Hummingbird Lane by Brown, Carolyn (good books to read for beginners TXT) 📕

For right now, we’ll focus on a day at a time, and today we’re on the way to see Emma and the rest of our friends.”

“I’ll need to come back to Dallas that last week and get my loft cleared out. I called my landlord yesterday and told him that I’d be out before my rent is due on the fifteenth of the month. So, we can spend that week together.” Sophie wanted to focus on the logistics of everything rather than saying goodbye to him.

“I’ll keep the bed in my apartment until the last minute.” He opened the door for her. Once she was settled, he rounded the truck and slid in behind the wheel. He started the engine and drove away from the airport. “I’m so glad that Em has done well while we’ve been gone, so you won’t worry about leaving her for another week.”

“Me too,” Sophie answered. The trip was supposed to erase all her doubts and fears about making such a rushed decision to leave her Dallas loft and move to Del Rio, but it hadn’t.

Her phone pinged, and she dug it out of her purse and smiled when she saw that it was a FaceTime call from Emma. She hit the accept icon and gasped. “Holy crap on a cracker! What happened to y’all?” She held up the phone so Teddy could see the screen.

“Looks like we missed a mud-wrestling event,” Teddy laughed. “Who won?”

“I did,” Emma giggled. “I pinned him in a mud puddle when we lost our balance coming down the mountain. You should have seen Josh dragging the quilt behind him. He looked like a cross between Pigpen and Linus from the Charlie Brown cartoons.”

“I was just offering Em a fancy spa mud bath. Don’t ever say that the Hummingbird Trailer Park doesn’t have amenities, especially when it rains.” Josh chuckled.

“I can’t wait to hear this story,” Sophie said.

“Not over the phone,” Emma said. “I’ll give you all the details when you get home. See you in a few hours.” The call ended, and Sophie laid the phone on the console.

“Em is going to be all right,” Teddy said with confidence in his tone. “We’ve both worried for nothing.”

“Looks like it, but why does that make me sad?” Sophie sighed.

Teddy laid a hand on her shoulder. “I imagine it’s kind of like when the first child goes to kindergarten and doesn’t cry for their mommy. You’ve rescued Em, brought her into a healthy environment, and now she’s flourishing. But up until last week, you and the folks at the park have been her sole support system. That eased the guilt you had in your heart because you didn’t make a bigger effort to keep in touch with her.”

“Will you send me a bill for this therapy session?” Sophie laid her hand over his and squeezed.

He slid a sly wink her way. “Yes, I will, but don’t expect it to be for dollars.”

Filly came out of her trailer the minute she heard Arty’s truck on the gravel. The wind had dried the mud on Emma’s face, and now it was cracking, so she wasn’t a bit surprised when Filly’s eyes got wide and she hurried out to the edge of the truck.

“What in the hell happened to y’all?” she asked. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?”

“They played in a mud puddle,” Arty said as he stepped out of the truck.

“We might’ve been able to outrun the storm, but the four-wheeler wouldn’t start, so we took shelter in my cave,” Josh explained as he stood up and offered his hand to Emma.

“Why didn’t you call?” Filly fussed. “I would have sent Arty sooner than this to get you.”

“No service.” Emma took Josh’s hand and let him help her up. “But I FaceTimed Sophie so she could see us. She’ll be here in a few hours. They were just leaving the airport.”

“Why isn’t it all soggy here?” Josh asked.

“We only got a little shower, not a downpour like you must’ve gotten near the mountain range,” Arty said. “We just got enough to cool the temperature down a little and water Filly’s rosebushes. We’re supposed to have sunshine for the next week, so Sophie’s homecoming today will be nice.”

“You two get on home and take a shower, and then I want Em to come straight to my trailer and work on decorations. Josh, you are to help Arty with the outside stuff,” she bossed.

“Yes, ma’am.” Emma nodded. “But first, will you take a picture of me and Josh with my phone? I don’t ever want to forget this adventure, and if my mother gets hateful with me again, I will send it to her.”

“Of course,” Filly agreed.

Emma took her phone from her hip pocket and handed it to Filly. “I want one of each of us, and then one of us together.”

“Good Lord, darlin’ girl, did you drop this in the mud puddle? The only thing clean on it is the camera lens.”

Arty whipped a red bandanna from his hip pocket and tossed it to her. “Wipe it all off before you take the pictures.”

Filly caught it midair, wiped most of the now-dried dirt from the phone, and took several pictures of Emma and then a few of Josh. “Now, the two of you together.”

Emma wasn’t quite sure what to do since this was her first picture with a guy. Josh had sat down on the tailgate of the truck and patted the place next to him. She eased down beside him, and he scooted over closer to her. Then he draped an arm around her shoulders and said, “Say cheeseburger.” She giggled but said the word, and Filly snapped half a dozen pictures of the two of them covered in dried mud.

“One of those will definitely send your mama into a cardiac arrest if she ever sees it.” Filly handed the camera back to her.

“Thank you so much,” Emma said. “Now, I’m going to go get cleaned up. I’ll