Sienna’s mouth dropped open. When she recovered, she asked, “In the middle of the cleanup efforts?”
Emily laughed. “We went back to his house.”
Sienna’s eyes bulged with interest. “You did? What’s his house like?”
“Unfussy and quiet. Like him.”
“There’s a sparkle in your eye when you talk about him.”
Sienna’s perception unleashed a mass of invisible butterflies in Emily’s chest, which must have had an outward expression because Sienna clapped a hand over her mouth, stifling a laugh.
“You’re smitten.”
“I shouldn’t be,” Emily said, dropping down beside her.
“Why not?” There was an undefinable heaviness in her stare, as if everything depended on this answer.
It didn’t make sense to Emily. “I don’t know how to do flings. That’s not who I am. But Patrick and I don’t live anywhere near one another, so a fling is all it is. It’s too early to know if what we feel is lasting, and I leave in a matter of days, so we’ll never know.” She folded her arms. “And I’ve got Will downstairs.”
Sienna bit her lip, something flashing across her face.
“What’sthatlook?” Emily asked.
“Uh… Man, I hate to get in the middle of things.” She sighed.
Emily’s skin turned cold. “You’re already in the middle, so you’d better just come out with whateveritis.”
Sienna’s knee bounced. “You need to tell Patrick not to cook for us tonight.”
“Nothing’s open, and we don’t have enough food for everyone. If he doesn’t cook, we won’t eat.”
“You’d rather be hungry,” Sienna said. “And the boys brought snacks. We can get through with whatever leftovers we have and the chips they brought.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
Uneasiness flooded Sienna’s features, her chest rising and falling a little too quickly. “Let’s just say that the celebration for my growing family might be a cover for something more. Tyson filled me in, and Will’s planning something romantic for you—abig surprise gesture to show how sorry he is. That’s why he came. My announcement was a happy distraction for something he’d already planned.”
Emily frowned. “What?”
Sienna hung her head and groaned. “He didn’t tell me what it was, but I think it’s something grand.”
“You’re making me nervous,” Emily said.
Sienna bit her lip. “You should be.” She stood up and walked to the door. “I’m gonna go keep them busy, but I suggest you call Patrick right now and tell him we don’t need dinner. You need to deal with Will and whatever this thing is without the added pressure of Patrick watching it all go down.”
In a rush, Sienna exited the room, leaving Emily in a cloud of confusion.
TWENTY-FIVE
By evening, Emily had gotten ready undisturbed, but she hadn’t really been able to come down after Sienna’s news. She was showered, styled, and outfitted in a yellow sundress, something she’d packed to be summery, but wearing it tonight, she wanted to crawl into some sweats, and hide for the foreseeable future.
Emily looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She appeared put together, but inside, she was a wreck. She’d tried to both call and text Patrick over the last couple of hours, but the cellular service was spotty again. What was she doing accepting his advances? She was letting him get a hold of her fragile emotions, knowing she’d have to deal with the aftermath when she got home. And now, her worlds were overlapping, creating more drama than she was ready to deal with.
There was a knock at the door. “It’s Blair. May I come in?”
“Yep, it’s open.” Emily walked out of the en suite and into her room.
Blair came in cautiously. “You look so pretty,” she said.
