by A J Manney
Emma nodded before she remembered he couldn’t see her. “Okay,” she said softly.
“I’m not saying this to scare you, but just so you are prepared and safe. Kyle has orders to pick up a phone for you today with all our numbers in it. If you ever feel unsafe or something or someone seems out of place, you call immediately. Okay?” Garrett said.
“Okay,” Emma said softly. Fear was starting to take hold of her again.
“Everything will be okay, I promise. Just stick close to the guys,” Garrett said.
“I will,” Emma said. “Just,” Emma paused. “Just be careful.”
“I will,” Garrett said.
“Hey Garrett,” she said quickly, remembering what she wanted to ask him. “I was wondering,” she paused a moment trying to get up the courage. “You remember my friend Amy and her little girl Olivia?” He didn’t respond, and Emma rushed on. “I was just wondering if maybe it would be possible, if you don’t mind, of course...”
“What is it, Emma?” Garrett asked.
“Do you think they could come stay with me in the house until they get on their feet?” she rushed through her question.
“I already took care of it,” he replied.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I got them settled into a small apartment and helped Amy get childcare set up for Olivia,” Garrett said.
Emma was speechless. “I, I had no idea. Thank you. Thank you so much for doing that. You have no idea how much that means to me,” she said.
“I’m glad. Be safe, Emma,” he said, and Emma knew he was done.
Emma passed the phone to Kyle who talked to Garrett for a few minutes. Emma couldn’t believe that Garrett had done that. She was on cloud nine. She couldn't wait to get her phone and be able to check in with Amy to see how things were going.
Madison talked them into grabbing dinner before heading home. After eating at a burger place, they finally arrived home. Emma and Madison worked on putting all her new clothes away. “Thank you so much for today,” Emma told her sincerely. “There’s no way I could have done all that on my own.”
“Of course,” Madison said. “What are friends for? Besides, I love spending somebody else’s money,” she said with a wink. Emma smiled. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to your training today. We will tomorrow, I promise.” They finished up putting everything away, and Emma worked on getting ready for bed. She pulled on the softest pair of flannel pants and a long-sleeved sleeping shirt. She grabbed her new phone from off the end table and crawled under the covers.
She still couldn’t believe Garrett had gotten her such a nice phone. It was the newest version iPhone. She knew those weren’t cheap. She wasn’t sure why Garrett was doing all this. Obviously, he had a lot of money, but she was sure he had better things to do with his money than spend it on her. She wondered what his end game was. She opened up her contacts and found his name in her favorites. After debating for about ten minutes, she finally texted him.
Emma: Thank you so much for the phone and everything today. I really appreciate it.
She wrote several more things but deleted all of them and decided to just keep it simple. She didn’t have to wait long for a reply.
Garrett: You’re more than welcome. Get some sleep. Know that you’re safe.
With a smile on her face, Emma set her alarm for three thirty and closed her eyes. She was asleep within minutes.
_________
The next afternoon, when Emma got home, Madison was waiting for her. “You ready?” she asked.
Emma nodded. “Let me go change really quick.” She looked through all the clothes they had bought before settling on yoga pants and a sports bra. She figured it would just be the two of them. She threw those on and the new sneakers Madison talked her into getting.
Madison led her down to the basement. “I wasn’t sure if Garrett would have stuff down here, but he has a few things. All right. Go ahead and stretch and get warmed up; then we’ll get started.” Emma did as she said.
“I picked these up for you. They should be your size,” she said. She handed Emma a pair of boxing gloves. Emma looked at her in surprise. “Ready to hit something?” Madison asked.
“So ready!” Emma responded.
Madison laughed and led her to a punching bag. “Eventually, you will train without the gloves; but we’ll start with them on for now.” Madison spent the next hour running Emma ragged. She put her through a series of hitting and kicking the bag. Then she had Emma doing jogging, jump rope, pushups, sit-ups, pullups, and more. By the end, Emma could barely move her body. Madison didn’t even look tired.
“Wow, you weren’t kidding. You’ve been doing this a long time,” Emma said in awe.
Madison smiled. “Yeah. Come on. Let’s get some supper. Make sure you take a hot shower tonight and maybe some pain reliever. You’re going to be sore tomorrow.”
Madison wasn’t joking. The next day, Emma could barely move a muscle. A hot shower helped. She made it through her day at work; then met Madison downstairs for her second day of training.
The next few days passed quickly in like fashion. She would work at the shop all day; then come home and train with Madison for a few hours, eat dinner, crash in bed, and start it up all again the next day.
Emma felt good about it, though. She could tell she was getting stronger. Work was going well too. Business was growing at the shop. Her cinnamon rolls were selling out earlier and earlier each day. She was starting to make more each day. Customers were getting in on creating new drinks and voting for their favorites.
Kevin seemed to be coming by more frequently. He tried talking to her each time she came in, but she was too busy. Finally, he asked for her number. Emma wrote it down on a napkin quickly during one of the short reprieves she had and handed it to him. “Thanks,” he said grinning. “I’ll call you.” Emma smiled at him and continued serving the next customer. She didn’t really think anything would come from it, but she misjudged him.
Chapter 21
Kevin called her that night. Emma didn’t recognize the number when her phone rang at dinner. “Hello,” she said.
“Hey Emma, It's Kevin,” she heard him say.
“Oh, hi,” Emma said, standing up from the dinner table. She walked up to her room and closed the door behind her.
“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” he said.
“You’re good. What can I do for you?” she asked, wondering why he had called.
“I wanted to know if I could take you to dinner tomorrow night?” he asked.
Emma was silent for a moment. She hadn’t been expecting that. She didn't really want to, but she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. “Um, sure,” she said.
“Great! I will come pick you up say around six. Does that work for you?” he asked.
“Six? Uh, sure I can make that work,” she said.
“What’s your address?” he asked.
“Oh, um, just a second,” she said. She put the phone on mute for a moment and walked back down the stairs. “What’s the address here?”
Kyle, Madison, and Levi all looked up at her. “Who wants to know?” Kyle asked.
“Uh, Kevin, this police officer from the coffee shop,” she said feeling really awkward about now. “He, uh, wants to take me out to dinner.”
Levi looked down, but Madison and Kyle just stared at her. “So, I need the address,” she prompted them.
“Tell him you’ll meet him there,” Kyle said in a not-so-friendly tone. Emma wasn’t sure what that meant.
“You guys don’t have to take me. He said he can pick me up,” she said.
“We’re taking you,” Kyle said. Then he looked down and started eating again. Emma guessed the conversation was over. She walked back up to her room.
She took a deep breath. “Kevin? Sorry about that. Um, can I actually just meet you there? That works better for uh, me with my... schedule,” she finished lamely and closed her eyes in embarrassment.
�
��Sure,” he said easily. “I’ll send you the name of the restaurant and the location so you have it on your phone.”
“Great, thanks,” Emma said.
“I’m really looking forward to this, Emma,” he said.
“Oh, great,” Emma said without enthusiasm.
“All right. I’ll see you then,” he said.
"Okay,” Emma replied. “Bye.”
Emma sat down on her bed, no longer hungry. Now she was nervous for tomorrow night, and there was a lot of time between now and then.
The next day flew past. They sold out of cinnamon rolls by eleven. Helen was singing her praises all day. Business was booming, and things were going really well. Kevin dropped in at one point and talked to her for a few minutes, but there were too many customers for her to talk long.
She bypassed her break, so she could help with customers. All too soon, it was one. “Phew,” Helen said as Emma clocked out. “What a great morning!”
“It definitely was,” Emma replied with a smile.
“And it’s all because of you,” Helen said.
“That’s not true,” Emma said, but she felt good. She was glad she was able to contribute.
“I think we need to up the cinnamon roll count,” Helen said. “What do you think?”
Emma nodded. “We’ve sold out each day consequently. I think it would be a good idea. We can start with just one more batch per day and see how that goes.”
Emma walked to the back room and grabbed her coat. She was tying the belt around her when Helen approached her. She held out an envelope to Emma. “Here’s your pay. I put in a little bonus for you because of all you’ve done.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” Emma said, taking the envelope.
“I wanted to,” Helen said. She looked at Emma carefully. “I put it in cash. I assumed that’s how you would want to do things because of your situation, but if you need a check, I can do that.”
“No, this is great. Thank you,” Emma said earnestly.
Emma gave her a hug and left the shop. The ride back to the house with Kyle and Levi was quiet. When they got back to the house, Emma went right to her room and opened her envelope. There was fifteen hundred dollars in there. Emma counted it again to be certain. She couldn’t believe it. For less than a month’s work, she felt really good about it. She closed her eyes and took a breath. It was so good to have her own money now. She wouldn’t have to be so dependent on everybody else.
After putting the money away, she changed and went to the basement. Madison put her right to work.
“How was work?” Madison asked during one of their breaks.
Emma smiled. “I got paid.”
“That’s great,” Madison said with a big smile.
“It feels really good, like maybe I can make it after all and am not such a loser,” Emma said.
Madison frowned at her. “You shouldn’t feel that way.”
Emma just shrugged. “It’s just nice to have money now to be able to pay my own way. Speaking of which, I need to start paying rent of some sort if I'm going to be staying here.”
It was Madison’s turn to shrug. “You can take it up with Garrett,” she said.
Emma nodded. They got back to training. Before she knew it, it was already four. “Oh,” she said standing up. “I’d better get ready for my date.”
“Okay,” Madison said.
Emma looked at her for just a moment before going upstairs. Was it just her imagination or did it seem like everybody was treating her funny ever since she said she was going on a date? She pushed the thought aside and ran up the stairs to take a shower and get dressed for her date.
After her shower, she began combing her closet of new clothes to figure out what to wear. She went through at least a dozen outfits before she realized she needed help. She left her room and went to find Madison. She found her in the living room, reading. “Madison, I need help. I don’t know what to wear on a date. I’ve never done this before. Will you help me?”
Madison looked at her for a moment then sighed. “Come on,” she said begrudgingly. Madison stepped into her room and started looking through her clothes.
“Okay, let’s try this.” She pulled out a black long-sleeved black cable sweater. Emma remembered trying that one on. It was really pretty. It had a round neck and wore slightly off the shoulders. The top and the cuffs had detail work. Madison gave her a pair of dark wash skinny jeans next. “Okay. Put both of those on. I’ll be back in a minute.”
When she left, Emma changed into the sweater and jeans. Madison knocked and came in a moment later. “See if these fit. Hopefully, we’re about the same size.” She handed Emma a pair of black suede boots with a heel and a buckle on the sides. Emma slipped them on over her jeans. They were a tiny bit big but close enough. The heel wasn’t too high either.
“They fit great. Are you sure it’s okay if I wear them?” she asked.
“Of course.” She was rummaging through Emma’s stuff again. “Here,” she said. She handed Emma a pair of silver hoops. Emma put them on. “Perfect. Now let’s work on makeup and hair.” She led Emma into the bathroom. “Where’s all the new makeup we got?” Emma gathered it up and plugged in the new straightener Madison had talked her into getting.
Emma put on moisturizer, foundation, and powder. Madison took over from there. She finished Emma’s makeup; then worked on straightening her hair. “You have such pretty hair. How come you never leave it down?” Madison asked.
Emma shrugged. “I’m usually working, so I keep it up.”
“It’s a beautiful color. It needs a cut though. Would you be up to going with me to my hairstylist when I get my hair done? I think a nice cut would make your already beautiful hair gorgeous,” Madison said.
Emma shrugged. “Sure.”
“Let’s leave it mostly down. I’ll just pull a little bit up on the sides.” Madison worked her magic. “All right. I’m done. Want to see?”
Emma nodded. She turned around in the mirror and stared at herself. She didn’t recognize herself. “I really like it,” she told Madison with a smile. “It’s pretty but not too much,” she said. Madison had done her makeup in neutrals, giving her a natural look. She wasn’t used to her hair being down.
“You’re right. It really does need a trim, doesn’t it?” Emma asked, eying her hair. She hadn’t straightened it in a long time.
“Yeah,” Madison said. “We’ll get it taken care of. For now, let’s do this.” She took the bobby pins out of the sides and reworked Emma’s hair. She turned it into a cute messy side bun that Emma would never be able to replicate in a hundred years. She nodded when Madison was done.
“Much better,” she said.
Madison agreed. “Yeah, you look great.”
A knock sounded on her door. “Emma, you going on your date or not?”
“Relax, Kyle,” Madison said. “She’s coming.”
Emma followed Madison towards the hallway where Kyle was waiting. Kyle frowned at her. “She’s wearing that?” he asked.
Emma stopped moving and looked at Madison. Madison hit Kyle’s arm. “Stop. Leave her alone. She looks beautiful.”
“I know. That’s the problem. You’re letting her go to that guy like that?” Kyle asked as he followed Madison down the stairs.
Emma followed slowly behind them, bewildered. Madison talked to Kyle in a voice Emma couldn’t hear. She waited by the stairs, trying not to feel awkward. “Well, I called him,” Kyle said.
“Good,” Madison said. “He needs to make a move.” Madison turned towards Emma with a smile on her face. “Smile,” she said and took a picture of Emma on her phone. “All right, girl. Have a great time!”
“You’re not coming with?” Emma asked, suddenly panicky.
“On your date?” Madison asked.
“No, not on my date. I just meant to go with the guys to drop me off,” she said.
“I need to make dinner. You can tell me all about it when you get back,” she said. She gav
e Kyle a hug and a kiss. Then Emma was being ushered out the door.
The ride was quiet once again. When they got close, Kyle turned to look at her. “You have your phone on you?” Emma nodded. “Good. We’re not going to come in, but if you feel anything off, you call us and we’ll be there right away. Understand?”
“You’re staying?” Emma asked, confused.
Kyle turned back around in his seat. “Yep.”
“You don’t have to stay. I know Madison’s making dinner,” she said.
“We’ll eat when we get home,” Kyle said, not sounding very happy about it.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you guys would have to go with. I didn’t mean to put you out,” Emma said softly.
Levi’s eyes met hers in the backseat. “We’re fine. Kyle’s just mad because he’s away from Madison. We’ll be fine. You just stay safe.”
Emma just stared at the man. She hardly ever heard him say anything. “Okay,” she said. She sat there a few moments longer before Kyle turned in his seat to look at her.
“Are you going in? Or did we bring you all this way just so you could sit in the car?” he asked.
“Sorry,” Emma said. “I’m just trying to work up the courage to go in.”
Kyle’s face softened. “You’ll be fine, Emma. I’m sorry I was being a jerk. You look beautiful. Go on in and have a good time,” he said.
Emma felt like she might tear up. Kyle was like the big brother that Alec should have been. She took a deep breath. “Thank you,” she said softly. Then she put her hand on the door and opened it. Levi was there a moment later to help her out of the car. He held his hand out to her, and Emma placed hers in his. Immediately a bright light filled her vision. She quickly dropped his hand and waited for her eyes to adjust. She looked up at him and saw the bewildered look on his face. She really needed to figure out why that happened when she touched some of these guys. But for now, she needed to get to her date. She slid out of the car, unassisted. Levi closed the door behind her and walked her into the restaurant.
