“Fine. Send me the details, and I’ll do it.”
“All right. Now, go get your shopping done.” Her mother’s voice contained a hint of sweetness right before she hung up. It was as if her mother had split personalities.
And that was when Emilia realized her mother hadn’t even said thank you. She stared at her phone, hoping she’d at least get a THX from her mom over her text messenger but no such luck. Instead, she got the information to download the correct app and how to send the funds immediately.
Emilia had done a great job at Christmas telling herself that her parents had changed and she had a shot with them as a family again, but after this afternoon she doubted she’d ever see them again, and she wasn’t even sure whose choice that would be.
It was moments like these when she wished her grandparents were here to shield her from the parents she had, even if one of the parents happened to be their daughter.
Throwing a couple of bags of coffee beans and various other items into her cart, the trip became something of a whirlwind. Emilia just wanted to get home and get the money sent off.
It wasn’t until she got to the car that she saw a new text from her agent. He’d set her up on a local Seattle daytime talk show for an interview and Q&A session with a live audience. He thought it would be good publicity, and on any other day, she’d probably agree with him, but today wasn’t that day. But as her life was spinning out of control with no real input from her, she went home and put all of her heartache into writing her first sentence.
There once lived a boy who stole my heart, and I broke his in return.
And Emilia forgot to send her parents the money.
Chapter Twelve
“We’ve got the press release ready to go out. Just tell us when.” Margaret popped into Josh’s office and smiled.
“Let’s hold off.” Josh cleared his throat. “We might want to come up with a new one.”
“Why’s that? The one you came up with is brilliant. It’s full of intrigue, scandal—”
And it could make her world implode, which wasn’t anything Josh had intended. He just wanted answers, but sometimes, it was hard to separate the two Joshes and he found himself in predicaments that always put him in the winning position.
“We aren’t even sure she’s going to be able to get us a chapter, let alone an entire book. I want to see what she’s capable of before we start a big marketing push and lose our shirts.”
“Whatever you say.” Margaret’s smile dropped and she slumped away, but he was the boss. If she didn’t like his decision, that was her problem. He was the person who had to live with his choices, not Margaret.
He knew he could get the industry talking if he started now. It was all about creating buzz and getting the people salivating for the story, but if the story fell flat, the reputation of his company was on the line.
Not to mention, he’d suddenly grown a heart after reading Hailee’s responses. He’d always wanted to know why she’d left, but he never expected that she regretted her decision. He also wasn’t sure she had ever really cared. If those responses were an accurate depiction, then she actually had, and there was something more driving her decisions. And he needed to know what that was.
One thing was for sure. Ever since Josh had read her responses—however short—he’d been plagued by guilt and a real desire to see Hailee Howard face-to-face. Since he was in deep with the situation he’d put them both in, he figured the best way to see her was in person so he could explain everything.
As of now, the state of affairs looked really shady, and that was probably because it kind of was. He’d used his position of power to dangle something in front of Hailee that he knew would be nearly impossible for her to turn down. At the time, he didn’t feel so sorry about it, but now he did.
Suzanne walked into his office without skipping a beat and sat in the chair across from him. Today, her bright red lipstick was almost blinding, but it suited her. She was definitely a woman you didn’t want to cross, and the look in her eyes at this particular moment told him she’d just accomplished something.
“I definitely need to get out there and in front of Emilia.” Josh stared at Suzanne.
“I talked to Emilia’s agent, and he got her on a local talk show.” She smiled. “You’re sure that you can go out there and sweet-talk her?” Her expression turned solemn, and she leaned into the desk. “Because you’re not really one to do that well.”
Josh laughed and nodded in agreement. “I doubt what I’ll be doing will count as sweet talking.” The one thing he hadn’t done was divulge the real reasons he wanted Hailee Howard to write this book. If he had, there’d probably be a Suzanne revolt, and that was a headache he didn’t feel like dealing with. As far as he was concerned, it would be a very long time before it came out that the answers Hailee gave had anything to do with him.
“So when do I need to get out there?”
“Two days from now.”
Josh nodded and texted his brother, Sam. If he was going to make the trip, he ought to make it worth it and head up to Silver Ridge after Hailee’s interview.
“Is there anything else you need from me? I was thinking about heading out early.” Suzanne grinned slyly.
“I think I’m set. I guess this is our last shot at getting something out of this writer.”
“Seems that way.” Suzanne blushed.
“What did I just see?” Josh’s brow rose. Never in his life had he witnessed a blush, a flush, or any such thing surface on Suzanne’s porcelain white skin, and here she did both.
She pulled her dark brows together. “What are you talking about?”
“Your cheeks are red.”
“I’m going on a date tonight.”
“Seriously?”
“You don’t have to act so surprised.”
“It’s just that I’ve worked with you for over five years and I’ve never heard of you dating.”
“I happened to be reading some of Emilia’s posts and realized why I might be single.”
Josh rolled his eyes. “Well, good. I’ll be sure to let Emilia know that while her editor has no book to read, she’s had plenty of time to invest in reading her blog.”
“I’m telling you, she really gets to the heart of the matter.”
“Well, good. I look forward to seeing that in about eighty thousand words or so.”
Suzanne stood up and laughed. “I’m sure you do.”
“Let me know how it goes.”
“Not in a million years.” Suzanne smiled, and Josh laughed just as a reply came back from his cousin, Sam.
Austin confirmed it. Hailee bought back her grandparents’ home. She’s a bit wishy-washy on whether she’s staying or not, but I thought you’d be interested.
Josh didn’t know whether to be excited or freaked out about this news. He liked visiting Silver Ridge because it was complication-free, and Hailee’s moving back to town certainly caused complications. He’d just have to wait to see how the conversation went. She might decide to leave and change her name again.
He shot an email to his assistant to make plane reservations right when Suzanne suddenly appeared in his office doorway again.
“I thought you were off to—”
“Emilia did it. She sent over a chapter, and it’s awesome. It’s unbelievable. The best stuff she’s written. I guess you were right. She just needed some writing prompts. Maybe you don’t have to go out there after all.” Her eyes sparkled with delight as she marched into Josh’s office holding a stack of pages. Looking completely satisfied, she slapped them on his desk. “I guess that’s why you’re the boss.”
Josh could barely hear Suzanne. All he cared about was what Emilia had written. He reached for the first page and began to read the words he’d been waiting eighteen years to see.
There once lived a boy who stole my heart, and I broke his in return. But sometimes, life isn’t that simple, and love certainly never is. When I made the decision to leave the love of
my life, I made one promise to myself.
Never look back.
And I’ve spent eighteen years doing exactly that.
Charging forward and promising myself I’d made the right decisions along the way.
Maybe I have. Perhaps I haven’t. The one thing that is certain is that I’ll never know. I can’t live in the past. I wouldn’t survive there. I barely survive in the present, and who knows about the future?
I’ve been determined to put my demons behind me and hold onto the fresh start and new beginnings I’ve clung to since I made up my mind to leave my hometown and never return.
But that’s the problem. I came back.
I returned to the one place that held more heartache than one person should ever have to bear, and I revisited the one place that held more beautiful moments than are fit for this world.
I see the town as an outsider, filled with the very people I left behind, but I suppose that was always part of the problem. I was an outsider.
And I’m not sure much has changed. I still watch the world go by with curiosity only strong enough to make me a witness, not a participant.
I’ve spent most of my life watching. I suppose that’s why I might be able to lend some advice. I’m busy watching others’ mistakes and failures while refusing to analyze my own.
But like I’ve mentioned, the demons that sent me far away from the little town I once loved have now pulled me back, and I don’t understand why.
And I’ll never expect the boy I left to understand me because I’d imagine that now, he’s grown into an amazing man with an amazing family, living in an amazing home, all without me.
Because the world will go on without me, which is why I’m no longer me.
I’m Emilia Hudson, and the world I created needs me.
Chapter Thirteen
Emilia was sitting in the makeup chair with her eyes closed. She still hadn’t gotten entirely used to public appearances, and ones that involved live television made her extremely skittish. All it took was one foot-in-the-mouth incident to be blacklisted, and she really didn’t feel like starting over yet again. One name change was plenty enough in a lifetime.
The music to get the crowd going was blaring down the halls, which didn’t give her any quiet moments to collect her thoughts. She didn’t remember being this nervous when she’d been on this show before, but she’d had a lot less at stake.
Regardless, Emilia came here in a good mood, and she hoped to keep it that way. She was so relieved that Suzanne was okay with the direction her writing took. Emilia had received the list of questions and understood that at some point, she should hit on those topics, but right now, Emilia just wanted the writing to carry her forward.
“You all set for today?” the makeup artist asked Emilia.
Emilia blinked her eyes open as the makeup artist dusted bronzer onto her cheeks.
“I think so.” Emilia smiled and nodded, hoping that the makeup artist’s tattooed eyebrows, false lashes, and hot pink lipstick weren’t indicative of Emilia’s final look. That was partly why she’d kept her eyes shut. Emilia really didn’t want to look in the mirror to see a clown staring back at her.
Ever since Emilia went back to her natural strawberry blonde hair, she tried to stay away from lots of makeup. It was funny that it took her changing her name before she became somewhat comfortable in her own skin. When she was growing up, she wanted to do everything in her power to change how she looked. Whether it was dying her hair dark or gobbing on tons of makeup, she tried to erase Hailee Howard from a young age.
The door swung open, and Emilia glanced over to see the production assistant smiling, carrying a tablet. “You’ve got five minutes until we go live.”
The makeup artist smiled and smudged her index finger along Emilia’s left cheekbone.
“No problem,” the makeup artist told the P.A. and then whispered to Emilia. “Just touching up your scar.”
Emilia’s entire body stiffened at the mention of the scar. She’d gotten so used to looking at it over the years that she didn’t think how the tiny mark might catch someone’s eye. She thought back to how she injured herself and flashed a smile to the makeup artist.
“Oh, thanks. I didn’t even remember it.”
The makeup artist placed the brush in her fabric carrier and began rolling the case up.
“You look absolutely gorgeous,” she gushed. “Definitely camera-ready, but it’s people like you who make my job easy.”
“I think I need to keep you around for my ego.” Emilia decided she better look in the mirror.
Wow! Not so bad. Emilia had to admit that she was amazed at what she saw. She wasn’t overdone. If anything, she looked like she was wearing less makeup, but she knew that not to be true.
“Thank you.” Emilia hopped out of her chair and gave the makeup artist a quick hug. “You worked your magic for sure.”
The P.A. opened the door again as Emilia made her way over.
“Two minutes,” he stated flatly. “You ready?”
“Sure am.” Emilia had to keep in a chuckle at how very uninspiring this P.A. appeared to be. Usually, the P.A. tried to pump up the guests on the way out to the soundstage to get them excited to go out and talk to the host and see the audience.
Instead, Emilia felt like she was walking out to her own funeral. She followed the P.A. down the long, narrow corridor and heard the host introducing her to the audience.
Her stomach flipped as the crowd applauded and she glanced toward a curtain leading to a different part of the set. And that’s when she caught a shadow of someone she couldn’t believe.
Josh Turner.
Her breath caught in her throat, but as quickly as she saw him, he vanished behind the curtain. She shook her head and glanced at the production assistant who was motioning for Emilia to walk onto the stage.
Emilia had to be imagining things. She looked toward the curtain and saw no sign of him or anyone. Not even a ripple in the fabric. Emilia was probably losing her mind since Josh had been on it so much recently.
Sliding her hands over her pencil skirt, she glanced over her shoulder one more time as she walked out to thunderous applause. The female host walked toward her to shake her hand and lead her to the informal living room set. The lights were almost blinding, but Emilia kept focused and followed the host’s lead.
Emilia waved at the audience, who continued to cheer as she took her seat. She crossed her legs and ran her tongue over her lips to moisten them. It was as if she could barely swallow after her imaginary run-in.
So this was off to a great start.
“Emilia Hudson, it’s so nice to have you back,” the host began. “You have quite a following.”
The audience began cheering, and Emilia’s eyes scanned the crowd of strangers, amazed that these people were applauding her when she felt like she’d done so little.
“It’s great to be here.” She folded her hands in her lap and turned her attention back to the host.
“That’s right, folks. World-renowned relationship expert, Emilia Hudson, is here in our studio today, and she’s here to answer your questions.”
The crowd erupted into more cheers, and Emilia took a deep breath.
“I don’t know about that.” Emilia laughed, and the audience ate it up.
“Well, we put out a call to your fans that you were coming, and we certainly heard from them. One woman even flew out from Florida, isn’t that right?” The host focused on a woman standing in front of a microphone in the audience, and Emilia smiled and waved at the woman.
Being cited as a relationship expert made Emilia uneasy. It reminded her of all the matchmakers who charged crazy amounts of money, but they were always single themselves. If they couldn’t figure out their own matches, how in the world could they figure out matches for others?
“Hi, Emilia. I love your blog.”
“Thank you for reading it.” Emilia smiled.
“So my question is, am I too picky? I consta
ntly go on dates, and ten times out ten, there is something about the guy that’s just a red flag. Like, I want to get married, and maybe they don’t, or I love cats, and they hate cats.” The woman giggled and stepped away from the microphone and took her seat.
“Listen,” Emilia began, straightening up and addressing the woman. “There’s no such thing as being too picky when you’ve had enough. It doesn’t matter what the reason is. If you don’t feel like the relationship can go anywhere, why bother trying a second date or a fourth date? You’re wasting everyone’s time at that point. You know in your gut if there’s a fit because I guarantee you, if the perfect guy for you came along and he happened to hate cats, you’d figure it out. And thank you for coming so far to see me. I’d love to chat more with you after the show.”
The audience member beamed, and the host started clapping with the audience soon following.
“So true,” the host agreed. “My husband announced on our first date that he had no intentions of ever marrying. If any other man had told me that, I would have run away, but he said it, and I became more determined. Two kids and a fifteen-year marriage later, and I couldn’t agree with your advice more.”
“Thanks.” Emilia felt in her element. “I feel that as women, we tend to put so much pressure on ourselves that we can miss out on what our gut is telling us, and I’m pretty sure guys aren’t giving half as much thought to the things as we do.”
“Isn’t that the truth?” she agreed. “Our next audience member is from close-to-home in Bellingham. Still quite a drive, though. Go ahead, Melinda from Bellingham.”
Another woman walked up the microphone and cleared her throat.
“Hi. So, um... my question is about the actual dates. I think the guys think I like them when I don’t. I’m not sure if I’m just too nice or what I’m doing wrong. I don’t want to not be who I am, but I seem to send mixed signals.”
“Are you saying they all expect you to sleep with them?” Emilia asked, and the crowd laughed.
A Funny Thing About Love Page 9