Stay With Me

by Alexa Powers

  “No. They’ll use the half-bath by the laundry room. This bathroom’s shared with the third bedroom, but we use that room as an office, so it’s all yours.”

  Emma released a breath she didn’t realize she was holding, relieved she wouldn’t have to worry about storing her things away every day. “Oh, thank God! I was afraid one of Josh’s friends would come in here and have to stare at all my stuff.”

  “No worries ‘bout that. The only person who ever uses this bathroom is Josh’s friend, Noah. He lives in Takapuna, on the beach, and when he’s in the city he stays here sometimes, so he doesn’t have to drive home after a night at the pub,” Lily hastily continued, pointing to a door next to the vanity. “Here’s the linen closet. It’s stocked with towels and such, but there’s some free shelf space for your things too.”

  “You are the hostess with the mostest,” Emma laughed. “You sound like such a grown up. When did that happen?”

  “Well, once Josh and I became homeowners, I decided it was time to embrace my domestic side. I even learned how to cook, too. Poor Josh,” Lily grimaced, bashfully looking at her feet. “He had to suffer through some pretty awful meals in the beginning, but he was a good sport about it and I’m happy to say that I’ve improved a lot. I don’t have a very diverse offering, I’m afraid, but every now and again I get adventurous and break out a cookbook to try something new. As long as I follow the recipe, it’s usually edible.”

  “Well, I’ve been living on my own for a few years now, so I learned how to cook out of necessity. I had three options…spend money I didn’t have on take out, go hungry, or learn how to feed myself. I’m actually a pretty good cook now. So, that’s one way I can help out around here.”

  “I’d love that. And I’m so glad you’re here, Emma. I’m going to see what Josh is up to while you get unpacked,” Lily said, hugging Emma once more, then left the room.

  Thankful for the alone time to gather her thoughts, Emma inhaled a deep breath as she unzipped her suitcases and started unpacking her things. Carefully placing the framed photographs of family and friends she’d brought with her on the dresser and night table, she took a moment to appreciate each one.

  It’d been a long and exhausting day and it wasn’t even lunchtime yet. Saying goodbye to her family had been a lot harder than she anticipated. She knew she wasn’t leaving forever, but eleven months was an awfully long time, no matter how you looked at it.

  Seeing her sister Alison cry, as she waved goodbye, Emma almost returned her ticket and stayed home. Out of her five siblings, she was closest with Ali and saying goodbye to her was the hardest of all.

  Chapter 2

  Emma woke from her nap feeling refreshed and ready to take on her first day in New Zealand. The sun streamed in through the open curtains, warming her skin, and she was tempted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

  Looking at the clock on the night table, she calculated the time difference while reaching for her phone.

  “Emma! It’s so good to hear your voice. We miss you already!”

  “I miss you too, Mom, but I’ve only been gone a day,” she delicately reminded her.

  “I know sweetheart, but I started missing you the minute you got on that plane.” Her mother let out an unsteady breath and Emma could tell she was trying to hold herself together. “We were just sitting down for dinner, or maybe I should call it tea. Get you speaking like a good Kiwi, eh?” she chuckled before continuing. “How was your flight?”

  “It wasn’t too bad, I was able to sleep after I took the pill Daddy gave me. I won’t keep you, though. I just wanted to let you know that I got here in one piece,” Emma assured her, as she tried to ignore the stab of loneliness she felt at the sound of Abby’s loud shriek ringing through the phone line.

  “You know I always have time for you, Emma.” The sadness in her mother’s voice was palpable, and Emma ached for the comfort of her mother’s arms. “You’re never a bother. You know that.”

  Fighting the tears gathering along her lashes, Emma sighed in agreement, “I know.” Needing to get off the phone before she became a blubbering mess, she hurriedly changed the subject. “I’ve already unpacked and we’re going out for lunch, so I really do need to go, but I’ll talk to you soon. Give Daddy a hug for me and tell everyone I miss them.”

  “Will do, sweetheart. Love you.”

  “I love you too, Mom. Enjoy your tea.” Her mother’s easy laughter relieved some of the tightness gripping her chest, and Emma quickly said her goodbyes before disconnecting the phone.

  Clutching her pillow, staring blindly out the glass doors to the harbor beyond, Emma finally allowed the pent up tears to escape, letting them fall freely down her cheeks.

  In her mind’s eye she could see her family sitting around the kitchen table in their comfortable home, laughing and arguing with one another. All of her brothers and sisters were home, which unfortunately didn’t happen very often. They were a close-knit family, but like most, they led busy lives that limited the time they spent together as a group.

  Wiping the tears from her face, Emma freshened up in the bathroom before walking into the lounge to see if Lily and Josh were ready for lunch.

  “Oh good, I’m glad you’re awake. I’m starving,” Lily said, as she glanced up from the magazine she was flipping through, before setting it on the coffee table. “There’s a café down the block that you’ll love. They have a chicken salad croissant that’s to die for.”

  “I could go for that. I’m actually really hungry, too. Where’s Josh?”

  “Oh…um…He’s getting dressed and should be ready in a few minutes,” Lily replied, blushing shyly and avoiding eye contact with Emma, an obvious sign that they’d been getting busy while Emma was busy taking a nap.

  Emma couldn’t resist teasing her cousin as she squirmed on the couch. “Oh, really? That’s funny because when I went to my room a few hours ago, he was fully clothed.”

  “What can I say? He’s insatiable.” Lily was trying her level-best not to laugh and Emma watched with delight as her normally unflappable cousin’s blush deepened, spreading from her cheeks down her neck. “I’m too hungry to talk about anything. Especially that. Changing the subject now; did you get everything unpacked? I can help if you need me to.”

  “Thanks, but I’ve already finished. I didn’t bring that much stuff with me. It was too expensive to ship all of my things, so I only brought what I could fit in my suitcases. We’re going to have to do some serious shopping in the next few weeks.”

  “Yes! There’s a cute boutique next to the café. We can pop in there after lunch and have a look around.”

  After a lunch consisting of two delicious chicken salad croissants for Emma and Lily, and enough food to feed four people for Josh, it was time to go shopping. Josh kissed Lily and gave Emma a peck on the cheek, then headed home as Emma and Lily entered the trendy boutique.

  Emma immediately spotted a few tops she liked, and was thrilled to see the reasonable prices. “I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to afford anything, but with these prices, I can actually get a few things.”

  “I love this dress. Here. Try it on,” Lily demanded, handing Emma a yellow knit dress with thin spaghetti straps. “It’ll look great on you. Have you been going to a tanning bed? How are you still so dark in the middle of winter?”

  “No, it was so hot last summer, as I’m sure you can recall, and by the end of summer I was really tan. This is nothing compared to what I looked like a few months ago. It just hasn’t faded all the way yet,” Emma answered, as she made her way to the dressing room with her selections.

  Leaving the store with bags in hand, Emma slid her arm across Lily’s shoulder and squeezed her tightly. “I’m so happy I’m here. This has been a lot of fun. Two of my favorite things…you and shopping.”

  “Ditto!” Lily laughed. “Now we need to go out someplace where you can show off your banging body in that new dress. I know,” Lily continued happily. “Let’s go danc
ing tomorrow night. Do you think you’ll be up for it?”

  “Don’t see why not. And I haven’t been out dancing in forever. I have the perfect shoes to wear too.” Emma wasn’t so sure about the banging body part, but just the thought of dancing the night away gave her an extra spring in her step.

  While growing up, being told how lucky she was to be tall and thin was of no comfort to her when all she felt was gangly and awkward. But eventually, she’d come to terms with her body after years of insecurity.

  Countless hours spent doing laps in the pool had given her lean muscles, and an impressive set of guns, and maturity had given her feminine curves. Now, when someone commented on her appearance, she just thanked them, before politely changing the subject.

  The following morning, Emma groaned as she made a mental note to remember to close the curtains before bed from now on. Bright sunlight flooded her room, making it impossible to fall back to sleep, and the effort it would take to close the curtains seemed pointless.

  Checking her phone, she found a text message from her best friend, Chris. Trying to figure out what time it was in North Carolina was too much work for her drowsy brain, so she just slid her finger along the bottom of the phone to unlock it.

  “Wanted to check in to see how it’s going. It’s been crazy here. Miss you!” Of all her friends, she’d miss him the most. They’d been best friends since childhood, when he and his family moved in next door.

  When the time came, they’d decided to go to Appalachian State together, and they now shared a two-bedroom home close to campus. The cozy cottage’s location near King Street was perfect. They could walk home from the bars and restaurants after a night out with friends, and the AppalCART stopped right down the street, so they didn’t have to walk or drive to school if the weather was bad.

  The small home reeked of stale beer and cigarette smoke when they’d moved in, but it was sufficient, even though the closet space left a lot to be desired for any female resident. They’d made it their own with hand-me-down furniture and thrift store finds, the eclectic mixture somehow coming together to fit their personalities perfectly.

  “Miss you too. Do tell :) Everything’s great here,” Emma texted back.

  Surprised by how fast he responded, she jumped when her phone buzzed.

  Relaxing against her pillows, she laughed as Chris described some of the more outrageous antics that had taken place at Emma’s ex-boyfriend Tyler’s house the previous night.

  Most of her friends were home for the holidays from their various college towns, and getting together before they headed back to school or overseas. As usual, copious amounts of alcohol were consumed and Chris was hung-over and wanting attention. She loved him to death, but the man was such a baby whenever he didn’t feel well and his flair for drama always made her eyes roll.

  Walking into the kitchen, she found Lily and Josh in the middle of a sloppy kiss, as the water heated for their morning tea. “Do you guys ever come up for air? It’s too early to be subjected to that,” Emma quipped, shaking her head.

  Josh let out a hearty laugh, but never took his eyes off of Lily. “It’s never too early to kiss my girl.” He gave Lily a sweet smile as he placed a chaste kiss on the tip of her nose.

  “I’m sure. I just don’t need to see the two of you sucking face first thing in the morning, that’s all. At least not before I get some caffeine in my system,” Emma teased. “How much longer till it’s done?”

  “Oh, Emma, it’ll be ready in a minute. Here’s a cup,” Lily twisted, still enveloped in Josh’s arms, and took a cup from the cabinet above the hot water dispenser. She placed a tea bag in it and slid the cup across the counter to Emma.

  After adding water, along with milk and honey to her liking, Emma took a sip as she eyed Josh and Lily playfully cuddling, with a pang of jealousy. It wasn’t that she wanted Josh, but she missed having what they shared. It had been six months since her break up with Tyler, and she was tired of being alone.

  Watching them together reminded her of how it once was with Tyler. Until he decided that monogamy ‘just wasn’t working for him’, leaving her heartbroken and wondering where it all went wrong.

  Looking back now, the warning signs were as obvious as bright red flares exploding against the midnight sky. But, at the time, she felt confused and abandoned by the man she thought she’d spend the rest of her life with.

  Seeing him in the bars around Boone after their breakup was hard enough, but witnessing his latest one night stand hanging all over him was absolutely cruel at times.

  After too many pints of ice cream and more boxes of tissues than she could count, she’d finally accepted reality and reluctantly admitted that he wasn’t the one for her. Tyler was a genuinely nice guy and had been a good boyfriend, but he clearly had a few wild oats in need of sowing before he settled down.

  Lesson learned. She’d moved on.

  Anyway, it was impossible to avoid Tyler at home or in Boone, since they grew up together and shared the same group of friends. But as time went on, it had gotten easier, until finally, it hardly bothered her at all. Hardly.

  It still hurt sometimes, especially when she remembered how sweet he could be and the future they’d planned together. In the back of her mind, when she let her guard down, she thought maybe someday the planets would align, and they’d get back together.

  Best not to think about it, though, their timing had never been right and probably never would be. The truth was that she missed the idea of marriage and children more than she missed the man. That had to mean something.

  “Gotta go, babe,” Josh announced, as he emerged from their bedroom. Slinging his gym bag over his shoulder, he rinsed his empty cup in the sink, then placed it in the dishwasher.

  “Okay, see you later,” Lily reached out, snagging him by the arm for a goodbye kiss that lingered a little too long, making Emma feel like she was intruding.

  “Ugh, not again,” Emma grunted good-naturedly.

  Josh gave Emma a mischievous smirk. “You know…the more you protest, the more I’m gonna do it. Right?”

  “Yeah, yeah. Whatever,” Emma bit back a laugh. “Don’t you have somewhere to go?”

  “As a matter of fact, I do. Have to keep this body in tip-top shape, so my lovely bride here doesn’t cut me loose.” His hand tapped his midsection animatedly, while he gave Lily the dimpled smile that still had businesses clamoring for his endorsement. “Can’t get too soft.”

  “Never. Going. To. Happen.” Lily reached for him again, placing a hand behind his neck, and pulled him to her for another kiss. “You can’t get rid of me that easily, Mr. Thornton.”

  “Good to know, Ms. Bradshaw. Now, I do need to go. Meeting some mates for a workout.” He leaned down and deposited a quick kiss on her lips, before heading for the door.

  Emma called out to him, “Bye, Josh.”

  “See ya later, Emma.”

  As the door clicked shut behind him, Lily turned her attention back to Emma.

  “Now that we’re alone, we need to go over some wedding stuff before we go to dinner tonight. My mum will be mad if I haven’t brought you up to snuff.” Lily’s perfectly shaped brows drew together, and she looked like the weight of the world rested upon her shoulders.

  Emma and Lily took their seats at the dining table to go over the wedding plans. While they ate breakfast, Lily opened a folder, spreading its contents over the table in front of them. Then the two of them proceeded to go over each item.

  Dress, check. Flowers, check. Menu, check. Photographer, check.

  The seating chart was the last obstacle. The task was as complicated and politically-charged as a White House dinner. Who sat with whom and the location of their table were of vital importance. No wonder it wasn’t completed yet. Eyeing the floor plan with the tables mapped out and guest’s names written in pencil, Emma noticed the paper wearing thin from the names being changed so many times.

  Who knew that planning a wedding was so complicated? Emma’s
head was spinning as she tried to concentrate, and having no idea who most of the guests were wasn’t helping. There were so many moving parts to keep track of and Lily was determined that everything would go off without a hitch, and Emma was determined to help ease her burden.

  Even though Lily joked about slacking when it came to wedding preparations, it was clear she had everything under control. It was a well-oiled machine.

  Emma wasn’t sure how much help she’d been, but Lily seemed to relax once they’d finished. “What time are we going to your parents’ for dinner?” she asked.

  “Around five o’clock. That way we can get to the club before it gets too crowded.”

  “I’m still trying to adjust to the time difference. That’s like midnight my time,” Emma noted. “Good thing I’m up late most nights, so that’s not much of a stretch for me.”

  “You’ll adjust in no time. Speaking of that, it’s going to be interesting to see how Abby handles the time difference. We may have a very cranky baby on our hands,” Lily uttered the comment offhandedly, but worry lines were creasing her brow once again.

  Despite Lily’s valid concerns, Emma couldn’t help but smile when she thought of Abby. Her sister Alison’s daughter was the cutest baby on the planet. But her favorite thing about Abby was that she loved to cuddle, which was a good thing since her feet rarely touched the floor.

  Abby’s dark brown hair and eyes were in stark contrast to Ali’s blonde hair and light blue eyes, and a striking reminder of Abby’s father. Ali had also studied abroad in New Zealand, and met the charming Evan Thompson while working on his parent’s horse farm. She’d fallen hard and fast for the handsome rugby player, but came home brokenhearted and pregnant.

  “God, I miss that baby. Abby is the sweetest thing ever,” Emma gushed. “We may have to find a babysitter for her, though. Ali keeps her on a pretty tight schedule and she’s sleeping through the night now, so I don’t think she’ll be willing to mess with it.”