Emily shot a look of apology at Patrick. She’d have to explain it all to him, if he’d let her. But tonight, maybe she wouldn’t crumble when facing Will. She would hear whatever it was he had to say—and stay standing.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said to Patrick, but he’d turned toward the fire pit, throwing sand on the glowing embers. She caught his brief glance as she walked away.
“Sorry to get here so late,” Tyson said, grabbing Sienna’s hand. “We were hoping to get into town more easily, but with that storm, it was tough going.”
Emily took another step away from Will, moving to the other side of Blair and Rocko.
Is anyone going to tell me why my ex came along?
“Can I get anyone a drink?” Sienna asked as they entered the house. Discreetly, she widened her eyes at Emily as if to say,I know you’ll need one.
“Why don’t we get their things upstairs and then we can all settle in?” Blair suggested.
Rocko came up behind Blair and kissed her cheek. “Sounds like a plan.” Then he shot Emily an apologetic look over his shoulder.
The two couples began to load their suitcases into the elevator, leaving Will and Emily in the living room.
“Why did you come?” she asked him.
“I feel like we haven’t really had a chance to talk—just the two of us.”
She gawked at him. “And whose fault is that?”
He tapped his chest. “Mine.” His dark eyes were full of remorse, something she hadn’t seen before now.
“Yes.” She didn’t know what else to say to him, her anger building like an inferno.
“Can we go somewhere we can talk?”
With a deep, steadying breath, she led him up the stairs to her room. She could hear Blair filling Rocko in on all the amenities of the place. Sienna and Tyson’s muffled voices bounced down the hallway. But Emily hadn’t uttered a word. Her hands trembled and her heart pounded.
“Wow, this is incredible,” Will said, dropping down on her fluffy duvet-covered bed.
She shut the door.
Inside the quiet bedroom, the noise of the ocean and voices outside fell away, leaving the enormity of everything unsaid between them. She stood near the door, arms crossed, and Will got up again, uncertainty flashing across his face.
“You look different,” he said finally, his voice softer than she expected.
Emily didn’t answer right away. What was there to say to him? That being left had originally hollowed her out emotionally, then oddly freed her? That she was angry—not just at him for blindsiding her, but at herself for not noticing that things weren’t good between them until it was too late?
“Why did you come?” she asked again.
He hesitated, then shrugged. “The storm freaked me out. I was worried for you. It got me thinking. I figured maybe we could have a conversation about us?”
“Us?Where’s Lanie?”
The color drained from his face. “You know her name?”
“Well, if you hang out with my friends, I will, eventually, know her name. But even so, I met her the day I went with you to the gym. She tried to sell me a month of hot yoga.”
He flinched.
So it is the same Lanie.Emily walked toward him. “Will, what do you want?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Emily scoffed.
