by Tara Sheets
“Not really. I think it’s worse to find someone you can’t live without and then lose them. Better not to have met them at all. Then you don’t know what you’re missing.”
Emma sighed. “That’s the thing about fairy tales, especially the original ones. Someone is always getting hosed.”
He laughed suddenly. It was yet another unfamiliar feeling, and he marveled at it. “You’re really different, you know that?”
“Tell me something I haven’t already heard my entire life. Imagine what it was like for me, finding out my grandmother bakes spells in the kitchen. And I have the same gift. Not exactly a typical childhood. ‘Different’ is probably one of the nicer adjectives to describe the Holloway women.”
Buddy came bouncing up and snuffled inside the picnic basket. Emma patted her lap and the little dog curled up in her skirt, then let out a sigh of contentment.
Hunter felt the same. Just being around her was like a weight lifted from his shoulders. “Was it really hard? Finding out about the whole”—he waved his hand as if searching for a word—“gifted thing?”
Emma shrugged, stroking the puppy’s soft fur. “I guess I never really knew anything different. My mother had a gypsy soul, so my youngest memories are traveling with her. So many different, exotic places. We lived in Sri Lanka and Guam. A couple of places in India and Egypt. Even Paris, for a little while.”
“That’s incredible,” Hunter said. “To have those experiences at such a young age.”
“I suppose it was, but it wasn’t always easy. Sometimes we got sick, or had to leave the places we were staying without notice. Sometimes we had money problems. My mom always found a way to keep going, though. I guess that’s just part of her gift. And she always found ways to help people wherever we went. It’s like she just knew when it was time to go, and where she’d be needed next. She used to tell me how wonderful it was, and how lucky I was to see the world. Like she was hoping really hard that I would have her same gift of wanderlust.”
“But you didn’t.”
She dropped her head, her voice getting softer. “I wanted to. I could tell she hoped I would. But by the time I was six, I couldn’t help it. I hated always moving, always saying good-bye. And my mother knew it. She didn’t want to give me up, but that year she started telling me a bedtime story. It was an old story she had learned from one of the African villages she visited, about how the sun loved the moon so much, he died every day to let her live. And when I turned seven, she brought me here to my grandmother, and let me go. I didn’t want her to leave, and she didn’t want to move on without me. But she wasn’t going to keep me from my own life’s path.”
“But she barely visited you over the years.” Hunter couldn’t help but feel angry at a woman who could abandon her child like that.
“True,” Emma said. “And when I was younger I resented her, until I really grew to understand what the Holloway gifts meant. It’s not just a preference; it’s a calling. There’s no happiness unless you learn to embrace it.”
Hunter wasn’t sure he agreed. She was an angel of forgiveness, this one. “So your grandmother raised you.”
“Yes. It was always me and her, together.” Emma stared out at the ocean. “Then a couple of years ago she was diagnosed with cancer. ‘Stage IV melanoma,’ the doctors said. She died within the year. It’s mainly why everything’s falling apart with the house and . . .” She shook her head. “I just didn’t have a lot of time to devote to shoring other things up. And then there was Rodney.”
Hunter felt a pang of jealousy. He didn’t like the man, and hated that he had caused Emma grief. “What happened with him?”
She stroked the puppy in her lap, head down. “Oh, I was naïve and believed he was right for me. Plus, I didn’t want to be alone. And he had always been around, on and off. So when he proposed, it just seemed like the right thing to do. But it was the worst mistake. He made it harder, always complaining that I spent too much time with my grandmother and didn’t have enough time with him.”
Hunter felt a stab of anger at the idiot. The man didn’t deserve her.
Emma glanced up and shrugged. “And then one day he got tired of the scene, and ran off with someone else.”
“He was a fool,” Hunter said.
“I was more the fool. I kept a large amount of cash in a special tin above my kitchen cupboards. I told him I was saving it for our future. I guess he thought that meant he had a right to it when he left.”
Hunter ground his teeth together. Rodney was not only an idiot, he was an idiot that needed a serious punch to the face.
Emma shook her head. “Well, that was a pretty maudlin story. What about you? What’s yours?”
He laid back on the blanket and stared up at the cerulean sky, his hands behind his head. “It’s not as interesting as yours. My parents divorced when I was young, and my mother raised me. I didn’t know my father well, as he wasn’t too keen on having a child in the first place. Now that I think about it, I think my mother did it just to spite him. They were always fighting. In a way, I got lucky that they divorced.”
“And you’ve never been married,” she said.
“God, no.”
She stopped petting the puppy in her lap and glanced up. “Oh, that’s right. You don’t believe in it.”
“I don’t, really. I don’t have any experience with a good one, and the people I do come across who are happily married, well . . . I think they’re just wired differently. Like maybe they got lucky or something. But for me, no. I don’t ever want to be like my parents.”
“So you never even came close?”
“Once, but for all the wrong reasons.”
“What happened?”
Hunter paused, uncomfortable. “It just didn’t work out.”
Emma waited patiently, and he found that he wanted to tell her. She was so easy to talk to and he didn’t feel like he had to guard himself the way he did with other people. “When Melinda and I first met, I thought we understood each other. She knew my business was important to me, and she was deeply involved in her own career as a lawyer. We were together for over two years. But she was . . .” Hunter clenched his jaw, hating the memory of what had happened between them. “She was driven. She always had a plan and never deviated from that. It’s one of the things that made it work so well in the beginning. We both wanted the same things.” He stopped, not wanting to ruin the picnic.
“So why aren’t you still together?” Emma asked quietly.
Hunter took another sip of wine, only it was more of a gulp. He might as well tell her. “She got pregnant.”
He didn’t miss the tiny gasp that escaped her. “You had a child?”
“No.” Regret flooded through him. “No, I didn’t. Melinda got pregnant, but she didn’t want the baby. She never wanted to be a mother. She just wasn’t the type.” He finished his wine in one gulp. “I didn’t even find out until it was too late. She decided to abort. She got rid of it, and I never even knew until afterward.” The old feelings of anger and betrayal came bubbling to the surface and he forced them down. “She told me a week later, like it was no big deal. Barely even worth mentioning. I was so angry. Our relationship just changed after that.”
“Did you want the baby?” Emma asked. Her huge gray eyes were filled with sadness.
“I . . .” He shifted uncomfortably. He had never told anyone about what had happened. It was unnerving to be sitting across from someone who he could be so open with. “Yes, I guess I did. Which didn’t make any sense because I never planned to be a father and certainly never wanted to be married. But the idea of a child . . . my child . . .” Even after all this time it was difficult to think about the loss. Or what could have been. “Anyway, I couldn’t help how angry I was that she kept it from me, and Melinda resented me for it. I couldn’t get over the fact that she never even discussed it with me. She asked what I would have done, had I known. I told her I would have offered to marry her, and she laughed in my face. She said we
both knew what we had wasn’t really love. I was so angry. Mostly because I knew she was right. But I couldn’t be with her anymore. Not if we couldn’t be honest about the important things. The things that really mattered.”
He shook his head and took a deep breath. “So that’s it. We went our separate ways. Now she’s a senior partner at a law firm somewhere in Seattle. Engaged to the CEO, last I heard. And the weird part is, I don’t miss her at all. I’m relieved that whole part of my life is behind me. But I feel guilty about what happened. I don’t know. It’s just really messed up.”
Emma bit her lip and stared out at the waves. “I think I understand.”
For a very long time, neither of them spoke. Hunter let the sound of the ocean and the cool breeze float over him until the harsh memories faded, and all he saw was Emma sitting before him. In that moment, she was so pure and real that it made his heart constrict with yearning. The feeling was completely foreign to him. He didn’t know what it was.
“It’s all so uncertain, isn’t it?” she murmured. “Sometimes I wish life was like a book, so even though terrible things might happen, you could flip to the end to make sure everything was going to be okay.”
The sunlight glowed off her golden head and he wanted to hold her and promise her that everything was going to be okay. It was another feeling that came unexpectedly, surprising him. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt protective over anyone. “Everything is going to work out,” he found himself saying.
She grinned wistfully. “I wish that were true.”
He thought of her struggles, and all she had overcome. He thought of his investment plans, and how much he wanted to help her. In just a few days, he would be able to tell her his news. It would solve all her problems. “It is going to be okay. I know it.”
“How do you know for sure?” she asked impishly. “Did you flip to the end and peek?”
“Maybe.” He wanted to kiss the dimple near her mouth. “Come here.”
She lifted her chin, mischief dancing in her eyes. “No.”
Hunter sat up. “Yes.”
“Nope,” she laughed.
“Are you going to come here, or are you going to make me chase you?”
“There’s something else you need to know about me.” She leaned in close, her lips hovering just inches from his, and whispered, “I’m very fast.”
“I like fast women.” Hunter reached for her.
She bolted up and ran, laughing across the grass.
He sprang after her, because what else could he do? When a man was lucky enough to be touched by someone as enchanting as Emma Holloway . . . he really had no choice.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Emma and Juliette sat at the makeup counter at Dazzle on Wednesday afternoon. They were waiting for Gertie and Molly to finish closing up the salon so they could all grab dinner together.
Molly brushed a second coat of mascara on her already sooty eyelashes. She blinked several times, deciding more was more, and went for a third coat. “Did you lay down the law with Mr. McSexy?”
“Something got laid down,” Juliette said.
Emma shot her cousin a look. “Not yet. I got distracted.”
“She got distracted by his hot bod and forgot the plan.” Juliette rummaged through the lipstick drawer. She chose a hot pink shade and leaned closer to the mirror, talking through carefully stretched lips. “So now they’re kind of dating.”
“Girl! Look at you go.” Molly beamed. “I didn’t know you had it in you. See, Gertie?” she called to the back of the salon. “I told you Mercury was retrograde. That’s why all this weird stuff is going on.”
“What weird stuff?” Gertie stepped from the next room holding a broom and dustpan. The tips of her hair were a shocking shade of lime green. She caught sight of Juliette and Emma and gave each a hug. “Hey, gals, what’s up?”
“Your . . . hair is new,” Emma said.
Gertie patted it proudly, turning her head this way and that. “I did it on a whim last night. Got so sick of my pink highlights. I mean, who wears pink streaks anymore besides angsty tweens, you know what I’m saying? What do you think?”
“It’s very edgy,” Emma offered politely. “And with your pixie cut, it really suits you.” Gertie had that tiny, willowy figure and elflike features that made any combination of wild just look adorable. She could pull off anything, even Lime Juice Tinker Bell.
“So what’s going on with Hunter Kane?” Gertie asked.
To stave off any further comment, Emma decided to spill. “We are sort of seeing each other. I don’t know exactly how it started.”
“Yes, you do,” Juliette piped up. “It started when he showed up at your house and helped you in the kitchen.”
“Okay, yeah,” Emma said quickly. “So it started then, but I was planning on calling things off, and then he kissed me and I sort of forgot.” Emma waved her hand impatiently. “It’s hard to explain how it all happened. I’m just sort of going with it.”
“And well you should,” Gertie said. “Who in their right mind would turn down a fling with someone like him?”
Molly nodded eagerly. “I know, right? Please allow us to all live vicariously through you. I don’t suppose there’s any chance he has a brother? I’m still SOL with Match.com. Last weekend I went to O’Malley’s on a blind date and it was a nightmare.”
“What happened?” Emma asked.
Molly rolled her eyes. “Online this guy seemed super nice and normal, right? I mean, his dating profile wasn’t sleazy. He didn’t live in his parents’ basement. He said he liked ball games and sports and pets. You know, all the typical stuff. So we started chatting and he seemed kind of romantic. He said he just wanted to find the right person to share all the magic life has to offer.”
Juliette gave her a dubious look. “And I’m guessing there was no magic?”
“Oh, there was magic, all right.” Molly grimaced. “I went to O’Malley’s to meet him, but I got there early. James Sullivan was bartending so he made me a drink and we talked for a while, then his face got all weird. Like he was trying not to laugh, you know? So I turned around to see what he was staring at, and it was my date. Standing there. Dressed like a magician.”
Emma gaped. “You’re kidding.”
“I wish! He had on the satin cape, gloves, everything. Said he just got done with one of his gigs. And for the next fifty-two minutes, I had to sit there while he shared all the magic he had to offer. And there was a lot, let me tell you. We’re talking, ‘pick a card, any card’ type stuff.”
“That’s crazeballs,” Juliette said. “I thought he was normal and he liked ball games and sports.”
“Yes, he was quite the champion juggler.”
Emma started to giggle. She slapped both hands over her mouth and spoke through her fingers. “What about pets?”
Molly narrowed her eyes. “You mean the rabbit he pulled from his hat? David Hopperfield?”
“Wow.” Juliette grinned. “That’s impressive.”
“What was James doing the whole time?” Gertie asked.
Molly scowled. “Being a total dillhole, is what he was doing. Like, he’d come over and ask me if I wanted another drink, then whip a towel out of his sleeve with a flourish—all magicianlike—to wipe down the counters. And once, I caught him at the end of the bar with three upside-down beer glasses, sliding them around one another. He was pretty much teasing me the entire time.”
“Hold on,” Gertie said. “I get that having a date with a magician is a little weird, but maybe underneath it all—”
“No,” Molly said. “The guy had no redeeming qualities. And he never even asked me about myself, except to find out if I was limber.”
“Limber?” Juliette scrunched up her face. “Like, for sexy reasons?”
“Worse. He wanted to know if I could fold myself into a box for his Saw-a-Person-in-Half trick.”
“Okay, that’s kind of creepy,” Emma said.
“Yeah.” Gerti
e nodded. “It’s a flaming red flag when a guy you just met says he wants to saw you in half, even if it’s pretend.”
“And if that wasn’t enough,” Molly continued, “when James brought over the bar tab? The guy drew a credit card from behind my ear going, ‘Is this your card?’ And surprise! It was my card. He’d somehow taken it from my purse when I wasn’t looking.”
“Oh, screw that guy.” Juliette sliced a hand through the air. “Hard pass.”
“It was a total disaster,” Molly said. “James finally kicked him out, saying rabbits weren’t allowed in the bar. Then he wouldn’t stop laughing at me. I was so annoyed, I wanted to toss my drink at him, but I had already finished it so there was nothing left to throw. That Zombie Mojito he makes is so good. But anyway, I’m still pissed at him. Maybe I’ll go in next weekend and order something huge, like a Long Island Iced Tea, just so I can throw it in his face.”
“Well, it’s always good to have goals,” Juliette said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out with the magic man.”
Gertie patted Molly on the back. “You’ll find someone, hun. Just give it time. Someone perfect for you.”
Molly rolled her eyes. “I felt like such an idiot. And now James has something to hold over my head. I’m so going to kill him next time I see him.”
“What about you, Emma?” Gertie asked. “You and Hunter are a thing?”
Emma shrugged it off, trying to appear nonchalant. “I wouldn’t call it that. We’re sort of dating, but nothing serious.”
Juliette gave Emma a sideways glance. “I told her just to go for it. I mean, who knows? Maybe things will work out between them.”
“Why shouldn’t they?” Molly said. “It’s high time Emma had someone in her life. A nice someone. And even though he’s a little citified for Pine Cove Island, he’ll settle in.”
Emma felt a strange sense of trepidation come over her. “Don’t get all excited, you guys. We’re just dating for now. I have no intentions of it going anywhere.” But the idea of him settling in and them staying together made her heart spin like a weather vane in a windstorm, no matter how hard she tried to steel herself against it.