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“Sure, yeah. My wallet is on the bedside table. Just take whatever you need from there.”
“Okay. Thanks Dad.”
Chuckling to himself, Luke dunked his head under the steaming water again. If he had only arrived five minutes later, Jeremiah would’ve caught him. Next time he stayed at Emma’s house, he had to remember to set an alarm for much, much earlier.
After he finished showering, Luke stepped out into his room and got dressed, grabbing his phone from the bedside table. Opening it, he saw Emma had sent him a picture of the bracelet he had given her on her wrist with a smiley face emoji sent right after it. He messaged her back, telling her how good it looked on her, and put his phone back down next to his wallet. In curiosity, he flipped open the wallet and checked to see if Jeremiah had left him with any money after taking what he needed for lunch. Luke was surprised to only see five dollars missing, but he guessed that was all he needed.
Once he finished getting ready for the day, he headed downstairs and made some breakfast. He didn’t have any meetings today, so he decided he’d tackle a few projects around the house. Since they moved in, Luke had thought about repainting the dining room, but wasn’t sure which color yet. He wondered if he should ask Emma what she thinks would look good. It used to be her house, after all.
But as Luke started browsing through paint colors online, he ended up researching how to expand Emma’s business instead. Over the next few hours, he scanned through articles on small-business startups and took notes.
After putting together some ideas for Emma’s business, he took a break. Luke moved to the living room and sat down on the couch. He scrolled through his phone at the pictures of him and Emma, reminiscing about their love story. It was strange for him to think about how they’d met and how quickly he’d fallen for her. This morning he had felt like a teenager again, sneaking back into his house as if he’d been out late on a school night. While it was exhilarating, he knew he couldn’t do this forever, nor did he want to.
He began to think about how he’d break the news to Jeremiah on Sunday. Luke decided he didn’t want to leave it to chance and took some time mapping out the conversation. He’d done this many times in his career before pitching to future clients, and typically it worked out well. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail, he thought, hearing his Harvard professor’s voice echoing in his head.
Luke grabbed a pen and some paper, plotting out every possible scenario, including every reaction Jeremiah could have and how he’d respond. He rehearsed everything he’d say until it felt like second nature. Although some of the scenarios looked bleak, he felt better than he had before.
Even with all the prep he’d done, he knew the conversation wouldn’t be easy. But with all the progress he’d made with Jeremiah, a part of him felt his son would understand, if not now, then eventually.
As he shredded the paper with his notes, Luke felt a weight lifted off his shoulders knowing from that point forward he wouldn’t have to hide his relationship with Emma anymore. He knew that no matter what happened, everything would work out in the end. And with that thought in mind, he went about his day, feeling a renewed sense of hope and determination.
Chapter 31
Emma
“Alright guys, I’m going to hand out some practice worksheets for the chapter we just went over. We’ll go over the answers once you’re finished.” Emma walked out from behind her desk and started passing out papers to the front of each row. She felt much more alert and refreshed today after getting the best sleep she’s had in months. She knew that it probably wasn’t a good idea for Luke to stay over last night, given they still hadn’t told Jeremiah about them. But she was glad he did. Sleeping in his arms was her new favorite thing.
“Just go ahead and pass them back, and you can begin now. This chapter is going to be on the midterm exams and it’s a tricky one, so it’s important that you all take your time on this.”
After making sure everyone had a worksheet, Emma moved back over to her desk. “Make sure you have your book open to page seventy six so you can look back to the formulas we just went over. And if you’re having any trouble, just raise your hand and I’ll come over and help. Now, does anyone have questions?”
When Jeremiah’s hand shot up, she smiled and pointed to him.
“Yes, Jeremiah?”
“Well, I do have a question,” Jeremiah raised his voice. “But it’s not about the assignment. I just want to know how long you’ve been sleeping with my dad?”
The classroom buzzed with a symphony of gasps and hushed whispers as Emma stood frozen in place, trying to figure out if she’d heard him correctly.
“I’m sorry, Jeremiah. What did you say?” She asked, unsure if she wanted him to answer.
“How long have you been sleeping with my dad?”
Adrenaline surged through Emma’s body as her heart pounded like a bass drum. “Jeremiah, that’s inappropriate–”
“But it’s true, isn’t it?” Jeremiah stood up from his desk as he cut her off. “You’re sleeping with my dad.”
The entire classroom went into a frenzy. Some of the students were laughing and egging Jeremiah on, while others were telling him to shut up, and a few sat in silence, stunned from what they were witnessing. Emma didn’t know what to do. Her stomach knotted up, causing a wave of dizziness over her. She felt as if she were in a nightmare, unable to wake up. He had given her such a nice compliment only yesterday, and she had no idea what had caused this abrupt change in his behavior.
“Jeremiah, I don’t understand.”
“You know what I’m talking about. Don’t play dumb. I know what you’re really like now. You act all nice and innocent, but deep down all you are is a homewrecker.”
Emma’s eyes widened and jaw dropped as a string of expletives spewed from Jeremiah’s mouth. Students in the classroom shouted louder and louder as Jeremiah continued. She could feel her face getting hot as she bumped up against her desk.
“Emma? What’s going on?”
She turned toward the doorway and saw the puzzled stare on the physics teacher’s face. She’d forgotten that she’d left the classroom door open, and her students were making enough noise that the entire hall could hear. The front office was going to think she couldn’t control her classroom.
