Being Emma

by Jeanne Harrell

  “I think I’ve got it now.” Ethan walked up to her.

  “Let me see some of the shots when they’re uploaded, okay?”

  “Sure…” He left the room and Janie beamed at Diane. She was nervous and shy.

  “Did you hear how he wanted to see the pictures of you two? Sounds promising…” Diane blushed.

  “You really think so?”

  “You bet.” Janie glanced around. “Follow me out.”

  When they had gotten outside, Janie told Diane her plan.

  “It occurred to me how you and Ethan could meet up again. You remember the birthday party this weekend for my nephews, right?”

  “Right…” Janie leaned in to whisper in Diane’s ear.

  “I invited Ethan to come. We had just made a great collar on a suspect and it seemed like a good time. We talked a bit and he said he wasn’t seeing anyone… So… he’ll be there and you’ll be there and…”

  Diane laughed. “We’ll see how the ‘and’ goes, Janie. You do get an A for effort.” Janie smiled.

  “It’ll be fun.” Diane thought about that for a minute.

  “I hope so…”

  ####

  Sandy and his brother, Bill, were sitting in Craig’s office in downtown Naples. As the accountant for the Johnson Family Trust, Craig helped them every year get ready for their trip to Las Vegas. Sandy and Bill went annually to meet with their lawyers involved in the cattle business. Going to Vegas wasn’t desired, but necessary with the scope of the Johnson ranching business. Sometimes, Craig went with them. They were going over various figures and accounts that would be needed for the trip.

  In the middle of their discussions, Sandy took a good look at Craig. He had known him all his life, but he looked different for some unknown reason. Tilting his head, Sandy saw the good-looking man with curly hair in a new light – And he wasn’t sure why.

  Craig glanced up and noticed Sandy’s look.

  “Sandy?”

  “There’s something different about you, Craig. What is it? New suit? New haircut? Something…” Craig shrugged.

  “Ah… nothing I can think of.” Bill laughed.

  “At least he’s not wearing his kilt today…”

  “Ha ha, guys. That’s only in Scotland when I visit my grandparents.”

  “And shoot with the Royal Archers…”

  “Well, yeah…”

  “Your Scottish heritage is interesting, Craig. Would you ever want to live there someday?” Craig paused and thought about that.

  “I think I would… But not alone… If I didn’t bring someone with me, my grandmother would be pissed.”

  Bill laughed. “Yeah, it’s not good to piss off your grandmother.”

  Sandy had never heard Craig talk about settling down before and it gave him pause… Even though Craig had been best friends with Colt since they were little guys and now Colt was married with three children. Still Craig had never even been engaged. Maybe that was it… he was maturing and considering his future. But then he shook off whatever was distracting him.

  “Are you coming to the party for the grandkids on Saturday? Meg and Carter are coming down.” He laughed. “I think Lily’s invited half the town. And of course, Jeanne and Sam will be there. They’ve been asking about you.”

  “It’ll be great to see them again. I couldn’t get free for the grape harvest this year, so I haven’t seen them in a while.”

  “So you’re coming…”

  “Sure… How could I miss it?” He smiled. “Lily’d kill me…”

  “That she would, son.” Sandy nodded. “That she would… “

  CHAPTER SIX

  The party at the ranch was in full swing by 12:30. It seemed to Janie that most of the town was in the back yard, mingling and laughing. There were people everywhere… Her nieces and nephews were running around with several more children that their family and friends had brought. The gift part hadn’t happened yet as her dad and brothers were taking turns giving the children pony rides. She listened to happy little voices as she made her way back into the house to replenish some of the snacks.

  Pulling out different foods from the pantry and refrigerator, she poured various good smelling dips into bowls and loaded others with chips and cut vegetables. Lost in thought, she remembered something that had happened last night. She had tossed and turned in bed a lot of the night just thinking about it…

  Janie had arrived home yesterday to visit with sister Meg and her family who had just driven down from San Francisco. She loved Meg, found her husband Carter to be a nearly perfect male and their little daughter, Sofia, to be as cute as she could be. Yes, she knew Carter probably had a few warts here and there, but nothing to alert the media about…

  The thing that kept her tossing and turning had occurred right after Meg had put Sofia to bed for the night. Janie just happened to be standing within view as Carter walked down the darkened hallway to see if Sofia was asleep. She really hadn’t planned on staring, but she couldn’t drag her eyes away from what happened next. Meg came out of the bedroom, closing the door softly behind her. Carter walked right up to her and she went into his arms. They stood like that for a minute, then he pulled back a little, lifted her chin and gazed into her eyes. When he finally kissed her, Janie could almost feel it too. The first kiss was tender, but the second was such a deep, steamy one that Janie felt singed by the heat, even from fifteen feet away. She gasped… Carter backed Meg up against the door to kiss her deeply again. She wrapped her arms around Carter’s neck. Then Janie sighed as he planted little kisses all over Meg’s smiling face before going back to her lips to give her another one of those incredibly sexy kisses.

  Janie had then backed up against a wall out of their sight… She had actually broken out in a sweat. Who was she kidding? – Even if they had seen her, they wouldn’t have seen her. Was that was it was all about? What her brothers and sister, mother and father, and probably grandparents too had all maneuvered through those treacherous relationship waters for -- The Promised Land called Love? She had taken a deep breath and then a few more. Her breathing finally quieted… Carter and Meg walked by her then, gazing happily at one another with arms around each other’s waists. They still didn’t see her. She knew that from the look of tenderness on Carter’s face towards her sister that lovemaking would definitely be happening in their room tonight. She half envied them… She wondered about that look of love on Carter’s face. Did she want some man to look at her like that? Hmmm… the Carter face….

  Dragging her thoughts back to the present, Janie finished replacing the snacks and started taking them outside. Had a man ever looked at her that way?

  Not counting her brothers, father and grandfather, of course, there was a guy she dated once or twice in high school. Nope, all he had given her were dopey looks and she had dropped him. Placing the bowls around on tables outside, she thought of James at work. No, he gave her only professional looks, which was fine with her. Then there was Ethan… Huh… He gave her mysterious looks sometimes. She wasn’t sure what he was thinking and didn’t really want to find out.

  She glanced up and saw Craig talking with Jesse and Audrey. Music was playing somewhere… Her mind was muddled with all the different kinds of looks he gave her… Scolding looks… smiling looks… disappointed looks… sulky looks… resigned looks… confused looks… other looks she couldn’t identify. She had known him all her life and yet stood there wondering what he really thought of her. And why did she care?

  Craig saw her looking at him and came over. She watched the tall, handsome man with curly brown hair and sparkling eyes walk up to her.

  “Are you all right? You looked kinda… funny… even for you.” He laughed. Craig had a nice laugh. Had she really ever seen him before? No, but a big No Trespassing sign immediately appeared above his head. He was too good a friend to risk losing. She gulped and gathered her wits around her.

  “Yes… fine, thanks. Just hungry.” She smiled at him. He took her by the hand.
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  “Come on then.” He smiled at her. “Let’s get you something to eat.”

  And he steered her over to the table where she had just been working. It was laden with food and he handed her a plate. “Fill ‘er up.” She laughed…

  Across the patio, Jeanne and Sam were talking with Sheriff Moody and his wife. Being an observant grandmother, Jeanne was always one of the first to notice subtle changes in her grandchildren. She noticed one now… She had watched as Janie came back outside reloading the table with food. And then she watched as she stood distractedly looking around, obviously deep in thought… When Janie honed in on Craig and he had looked back at her, Jeanne’s antenna went up. Oh my, she thought. Something was, indeed, afoot. As Craig and Janie sat down to eat, Jeanne dragged herself back into the conversation Sam was having with Bud about his latest winemaking efforts. She would definitely have to keep her ears and eyes open…

  ####

  Jeanne wasn’t the only one watching Janie… Ethan too had had his eye on her most of the afternoon. He had spoken to her briefly here and there, but had never really had a conversation with her. Once she tried to get him to talk to Diane. Diane? Why would he want to talk to her? Not his cup of tea…

  He was hoping to catch her alone sometime. Diane sat down by Janie and Craig for a while and then Craig got up to help Colt with the pony rides. He watched Janie and Diane walk into the house together. Ethan guessed that Diane was leaving…

  Walking into the house, he caught Janie alone. She had just closed the door after saying goodbye to Diane. Ethan gathered his courage and walked up to her.

  “Could I talk to you for a minute?” She was startled to see him there. His eyes looked too bright.

  “Sure. What’s up?” He stepped closer to her.

  “I know why you invited me here today.”

  “…Okay… Why?”

  “Because I think you like me. You must know that I like you…” She took a step back. Closing her eyes, the conversation with Craig at the archery range came back to her with a vengeance. Crap… she hadn’t see this coming…

  “Wait a minute, Ethan.” He stepped closer to her. She put up her hands to block his advances. “You’ve got the wrong idea here.”

  “I don’t think so. We work so well together and you wanted to take my picture that day at the station. Now this invitation… I think you’ve finally noticed that I have feelings for you.”

  She nearly choked. “Ethan… Boy, are there some mixed signals here.”

  He stepped in again and this time she blocked him more emphatically with her hands.

  “I don’t think so…”

  “Well, I know so. I wanted you to notice Diane… To take Diane out.”

  He blinked at her in complete surprise. “Why in the world would I want to do that?”

  “Why not?”

  “Because she’s not my type. I haven’t given her a moment’s thought. You’re my type, Janie. And I think I’m yours.” He started moving again.

  “If you come any closer, I swear I’ll flip you on the floor.” That stopped him – He knew she could do it.

  “Are you saying you’re not interested in me?”

  “Not romantically. I’m sorry you got that impression… I was just hoping you and Diane would go out.”

  Ethan coughed and sputtered. “… So not going to happen.” He looked into her face. “But not you and me either?”

  “No… not at all…”

  He walked to the front door and opened it.

  “Ethan?” He turned around.

  “I hope this doesn’t affect our working relationship. Honestly, I never meant to lead you on…” He laughed and angrily walked out the door. Janie stood there alternately wringing her hands and being pissed. Lily came in the back door then and saw her.

  “Sweetie, you okay?” Janie shook her head and shakily sat down in one of the family room chairs. All the air seemed to whoosh out of her lungs. “Janie?”

  “Oh, Mom… It’s even obvious to me now how little I know about some things.” Lily laughed and sat down by her. She took one of her hands to keep her from twisting them into a pretzel.

  “Tell me… “

  And Janie told her the whole story from Diane to Ethan… from Meg and Carter to Craig… And then back to Ethan. It took a while and Lily thought she might even cry in a few parts. She certainly seemed contrite.

  Lily blew out a breath. “Whew… I always guessed that Meg and Carter’s relationship was passionate – Glad to hear I was right.” She looked at her youngest daughter. She had lovely eyes and full lips, and probably never had been concerned about how pretty she really was. Nor had it registered when men noticed her.

  “You realize how wrong you were to interfere with Diane now?”

  “Yes, absolutely. It was a wrong move. Craig really scolded me about it.”

  “Craig knew?”

  “Oh, yeah… I swear Craig knows everything I’m thinking. He told me to quit being Emma.”

  “Emma?”

  “Oh, Mom, you know… the matchmaker in the Jane Austen book?”

  “Yeah…Emma…Huh…”

  “Craig guessed I was trying to set up Ethan and Diane, and confronted me at the archery range that night we came to dinner.”

  “And you were angry with him?”

  “Well, sure. He can make me feel pretty shitty sometimes.”

  “But he was right…”

  “… Okay. I’ll give him that. But obviously I’m still learning about relationships.” Lily gave her a sharp look.

  “I didn’t think you were interested…”

  “I might be, if the right man came along.”

  Lily looked at her and wondered when it would finally dawn on her smart-but-not-so-smart-right-now daughter that Craig Ferguson was probably in love with her. Lily had seen the same scene that Jeanne had and come to the same conclusion. But she wasn’t going to be the one to point it out to her. Janie had to learn this one by herself…

  “Come on. Sammy and little Sandy are going to open their presents soon. We don’t want to miss that…” She took Janie by the hand and led her out to the back yard. The noises of children shrieking, glasses clinking, horses whinnying and people laughing hit them the minute they stepped outside. And they were wonderful sounds…

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  His name was Mike Church and Sandy had hired his company to drill a new well on the property. The company was based in Reno. Her father had gotten a good referral about his services when Sandy had called his brother, Bill, about needing another well. Bill’s law firm had recommended his services before.

  “So where’s the new well going in, Dad?” Joey had stopped by on his way into town. He was sitting at the kitchen counter with Janie, who had stayed over for the night. It was over a week since the birthday party and her routine had resumed, except Diane was mad at her. She had had to tell her about Ethan liking her and that didn’t go down so well. Diane blamed Janie for the whole mess and Janie accepted the blame. However, now Diane wasn’t speaking to her… Thus, she elected to spend a few nights at the ranch instead of going home to a cold, silent apartment.

  Ethan wasn’t speaking to her at work either. She supposed things could get worse, but didn’t want to find out how. She had partnered more with James this past week, but she knew Bud would notice sooner or later. They’d have to deal with it eventually. She decided she’d wait until the Sheriff noticed…

  And then Craig had gone to Scotland to visit his grandparents this week. His grandfather was in poor health and Craig also had archery events to participate in. She realized he had a calming influence on her and usually helped talk her through the latest jam she had gotten herself into. With him gone, Janie felt adrift…. Vulnerable even.

  When she tuned back into their conversation, it was still about the well.

  “… So it will probably take a week to get it drilled. Mike says that the section we selected should be good as it’s far enough away from the last on
e and still taps into the underground aquifer on that side of the property.”

  “I thought you drilled there a few years ago.” Joey asked.

  “No. We hired another geologist who gave us good information on the general location of the aquifer based on a new topographic map we had drawn.

  I think we’ve hit a good spot. Mike seems to think so too.” Sandy got a bottle of water from the refrigerator. He opened it and took a sip.

  “What are your plans today, Janie?” He and Joey looked over at her.

  “Just hanging out today, Dad. I don’t feel like archery practice with Craig gone, so I was thinking about a ride.”

  “Excellent idea. I was just going to ask if you could ride to the south part of the property – about two miles from Jeanne and Sam’s house and talk to Mike Church… Check his progress.”

  “… Mike Church?”

  “That’s the man I hired to drill the well, Janie. I guess you haven’t been following the conversation.”

  “Sorry...” He smiled at her.

  “It’s okay… You must have a lot on your mind. Anyway, saddle up and go talk to him. I’ll draw you a map on how to get there. A ride will do you good anyway.”

  “Exactly right.” She got down from the kitchen stool, said goodbye to Joey and went into her room to collect a few things for the ride. Pulling on her boots, she grabbed her cowboy hat and then went back into the kitchen to get a bottle of water for her saddlebag. By that time, Sandy had the map drawn and showed her where to go. It would be a few miles back on the southern part of the property, but looked easy enough to find. Besides, he told her, the equipment made enough noise to wake the dead. She would hear them long before she saw them.

  Janie went out to the barn and saddled one of the big Palominos Colt liked to ride. His name was Golden and truly was the most beautiful horse she had seen in a long time. A spirited horse, Golden liked to do things his way and Janie knew just how he felt. They were kindred spirits… Smiling, she had him saddled and ready to go within five minutes. They were both itching for some exercise.