From the Heart: Romance, Mystery and Suspense a collection for everyone by Lorhainne Eckhart

morning to clean, she brought with her two freezer bags of Blackberries. And mentioned how much Brad loved pie. So what did Emily do, she took the hint and ran with it, baking not one but two Blackberry pies, along with a marinated roast for dinner. The aroma alone set Emily’s mouth to water.
    It had been an exhausting week. Brad scheduled a doctor’s appointment after breakfast Monday and began the long, grueling path to obtaining an autism diagnosis. Emily contacted the mothers group and provided Brad with names of a local therapist and private psychologist in Olympia. Brad worked the impossible. In two days, he’d somehow arranged for a speech and language pathologist, and occupational therapist to work with Trevor at the ranch once a week.
    Emily grinned like a silly schoolgirl, just thinking of Brad and how dedicated a father he could be. Heat pooled inside her tummy until it ached. “Oh, bad idea, girl.” And she knew why. He was her boss. She lived under his roof. But he didn’t treat her like an employee. He spoke to her like a friend.
    They’d developed a nightly routine, similar to spouses, companions. She’d put the kids to bed; join Brad either outside on the porch , or in the living room. They’d talk about their day, their dreams.
    Brad planned to expand the ranch. Buy up the land around him, even though now he was one of the largest dairy producers in the area, and raising cattle for beef.
    She loved listening to his confident whiskey-filled voice when he holed up in his office, off the living room, making calls to arrange transport for a hundred head of cattle. Then a feed order, next his realtor, a burly bald-headed man named Chuck, to put in an offer on a twenty-acre piece of property on the other side of Mary Haske.
    Last night Brad told her the soil on that land was really good and the water pure, clean and plentiful. He’d also mentioned he was waiting for the day Mary put her property up for sale. When she did, he’d make sure it was his. A small parcel, but Mary’s husband had been sharp when he’d sold off most of his land. He’d held onto the best piece in this part of the peninsula; holding the water rights to the creek which flowed down to Brad’s property.
    Emily grabbed the salad out of the fridge. She closed the door, and nearly dropped the bowl. Trevor stood in the middle of the kitchen barefoot, wearing nothing but a saggy disposable diaper, rubbing his eyes. “Oh Trevor, I didn’t see you.” She could smell the heavy ammonia from his dirty diaper. Emily lifted Trevor up. Instinctively he wrapped his arms around her, as she started up the stairs. Halfway up, the screen door slammed.
    “Lunch ready?” Brad’s deep, soft voice tugged on her heart as if a line had knotted around it. She walked back down carrying his son.
    “Oh man, something smells good.” Cliff and Mac strode right behind Brad, both lifting their noses in the air, sniffing.
    “It is; I just need to change Trevor and wake up Katy.” Emily couldn’t erase the smile from her face if she wanted to.
    “Need help.” Brad yelled behind her as she trotted up the stairs.
    “Grab the salad dressing out of the fridge, everything else is ready to go.”
    “Okay.”
    Emily pulled off Trevor’s diaper and dumped it in the garbage; she helped him into his big boy underwear, a pair of blue sweats and Buzz Lightyear T-shirt, leaving him barefoot. Katy wandered into the bathroom, pulled off her own dry diaper and sat on the toilet. Girls were almost self-training. “Lunch’s ready. Who’s hungry?”
    “Me, Mama.” Katy pulled up her pink sweats and flushed the toilet; Emily pulled up a stool to the sink, and helped Katy wash her hands.
    With the kids, Emily strode back in the kitchen. Cliff and Mac were already sitting at the table, digging into the fresh bread and butter. Brad cut up the roast, while Emily sat Trevor in his chair and Katy in her booster seat, dishing up the kids’ food and cutting it into bite