"Thanks for sharing this with me. It really was amazing," she whispered to him. She didn't want to startle the new horse, so she was talking and moving quietly.
"Thanks for keeping me company. I didn't mean to keep you up all night."
"It was well worth it," she responded honestly.
Mark was busy making sure the new horse was healthy, so Emily slipped out of the barn and headed back towards the house. She lay down and her last thoughts before finally succumbing to exhaustion were about her new employer. She knew she was going to have a problem keeping her distance.
Chapter Three
Emily slowly rolled over and realized it was one in the afternoon. She jerked upright in bed, trying to wipe the sleep from her eyes. She couldn't believe how long she'd slept. She was always up early to make sure her son was okay.
She took a two minute shower, dressed and ran down the stairs. She was incredibly worried about her son. He may have gotten scared when he woke up and his mom wasn't there.
She came running around the corner, into the dining room, where she found her son sitting with all the other kids, Mark and his siblings. All the adults looked like they hadn't been up too long.
"Mom did you know a baby horse was born this morning and as soon as we are done eating our lunch Mark is going to take me down to see her," he practically squealed at her.
"I did know. I got to watch her be born. I'm so sorry I wasn't awake with you this morning," she apologized to her son.
"It's okay mom, I didn't know you weren't awake. We've been playing all day long," Trevor told her.
Emily was relieved he'd been okay that morning but a little saddened he didn't seem to need her so much, the older he got. She covered her disappointed look by going over to the table and grabbing some sandwich fixings.
"I'm sorry I didn't make you breakfast," she said, feeling guilty she hadn't prepared a meal.
"You can't work seven days a week Emily, I think Edward already told you on the weekends everyone fends for themselves," Mark said, before stuffing his mouth full, like he was on his last meal.
"I know that normally but with your family here, they probably would've enjoyed a nice breakfast," she defended.
"If the rest of your food is anything like some of those salads and desserts you made last night, we would've most certainly enjoyed your breakfast. It's nice to have a make your own sandwich lunch, plus I found a couple bowls of your salad that somehow didn't make it out to the food table last night," Amy said, looking pointedly at Mark.
"Hey I love Potato Salad and I wanted some saved for today," Mark defended.
Emily knew she'd brought that bowl out, so Mark must have snuck it back in. It actually made her feel pretty good he liked her food. He obviously did, as he was piling the stuff into his mouth.
"Seriously, I snuck into some early last night and then had to sneak it away. I haven't had this good of homemade salad since … well hell since never. No offense to Mom," he added as an afterthought.
"Well you know the way to a man's heart is through his stomach … among other things," Alex said with a wink.
"Amen," Mark added, without even pausing in his chewing.
Emily must be getting used to his family, because she was blushing far less already. She knew the brothers were just ribbing each other and they didn't mean any harm. She simply had to get used to the way they talked to each other if she wanted to be comfortable around them.
After everyone ate, the adults gathered up the younger kids, while the older ones clung onto Mark as he led them all to the barn. Emily was amazed when she saw the newborn foal up and wobbling around in the open space of the barn.
"She was just born, I can't believe she's already walking," she gasped.
The three brothers laughed. "Animals are much more independent than human babies," Lucas said.
"Hey speak for yourself, I've always been one of a kind and able to do things faster than the average person," Mark added.
"I don't think so, we all know I've always been the smartest one," Alex said as he thumped his chest.
"You're all abnormally strong, sexy and very, very smart," Jessica said to appease the men.
"You're all those things and so much more," Alex said before kissing her.
"Okay I simply haven't gotten enough sleep to deal with the two of you playing kissy face," Mark grumbled.
"Considering I found you down here, asleep on the hay, gives you a little bit of leeway for grumpiness," Alex conceded. "Of course a romp in the hay would've put you in a much better mood than having fallen asleep on it," he added with a wink at Emily.
She pretended to not hear that last statement or notice the wink. "Isn't the baby horse sweet?" she asked Trevor.