by kj lewis
“I love you, Emelia.”
“I love you, Graham.”
Breakfast the next morning is just the family at Ben and Ruth’s. Harry and Eloise included.
“So you really are going to go skydiving?” Jules asks.
“I doubt it,” I answer as Graham says “Yes.”
“I’m scared.” I look at him across the table.
“I know.”
“Graham was top in his class at the academy. You have nothing to worry about,” Ben says encouragingly from his end of the table.
“Can we come watch?” Lucy asks.
“I wouldn’t stand under us. I might hit you with throw up. Sorry,” I say when I notice Eloise wince.
“Can I bring Holt?” Lucy asks, stopping forks in midair.
“Of course,” I answer, giving Graham a look when he raises his brow at me. “Do you like Holt?” I try not to make a big deal out of it.
“He opens the door for me, and he treats me like I’m more important than his phone. All the things you told me to demand, but from him I didn’t have to. He just did it.” She snags a croissant as it passes. “And he tells me how special I am, and how I can do anything I set my mind to.”
“I can live with that,” Adam says.
“Plus, he’s a great kisser.”
“And I’m done.” Graham pushes his plate away from him.
“Ooh, can I have your bacon?” Lucy asks.
“What time are we going?” I ask Graham.
“After breakfast,” he winks.
“It’s going to take more than a wink, buddy.”
“You’ll be okay. I wouldn’t let him take you up if I didn’t know it.” Harry attempts to settle me.
“Maybe this will take your mind off it,” Ruth says, handing me a beautifully wrapped gift.
“I thought I said no gifts,” I say when Eloise sets another one next to me.
“It’s funny you think that means something,” Harry teases.
I open Ruth and Ben’s first, gasping when I see the long multi-chained vintage Chanel necklace that Ruth had in her closet.
“Ruth, I can’t accept this.”
“You will. It’s perfect for you.” She pats my cheek.
“I love it. Thank you so much.” I stand to hug her then Ben. I unwrap Harry and Eloise’s gift. It’s a beautiful leather bound book. Opening it, I see it is filled with treasures.
“I thought you might want your history,” Eloise says. The book is filled with letters my mom wrote to Harry when they were dating, old pictures he took, a movie ticket of their first date, a picture of the bookstore they met in.
“How did you get these?” I ask, running my fingers over pictures of my grandparents I’ve never seen before.
“They were some of the things your mom left behind. Eloise found them in a box a few weeks ago,” Harry says. I find myself overwhelmed by Eloise in this moment. It takes a strong woman to put a book of memories together for your husband’s daughter from a former love. I keep flipping. The book has pictures of Eloise and Harry’s wedding and from mine and Graham’s. In the back of the book are more letters and a pair of cuff links in a baggie.
“Your mother gave me those,” Harry says as I pass them to Graham.
“For you. The cufflinks my mom gave my dad,” I tell him and he nods.
“Eloise, I am so touched and so grateful for you. Words cannot tell you how much you mean to me. Other than to say you, too, are my mother and I love you.” I kiss her cheek. Harry wraps his arm around her shoulders, seeing her get emotional.
“Enough stalling.” Graham attempts to lighten the atmosphere. “You and I have a date.”
“Graham.”
“Anyone want to ride in Scout with us?” He stands to clear his dishes. He’s in entirely too good of a mood for me right now.
When we get to the skydiving site, Teague attempts to ease my anxiety by saying, “Graham knows what he’s doing. You have nothing to worry about.”
“I can’t do this. I can’t get on that plane.”
“You can,” Graham says. “Once we are in the air, we will open the door and we are going to push out and away from the plane. You will be tandem which means you will be attached to me the whole time. All you have to do is enjoy the ride.”
“What if the shoot doesn’t open?”
“Then I’ll pull the reserve.”
“What if the reserve doesn’t open?”
“Then we’ll die together. The way it should be.” He kisses me before sliding sunglasses on my face.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Jules says. Adam managed to rope her into this, too.
“What the fuck? Who the fuck thought of this?” Joy walks up.
“Thought it was funny before, didn’t ya,” I snark.
“Teague and Adam know what they’re doing. There’s nothing to worry about. Let’s go Ladies.” Graham hooks me onto him, while Teague and Adam do the same. Smith checks each couple’s connection before we enter the plane. He’s flying us today.
“Control your breathing. Just remember, I’m in control. All you have to do is have fun.”
Wrapping his arms around me while we take off, he continues to encourage me that I can do this.
“Okay. We’re first, Emelia.” He moves us closer to the open door.
I’m shaking. “Graham, I can’t do this.”
“Emelia.” CEO Graham has joined us. “You’ve got this. We’re going.” He moves us to the edge of the plane. I tip my head back and tuck my feet as he jumps, but it feels more like we’re being sucked out of the plane.
“Open your eyes, Emelia,” Graham shouts. And I do. We’re falling pretty fast before Graham grabs my wrists and pulls my arms out like were flying. This slows our decent a little. We continue to freefall for another minute before Graham releases our chute, pulling us up and back.
“Deep breaths, Emelia,” Graham says as we glide through the air, taking in the beauty around is. “I knew you would love it,” he says, sensing my belabored enjoyment.
“Now, legs up,” he says as we come in for our landing. I’m practically giddy at the experience and absolutely shocked that someone with the fear level of flying that I have actually jumped out of a plane.
After lunch, Graham and I make the drive to Montauk to walk the shoreline and put out the pumpkin seeds for the deer. When we’re done, Graham pulls me into the back of Scout where he makes love to me in the open air of the secluded park for the remainder of the afternoon. We eat a sunset dinner at the Inlet Seafood Restaurant overlooking the water before Graham drives us home. I turn on the radio thinking how fitting Train’s “We Were Made For This” ends our incredible day.
“Who knew that my sweet Emme would be the one to tame Graham Taylor?” Colleen says.
“Maybe he tamed me?” I give her a coy glance.
“Oh, darling. It’s cute you think that.” She orders us another round of drinks. We’ve been catching up over lunch. Colleen is one of the few clients that I have kept while on leave from Jackson’s company.
“I love all the looks you’ve pulled. Except the two I scratched. Will you be doing the closet for spring or will you have moved on?”
“I’m not sure.” I sit back in the booth. “I’m having a hard time deciding what direction I want to go in.”
“Really? That’s not like you. You typically have a clear path of what you want to happen next. What’s different this time?” she asks before taking another sip of her soup. “Graham is being supportive isn’t he?”
“He is, yes. Richard Raines wants to form a collaborative charity organization and have several families come together. Larger checkbook, larger impact kind of thing. He wants me to run it.”
“And you’re not interested?”
“I’m not sure I have what it takes. To pull this off correctly will take an understanding of business along with domestic and international law of which I have zero knowledge.”
“You can learn. I know Graham is n
ot going to allow his wife to fail at anything. He won’t have you out there on your own.”
“No, I know he wouldn’t.” I pick at my salad.
“You don’t want to do it.” She studies and reads me correctly.
“What does it say about me that I don’t want to change the world?” I finally admit it out loud.
“It says that you’re being honest with yourself. So don’t run it,” she shrugs. “Have it set up where you can oversee and even handle some of the fundraising, but have everyone else do the work. I know hard work is not a problem for you and I don’t see you not working, so what are you thinking you want to do?”
“I want to work with Jules. Run her business for her. I really think she has the talent to achieve her goals. I want to help her get there. And I want to do some local work. I’m going to give the mentor program over to Richard Raines and his son. They have a vision for it, and I really think Holt will take it to the next level.”
“Your interview on the Today Show helped that too. I was very proud of you. It’s exactly the way I would have dealt with it.”
“Thank you, Colleen. That means a lot to me.” I beam with her approval.
“Any chance you would consider taking over my business?” she asks, and it takes me a minute to realize she’s serious.
“Taking over or working with you?” I ask, more out of curiosity than consideration.
“Taking over. I’ve met someone.”
“Really?” I can’t hide my shock. Colleen is gorgeous, and I am sure she has never had trouble finding someone to be with, but she has always been a woman who cared more about her business than she did her love life. I’ve always imagined her to be in leather with a whip, but I would lay odds that she’s not the one holding the whip.
“I think that’s great, Colleen. He must be some catch for you to walk away from your business. I’m happy for you. Will I get to meet him soon?”
“You will. I’m not ready for it to go public yet.”
“Well, your secret is safe with me. Cheers.” I raise my glass to her.
“All my secrets are safe with you. I know you won’t do it, but if you did, I would give you the business. Not sell it, like I would to someone else. I have enough money.”
“Colleen. If it was a business for anything else, I would, but it would be a PR nightmare if it ever came to light. It wouldn’t be worth the risk. I am always grateful to you, though. I have learned so much by watching you be the strong business woman you are. Thank you for that.”
“Lunch next month?” Colleen plans as we exit the restaurant.
“As always.” We kiss on each cheek before she gets in her car.
“Back to the office?” Teague asks as Myles pulls up.
“I’m not sure?” I answer absently as I look at my phone. “Terrance? What’s wrong?” I ask when he answers. I have a dozen missed calls from him.
“Emme, I need to see you.” I hear the panic in his voice.
“Okay. Where?” I look at my watch to see what time it is.
“What part of town are you in?”
“I’m on the Upper East Side. I had lunch with a client.”
“Meet you at the reservoir?”
“Sure.”
“See you there.” He hangs up.
“Please tell me you didn’t make arrangements to meet Terrance,” Teague says.
“I did, but at the reservoir. Not at their place. Did you put your gym bag in the car with mine this morning? We could knock out our run.”
“I did. But Emme, you have to call Graham. If you don’t, I’ll have to.”
“I thought your job wasn’t to tattle on me.”
“It’s not, but this is different. This is a direct disobey of an order if I let this happen. You need to call Graham. It will come better from you then it will from me. If I do it, he’ll think you’re sneaking around. If you want to see Terrance, fine. But man up about it.”
“Fine.” I hit another button on my phone.
“George?” I ask when he answers Graham’s cell.
“Mrs. Taylor,” George says politely.
“Is Graham available? Why do you have his phone?”
“He’s in a meeting. He left it at my desk.” Something about George’s tone isn’t sitting right with me.
“Who’s he in a meeting with?”
“It should be over in about thirty minutes.” He avoids my question.
“George. You know Cassie will tell me if you won’t.”
“Orphan Annie.” He says this with such distaste that I actually laugh out loud.
“I’m sure it’s a legitimate meeting, George.”
“Someone needs to tell her that. If I have your permission, I will. I don’t mind.”
“You really don’t like this girl, do you? Why?”
“It’s disrespectful to you. I don’t like it. You know what? He’d rather talk to you than her. Hang on.” He puts me on hold before I have a chance to say anything.
“Hello, my love.” When Graham answers, my heart does a flip.
“Hi, baby. George says you’re in a meeting.”
“I am. Hang on.” I hear George in the background tell Orphan Annie that she’ll need to reschedule because Graham has an important call. Graham thanks her for the proposal. “I’m back. How was lunch with Colleen?”
“It was good.”
“Why is George giving me the evil eye?”
“Orphan Annie.”
“Ah, yes. That explains it. He appears to be giving her hell at his desk even as we speak. He’s very protective of you.”
“He looks up to you. Don’t give him a reason not to.”
“Message received.” I can hear his smile through the phone. I have come to realize that Graham likes for me to at least act like I’m jealous sometimes, so I throw him a bone every now and then. Besides, this isn’t too much of a stretch. George is right. She knows who Graham belongs to and she is blatantly disrespectful.
“What can I do for you, babe?” Graham asks.
“I’m calling to let you know that I am meeting Terrance for a few minutes.” Dead silence. I take that as a sign to continue, so I do, explaining where we are meeting and that Teague and I are going for a run first.
“Let me talk to Teague.” He’s short. I hand Teague the phone and he shakes his head.
“Sir?” He listens. “Yes, sir.” He looks at his watch. “No, sir.” He waits another minute. “Understood. I’ll text you when we leave.” Teague hands me back the phone.
“So I’m good?” I ask Graham.
“Let me get this straight. You call to tell me, then ask if it’s okay.”
“Yes.”
“Next time, I’d like you to reverse the order.”
“In a land called ‘let me know how that works for ya’,” I respond sarcastically.
“I have property on that land, Emelia. It’s called, ‘I’ll beat that ass and you won’t be able to sit for a week.’”
Just the thought of it has me biting my lip.
“You’re such a freak. I know you’re biting your lip,” he says seductively and I reflexively squeeze my thighs together. “And I know you’re wet.” A small moan escapes me.
“Seriously?” Teague says rolling his eyes.
“I love you. I’ll be home no later than five.”
“I love you too, baby. If you behave, maybe I’ll give you a map to my property tonight.”
“Promise?”
“Love you.” He laughs before hanging up.
“Don’t say a word. I seriously don’t want to know,” Teague says. “Let’s get changed.” He takes the bags out of the car and heads into the hotel.
“Are you going to run the race with me?” I ask as we make our way around again. The track around the water is about a mile and a half. I’m hoping to get at least 12 miles in today.
“Of course.” He says.
“Did you register? I think it’s been closed to runners for a while.”
�
��It has been. But your husband has his ways. I’ve been registered since I became your security detail.”
“What money can do.”
“Let’s stop. I don’t think I’ll make it around again before Terrance gets here.” I catch my breath, holding my side. Neither of which is a good sign since the race is only a couple of weeks away.
Bending over, I begin to do some cool down stretches.
“Keep it moving, buddy,” I hear Teague tell someone. “Think you could save your ass-in-the-air stretches for later?” He gives me a chastising look. Four men in dark suits with ear pieces walk up to him and he starts a conversation.
“What’s up?” I ask when he’s finished talking.
“Nothing. Just extra security.”
I stop stretching and look at him. “You aren’t serious?”
“I am. There’s Terrance now. I’ll be right here.”
Turning, I see Terrance walk up. He has his hoodie pulled over his head.
“Hey, bud.” We hug.
“Hey, Emme. Thanks for meeting me.” He takes his hood off and motions for me to sit next to him on a bench.
“What’s wrong?” I ask him. He leans forward putting his elbows on his knees. We sit like this for a while, and I can tell he’s really struggling. “Hey. Whatever it is. We can make it through it.” I scoot closer to him and rub my hand over his back.
I can tell he’s trying to reign his shit in.
“I’m a father,” he says, not looking at me.
“What?” I ask a little more than shocked.
He sits back, rubs his hands down his face, and looks at me. “I’m a father. I found out this morning.”
“With who?” I ask.
“Whitley. You never met her. Shit. I was only with her a couple of times. She didn’t roll with a crew. Kind of did her own thing.”
“Is it a boy or a girl?”
“I have a daughter.”
“Terrance. That’s incredible. What’s her name? How old is she?”
He pulls out his phone and shows me a picture. Immediately I feel protective of her. “She’s perfect,” I tell him.
“Her name is Olivia. She’s three months old. It was her grandmother’s name. She raised Whitley because her mom was a crack head. When her grandmother died, Whitley started on the pipe. She was clean when we hooked up and the lady from the state told me she stayed clean while she was pregnant. Afterwards though, she started back on the pipe and died last week. She listed me as the father on the birth certificate. The state notified me this morning. I pick her up tomorrow.”
