“You worked hard,” she said.
Catherine smiled at her so radiantly it stuck a lump right in Emily’s throat. “I did. Totally worth it. Rest up because I’m going to do it again in a bit.”
Emily’s eyes widened. “What? Oh, no. No, no. Two is my limit.”
“Psshh.” Catherine waved a dismissive hand as she crawled up Emily’s body. “I plan on shattering that record. I’m going for four.”
Emily barked a laugh as she wrapped her arms around Catherine’s naked body. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”
“You don’t think I could?” Catherine snuggled up against Emily’s side, tucked her head into a shoulder.
“Oh, I’m sure you could. I’m just not sure I’d survive it.” Emily tilted Catherine’s face up by her chin and kissed her tenderly. “I am not Supergirl,” she whispered.
“You are to me.”
“Sweet talker. You’re just trying to get into my pants.”
“Been there, done that.”
They kissed again and then burrowed down into the bed together, watching the falling snow out the bedroom window. Dave and Mo were both sound asleep (not surprising, given it was after midnight) on the same dog bed, as if they, too, understood that these two lives were slowly merging into one. Emily marveled over the past weeks.
It hadn’t been an easy transition. Not for anybody. Jessica had hated losing Emily as a contact at Junebug and made it clear to Catherine. Things were still a bit tense between them, but they’d been friends for a long time, and Catherine was doing everything she could to get herself back into Jessica’s good graces.
“Hey,” she whispered in Catherine’s ear. “How’s Mark doing?” She was referring to the new liaison for The Breckenridge Foundation, the man who’d taken her place.
“Good,” Catherine muttered. “He’s really nice and loves the animals.”
“Think he’ll win Jessica over?”
“Eventually.”
That last word was barely mumbled, and Emily smiled as she pressed a kiss to Catherine’s forehead.
Despite being physically exhausted thanks to the two-hour lovemaking session they’d just had, Emily wasn’t ready to sleep. Her brain wouldn’t let her. It swirled with ideas for the company, ways to bring the Breckenridge name further into the technological age. They were on social media, but not using it to its full potential, and Emily had spent much of the day brainstorming with her staff about ways to increase visibility. Much as she missed her job as liaison to the nonprofits to which her family donated money, she knew that marketing was where she belonged. And she was pretty sure her mother knew it, too. With Emily at the helm of the department, she’d brought in a couple younger employees and made sure to listen openly to those who’d been there longer than she had. It had only been a month now, but she could already see progress. And though she was reluctant to admit it, her mother was ecstatic over the changes.
Looking now at the object of her affection, Emily smiled. Catherine had fallen asleep. It wouldn’t last, Emily knew, as Catherine hated to sleep naked. She claimed she “needed” to have clothes on and she waved Emily off if she tried to disagree. Of course, this was the third time she’d fallen asleep pajama-less and Emily planned to use that to her advantage, much preferring the smooth skin against her own over the fabric of her sleeping attire. Didn’t matter how cute it was.
Emily pressed another gentle kiss to Catherine’s forehead and tried to remember when she’d been so utterly content.
Sleep claimed her before she could come up with an answer.
EPILOGUE
SPRING WAS TRYING HARD to show up early to its own party. It was late February, less than a week to March, but the snow was virtually gone and the temperatures had been shockingly warm. Catherine did not complain. While she didn’t mind winter (you couldn’t be a resident of upstate New York and hate winter…that just made you silly for staying), she was always happy to wave good-bye to it and help usher in some sunshine and warmth.
Her morning had been chaotic and the din of barking dogs seemed louder today than usual for some reason. She’d had two meetings and a conference call already this morning, which had left her woefully behind on e-mail.
“Ready?”
Emily’s voice startled Catherine. She looked up and her girlfriend stood in the doorway looking casually sexy in jeans, a green waffle-weave Henley, and a white down vest.
Her girlfriend. She loved that phrase, but had yet to get used to it.
“God, is it lunch time already?” Catherine glanced at the clock to see that yes, Emily was right on time for their date. She held up a finger to ask Emily to wait, finished typing up the e-mail she’d been working on, clicked Send, then stood. Emily snagged her jacket from the hook on the back of the door and crossed the room.
“You might not need this,” she said as she placed a kiss on Catherine’s lips. “It’s really nice out.”
Catherine grabbed it and tossed it over her arm, grabbing her purse and leading Emily out of her office. “Get me out of here before Jessica grabs me again.”
They hurried out to the busy lobby where Anna stood talking to Regina. She glanced their way, then pointedly looked away and increased the volume of her voice. Catherine could only shake her head. If Anna wanted to act like a teenager, there wasn’t much she could do about it but let her. She grabbed Emily’s hand and they made it to the parking lot without incident.
Emily sighed and shook her head. “It’s a good thing you can’t actually be hurt when people give you dagger eyes. I’d be dead about ten times over by now.”
“I know. I’m sorry. She’s just…Anna.”
“Nothing I can’t handle, babe.” They got in the car and, thankfully, Emily changed the subject. “What’s going on with Jessica? Why is she keeping you so busy?” Emily asked, keying the ignition.
Catherine sighed, sliding on her sunglasses. “She’s getting ready for the telethon, which is always stressful for her. But you know how Janet Dobson retired last year?” She referred to that anchor of the local TV news who’d hosted the Junebug Farms Telethon every year since before Jessica had begun running things. When Emily nodded, Catherine went on. “Well, the new anchor is young and green and doesn’t know what she’s doing.” Catherine held up a hand. “This is according to Jessica, mind you. She’s freaking out.”
“Is the new anchor young and green?”
Catherine shrugged. “I have no idea. All I can tell you is that she’s hot.”
Emily gasped in mock-insult. “You’ve been looking at other girls?!”
“Please,” Catherine laughed. “Turn on the news tonight. You’ll be looking, too.”
“Hey, Siri,” Emily called out to her iPhone. “Remind me to watch the hot chick on the news tonight.”
“Okay,” said Siri. “I’ll remind you.”
Catherine shook her head with a grin.
The spring was especially busy at the shelter and Catherine didn’t have a ton of time for lunch, so that little café around the corner had become a go-to place for the two of them. Even if she couldn’t get away at all, Emily would stop and grab lunch, bring it to the shelter, and they’d eat together in Catherine’s office. It occurred at least three times a week, and Catherine loved that it was a regular date for them.
“I saw your Twitter contest,” Catherine said. “Looks like it’s getting lots of play.”
She was referring to Emily’s newest attempt to bring her family’s company into the twenty-first century. “We got a ton of hits this week.” Emily’s eyes lit up and she spent the next ten minutes regaling Catherine with examples of some of the responses they’d gotten. Catherine watched the animation on her face, the way she waved her hands around and her eyes got big when she described something that excited her.
God, I love this woman. It was the biggest thought in Catherine’s world and it made her heart fill with warmth.
The changes to their lives had been hard, had seemed almost insurmountable at the ti
me, but two months later, the wrinkles were finally starting to straighten out.
“So listen,” Emily said a little while later as she took a bite of her turkey BLT.
Catherine set down her spoon and folded her hands on the table in front of her.
Emily narrowed her eyes. “What are you doing?”
“Well, I can tell by the look on your face, by the way your eyes are focused on mine, that you’re about to tell me something important. I want to be sure I’m paying attention.” She smothered a grin, but she was only half-kidding. Emily had a very clear “serious talk” face and Catherine had learned it well.
“You’re making fun of me.”
“Never.”
Emily looked at her and grinned. “Fine. What I was going to say was that Easter is early this year and my mother wanted me to ask you if you thought your mom would like to come to our place for Easter dinner.”
Catherine blinked at her for a moment before finally asking, “I’m sorry. What?”
Emily nodded as she chewed and watched Catherine’s face. “You heard me.”
“Your mother hates me.”
“She’s…” Emily gazed up at the ceiling as she apparently searched for the right words. “…coming around.”
“Wow. That’s…unexpected.” It had been the hardest factor in the entire hot mess they’d created, and Catherine had a difficult time with the cool, reserved, unemotional side of herself that Cheryl Breckenridge showed whenever Catherine was around. Catherine did her best to not be intimidated (never worked), and she went to the Breckenridge house with Emily any time she was asked. But it was really hard for her to be so openly disliked by the mother of somebody who’d quickly become the most important person in her life. If this was a step toward a more pleasant coexistence, Catherine was all for it. “Me and my mom, huh?”
“Well…” Emily took another bite of her sandwich and gave Catherine a mischievous grin.
Catherine arched an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”
Holding a hand in front of her mouth, Emily said around her food, “It means you and your mom. And also your sister, nephew and grandparents.”
Catherine’s jaw dropped. Literally dropped; she actually felt it go, as did any and all words in her head.
“Yeah,” Emily said with a laugh and her face looked so radiantly happy then that Catherine knew this was a huge step for them. “She wants to have Easter dinner with your whole family.” After a beat went by and Catherine still hadn’t spoken, she added, “I told you she’d get there. She just needed time. Plus, I think since she banished Clark to Florida, she’s worried about losing me, too.”
“Poor Clark,” Catherine said, her tone broadcasting that she felt no sympathy whatsoever for him whatsoever. Apparently, there was an uncle who ran a branch of the family business out of Tallahassee and he was a real tough guy. He’d been tasked with whipping Clark into shape. Emily had received more than one whining text telling her how badly Uncle Keith was “busting his balls.” As far as Catherine was concerned, if anybody needed his balls busted, it was Clark Breckenridge. “Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”
Emily smiled, but it was obvious her focus was not on her brother. “What do you think?” she asked. “About Easter.”
Catherine scratched her temple. She looked around the café at the other patrons. She glanced down at her nearly untouched lunch, then back up at her girlfriend. “I think…I think…I think I wonder what you said to her to warrant such an invitation.”
Emily swallowed, then took a sip of her soda, and Catherine could actually see her consider and disregard several responses before settling on one. “I told her I love you. That you’re The One. Capital T, capital O.”
“You told her that?” Catherine let that sink in while she looked deeply into the dark eyes staring back at her. “You told her I’m The One?” she asked quietly.
Emily gave a slow nod. “I did.”
“Which one am I exactly?” Catherine asked, the happiness she felt suddenly making her pick on her girlfriend. “The tall one? The smart one? The sexy one?” She pointed her spoon at Emily. “I’d better be that one, that’s for sure.”
But Emily wasn’t playing. Not this time. Her face remained serious even as Catherine teased. Looking at her, Catherine’s voice trailed off until she grew quiet.
“My one,” Emily said and smiled with such tenderness that Catherine could feel herself warm from the inside. Reaching across the table, Emily closed her hand over Catherine’s. “The one for me. My one and only. The one that I want. All those ones. You’re my one. I love you, Catherine. You know that, right?”
Catherine couldn’t keep the smile from her face and she turned her hand over so she could grip Emily’s. It wasn’t news, that declaration of love, but she was pretty sure she’d never tire of hearing it. “Yeah, I know that.”
“Do you?”
Catherine nodded. “I do. Promise.”
“Good.”
Catherine watched as Emily popped the last bite of her sandwich into her mouth, and she marveled at how skilled Emily had become at not pressuring her, not expecting her to say something back just because it was said to her. Emily chewed and looked around the café and didn’t seem at all uneasy. That was all the reassurance Catherine needed.
“Hey, Em?”
Emily turned back to her. “Hmm?”
“You’re my one, too.”
THE END
By Georgia Beers
Novels
Finding Home
Mine
Fresh Tracks
Too Close to Touch
Thy Neighbor’s Wife
Turning the Page
Starting From Scratch
96 Hours
Slices of Life
Snow Globe
Olive Oil and White Bread
Zero Visibility
A Little Bit of Spice
Rescued Heart
Run to You
Anthologies
Outsiders
www.georgiabeers.com
Table of Contents
Synopsis
By Georgia Beers
Acknowledgements
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
EPILOGUE
By Georgia Beers
Run To You (Puppy Love Romance Book 2) Page 28
