Before Emma gets off work, I take the kids to Sam and Bridget’s for the night. They used to keep Raelynn and now they also keep James. They are Molly’s parents, but that doesn’t matter. The more people who love James and Raelynn, the better off they are as children and adults. Fortunately for me, Emma also sees it that way. Sam and Bridget are good people, and they are great parents and grandparents.
When I get home, Emma is in the bathroom. I hear water running and I know she is taking a bubble bath. I smell lavender and vanilla coming from the bathroom. I knock on the bathroom door to let her know I’m home. Sitting down outside on the front step, I have a beer before I get ready. Emma takes longer than I do to get ready, so I have time to have a beer or three.
I wave to Brooke and the boys as I watch them drive off in their car. Brice’s truck is home, and I wonder why he isn’t with them. Soon Brice walks over and joins me on the front step.
“I need another, care to join me?” I ask, holding up my now empty bottle.
“I would love one.”
I brush off my pants and walk into the house and pull out two bottles of beer from the refrigerator. I walk down the hall and listen for the hairdryer. When I hear the water still running, I know Emma is still in the bath. I know I have time for this one with Brice.
“Here ya go,” I say, handing Brice his beer. “Is everything all right?” I ask, sitting down next to him.
“It’s fine, business is booming and it’s getting hard to keep up.”
“That’s a good thing, right? More business means more money.”
“It’s a great thing. It also means more work. I wasn’t prepared to have to expand my business so soon. Our house isn’t big enough for an expanding business.”
“I’m not sure what kind of place you’re looking for, but we’ll be moving out of here within a month. We want to be moved out of here and settled in our new house before school starts. You should talk to Emma about renting or buying this place if you’re looking for office space. It’s right next door and a perfect location.”
“That might work. Brooke won’t have to travel across town. Dude, this might just work. Plus the extra storage in the garage is perfect.”
“I’m sure you’ll need to talk to Brooke first.”
“You know it, can’t make a decision without her.” He laughs and finishes his beer. “Thanks for the chat and the beer. I’ll talk to Brooke and see what she thinks.”
I stand up with him and say, “Sounds good, I won’t say anything to Emma.”
I finish getting ready before Emma does, even though she started before me. I have another beer while I wait for her. I straighten my tie and adjust my cuff links. When she walks out of the bedroom, my jaw drops. I stare at her beauty and lick my dry lips. She is smoothing out her white dress and looking away from me. Her white four-inch heels, her white dress, and her blond hair in big loose curls almost take my breath away. She looks stunning.
When she looks up at me, she smiles. She stops trying to straighten her already pressed dress and stands as tall as she can. “You look stunning,” I say without taking my eyes off hers.
“You always say that.”
“Because I always mean it.”
She leans over and tries to smooth her dress out. “Stop fidgeting, you look beautiful.”
She stands tall and says, “Thank you. I won’t fidget anymore.”
“Yes, you will.” I smile and say, “Come on, Beautiful, or we’ll be late.”
I pull up to the valet and look over at Emma. She is wearing red lipstick, which I think is a first for her. I smile and she says, “I’ll be right here waiting for you.”
“Thank you, I’ll be just a moment.” I get the ticket from the valet before I open Emma’s door. She takes my hand and stands tall. I bend down to kiss her. “I’m thinking we should have stayed in tonight.”
“Thank you, and that is the nicest thing you have ever said to me.”
“Really? If that was the nicest thing I have ever said to you, remind me to work on my game later.”
She takes my hand and we walk into the crowded restaurant. I look around the foyer and notice all the guys looking at Emma. I stand proud beside her and square my shoulders. It makes me feel good when other men stare at Emma, but at the same time I want to beat the crap out of them.
“Collins,” Emma says.
I look down at her and smile. I didn’t even hear them ask me for the name.
“Are you all right, doctor?” Emma asks jokingly.
“Right this way; your table is ready,” the hostess says.
“I’m fine; after you.” We walk through the crowded restaurant to our table in the back of the room. I can see the small bouquet of lilacs from here. I called ahead and ordered lilacs for the table instead of the customary roses they usually have.
“Thank you,” Emma says when she sees the lilacs. She turns around so she can see me.
I wink at her and place my hand on the small of her back. She gets goose bumps and I wonder whether she has a sweater in the car. Maybe they can adjust the air conditioning for her since she is cold. When we get to the table, I pull her chair out for her. I stand tall over her in protective mode. I swear I’m going to fight someone tonight if they don’t stop staring at her. She’s mine! I want to scream.
I wait until she is seated before I take the only seat across from her. We are seated at the window that overlooks the water. The sun is low, but a few sailboats are still on the water.
“This is so beautiful,” she says, looking out at the water.
The waitress comes over and fills our champagne glasses. Emma doesn’t look up but continues to look outside at the sailboats. “We should go sailing one day.”
“We can do that.” I nod to the waitress so she knows to bring out our salads. “Maybe we can do that when we get moved into the new house.”
“I would like that. It looks so relaxing.” She looks up at me and smiles. “I can’t believe we are moving into that house.”
“We most definitely are,” I say, laughing. “Do you want to make a toast?”
“I didn’t hear you order champagne.” She looks at the champagne and smiles. “Because you didn’t order it,” she says, laughing.
“No, Emma, I used call-ahead seating and ordering. A toast?” I ask, handing her a glass of champagne.
“Thank you. Yes, a toast. To the most thoughtful and considerate man in the world,” she says.
She tries to clink her glass to mine. I move my glass and make my own toast. “To the most thoughtful and considerate woman in the world.” Now I clink my glass to hers.
She laughs before taking a drink. The waitress places our salads in front of us and walks away.
“Call-ahead ordering, I like that.” She inhales and asks, “Is this smell walnuts?”
“It’s a fresh green and walnut salad with walnut vinaigrette dressing. Fresh ground pepper?” I ask.
“No, thank you. I don’t think it needs it.” I watch as she takes the first bite. Emma is so appreciative of good food. She closes her eyes and I watch as a moan escapes her mouth. It sounds sexual, and I immediately get turned on. She opens her eyes and smiles at me. “You do have great taste, Alec.”
“Thank you.” I take a bite of my salad — it’s perfect with just enough seasoning. I tell her about the meeting with Mason, Bruce, and Donovan. She listens and becomes excited when I tell her that in three weeks, I will be in a partnership with Mason.
“That is incredible. I am so proud of you,” she says.
“Thank you. I also wanted to discuss when you wanted to move into the house. We can close on Monday.”
I watch her swallow the last bite of her salad. “I didn’t realize it was so soon.”
“Madison called me today. School starts in three weeks,” I remind her.
“And we need to be in there before school starts,” she says. The waitress comes over and removes the salad plates. “I guess we need to move in the next two weeks.
”
“Do you want to be in there before your birthday? Your birthday is next week,” I remind her.
“It doesn’t matter. Before or after, either would be fine. We have a lot going on in the next month.”
“Changing jobs, schools, moving, your birthday. It is a lot,” I agree.
“We haven’t talked about what we are going to do with my house.”
“What do you mean?”
“Should we sell it, or rent it out?”
The server comes over and sets two white plates down in front of us. I ordered chicken breast with garlic butter, twice-baked potatoes, and sautéed green beans for us.
“That’s up to you. Just wait and then decide. Sell it or rent it, both are good choices.”
We eat our dinner and talk about the house, the property, and the extra rooms in the house. She tells me she would love to have a small reading room or a library full of romance novels. We both laugh and I make a mental note of it. She also tells me she and Brooke are going to their first book signing.
“Where’s the book signing?” I ask.
“It’s in Tampa. Brooke started to write a book and she found this book signing she wanted to check out. They have authors, of course, book models, cover designers, and bloggers.”
“Really? Brooke is writing a book? What kind of book: a children’s book?” I ask in disbelief.
“No, it’s a romance book.”
“What does Brooke know about romance?” I laugh as soon as I realize how rude that was. “I’m sorry, what I meant to say was, ‘So she is writing from experience?’”
“That’s what I asked her and she said no. She said she has read enough romance books she figures she can fake it.”
We both laugh, and I wonder if Emma is joking. Brooke is pretty funny, and this sounds like something she would say as a joke.
We finish our meal and share dessert just as the sun sets. “Thank you for a perfect evening,” she says.
I look at her and say, “I love you.”
“I love you, too. I like it when you order our dinner before we get here.”
“You do? Thank you.”
“It always makes for a very private evening. We are interrupted only a few times and it’s like we are in our own private dining room.”
“Thank you, Emma. That’s what I was hoping for: intimacy.”
“Well, you have succeeded.”
“Are you ready?”
“I am.”
We walk through the restaurant and see Bobby and his wife at a table having dinner alone. I look at him, nod, and smile as I continue to walk through the restaurant. It has been a little over two weeks and he looks amazingly well. I search the room as I wait for Emma as she uses the powder room. Leah walks up to me and gently rests her hand on my arm.
“Alec, would you and your wife like to join Robert and me for coffee? I would ask you to join us for dinner but we have already eaten.”
“We also just finished eating. Emma’s in the powder room, I’ll ask her when she come out. How is everything?” I ask, not wanting to be rude.
“It’s good. He spent the first few days at home, sweating and binging on TV and peanut-butter sandwiches and chewing gum. After the first few days, however, he started binging on pushups and sit-ups and jogging. He says that if he is going to sweat he is going to have a good reason for sweating. He is in a big hurry to get back in shape. We still have a long road, but every day is better than the one before.”
“That’s good news.” I look over at him and he looks very good. He is in a gray suit, white shirt, and a gray tie. “He looks very well. He should be about done detoxing.” Leah is wearing a gray dress and I wonder is it a coincidence that the two are matching.
Emma walks out of the powder room, and I introduce her to Leah. Emma met her and Bobby briefly at the hospital. “Hi, how are you? We met at the hospital, right?” Emma says.
“Yes, we did. I’m fine, thank you. Robert and I were hoping you would join us for coffee.”
Emma looks up at me and I nod. “We would love to,” she says.
Emma
I follow Leah to her and Bobby’s table with Alec walking behind me. Bobby stands as we approach their table and buttons up his jacket. He shakes Alec’s hand before he extends his large hand to me. I shake his hand and tell him how great he looks.
“We met at the hospital, didn’t we?” Bobby asks.
“We did, it’s good to see you again.”
He smiles as he pulls Leah’s chair out for her. “Thank you, today is the best day I’ve had so far,” he says. Once Leah and I are seated, Bobby and Alec both sit. “The Motrin has definitely helped, thank you,” he says, looking at Alec.
“Good to hear and you’re welcome.”
The server comes over and we all order coffee. Bobby asks, “I was wondering about Molly? Have you heard from her?”
“Robert is worried about her symptoms.” Leah explains, “He told me she usually detoxes hard very early.”
Alec says, “I haven’t spoken to her, but her mom and dad have. She did have a few rough days, but she stuck it out and is now having better days.”
“That’s good, I’m glad she is still there. Would you mind giving her my number and asking her to call me the next time you speak to her?”
“No, I don’t mind. I don’t know when it’ll be, but I’ll certainly give her the message.”
Bobby reaches into his jacket pocket and hands Alec his business card. He reads it and smiles. “You’re back in training?”
He nods and Leah shakes her head. “I started training last week. I’m still trying to get some weight on and I have a long way to go, but I hope to be boxing again sometime next year.”
“Or training others to box next year,” Leah adds.
Bobby laughs and says, “I hope to be boxing, but Leah wants me to train others to fight. She is aware of the dangers of boxing. Smokin’ Joe Frazer once said, ‘Boxing is the only sport you can get your brain shook, your money took, and your name in the undertaker book.’”
“I imagine it’s tough for your wife to sit back and watch you fight,” I say.
“I’m sure it is. I was going to box until I won a championship then I was going to quit. I’m good; well, I was good. I think I could get there again with some training.”
“I’m sure you can. I actually watched you fight once. It was very impressive,” Alec states.
“Tell me which fight you saw and I’ll tell you if it was impressive or not,” Bobby says as he drapes his arm over the back of Leah’s chair.
We all laugh and Alec smiles and says, “Grether vs. Kennedy.”
“Ouch.” Bobby says as he holds his heart. “You had to pick a fight where I lost.” He laughs. “That was not impressive. Now pick a fight where I won and that was impressive.”
Alec laughs and says, “You’re right. I lost a ton of money on that match. Not impressive at all.”
“You are a smart man to put your money on me,” Bobby boasts.
“Not that night, I wasn’t,” Alec jokes.
“Can we talk about something else? I don’t want to remember that night,” Leah says. Although she is smiling, she looks a little sad.
“That’s when I got this.” Bobby points to a small scar over his right eye. “The blood interfered with my vision and was a major reason I lost. All right, Sweets. We can talk about whatever you want.” Bobby winks at his wife and I have to smile.
“Thank you. Alec, if you’ll see that Molly gets his number, we would appreciate it.”
“We’ll make sure she gets it. She needs all the support she can get,” I say.
“Thank you, Emma.”
We finish our coffee and talk about Mason and Alec going into business together and Bobby and Alec talk about sports training and boxing. Leah and I talk about my recent engagement to Alec, and she tells me how blessed she is to have Robert home.
We walk out of the restaurant together and we all wait for the valet. I watch
as Bobby holds his wife’s door open for her. Alec wraps his arm around me, and I cuddle into him. “Did you have a good evening?”
“I did. It was wonderful. Thank you.”
Our car pulls up and Alec opens my car door for me. “I have a surprise for you for your birthday,” he says as I get into the car. “We’ll need childcare for 24 hours,” he adds as he shuts my car door. He walks over to settle up with the valet before he looks over his shoulder and smiles at me. I get those butterflies low in my belly again.
After he gets in the car, he drives off and doesn’t look at me. “Are you going to tell me where we are going for my birthday?”
“No,” he says without looking at me.
“Are you at least going to give me a hint?”
He smiles at me and says, “We’ll need a babysitter for 24 hours.”
I laugh. “You already told me that. May I have another hint?”
“Pack something sexy.” He laughs.
“Alec?”
“Emma?”
“Is that all you’re going to tell me? To pack something sexy and we’ll be gone overnight?”
I watch as he smiles his All-American smile. “Yes.”
On Monday morning Alec’s phone rings precisely at 8:00 am. The kids are having waffles and sausage at the table, while Alec and I are finishing up our coffee.
“Alec here,” he says as he always does when he answers his phone.
“She’s right here, hold on.”
“Raelynn, it’s your mommy.”
I watch as Raelynn excitedly reaches for her dad’s cell phone. “Mommy!”
Alec watches and listens to everything being said. Even with a phone call he is very protective of his daughter. I stand up to get Bobby’s business card from my purse. I hand it to him and he nods. With Brooke and Brice’s business growing, Alec and I have started taking the kids to their grandparents so they can watch them. Sam and Bridget have claimed James as one of their grandchildren and he loves it. I have to admit I love it, too. They are wonderful people and are very good to Alec, me, and both of the kids. I have to wonder if this will change when Molly comes home. How is this all going to work with Molly there?
Mending Hearts Page 5