, I’m not.”
“Okay, so people will stare and they will whisper. They’ll assume you’re my girlfriend because…well, I don’t do stuff like this. Just ignore it. There will be rumors about you being with me.”
Emerson glanced at him and her smile widened. “Whatever you say, boyfriend.” She tucked her arm into his, and leaned against him, rubbing her cheek against his arm. Asher laughed as she straightened. “Maybe I missed my calling as an actress.”
Asher was stopped and greeted in every single aisle they walked down. He could see Emerson wanted to say something, probably to tease him, but she kept quiet. He halted as they turned into the next aisle and he spotted Lorelei and Amy further down.
Emerson didn’t notice, and her hand landed on his arm. “I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t go outside,” he said softly.
“I won’t.”
He stood in front of the condiments and tried to remember if he needed anything when Emerson appeared from the other aisle with a stuffed toy in her hands.
“Oh, please, Asher, please, please, please,” she said.
“You want a stuffed toy?”
“It’s so cute, and fluffy, and squishy, and I promise not to love him more than I love you,” she said, and he heard Lorelei gasp behind them.
He laughed at the look on her face, and the puppy dog eyes she was giving him. “Fine, get the damn sheep.”
“Asher Fitzgerald, my, my, my, you do move fast,” Amy said, as she looked Emerson up and down.
“Amy, Lorelei,” he said.
“Who’s the flavor of the month?” Lorelei asked.
“I guess I’m the better flavor since it’s been a few months,” Emerson said, and Asher almost choked on his own saliva. She looked up at Asher. “I don’t think we need anything for the house from this aisle.”
“You’re right, we don’t,” Asher said, and walked past Amy and Lorelei as Emerson hooked her fingers into the belt loops at the back of his jeans.
“I take it, that's the ex?”
“That would be her,” Asher said. “You need to get whatever you need for at least a month. Toiletries and so on?”
“I’m set for about another two months.”
They finished their shopping in peace and Emerson kept a steady conversation with the cashier as Asher unpacked their cart. She was good with people, and had the cashier eating out of her hand by the time Asher paid.
Asher unlocked his truck and opened her door, but she closed it again. “I’m supposed to pull my weight, remember.”
“Fine, you can lift the toilet paper,” Asher said. They unloaded the cart and this time when Asher opened her door, she smiled, and got into the truck while he took the cart back.
“Is shopping with you always this much fun?”
“I guess I’m gifted that way,” he said, and smiled as he started the truck.
“Wow, you went from being good at giving hugs, to gifted at shopping. I think you might have a bit of an ego,” she said.
Asher chuckled, and shook his head as they headed back to the ranch. “You’re bad, Emerson Reid, really bad.”