Chapter 69: Holiday mood

EMMA

"Well, that was an interesting party." Noah kept his eyes on the road as we drove along the road that connected the farm with my cabin. "Lots of surprises."

"Really?" I stared out my window. "I thought there was only the one."

"You mean Deacon showing up, right?"

I made a small noise in the back of my throat. "Yeah." I couldn't manage any more words. I'd been holding myself together by the thinnest of threads for several hours, and it felt as though I was on the verge of shattering.

"That was the big one," Noah agreed. "But I was also kind of shocked by how calmly Jimmy and Anna took the news. And by the fact that he never ended up coming back downstairs. I mean, he's been away for over a year, and he comes home and takes a long nap?"

Anna had gone upstairs to check on her grandson about an hour after he'd left Noah and me in the kitchen. She'd come back downstairs moments later, her face placid.

"Poor thing's exhausted. He was on his bed in just a towel-I'm assuming