by Annie Rains
He pulled into her driveway and parked. The darkness seemed to fold around them as the lights in the truck went out.
“I’d invite you in for a nightcap, but I know that’s not your thing,” she said.
“Plus, you said we can’t be trusted to be alone together,” he pointed out, his voice low.
“I don’t think I said we can’t trust ourselves.” But yeah, that’s exactly what she’d meant.
“So I’ll just walk you to your door and leave it at that.”
She protested. “You don’t need to walk me to my door, Jack.” But he was already pushing open his door and stepping out. Emma got out of the truck as well. Jack walked beside her up the porch steps and to the door. She pushed the house key inside the lock, opened the door, and let Barnaby inside. She didn’t follow though. Instead, she closed the door again, leaving her and Jack alone. Barnaby barked his objections from inside. “Well, thank you for a wonderful evening,” she told Jack.
“The pleasure was mine.”
The way he was looking at her made her know they weren’t just words. He was looking at her like a man who was about to lean in and kiss her. His gaze solidified the fact that going inside together would be the worst idea in the history of bad ideas.
She sucked in a deep breath, her mind trying to determine if she should step inside her house or walk forward and meet him halfway. What would one little kiss hurt? “Research,” she whispered.
Jack raised one brow. “Hmm?”
She nibbled her lower lip, and his eyes lowered to watch.
“Well, we have a whole summer ahead of us, and I’m standing behind the idea that we should keep our boundaries. But maybe a kiss for research like you said…”
He leaned in, and one of his hands wrapped around her hip. Her body responded with a rush of need. Then he lowered his mouth, stopping just shy of hers. His gaze was pinned on her eyes, searching for permission.
She stepped toward him, her body pressing against his chest, and she went up on her toes just enough for their lips to collide. It was like a mini-explosion on her porch. Sparks times one million, lighting her up from the inside out. She didn’t think, she just kissed. Somewhere in the distance, she heard fireworks going off. It sounded like they were right overhead. Maybe she and Jack were the ones setting them off with this kiss.
“Where did you learn to kiss like that?” Jack said in a breathless whisper when they finally pulled away. “Please don’t say Tim, the firefighter,” he said, making her laugh.
“No. That kiss was…” Her chest rose and fell in quick succession. “It was…”
“Perfect,” he said, finishing her sentence for her.
She nodded, feeling awestruck by him suddenly. Who knew that Jack could kiss with such passion? Another question swam into her thoughts. Now that she knew it, how was she going to resist him?
* * *
Jack was searching for something to say and coming up speechless until Emma broke the silence.
“Well, thank you for taking me to the Music in the Park. Good night, Jack.” She pushed her front door open and crossed the threshold.
“Good night, Emma.”
She closed the door behind her, and Jack continued to stand there for a long moment. For what felt like his whole life, he’d been wanting to kiss Emma. He only wished he’d done it sooner.
He turned and headed back to his truck and reversed out of her driveway. He was consumed in his thoughts all the way to his cabin on Silver Lake. Technically, he wasn’t on Silver Lake. There was a forest of trees between him and the water, but it was his land and he could hike back to it anytime he wanted.
He parked and headed up the steps, letting himself inside his home. It felt like he’d had about three cups of coffee tonight. There was no chance of going to bed and sleeping at this moment. Instead, he headed out onto the back porch and plopped into the wooden swing, replaying his time with Emma—especially that last part—on repeat.
The more he thought about her, the more he wondered if maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to get romantically involved with her after all. The worst thing that could happen was that her father might kill him. Or he and Emma would end up hating each other when things went sour. Except if Emma hadn’t hated him after he’d ruined her prom night, she probably wouldn’t start now.
The best thing that could happen is they’d make each other happy.
He’d been envying his friends who’d found that with someone lately. Emma was his best friend. How amazing would it be to be with her, not just for the summer, but beyond that?
After an hour, Jack pulled out his phone and called Sam. No answer. The boy always had his phone on him so Jack suspected he was being ignored. On a sigh, he headed back inside and lay down on the couch, hoping to catch at least a few winks before he had to go to work. He needed to be awake during his shift to avoid driving off a cliff or stepping into a nest of rattlesnakes. He also needed to be awake and alert for the next time he ran into Emma. Maybe they’d do a little more research together and investigate this increasingly real thing between them.
* * *
Jack awoke on the couch just after one a.m. to the sound of Sam sneaking, not so quietly, into the house. “Stop right there,” Jack said, his voice thick with sleep.
Sam froze.
“Are you seriously coming in this late? Where were you?”
Sam straightened and faced him in the dimly lit living room. “Just with friends. We weren’t doing anything wrong. Just watching fireworks from the neighbors’ houses.”
“You didn’t answer your phone when I called you, and you didn’t come home when I told you to either. That’s pretty wrong.”
Sam shook his head. “This isn’t home, and it’s not like you were up waiting for me and worried sick.” He gestured at the couch where Jack had just been startled awake.
“That’s not the point.” Jack sat up. “I need to be able to trust you. Was there alcohol involved?”
Sam’s eyes widened. “I didn’t drink.”
“But did the other kids?”
Sam looked away. “What they do is none of my business.”
“It’s my business if you’re hanging out with them,” Jack growled.
“I don’t think there was anything more than beers, okay? And only one guy was drinking. He offered me one, and I said no.”
Jack nodded. “Good answer. You’re too young.” And it wasn’t a good decision for anyone in the Hershey family.
“I’m sorry I was late, okay? Time got away from me,” Sam said.
Jack hesitated, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do in a moment like this one. “Stick to curfew. Otherwise your summer isn’t going to be all that fun. Got it?”
Sam nodded. “Got it.”
“Good. Now go to bed,” Jack said. “I’m going to do the same.” Assuming he could once again rein in his thoughts about Emma.
Jack got himself a glass of water and retreated to his room, about to drift off to sleep once more when his cell phone chimed with an incoming text. Emma’s name popped onscreen.
You awake?
He grabbed his cell and started texting. Yeah. You?
If I weren’t, I wouldn’t be texting you. I can’t sleep.
This made him smile because he assumed her reasons were the same as his were earlier.
Oh yeah? Something on your mind? he texted, feeling a little cocky.
Yeah. I can’t stop thinking about the WWC.
Jack’s grin fell away. The WWC?
I really want to do this 5K, and if it’s the path of least resistance, then I should take it.
His ego was a little bruised, but he was also thrilled. Great. I’ll contact Dr. Rivers tomorrow and see if she’ll consider the idea.
Thank you. Now I can sleep peacefully.
At least one of them would rest easy tonight.
* * *
The café was bustling the next morning. So much so that Emma hadn’t had time to think. When it finally st
arted to slow, she made herself a cup of coffee and headed to the back to take a quiet break, collect her breath and her thoughts, and do something she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she shouldn’t.
She opened her laptop and typed into the search bar: Sweetwater Springs A-List. She’d told herself that she wasn’t going to stalk her reviews anymore. She could control her service, but not what a customer wrote online after they’d left her business. So why waste time and energy reading them?
The site loaded, and Emma took a breath. She reached for her cup of coffee and took a large sip as if that would give her liquid courage to continue looking. She then searched the site for the Sweetwater Café. It loaded quickly, and Emma stared wide-eyed at the screen. Her heart did a free fall into her stomach.
Another bad review. Or actually, this one was mediocre. She held her breath as she began to read.
The music coming through the sound system is too loud and who can sit and enjoy their coffee with that crap playing? I had to leave. The coffee was worth going back for though. Just make sure you get it to go.
Emma’s eyes stung. She’d never been one to let criticism roll off her shoulders easily. She was a people pleaser to her core, and she dwelled on things like this—which was why she was supposed to be avoiding the site altogether.
“What are you doing?” Nina asked, walking into the back.
Emma looked up. “Why? Is it busy again?”
Nina shook her head. “No. I can handle it. But you look miserable. What’s wrong?”
Emma sighed and turned her laptop around for Nina to see the screen. Nina took a moment to read the review and then started laughing. “For Pete’s sake. You can’t please everyone, Emma. You’re not actually upset about this, are you?”
Emma looked up at Nina. “Maybe we should change the music.”
“No, that’s not the answer.” Nina put her hands on her hips. “The only thing you need to change is your reaction to those bad reviews. It’s not like she was saying the coffee was bad. That would be real criticism. Stop reading those.”
Emma sipped from her coffee again. “You’re right. I have better things to do, like plan the 5K, assuming that Jack can get the Women’s Wellness Center to agree to combine events.”
“I’m so happy that you’re considering that suggestion. I don’t know why you didn’t jump at it in the first place.”
Emma looked up at her employee and friend. If she told Nina that she didn’t want to join with the WWC because she was suddenly scared of the clinic, so much so that she had canceled her annual checkup this year, she was pretty sure Nina would lecture her in the same way she just had about her response to the A-List review. Emma knew she was being silly, but that didn’t change the fact that she was terrified of going to a doctor’s appointment there and getting bad news. “I just needed some time to think it through, I guess.”
Nina peeked into the café to make sure all the customers were happy and then stood in the doorway and continued talking to Emma. “So how is your fake relationship with Jack going?” she whispered. “I saw you two at the park last night. If I hadn’t overheard about your arrangement, I would’ve been completely fooled. You two looked cozy on that blanket.”
Emma felt her cheeks flush. She pulled her lower lip between her teeth and nibbled softly, trying to figure out how much she was going to divulge to Nina.
“Whoa. It is still fake, isn’t it?” Nina asked. “Because the look on your face right now is telling a totally different story.”
“Of course it’s fake.”
“Well, if you’re just pretending for the sake of Jack’s sister, who isn’t even in town, why are you two having dates?”
“As you know, Sam is in town,” Emma said. “And he needs to report back to his mother that everything is great here and that Jack and I are a happy couple.”
The bell at the front of the store rang, and Emma got up from the table. She looked at Nina. “I’ll get this.”
“Thanks,” Nina said.
Emma was hyper-tuned to the music as she headed to the front counter. Even though Nina had protested, maybe Emma should consider changing the music to something softer in the café.
She smiled back at her customer, then suddenly realized who she was looking at. She was used to Ashley Rivers being dressed in a white doctor’s coat with her hair pulled back. It was Saturday, however, and this morning, Ashley was dressed in jeans and a soft cotton top with her red hair down on her shoulders. She smiled back at Emma.
“Hi, Emma.”
“Hi, Dr. Rivers.”
“Ashley. I’m here as a customer, not a physician. I’m also here hoping we can take a moment to sit and discuss the Women’s Wellness Fair that I’m putting on later this summer. I spoke to Jack this morning about combining our events and wanted to talk to you a little more. Do you have time?”
Emma looked around the café. Everyone was seated and seemingly content, and there wasn’t a line of customers needing attention. Emma gestured behind her. “Sure. Let me see if Nina can cover the counter.” Emma headed back to the break area and gave Nina a sheepish smile. “Can you cover the counter? Ashley Rivers is here and wants to discuss the event.”
Nina pushed back from the table. “Of course.”
“I’ll make sure you get a break just as soon as I can.”
Nina waved that idea off. “It’s fine. Really. If I break for too long, I’m likely to fall asleep. I’ve stayed up reading way too much lately.”
“Thank you. I’ll just make a couple coffees for myself and Ashley and go grab a table,” Emma said.
Nina tsked. “Nonsense. I’ll get your drinks. You go sit and start talking. I can’t wait to hear what you guys discuss.”
“Thanks.” Emma felt a flutter of nerves as she headed back toward Ashley.
“I saw that you have tables outside now,” Ashley said. “Do you mind if we sit out there? I need a little sunshine and vitamin D.”
“Perfect.” Emma grabbed a notebook and pen off the counter and followed Ashley outside. They sat next to each other at one of the new tables that Emma had put out to appease her first bad reviewer. It offered the perfect mix of shade and sunshine and a nice view of Main Street.
“I have to say, I was surprised when Jack contacted me about your event. But I love the idea of doing a 5K in honor of your mom.” Ashley pulled her sunglasses down off the top of her head and placed them over her eyes. Emma wished she’d brought her glasses out as well. The eyes were the window to the soul, and she didn’t want Ashley getting too good a look at hers. Emma still felt guilty about canceling her appointment at the clinic.
Nina came outside holding two cups of coffee. “Here you are.” She laid down two croissants as well. “You didn’t ask for food, but these are on the house. I know the owner and I’m sure she’d approve.” Nina winked at Emma and then turned to head back inside.
Ashley reached for her cup of coffee. “So what made you decide to do something for your mom after all this time?”
“Well, I was given a box of her things earlier this week. It was kind of a birthday present.”
“Oh, happy belated birthday,” Ashley said.
Emma nodded. “Thanks. In the box was a list of things my mom wanted to do before she died. Kind of a bucket list. One of those things was to organize a 5K. I thought I’d plan it for her. In her honor.”
Ashley smiled. “Wow. I love that. You and your mom must have been close.”
“We were. But lately, I feel like I’m slowly forgetting her,” she confessed, not meeting Ashley’s gaze.
“That’s normal. My dad died when I was young.”
Emma looked up. “I had no idea. I’m sorry to hear that.”
Ashley shrugged. “I’ve had moments where I felt like I was forgetting him too. His voice, the way he smelled. Those memories slowly fade without you even realizing it. Then when you reach for them, they can feel so distant. It can be pretty disheartening.”
“What do you do
?” Emma asked, interested to hear that someone else was experiencing the same emotions she was.
Ashley’s gaze moved to the people walking up and down Main Street. “I visit his gravesite for one. Somehow, I feel closer to him there. I know that’s not true for everyone.” She looked at Emma again. “I do some of the things we did together when I was growing up, like going to the movies. That was one of his favorite things to do. We’d grab a popcorn and take the back row. It never mattered what show was playing. We just enjoyed sitting there and getting lost in the magic.” Ashley smiled easily. “That’s what he’d call it, at least. I find that it’s the little things that bring him back when I need him most.”
“That’s nice.” Emma swallowed. “Mom and I loved to go shopping together. We’d try on a ton of clothes with the rule that we’d only pick out one outfit each. It kept things real and made it extra fun.”
Ashley popped a piece of croissant into her mouth. “You should do that, then.”
“Maybe so.”
“It’s a good excuse to go shopping, if nothing else,” Ashley teased.
The conversation returned to the Women’s Wellness Fair, and Ashley reviewed the agenda. Most of the activities she had planned were taking place in the morning. “A midmorning run along the trails and through the Evergreen Park side of Silver Lake would be a great addition. We can put up a banner with your mom’s picture too. Or a poster telling her story. I think it’s an important one. She was a fighter, and if we’d caught her cancer sooner, maybe we could’ve helped her more.” Ashley gave Emma a meaningful look.
Emma looked down at her half-eaten croissant.
“People can learn from your mom’s story. Maybe those who have been putting off health checkups and screenings will take your mom’s story to heart and make an appointment.”
Was Ashley talking about her now? Did she keep tabs on the schedule at the clinic and know that Emma had canceled her appointment earlier this week?
