AllFreeNovel
Share Us
During one of her tutoring sessions, she took note of the empty seat Jeremiah usually occupied. She wondered if the month-long suspension he received from Principal Kennedy had been too harsh. Although what Jeremiah had done was inexcusable, she still had a soft spot for him. Emma only hoped his time at home would give him and Luke the space to rebuild their relationship.
After work her time was spent distracting herself, as best she could, from thinking of Luke. Since Emma had finished binging the backlog of shows on Netflix on her to-watch list, she threw herself into other activities, like tennis at the rec center and joining her favorite author’s online book club.
But even after she’d had a long, active day, she would often find herself lying in bed and scrolling through the photo album on her phone she had named, “Since the Day We Danced.” It was all of their memories together. Those photos held so much love, joy, and the possibilities life gives to all of us, if we’re brave enough to live again. Emma knew she should probably delete them, but didn’t have the heart to do so just yet.
And then, right before she would fall asleep, she’d read all the old text messages Luke had sent her, starting from the very first ones up until her birthday. Emma thought about him and how he was doing, and wondered if he missed her as much as she missed him. If he didn’t, she couldn’t blame him. The way she ended things had been harsh. It was a complicated situation, one that she never asked for. She had an impossible choice to make. Should she continue seeing the man of her dreams, even if it meant standing in the way of his relationship with his son? Or miss out on her second chance at love? There was no winning for anyone. To Emma, it was natural deferring her happiness for the sake of others. She had done this many times over the years, especially for Chad.
Some days, Emma found herself struggling to keep her emotions in check, as everything reminded her of Luke: the memories at Phil’s Diner, the sound of the crashing waves on the beach, and even Riley. A thousand times Emma had typed out a text to him, deleted it, and retyped it, but never hit the send button. Although her heart pressed her to reach out to him, she knew a clean break was the only way forward for both of them, no matter how difficult it seemed.
Emma’s life went on, waking up every morning and spending time with Riley before heading to school or working on her dog treat business. Mrs. Anderson had returned from her maternity leave, so Emma was back to being part-time at school. It was nice to have a little extra time to focus on growing Barking Orders. Over the past few weeks, she’d even picked up two new stores that wanted to sell her dog treats. Things were looking up for her, at least on the business front.
***
One morning, after getting back from a long walk with Riley, Emma took a shower and cooked breakfast. While sipping down her coffee, she realized she didn’t have anything to do once all of her morning tasks were completed. She didn’t have to be at school and was caught up on all of her deliveries for Barking Orders. It looked like she would have the day to herself.
Emma decided to start with a deep cleaning of the cottage. But, because the space was so small, she was done in just two hours. She still had half of the day to fill, and didn’t want to lounge on the couch and binge Netflix until the sun went down. She had done enough of that in the past month to last a lifetime.
Emma had to find something else to do; otherwise, she’d sit and think about Luke, which was the last thing she needed. It had been some time since she’d visited with her grandfather, so she gave him a call to catch up.
“Hello?”
“Hey Grandpa. How are you doing today?”
“Oh, just fine,” Liam said. “Although my knee’s acting up, so that means it’ll probably rain later.”
“Are you busy today?” Emma asked, hoping he didn’t have any plans.
“Me? Busy? Not at all. I was just getting ready to eat.”
“How about I come over and make some lunch for you?” Emma suggested. “I can bring Riley with me too, since it’s been a while since you’ve seen him.”
“Well, that sounds like a real treat, sweetheart. I’d love to have you two over.”
“Wonderful. We’ll be over soon.” Emma’s heart swelled with gratitude as she hung up the phone. She felt blessed to have Liam in her life, even though they didn’t spend much time together anymore. The weekly rides to the animal rescue hardly counted as quality time. It dawned on her that Liam wasn’t getting any younger, and she needed to make more of an effort to spend time with him. As she gazed out the window, she realized that life is too short to take loved ones for granted.
Emma stepped into her quaint kitchen and scanned the pantry and fridge, gathering ingredients for lunch and put them all in a canvas bag. After grabbing Riley’s leash and some dog treats for later, she loaded her car and drove across town to her grandfather’s little house on the water. It was even smaller than her place, but Liam didn’t need much. Since her grandmother had passed several years ago, Liam had adapted to a quiet, simple life, full of volunteering at the rescue every week and soaking up ocean views from his dock.
She pulled up in front of his house and let Riley out of the car. He ran up to Liam’s door and started scratching and whining, knowing where he was. Liam opened the door and greeted Riley with some pats on his head. Emma grabbed her bag from the car and walked over to join them.
“Hi, pumpkin.” Liam kissed her on the cheek. “This is a pleasant surprise.”
Emma leaned in, giving him a hug. “I figured I was past due for a visit.”
“Well, come on in.” Liam held the door open for her and Riley.
“How do you feel about soup and sandwiches?” Emma asked, holding up her bag. “Since it’s getting chilly, I thought it might be a good day for something warm.”
“That sounds great, Em.”
She walked into his kitchen and set her bags on the counter, then got to work. Since she was the one who had helped Liam move in here after he left the house on Muscadine Drive, she already knew where everything was. Emma chopped everything up for tomato basil soup and threw it into a pot to simmer. Once it was finished, she made a few vegan grilled cheese sandwiches and poured the soup into a bowl. After she set the table, she walked into the next room to find Liam playing tug of war with Riley on a piece of rope.
“Lunch is ready, Grandpa.”
Liam stood up and clasped his hands together. “Wonderful. It smells delicious, Em.”
As they sat down at the kitchen table and ate, Liam looked up at her. “So, how are things with you and Luke?”
Emma let out a heavy sigh, accepting that she couldn’t delay sharing the news any longer. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to confide in Liam; it was just that she didn’t want to burden him with her emotional baggage. Liam had been her rock since her mother’s passing and had an uncanny ability to make her feel safe and secure. Emma knew that she could always count on him to be there for her. She dreaded the thought of breaking down in front of him again, especially over something she couldn’t change. With a deep breath, she mustered up the courage to look into his kind eyes and began to speak.
