by Sophie Love
“I might do that, actually,” she said. “I really wish I could have a drink but maybe hanging out with people who have them will give me vicarious happiness.”
Lois laughed. “Let’s hope so. Have a good time.”
Emily waved goodbye and headed back out. She took her car this time, leaving Amy’s parked outside the inn, and headed into town to the bar.
As she drove, soaking in the sights of the quiet, manageable Sunset Harbor roads, she felt that sense of home returning to her. Here she felt safe. Here she was loved by people, respected and cared for. It was exactly what she needed to help get over the stress of the day.
She reached the bar and parked in the small lot around the back. Then she got out of the car, filled with relief to know she was just moments away from reuniting with Daniel, and headed into the bar.
It was dark inside and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dimness. She scanned the tables and noticed Harry and George sitting together looking up at the TV screen that showed a game in full swing. But no Daniel.
She glanced around, searching for him. Then she saw something that made her heart drop to her feet. Two figures at the bar—one male, one female. She recognized Daniel instantly. Even from behind she knew every intimate detail about him. The woman she couldn’t place from this angle, but she could see her stunningly attractive figure in tight black workout gear.
It wasn’t the fact that Daniel was chatting with a woman at the bar that horrified Emily so much. It was the fact that their hands were resting on top of one another’s—his, then hers, then his other. It was a strange, overly intimate posture.
Emily stormed over, hard emotion lodged in her throat. The world seemed to swirl around her as she marched up to Daniel. Time slowed down, so that she could make out the joyful expression on his face, the tender look in his eyes. And then she was close enough to see who the woman was. Astrid. ASTRID!
“What the hell is going on?!” Emily screamed.
Her voice ripped out of her chest like the cry of a wild animal. Daniel’s happiness faded and his expression turned to something that Emily thought could only be described as terror. He hadn’t been expecting to get caught out by her.
“Emily!” he gasped, leaping up, withdrawing his hand from Astrid’s.
Astrid’s mouth dropped open. Caught red-handed, Emily thought.
“I can’t believe this!” Emily screamed. It felt like her entire world was imploding. Her mom letting her down she could cope with; she was used to it after all. But Daniel was supposed to be the one person she could rely on. The one person she could trust with her whole heart. And here he was, breaking that trust, shattering her heart into a million pieces.
She couldn’t look anymore. She couldn’t bear to. She turned and rushed out of the bar, hot tears stinging her eyes and streaming down her cheeks.
She heard the sound of the bar door screech open behind her then slam shut on its spring hinges.
“Emily!” Daniel yelled.
His footsteps were fast approaching from behind. Emily couldn’t run, not with her bump that size. There was no running away from this. She’d have to confront it head on.
She stopped and whirled on the spot. Daniel ran up to her, his hands reaching for hers. She shoved them away. She didn’t want him touching her with those hands that had moments before been touching Astrid.
“Whatever you have to say, I don’t care,” Emily said.
“Just listen,” Daniel began.
“Why?” Emily hissed. “There’s nothing you can say to make what I just saw okay.”
“I know it looked bad, but I promise you it’s not what you think. I didn’t plan to meet Astrid.”
“Oh really?” Emily said, not buying it for a moment. “You didn’t take the first opportunity you’ve had away from your wife in months to meet up with your ex-girlfriend who’s still in love with you?”
Daniel looked like he was in physical pain. “I know it looks bad but you have to trust me, Emily. It was a complete coincidence that we bumped into each other tonight.”
“And I suppose it was a complete accident that you touched her hand so tenderly?” Emily replied scathingly.
“Please let me explain,” Daniel begged her. “Astrid was upset. That’s the only reason I was sitting with her. I would have walked away otherwise but she was crying. And we got to talking. That’s all. You don’t have to worry.”
Emily glared at Daniel. “How stupid do you think I am?”
“Not even slightly,” Daniel said. “That’s why you’ll come around and accept the truth I’m telling you. We can get Harry and George to corroborate my story if you still don’t believe me. They saw the whole thing.”
Emily shook her head, furious. “They’ll just say whatever they know you want them to. I know bro code.”
Daniel cast his eyes down. He looked desperate but Emily didn’t care.
“I’m going home now,” she said. “And I don’t want you following me.”
Daniel’s eyes widened. “What? Where am I supposed to go?”
“Not my problem,” Emily said. “You can sleep in a ditch for all I care.”
She turned and headed back to the car, a cold numbness spreading through her whole body. She thought she belonged to Sunset Harbor, but now she realized she didn’t. She didn’t belong anywhere. Her life here was over as she knew it.
Just as she reached the car, Daniel was there again. He leaped between her and the driver’s seat door, blocking her from being able to get inside.
“I’m not letting you leave like this,” he said. “Please.”
Emily had no choice. Daniel was in the way of her escape route.
“There is nothing going on between Astrid and I,” he said. “I bumped into her completely by accident at the bar. George wanted me to go and ask her over to our table. I didn’t even realize it was her until I got there. Before I even saw who it was, I could see she was crying. That’s why we started speaking in the first place. I would have walked away otherwise, if I’d realized. But we spoke and, I’m not going to lie, I like Astrid’s company. As a friend. That’s all. She’s a decent person. You’d probably be friends if you gave her a chance.”
Emily made a scoffing noise. She couldn’t believe what Daniel was saying to her. It was ludicrous.
“But you know that you’re the one I love,” Daniel said. “You, Emily. I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize what we have. The life we’ve made together is amazing. I could never have imagined I’d be so happy. You’re the love of my life.”
His words started to seep into Emily’s mind. But the paranoid part her parents had instilled in her throughout years of witnessing their raging fights was strong, telling her not to listen to him. Her dad’s philandering ways had taught her not to trust men, and despite all the leaps Daniel’s love had helped her make over the past couple of years, that was always at the back of her mind. Trusting men made you a fool. Here was the evidence of that.
“I did make one mistake, though,” Daniel admitted. “And I’ll tell you now because you can always tell when I’m holding something back.”
He attempted a smile, but Emily wasn’t ready to return it. She folded her arms tightly against her for protection and braced herself for the truth to finally come out.
But Daniel’s admission was not what Emily had been expecting to hear.
“I offered her a job,” he said.
It was the last thing Emily had been expecting to hear. In fact, it was so unexpected that she paused, almost stunned and frozen into confusion.
“I’m sorry, what?” she finally managed to say.
Daniel looked sheepish. “She’s been fired. One of her Pilates clients trashed her reputation and she can’t find work. I thought about the retreat on the island and thought she’d be perfect for it. And she would. I was going to speak to you about it, obviously, but it just seemed like such a good fit I sort of mentioned it to her already.”
Emily’s mind did a
360 spin. “You did WHAT?” she bellowed.
Of all the stupid things Daniel could have done to upset her, offering a job to his beautiful ex-girlfriend had to top the list! He’d really put her through the emotional wringer over the course of their relationship, with motorbike accidents and a surprise child. But now he was just being plain idiotic.
“What the hell made you think that was a good idea?” Emily yelled.
Daniel looked anguished. “This wasn’t how you were supposed to find out,” he said. “I was imagining a lovely reunion date together on the island. Picnic, candles, the works. Then I’d tell you the news and you’d be so happy and in love that you’d see you had nothing to worry about at all. Nothing. Astrid isn’t a threat to you, or our happiness. Because you’re the one I love. You’re the one I married, the one who’s having my child.”
Emily took a deep breath, trying to wrap her head around everything that had happened. She felt stunned. Shaken to the core.
“Can you let me go home now?” she said, coolly. “I need to think.”
Daniel shook his head. “Nope. Because when you’re away from me you’ll think the worst. I know you. I know how you work. You’re always expecting people to let you down because they always have. But not me, Emily. I adore you. You’re my favorite person in the world. I’ll never do anything to hurt you, including whatever it is you think might have happened between me and Astrid tonight. So no, I won’t let you get in that car until you’ve calmed down and accepted what I’m saying.”
Emily was beyond infuriated. “You are such a jerk,” she muttered.
Daniel just shrugged. “Hurl whatever insults you need to my way. I can take it. As long as it ends with us together, I don’t care.”
Just then, the door to the bar opened. Emily saw Harry poking his head out, looking around tentatively.
“Come and join the party!” Emily shouted over to him. “Why not!”
“Em,” Daniel admonished.
Harry stepped out. “I’m not going to interfere,” he said. “I just wondered if everything was okay in New York City. Is Amy okay?”
“Amy, ha!” Emily laughed, bitterly. “She’s fine. She’s just hanging out with my mother.”
Daniel looked shocked. “Your mom? Was that planned?”
“No,” Emily said sharply. “And I was really hoping that I could curl up in the comforting arms of my husband tonight after the crappy day I’ve had. But clearly that’s not going to happen.”
Harry looked on timidly, like he wanted to speak but wasn’t sure if he should get involved. Clearly, he decided to, because he spoke up.
“Emily, Daniel only approached that woman because George was too shy to.”
“George, shy?” Emily said with a hard laugh. “I don’t believe that for a second.”
“It’s true,” Harry said. “He’s a lot less confident than people think. But look, they’re getting on famously.”
Emily resisted but finally allowed Harry to show her inside the bar. Astrid and George were in deep conversation, looking rather taken with one another.
Finally, it began to sink in that perhaps Daniel really was telling the truth. But that didn’t excuse the fact that he’d offered Astrid a job without speaking to her.
“I think I’ll say goodbye now,” Harry said. “Give Ames a call and make sure she’s okay. And give George and Astrid a bit of space, you know.”
He said goodbye to Daniel, and Emily saw the look he gave him, a sort of mix between sympathy and concern. He clearly felt bad for Daniel and the wrath that Emily had unleashed upon him. She took some deep breaths as she watched Harry leave.
When she turned back to Daniel, he was looking at her with raised eyebrows. “So where are we at now on the forgiveness scale?” he asked.
Emily folded her arms. “Pretty low,” she said. “Although you don’t have to sleep somewhere else.”
Daniel smiled. He could tell she was cracking.
“Well, that’s a start,” he said. “Can I get a ride home with you? I took a cab because I was drinking.”
“What about Astrid?” Emily said scathingly.
“I think she’s being well looked after by George,” Daniel said. He took a tentative step toward Emily.
“Fine,” she muttered.
She got into the driver’s seat and Daniel slid into the passenger seat beside her. She didn’t look over.
“Am I sleeping on the couch tonight?” he asked.
“No,” she replied. “That room is for the guests. You can stay in one of the empty rooms.”
“That’s better than the barn,” Daniel chuckled. “You can’t hate me that much.”
“I don’t hate you,” Emily said, her hands tensing against the steering wheel. “I think you’re a stupid idiot moron, but I don’t hate you.”
Daniel shrugged. “That’s progress.”
Emily turned her face sharply. “Daniel, this isn’t a joke,” she snapped. “You can’t turn every moment I’m annoyed with you into a game. Seeing you with Astrid really hurt me. It humiliated me. It looked like you were on a date with her! Then your pregnant wife waddles in, looking awful after spending half her day in a car. Do you have any idea how embarrassing that whole thing was for me?”
Daniel’s expression was suddenly very serious. “Emily, you don’t look awful. You’re stunning. I only have eyes for you. I’m sorry it humiliated you. And I’m sorry for offering Astrid a job without consulting you. I got carried away with wanting to fix her problems.”
Emily sighed, feeling her body sag from fatigue. The fact that Daniel cared about other people’s well-being was one of the reasons she loved him so deeply. Really it was her own paranoia and insecurity over Astrid that had made the situation spiral so quickly out of control. If she’d found out Daniel had offered a job to one of his males friends she wouldn’t have had the reaction she did at all.
Overwhelmed with emotion from the day, Emily finally felt her armor break down. She’d been shielding herself behind anger because she didn’t want to let herself give in to the pain the day had brought up. But now it was cracking. Tears began to stream down her cheeks.
“Emily,” Daniel said quietly, softly. “Let’s get home and snuggle up in bed. When we wake up tomorrow things will look different. We’ll go somewhere just the two of us, somewhere romantic. We deserve it. You deserve it. Okay?”
She looked over at him, his beautiful features obscured by tears. She loved and trusted Daniel, and knew in her heart he’d never cheat on her or do anything intentionally to hurt her. She was still furious, but moreover she was exhausted. The idea of falling asleep in Daniel’s comforting, strong arms was one she couldn’t resist.
Finally, she nodded.
“I think I might sleep for a year,” she admitted.
It was the first time she’d said anything in a normal tone, without anger or accusations on her tongue. Daniel smiled at her softly, invitingly. She could tell in his eyes that he was relieved, that he was more than ready for this spat to be over. But fatigue and forgiveness were two very different things. Just because she’d invited Daniel into her bed it didn’t mean she was over the stupidity of his actions. She just didn’t have the energy to deal with it tonight. Tomorrow would be a whole different matter.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Hey, Mommy,” Chantelle’s voice came on the other end of the line.
It was morning and Emily was standing in the kitchen, wrapped in her dressing gown, resting against the work surface, using the vintage house telephone to speak to Chantelle.
“How was the superhero movie marathon?” Emily asked.
“Amazing! Can I stay at Toby’s today again? We’ve still got tons of movies to watch.”
Emily paused as she pondered it. “Did you get any sleep last night or were you watching movies all night?”
“We slept,” Chantelle said. “A little.”
“Have you got any daylight on your skin at all? Or are the curtains drawn?”
“I’m opening them now!” Chantelle said.
“Have you eaten anything other than popcorn?”
“Yes! Suzanna keeps bringing us fruit and vegetable sticks.”
Emily smiled to herself. “Okay, put Suzanna on the line. If it’s okay with her, it’s okay with me.”
“Thanks, Mommy!” Chantelle said.
She heard the sound of shuffling, and then Suzanna came over the speaker.
“She’s not too much trouble, is she?” Emily asked. She hated taking liberties, but her friends never seemed to mind having Chantelle over.
“She’s great,” Suzanna said. “I’m just glad Toby is distracted. He’s become quite clingy since Robin was born. I had no idea a seven-year-old would be jealous of a baby.”
Emily touched her own pregnant stomach. Because of Chantelle’s complex needs, it had occurred to her that jealousy may soon play a role in their lives.
“We can take Toby another day if you need a break,” Emily suggested. “He’s always welcome.”
She felt bad as she realized then that Toby had often been sidelined by Bailey and Chantelle. They were the best of friends, always sleeping over at each other’s houses, and as a result Emily and Yvonne were extremely close. But Suzanna needed just as much support as Yvonne did, and offered it just as readily. Maybe this little hiccup between Chantelle and Bailey would do everyone some good. Emily had certainly never meant to leave Suzanna out; she loved her just as much as she did Yvonne.
“Whenever you need a break, just drop him over,” Emily added.
“Thanks, Emily,” Suzanna replied, and Emily could hear the gratitude in her voice. That and the exhaustion. Having a two-month-old in the house was clearly hard work. Emily could hardly believe how soon that would be her!
Having arranged for Chantelle to remain at Toby’s for another day to finish watching the rest of their superhero movies, Emily prepared some breakfast and took it up on a tray to Daniel. He stirred as she entered.
“I was worried you’d left me,” Daniel quipped, only half joking.