Текст книги "Heart Block"

Автор книги: Melissa Brayden

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Текущая страница: 13 (всего у книги 18 страниц)

Sarah let her bag fall, a spark of relief flaring in her chest. “God, I don’t either.”

“If you’re happy, I should be happy. Sometimes, I try to micromanage and I shouldn’t have done that today. I just want things to be easier for you, and instead I made them harder. Ignore me.”

Sarah sighed and sat on the arm of the sofa next to Emory, offering a tired smile. “I could never ignore you, even if I wanted to. You’re stuck with my attention, I’m afraid.”

“Even when I’m overbearing?”

“Can you imagine how much I must like you?”

“Wow.”

“I know.”

Emory took her hand and squeezed. “So go to work and forget I was a headstrong idiot. Maybe, if I’m lucky, you’ll call me later and let me know when I can see you again because I really want to see you again soon. You know, redeem my good name?”

She leaned down and kissed Emory’s temple. “I will most definitely call you. I can think of all sorts of ways you can make it up to me. Creative ways.” That earned a smile and Sarah’s heart did a little backflip.

Back on track, she thought to herself, back on track.

*

It was a slow day at Global Newswire, but then mid-quarter Tuesdays always were. Trevor was busy with client mail outs and most of the account execs were out on presentations. Emory picked up the phone, seizing the slower pace of the afternoon.

“Wanna come over and see how a press release makes its journey?”

Sarah paused on the other end of the line. “Are you offering me a tour of your office?”

“That’s exactly what I’m doing. Can you swing it? How are you ever going to understand how to properly market that up-and-coming business of yours without a little hands-on coaching in PR? Plus, that means I’d get to lay eyes on you, which, you know, is kind of the whole point of this phone call.”

Sarah checked her afternoon appointments while Emory waited. “I have to meet my designer, Samantha, at the Miller house at four o’clock. But I have time before. I can be there in a half hour.”

“Perfect. Give your name to the receptionist and she’ll call me when you get here.”

An hour later, as the elevator opened onto the forty-fourth floor, Sarah found herself in a rather impressive looking lobby. It became clear to her that Global Newswire inhabited the entire floor of the office building. Three elegant couches were arranged in the center of the large room with a marble coffee table in the middle. In the corners, towering vases of fresh flowers were each showcased with dedicated accent lighting. A coffee station stood to the right with a stainless steel carafe and every kind of flavored creamer you could imagine. Near the far wall stood a dark oak reception desk complete with a beautiful looking woman behind it.

“Welcome to Global Newswire,” she said in the most soothing voice Sarah could imagine. She was smiling but carried an elegance befitting the rather impressive room. She couldn’t help but smile at the sharp contrast to her mother’s elderly receptionist, Marjorie.

“Sarah Matamoros to see Emory Owen.” The young woman eyed her for a moment, the smile never leaving her face.

“Do you have an appointment with Ms. Owen?” She turned to her computer screen and began tick-tacking away on her keyboard.

“Yes and no. She knows I’m coming, but I don’t think you’re going to see it on your calendar there.”

“I’m afraid you’ll need an appointment. Ms. Owen is very busy and hasn’t made any note of your meeting.”

“Would you mind giving her a call?”

“If you’ll be so kind as to take a seat, I’ll see what I can do.” The smile was no longer quite as warm. Sarah did as she was told, but took out her phone in the process and shot off a quick text message. “Your receptionist thinks I’m trying to infiltrate Fort Knox. Help?”

It was only a moment before her phone buzzed in response. “Well trained, that one. On my way.” Emory appeared shortly and whisked Sarah through the thick oak doors that led into the world of Global Newswire. The receptionist, whose name turned out to be Leslie, apologized profusely, much to Sarah’s guilty pleasure.

“I’m glad you could make it,” Emory said.

“Are you kidding? And miss the chance to see the empire you spend day and night constructing?”

Once inside, Sarah was surprised to see that the posh elegance of the lobby was reserved for essentially that, the lobby. The inner office of the company looked more like a working newsroom with few frills.

A series of several dozen workstations dotted the large open space with private offices flanking its perimeter. “These are the editors,” Emory said, gesturing to the rather bookish looking individuals at the workstations. They stared, entranced, at a series of codes on their computer screens. “Once a press release has been sent to us with instructions on who’s to receive it, the editors code the transmission before sending it over the wire through our satellite links. The codes tell the press release where to go. It’s also up to the editors to proof the release. If it’s transmitted with an error, we have to issue a correction, which is a huge strike against us in the industry. We try to avoid it at all costs. This office is currently error free. I can’t say the same for the Dallas office, however.”

“What happened in Dallas?” Sarah was incredibly intrigued by the process.

“Five errors in six months. I’m travelling down there next week to implement a new training program with one of my editorial managers. I’ll be letting two of the editors go while I’m there.”

“Wow. Doesn’t that upset you to have to tell them they no longer have a job?”

“It’s just business, and a necessary part of running a company. Haven’t you ever had to fire anyone from Immaculate Home?”

“Once for stealing, but that seemed unavoidable. When someone underperforms, we always try to make them better.”

“And if that doesn’t work?”

Sarah considered this. “We find ways to compensate for the weak link, I guess. I just can’t shake the knowledge that they have families to support and kids to put through college.”

“I can’t consider those kinds of things. In fact, I never have.”

“I guess I’m a softie then. Now show me your office so I can ooh and ah at how important you are.”

“I like the sound of that. Right this way.” They strolled down the hallway to Emory’s corner office and paused outside next to the desk of a very serious looking young man with flaming red hair. “This is my assistant, Trevor. I think you’ve spoken to him on the phone once or twice.” Trevor stood and extended his hand politely. “Trevor, this is Sarah, my girlfriend.”

Trevor’s eyes widened in delight. “Well, in that case.” He reached out and pulled Sarah into a warm hug.

“All right, all right, that’s enough. Let the girl go.”

“It was nice to meet you, Trevor.” Sarah laughed, following Emory into the office. Once inside, she took only a brief moment to scan the spacious room before turning back to face Emory. “Do you think we could close the door for a minute?”

“Okay.” Sarah had an indiscernible look on her face that made Emory uneasy. “Is everything all right?”

Once the door clicked into place, Sarah closed the distance between them until she stood in front of Emory. “You just called me your girlfriend.”

It had seemed second nature to Emory and she realized now that it shouldn’t have. “Oh, I’m sorry. I guess I should have asked if it was okay. I just figured because you didn’t know Trevor—”

“Shhh.” Sarah placed a finger across Emory’s lips. “I loved it.”

“You did?”

“I did. Do you know what I also love? You in this business suit.” She slipped her hand inside the jacket and ran her palm from the center of Emory’s chest up along the side of her collarbone. “You were wearing something similar the day we met, remember?”

“And did you like it then?”

Sarah considered the question. “No, I found it intimidating. But now that I know the woman inside it, it’s just plain hot.”

Emory grabbed Sarah by the hips and pulled her closer, kissing her soundly. Sarah reciprocated hungrily, sliding her arms up and around Emory’s neck. Then a thought hit and she pulled back just enough to meet Emory’s eyes. “Are you sure we should be kissing at the office? You are at work, after all.”

Emory inclined her head. “The door is closed. We can do anything we want. No one will come in without knocking. One of the perks of being in charge.”

“Okay then, maybe just a little more of the sexy kissing.” Sarah grinned and dipped her head.

Emory loved kissing Sarah. She felt it all the way down to her toes and it left her in the most wonderful fog. Somewhere in the back of her consciousness, she registered that hands were tugging vaguely on shirts, moving down arms, shifting all the while closer, and she could vaguely hear the humming sounds people made while making out. It was like hovering just above heaven for her.

“Hey, Em, will you take a look—holy shit. Sorry. Oh my God.”

At Lucy’s highly unexpected entrance, they froze. No one spoke for several seconds, ratcheting up the awkward factor several notches. It was Emory who laughed first, followed shortly by Lucy. Sarah smiled until the tension seemed to evaporate from the room.

Once under control again, Emory turned to Sarah wryly. “I should amend that earlier statement to ‘no one will come in if the door is closed except for Lucy, who does whatever the hell she wants.’”

“Wow. Again, so sorry.” Lucy gestured at the door. “Sometimes I’m oblivious. What can I say? But please don’t kick me out for more kissing. I’m here now, so can I please meet Sarah?” The cartoonish hope in Lucy’s eyes made Sarah smile. She liked this woman already.

Emory sighed playfully. “Why not? Lucy Danaher, meet Sarah Matamoros.” And then meeting Sarah’s eyes and smiling, “My girlfriend.”

“A pleasure.” Lucy extended her hand. “And I do mean that. I’ve been waiting ever so patiently to make your acquaintance and I do emphasize patiently.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Lucy. Emory’s told me an awful lot about you.”

“Well, she lies, so discriminate accordingly.”

Sarah laughed. “Will do.” She checked her watch. “I don’t mean to run out on you two, but I have a four o’clock consultation across town, and if I don’t leave now, traffic will triumph. The office is amazing,” she said, turning to Emory. “Thank you for the brief tour.”

“Yeah, sorry it got cut short with all that smooching,” Lucy interjected.

Emory crossed her arms and gave Lucy the full power of the Arctic stare before focusing her attention on Sarah. “I’ll call you later and we can make plans for the zoo on Saturday.”

Sarah nodded, met her eyes knowingly, and then turned. “Good-bye, Lucy. I hope we see each other again soon.”

“Count on it. If we both work on her, she’ll actually let us be friends.”

“Deal.” Sarah waved and rounded the corner smiling.

Lucy shook her head in mock disapproval. “You are such a dog,” she muttered to Emory. “At the office, really?”

“Shut up.”

*

The weather was wonderful on Saturday, and in Emory’s opinion, the zoo was the perfect place to spend the afternoon.

If only she had gotten to go.

“We can wait, push the trip back until late afternoon so you can make it,” Sarah had said over the phone, several hours earlier.

“I don’t know how long this will take. I’m really sorry, but I think you should go ahead without me.”

Silence. Emory could sense the disappointment emanating through the phone, but she was at a loss for how to fix the situation. She felt horrible about having to bow out of what would have been a great time with Sarah and Grace, but truth be told, she saw no other way. An hour before they were supposed to head out for their zoo trip, she’d been sideswiped with a call from the IT department that three separate offices were offline. Dead in the water. While there weren’t many releases scheduled to go out on a weekend, there were a few key clients that would be upset at the drop. She’d have to spend the afternoon smoothing things over personally if they were to have any hope of holding on to the accounts.

“Sarah, say something.”

When she spoke her voice was quiet, excruciatingly polite. “I hope it all works out.”

Damn it. Not that. “Can I come by later and try and make it up to Grace?”

“Sure. I think that would help.” But there was a distance between them that she didn’t quite know what to do with. She briefly considered putting the clients off for a couple of days, but the repercussions would be big. Too big.

And now, some eight hours later, as she stood on Sarah’s doorstep preparing to knock, she didn’t feel much better about things. In fact, she felt worse. She had done the only thing she knew how to do and that was to act. To fix the situation at hand. But each action has a consequence. And her life seemed to have a whole new set of consequences lately.

“Hey,” Sarah said upon opening the door. She leaned against its side and met Emory’s eyes. Her hair was up, but as usual, strands had escaped. She seemed settled in for the night, cozy in the best kind of way. She didn’t offer entrance, which spoke volumes.

“Hi. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry today didn’t work out. I was looking forward to it.”

“I know. I accept your apology.”

Emory shifted. She felt nervous, off-kilter. “Can I explain to Grace?”

“She’s asleep. It’s past ten, Emory. She goes to bed at nine on weekends.”

Emory glanced at her watch as a million more self-recriminations warred inside her head. “Oh, I didn’t realize how late it had gotten.”

Sarah seemed to soften then, and stepped out onto the porch. “She was pretty disappointed you cancelled, but I explained the situation. She’ll be fine.”

“Will you?”

Sarah offered a weak smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes and moved into Emory, wrapping her arms around her. “You were doing your job today. I get that. I just wish it had played out differently.”

Emory didn’t say anything because she didn’t know what to say. Sarah should be angry at her. She should be frustrated. She had been ready for both of those things. But the quiet sadness she was met with was a whole new kind of guilt that Emory felt right in the center of her chest. She’d let them both down and they were accepting it.

How had she let it get to this?

“Everything okay, Sar?” Danny stood in the open doorway of the apartment and regarded them curiously.

Sarah took a step back and turned to him, brightening. “Yes, just fine. Danny, you remember my friend, Emory?”

He smiled. “Definitely. Hi. Good to see you again.”

“You too, Danny.”

He looked to Sarah as if a thought had just occurred to him. “Hey, I can find somewhere else to crash other than the couch if you guys want to hang out.”

“What? No. Emory was just dropping off some paperwork.” Danny looked from Sarah’s empty hands to Emory’s. “But she forgot it in the car.”

What should have been an easy situation to navigate seemed to have thrown Sarah into panic mode. Emory reluctantly took her cue. “I did. I left it. I don’t know where my head’s at lately.” She hated the lie.

Sarah met her gaze appreciatively. “I’ll walk out with you. Back in a sec, Dan.”

Emory walked a few paces ahead, lost in her thoughts, the stresses of the day, and what had just happened on the porch. So many things seemed wildly out of her control, her own emotions included, and it angered her. She wasn’t a weak person and she hated how vulnerable her relationship to Sarah made her feel.

“Em, wait. Please.” She did, but took a moment before turning fully to Sarah. “I didn’t know he was coming over tonight. His roommate invited over a bunch of friends and he was looking for a quiet place to crash.”

“He’s your brother. That makes perfect sense.”

“But?”

Here it goes. “When are you going to talk to your family?”

Sarah sighed, her eyes finding the ground as she seemed to gather her thoughts. “That’s not a step I’m ready to take quite yet.”

Somewhere deep, Emory needed to know more. “Will it ever be?” she asked quietly.

“I don’t know.”

And there it was. I’m not sure about us was easy enough to read in Sarah’s guarded response. She didn’t blame her. She couldn’t.

Emory nodded, resolute. She felt herself failing at what she’d known from the beginning would be an impossible scenario. “I better get going. Here.” She reached into the passenger’s seat and handed Sarah a few odd papers from her junk mail pile. “For authenticity.” She turned to her car, but Sarah’s hand on her arm caught her attention. She looked as if she wanted to say something, but instead, leaned in and she kissed her softly. As she pulled away, Emory could see the heavy emotion in her eyes.

“Tonight was rough. But don’t leave without saying good-bye. Never that.”

Emory felt a wall come down at the words. Such a simple request that managed to touch something in her. “Never that,” she agreed and stole a final kiss before driving off into the summer night.

If only everything between them could be as simple.

*

“Hot or cold weather?” They were lying in bed a week later. It was three a.m., but Sarah wasn’t missing sleep a bit. She loved it when Emory stayed over. They’d spent the earlier part of the night lost in each other and welcomed the morning hours talking about anything and everything. With her fingertips, she absently traced circles across Emory’s abdomen as she awaited her response.

“Hot. You?”

“Oh, most definitely cold. Lots of hot chocolate and cuddling when it’s cold. I mean c’mon.” Sarah lifted her head from where it rested on Emory’s shoulder and shook it slightly, grinning like it was a no brainer.

Emory tightened her arms around her. “Sounds cozy. I could be swayed to your side with that kind of thinking. Favorite color?”

“Blue.”

“Me too, but aqua.”

Sarah smiled to herself. “Because you love the ocean. Favorite food?”

“That’s hard. Mahi Mahi, if it’s cooked right. What about you?”

“Nope. You’ll laugh.”

Emory slid down on the pillow so they were face to face. “Oh, then you definitely have to tell me.”

Sarah scrunched one eye. “Whopper with cheese.”

Emory’s mouth fell open in playful surprise. “As in Burger King? From all the foods in the world, you choose Burger King?”

They were laughing now. “After a long day, there’s nothing like it. I could go for one right now if I’m being honest.”

Emory pushed herself up. “Then I’ll be right back.”

Sarah pulled her back to bed and crawled on top. “No way. You’re not going anywhere.” She kissed her. “Too cute to leave.”

“You know your accent comes out when you’re playful.”

“It does not.” She sank further into the kiss.

“Okay. Except it does,” Emory murmured, as her hands drifted down Sarah’s body.

They were both a lot less interested in conversation after that.

*

Dallas was hot. It was September and still pushing ninety degrees outside, a cherry atop the already difficult sundae that had been Emory’s day from hell. She decided to cool off with refreshment at the hotel bar before heading up to her room for the night. In the forty-five minutes she’d been there, she’d refused drink offers from two different men and one woman, all the while desperately wanting the chance to sort through her own head for five damn minutes.

Her workday at the Dallas office had not gone the way she’d planned at all, and she was pissed off. She thought back on the series of events and bristled all over again, knowing full well who was to blame. She’d had two Kentucky mules by the time her cell phone notified her of an incoming call. She rolled her eyes at the readout but answered anyway. “I shouldn’t be talking to you. I should be lying on a highway hoping to get run over.”

“Wow. Kinda drastic. Bad day?” Sarah asked.

“Bingo.” She stirred her drink with the annoying shamrock swizzle stick. This wasn’t even an Irish bar, for God’s sake.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Emory exhaled, softening. “I didn’t, but now that I hear your voice, maybe. I don’t know.”

“Okay, I can work with that.” Sarah switched the phone from her left ear to her right so she could flip the pancakes she was making Grace for dinner. “Let’s try it out and see how it goes. Tell me what happened.”

“Today, I had to fire the two editors I told you about.”

“Right, I remember. Did they not take it well?”

“No, they took it fine, because I couldn’t do it.”

“What do you mean? You never got the chance to speak to them?”

“No, I got the chance, but the moment I was face-to-face with them, all I could think about was what you said about them having families to feed and kids to put through college, and I’m dead in the water. Next thing I know, I’m flashing on an eighteen-year-old kid flipping burgers instead of growing up to be president of the United States and I’m the reason.”

Sarah grinned broadly, still attempting to keep her voice entirely neutral. “So what will happen to them now?”

“I enrolled them in the new training with the rest of the Dallas editors, but I told Sheila to devote extra time to them. More one-on-one attention. I hate that I’m suddenly ineffective. This sucks.”

“You’re not ineffective, you’re sympathetic. You took steps to make them better at what they do. If it doesn’t work out, you can fire them later. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

“I want to fire them now,” Emory answered.

“I get that and I’m sorry you’re upset. If you were here, I’d take all sorts of care of you.”

“I can’t hang out with you anymore. You’re warm and fuzzy and it’s rubbing off.”

Sarah could hear the slightest hint of teasing in Emory’s voice and took the opening.

“So I should make other plans for Friday night?”

“Don’t you dare.”

“All right, all right.” She chuckled. “I’ll pick you up at the airport at six thirty. There might be kissing. I can’t be sure.”

Emory sighed audibly into the phone. “Now I’m going to think about the kissing all night.”

“Good. Now sleep tight and try not to be too mad at me.”

“S’okay. I still like you.”

“Wait, before you go, someone would like to say hello.”

“Emory, it’s Grace! What’s Texas like? Seen any horses?”

Emory sat up a little straighter at the sound of the exuberant young voice. “Hiya, kiddo! Dallas is hot. Negative on the horses. Lots of concrete and tall buildings though.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. Hey, we’re having pancakes for dinner. Isn’t that insane? Mom and I have decided to have breakfast for dinner once a month. You should come over next time.”

“I would love to. I make a pretty mean Denver omelet.”

“I don’t know what that is, but I’ll check Wikipedia later. Night!”

“Good night, Grace.”

*

“I didn’t imagine she would be as hot as she is,” Carmen mused, stirring her peach tea. “That’s for sure.” They’d come for their weekly get-together at Sabro’s and dined over a plate of sell-your-mother-for guacamole nachos. “Even Roman mentioned her undeniable beauty. Though out of respect, I’ll spare you his exact words.”

“Thank you, but I have two brothers and I can imagine. So what exactly did you expect? Details.”

“I don’t know. Someone a little more delicate and uptight with a severe hairstyle that says ‘I’ve got more money than God.’ Real-life Emory, while well dressed, was actually kind of fun.”

Sarah smiled and relaxed into her seat. “I love that you saw that. She doesn’t always show that side of herself and she should.”

“So what’s the update on that front?”

“The update is that I miss her like crazy. She’s been out of town on business all week and won’t be back until Friday, which also, cue the ominous music, happens to be her birthday.”

“Ohhh, the birthday. That’s a lot of pressure, Sar. Any big plans?”

“I’m picking her up at the airport, taking her to dinner where I’ll lose myself in those baby blues that I haven’t seen in forever, and then hopefully taking her home and having my way with her shortly thereafter. Speaking of which, would you be willing to keep Grace that night? She absolutely loves staying with you.”

“You’re sucking up. I like it. I’m sure we can work out some sort of exchange. My anniversary is next month and my rugrats simply adore staying with you as well.”

“Yikes.”

“You’ll be fine. I’ll draft you a survivor’s guide. But if they get hold of the scissors, you’re on your own.”

Sarah sighed. “It’s a deal.”

“So,” Carmen managed through a bite of her nacho, “sounds like we’re enjoying our newfound sex life.”

Sarah smiled shyly at the tablecloth. “More than I ever would have dreamed possible.”

Carmen scooted her chair in eagerly. “Specifics are definitely required. Are we talking gentle and easy or wild and crazy?”

“I think we’ve managed both. And maybe a few other combinations.”

Carmen shook her head in envy and glared. “Bragging is the instrument of the small and petty.”

Sarah grinned. “You did ask.”

“I did. And everything else is peaches and cream?”

“Um, yeah, for the most part.”

“Uh oh.”

“Don’t say uh oh, and don’t take that last nacho. It’s mine.” Sarah snagged the last of the nachos and slid down into her chair at its wonder.

Carmen eyed her knowingly. “Don’t use the nachos as a distraction. I know you, and there’s something else on your mind. Tell me now or I’m getting up and walking out of here. And you know I don’t make idle threats, so start talking. Five, four, three, two—”

“All right, all right. A little extra aggressive with the mommy mode today, aren’t we? Geez.” Sarah shifted in her seat. “It’s minor. It’s so minor in the scheme of everything good that I shouldn’t even say it out loud. But there are times when I feel like I’m…I don’t know, out of my league with Emory. Like I’m treading water or something.”

“Out of your league? First of all, that’s crazy. And second of all, what are you even talking about?”

Sarah took a moment and searched for the best way to articulate the nagging feeling she couldn’t seem to shake lately. “Emory travels all over the world. I’ve never even been out of California. She’s practically a world-class chef, and I peak at chicken and rice casserole. She knows everything there is to know about classic art and I watch Monday Night Football. Do you see where I’m going with this?”

“No, I don’t. I adore your chicken and rice casserole.”

“Work with me here. Focus.”

“Got it. Continue.”

“It’s almost as if we fit together, and I know we do, but our worlds don’t. She’s used to being on her own, nothing to tie her down, and then out of nowhere there’s this woman and her kid, who has these heart issues, and all sorts of ideas of family, and staying home nights. I’m worried it’s too much. That we’re too much and in the end, she’s going to realize that.

“All right. I’m going to put it to you plain and simple. Are you ready? And please pay attention because this is good.”

“So ready.”

“Okay, here goes…you’re a catch.” Carmen sat back in her chair as if she’d just uttered the most brilliant words anyone had ever spoken and was now letting them marinate in the universe.

“I’m a catch,” Sarah finally repeated with little conviction.

“Yes, you are, in fact, a catch. And so is your adorably smart daughter. You see, I’ve done the math. I’ve met virtually every kind of person, and you two are simply the best out of all of them, and I’m not just saying that because we’re friends. I mean, if it weren’t true, I still might say it, but in this instance, it just happens to be the truest thing on the planet. Are you with me?”

Sarah rested her chin in her hand and squinted. “I’m doing my best.”

“What I’m saying is that Emory is ridiculously lucky, and if she doesn’t see that, then you need to move on and quickly.”

Sarah’s eyes widened. “No, I’m not saying she doesn’t. It’s just this little voice inside my head that gets my attention every so often.”

“A little voice that you need to beat the hell out of until it submits to reason.”

Sarah laughed, her mood already lighter after talking with Carmen. “So you think I’m pretty great?”

Carmen rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You know I think you’re freaking adorable, all right? Do you feel better now?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.” Sarah grinned triumphantly and grabbed the check. “On me.”

“Did I also mention that you’re beautiful and smart too? Because Mama could use a new pair of boots. Just sayin’.”

Chapter Fourteen

It was finally Friday, and Emory was in high spirits. It was the first birthday in a long time that she was genuinely excited to celebrate. All she wanted in the world was a nice meal and the company of a very beautiful woman, one in particular.

The year had contained its fair share of ups and downs, but she was feeling hopeful, and that was worthy of some celebration. She couldn’t have been more excited to get off that plane and see Sarah and Grace, whom she’d not seen in six full days, a torturous eternity. She didn’t know how she was going to maintain the usual stream of business trips her job often called for. Things needed to be different now, and some sort of Plan B might be in order. She’d talk with Lucy about it soon.

As Emory made her way down the long corridor to baggage claim, she searched the faces of the eager family members waiting to greet their loved ones. When her eyes at long-last landed on Sarah’s, it was all she could do to maintain her steady pace and not close the distance between them in a less dignified manner, like an out-and-out jog. Instead, she shook her head, chuckling at the small sign Sarah held that read “Wanda,” and then took in the gorgeous black dress she wore for their evening out.

“You look amazing,” she said in Sarah’s ear as she pulled her into her arms.

“You’re sweet, and have been sorely missed.” Sarah held on to Emory for several long moments. Pulling back, she grinned, her eyes shining brightly. “Happy birthday.”

“Thank you.” Emory took her hand and led them to the baggage terminal. As they walked, her heart soared. She’d found her balance in the world again.

“Can you not go away anymore?” Sarah asked as they stared at each other lazily a few minutes later, waiting on Emory’s bag to make its way around on the carousel.

“Already working on it. But in more pressing matters, what should we do tonight?” Emory asked with delicious anticipation of the evening. “And where’s Grace? I thought for sure she’d have talked her way into making announcements over the PA by now.”

“Grace is being well cared for. You see, it’s somewhat of an important day I’m told, so I took the liberty of making reservations for the adults to celebrate at Donovan’s Downtown. My treat. I hope that’s okay. I know you said no party, but I wanted the night to be special. Thoughts?” Sarah looked nervous that she’d made the right call. But in all honesty, Emory didn’t care what they did as long as they did it together. But now that she thought about it, Donovan’s would actually make for a really nice evening.