Her Way

by Jessica Jarman

  “You’re afraid if you break up with me, I’ll walk away from the business and leave you floundering.” She gave a sharp nod, grabbed her purse and stood. “I’m really sorry I bothered you with this. It won’t happen again. I’ll let you get back to work. No doubt you need all the hours you can get, so you can do this all on your own.”

  As she stalked past him, he could do nothing but sit and stare. What the fuck had just happened? He scrubbed his hands over his face and replayed the last few minutes in his head. How the hell had it gone so wrong?

  “Well, I’m guessing by the way she stormed out that Emma’s not coming back for this?”

  Will dropped his hands and glared at his sister, who deftly balanced two steaming plates and regarded him with a raised brow.

  “Fuck,” he muttered. “See if anyone in back wants it, or box it up and take it home. I don’t really care; I’ve lost my appetite.”

  * * * *

  Emma pressed her fingertips to her temples and rubbed. She glanced at the clock and cursed inwardly when her eyes burned. It was not tears, she thought firmly. It was eye strain. She’d spent the better part of the afternoon and evening staring at the computer screen, so it was definitely eye strain. Certainly not because it was an hour past Will’s shift, and he had yet to come home.

  Get over it. It’s not the first time he’s stayed late at work. He ran the kitchen, after all. But he always called if he was running late. She sighed. She could hardly blame him for not calling. Not after their argument and her walking out on him like that. Would he even come? Or would he stay at his apartment tonight?

  The thought made her chest ache, and she struggled to pull in an even breath. Even though they weren’t officially living together, more often than not, he was there with her. She’d come to think of this as their home, not just hers. Though clearly he still had doubts about their future together.

  She shouldn’t have walked away. Dropping her hands in her lap, she leaned her head back against the chair and closed her eyes. Could she really blame him for worrying what her family would think? Especially after what Mark and Tom had said.

  No, but it still hurt. Even though she understood where he was coming from, she couldn’t make the pain disappear completely.

  “Hey.”

  The sound of Will’s voice, just that little word, jumpstarted her heart. She opened her eyes and slowly turned the chair. He stood in the doorway, legs braced apart, arms at his sides. Looking as miserable as she felt.

  “Hey,” she returned.

  “Sorry I’m late.”

  “It’s okay. Um, I’m just finishing up here.” She turned back to the computer and started saving and closing documents.

  He moved behind her and laid his hands on her shoulders. “You’re tense.” His fingers rubbed and pressed into the tight muscles.

  “Shocking,” she said, then cringed.

  With a sigh, he continued massaging. “I started the hot tub. Figured we could both use a little relaxing tonight.”

  Though the thought of the hot jets appealed, she started to refuse. Unsure how to even talk to him right now. What to say. “I’m really tired, and—”

  Slowly, he swiveled the chair around then knelt in front of her. “Emma, I’m sorry.” He took her hands and looked into her eyes. “I know you were trying to help, and I just shut you out from the get go.”

  She shook her head. “Please don’t. I shouldn’t have blown up like that. I really did just want to help you. I see someone I love working for something, and I want to help them. I can’t help it. But…” she forced a smile, “I crossed a line I didn’t realize was there, and for that, I’m sorry. I just butted right into it, didn’t I? It’s your dream, and I took it over. It won’t happen again.”

  He brought her hands to his mouth and pressed a kiss to each. “I’ll look at what you put together.”

  She cupped his cheek. “You don’t…”

  “I want to, okay? I’m not promising anything,” he warned, “but I’ll look at it.”

  Sniffing slightly, she leaned forward and rested her forehead against his. “Today kinda sucked.”

  Will chuckled softly and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Yes, it did. Come on, let’s give it a better ending. Hot tub’s waiting.”

  “Okay,” she whispered. “I’ll be right behind you. Just let me shut everything down here?”

  Will slanted his mouth over hers, pushed inside boldly. His tongue swirled around hers, and an ache clenched low in her belly.

  “Hurry,” he said against her lips.

  Letting her go, he stood and left the room. After a moment, Emma shook herself and turned to the business of shutting her computer down. That done, she padded into her room and exchanged her clothes for her swimsuit. She twisted her hair up in a clip and grabbed her robe from the bathroom.

  When she walked out onto the deck, she couldn’t hold back her smile. A couple of candles flickered on the railing near the hot tub, and soft music drifted on the air—from where, she wasn’t quite sure. When Will saw her, his grin widened.

  “Only way you’d look better is if you lost the suit.”

  “The neighbors aren’t going to see that much of me, thank you very much.” She laughed and took his outstretched hand, allowing him to help her into the tub. She groaned as she lowered herself into the steaming water. The delicious heat seeped into her muscles.

  Will strode to the small table and returned with two beers. She accepted both bottles and sipped from one as he climbed into the tub.

  “So,” he lifted his beer and took a long pull, “you’ll never guess who came to the restaurant to see me today.”

  His free hand skated up her thigh and teased the edge of her suit along her hip. A shudder climbed her spine. “Hmm, who would that be?”

  “Scott.”

  “My Scott?” Emma sat up straighter, water sloshing around her. Her nephew had gone to see Will? The corner of Will’s mouth quirked up, and his gaze was on her chest.

  “Eyes up and off the cleavage, Calonen,” she said sweetly.

  “Spoil sport.” He looked up and winked. “Yeah, your Scott. He came in and asked for a job.”

  “Interesting. And what did you do?”

  “Gave him an application to fill out and interviewed him.” He shrugged. “Then I gave him a job.

  “You did? Really?”

  “Yes,” he drawled before taking another drink. “We needed more staff, and even part-timers will help. He’s starting at the bottom, has to work his way up, but he’s definitely eager and ready to start.”

  “Hmmm, wonder how his parents will feel about that?” she mused.

  “Considering his mom was with him, I’d say it’ll be fine, even if Daddy objects. She seemed to be backing Scott fully on this.”

  “Go Alice.” Emma lifted her bottle in a toast, then sighed happily. “Yeah, this is a good end to a cruddy day.”

  Will grinned, then set his beer on the railing behind him. “Now, sweet Emma, bring that cleavage over here, and I’ll put more than my eyes on it.”

  A laugh bubbled up, and she followed suit, setting her bottle down before sliding toward him. Yeah, definitely a good end to the day.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Will stretched his legs in front of him and stared at the television. In theory, he was watching the ball game. In reality, he was listening to Emma’s phone conversation. Her side of it, anyway. She paced through the house as she talked, frustration clear on her face, in her movements.

  “You can’t throw this at me now, Dad.” She stopped in front of the large window in the living room. “No, it’s not as simple as that. If there were special dietary considerations, I needed to know that when I met with the caterers. I told you that before.”

  Will glanced at her and annoyance surfaced. He snorted. What was he thinking? The annoyance had taken up permanent residence lately. The last two weeks, he’d watched Emma run herself into the ground. She was up before him every morning and cr
awled into bed long after he did, dealing with the details of the event she was planning. Dealing with all the changes that kept coming at her every time she turned around.

  “Dad,” she said loudly. “Listen to me. I don’t know who was supposed to let me know, and it doesn’t matter. I’m just now finding out.” She shoved her hand through her hair. “All right, I need to deal with this. Is there anything else I need to know?” Weariness laced every word.

  “Okay, I’m going to stop by later this afternoon and we’ll review things. What time are you available? Yes, it’s necessary. Very necessary. I need to know I have the information I need. Fine, transfer me then.”

  She moved over to the armchair and sat. “Hi, Laurie. Could you tell me when my dad is available this afternoon? Okay, please put me down for two. Thank you, Laurie.” Pulling the phone from her ear, she snapped it shut and tossed it on the end table.

  When her gaze landed on him, Will held his arm out. With a smile, she stood and crossed the room. She curled up next to him and laid her head on his chest. He ran a hand up and down her arm.

  “Sweetheart, you need to take a break,” he declared.

  A quiet snort was her only response.

  “I’m serious. Why don’t you call the girls, go shopping or out to lunch? Hell, just spend the evening in with them. You need to unwind.”

  “I’ll unwind next week when this stupid thing is over,” she mumbled.

  “Damn it, Emma,” he bit out.

  She straightened and looked at him, mouth agape.

  “You are exhausted. You spend every waking moment on this fucking event, and they keep changing things without even thinking about the work they’re piling on you. Would it kill you to take a fucking night off?” He pushed to his feet and walked a few steps away.

  “Will, it’s fine.”

  He slammed his palm against the wall. “No, it’s not!” Whirling around, he tried to rein in his anger and frustration. “Don’t you see that they’re taking advantage of you?”

  “Will,” she slowly stood, “I agreed to do this, and I’m going to see it through.”

  And there was the calm, icy tone again, and it did nothing to cool the fire burning through him.

  “You know, it’s laughable,” he snapped. “Your brothers constantly harp on you for not having a ‘real job’, giving you grief for not working for the family company. But really, you do! You just don’t get the recognition or the fucking salary that goes with it.”

  She stepped toward him, laid a hand on his arm, but he didn’t give her a chance to speak.

  “You’re barely sleeping. Hell, I could park a car in the circles under your eyes. Why are you doing this to yourself? For nothing?”

  “It’s not for nothing,” she protested, and turned away. “It’s my family, and they’re something to me.”

  He closed his eyes a moment and inhaled deeply. “Of course they are, but open your eyes, for God’s sake. This isn’t just you doing your family a favor. This is a job. There are people who do this for a living; your father could actually hire one of them to deal with the bullshit.”

  “Just stop,” she said quietly. “I don’t need this on top of everything. God, I don’t want to fight with you about this.”

  “Christ, quit acting like I’m attacking you. Clearly you’re very good at this. Otherwise, your dad wouldn’t come to you, because we both know he’s not hurting for funds. He can more than afford to hire a planner. Instead, you do it for free while running yourself into the ground. I’m not going to stand by and say nothing while you make yourself sick.”

  “It’ll be over soon,” she protested going over to the sofa and sitting. “Then everything will be back to normal.”

  “That’s the problem! This is normal, Emma. Putting everyone else before yourself—that’s your normal,” he bit out.

  “What do you want me to do, Will?” she asked, lifting her hands weakly. “Call my dad and say, tough luck. I’m tired, so I’m not doing this anymore.”

  “It’s not just this. It’s—”

  “Hello? Em?” Ana’s voice echoed through the house, followed by the sound of the front door slamming shut.

  “Fuck,” Will muttered under his breath and stalked into the kitchen.

  Emma stared after Will, heart racing, then turned as her friend breezed into the room. She struggled to school her features, force a smile.

  “Hey, you ready to go? I thought we’d…”Ana stopped and frowned. “What’s wrong?”

  So much for hiding anything. “Nothing.” She thought frantically a moment. Did they have plans? For the life of her, she couldn’t remember.

  “You forgot, didn’t you?” Ana said knowingly.

  “We were supposed to go somewhere?” Emma guessed with a sheepish smile.

  Her friend laughed and flopped down beside her. “Lunch, Emma. We’re supposed to meet Lynn and Hannah for lunch.” She bumped shoulders with Emma. “Celebrating Hannah’s promotion, remember?”

  Guilt swamped Emma, and she covered her face. How could she have forgotten that? Shit. Her breath hitched and her shoulders shook slightly.

  “Hey now.” Ana draped her arm around her shoulders.

  “I can’t do lunch,” Emma said. “I have to figure some things out for this dinner, then meet Dad at two. I don’t think I can manage—” She mentally shuffled things in her head, and came up woefully short.

  “Hey,” Ana repeated. “Stop. Breathe.” She laughed. “Not the end of the world.”

  “I’m sorry.” Emma’s voice cracked.

  “What if we bump it to dinner? A late dinner if need be? Or,” her friend said quickly, “we can just reschedule to another day.”

  “No, maybe I can make dinner work,” some more internal juggling, “or you can do it without me,” Emma suggested.

  “Or,” Ana said sternly, “we’ll bring dinner to you. You can do what you have to do, and not worry about anything. We’ll bring food, wine and movies to keep us occupied when you have to tap on your computer, stare at your impressive spreadsheets or yell at people on the phone.”

  “I don’t yell at people.” She rolled her eyes. “Honey, I don’t want to ruin the celebration. It might be better to just do it without me.”

  Just then she glanced over and saw Will standing in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, a frown marring his face. Her throat constricted and her stomach dropped.

  “Hell no,” Anna said with a laugh. “Definitely not doing it without you.” She looked at Will, then at Emma. “I’m, uh, just going to call the girls and let them know the change of plan.”

  She jumped to her feet and, as she took her phone out of her purse, skirted around Will into the other room.

  “You were going to blow them off?” Will said harshly.

  “I already feel bad enough without you riding me about it,” she snapped.

  He shook his head. “I’m going to head out. I’ll be late tonight.”

  Emma just stared at him. She knew he wasn’t due into work for a couple hours. Fine, if he wanted to leave, that was up to him. She didn’t need him standing over her disapprovingly—she’d never get done what she needed to that way.

  “Fine,” she said.

  He let his arms swing to his sides and heaved a sigh. Without another word, he grabbed his wallet and keys from the coffee table and walked out.

  “Urgh.” Emma gave the arm of the sofa a whack then sagged against the cushions. She just couldn’t win. No matter what she did right now, someone was going to be pissed off or let down. Or both.

  “Okay,” Ana said cheerfully as she bounced into the room. “We are on. Lynn’s going to pick up food and movies. I will supply the drinks—thinking we should totally go with fun blended drinkies tonight—and Hannah is just going to get her bad self over here.”

  Emma managed to give her a watery smile. “Look, I really appreciate it, but I don’t know how good company I’ll be.”

  “Yeah so? We love ya, Em. At your best and at you
r worst. Even if you sit and glare at your laptop all night, we’re together and that’s what counts. So, are you going to tell me what’s going on between you and the brooding man?” She sat next to Emma, curling her legs up under her.

  “Long story short? He thinks my family is taking advantage of me.” Emma raised her brow at her friend. “I assume you’ll take his side since you’ve been saying that for years.”

  “Honey, I don’t take the guy’s side when it comes to my friends.” Ana snorted. “Besides, that was pretty damned vague. Why don’t you give me long story long?”

  “I’ve been working on this dinner for my dad,” she started. “Big gathering, little time, so I’ve been spending a lot of time on it and a bit stressed about it.”

  “Meaning you’re running yourself ragged and not taking care of yourself?” Her friend gave her a knowing look. “And that’s not taking his side. You forget we lived together for five years. I’ve seen you deal with many of these events. You take your job very seriously.”

  “My job,” Emma muttered. “I guess that’s what it comes down to. He was pissed about the things Mark and Tom said at the infamous family dinner. About my not having a job,” she clarified when Ana looked at her questioningly. “Will says I do have a job, working for them no less, for no pay.”

  “Hmmm.”

  She shoved at her friend’s arm. “And you agree with him. You can just admit it.”

  “I’ve never made my opinions a secret.” Ana shoved back. “But I’m not going to pile on you when you’re down. I will only say one thing…”

  “Just one?” Emma teased.

  “Yes, smartass.” Ana caught Emma’s hand and waited until their gazes met. “Will sees you unhappy and stressed. He’s a guy, and he wants to fix it. The fact he loves you makes it all that much harder for him.”

  Emma gave Ana’s hand a squeeze. She did get where Will was coming from—even if she didn’t appreciate how he went about expressing it. Because the last thing in the world she needed was someone else telling her what she should do.