Page 24 of A New Chapter

When they reached his coworkers, Zack shook hands with some of the men, smiled and nodded at some of the women, and then introduced them all to his “friend” Emma. A few people looked skeptical about the label, but Emma just smiled and said hello. They were barely seated when Zack’s boss asked them what they would like to drink.

When Dan went off to the bar, Zack leaned over and whispered, “Didn’t know you liked hard liquor. Thought you were a beer girl.”

“I hardly think of rum and Coke as hard liquor,” Emma said. “Besides, you’ve never offered me anything but a beer at your house, so how would you know?”

Zack was about to retort when an attractive middle-aged woman wearing a tight black dress and a seductive smile approached their table.

“Hi, Zack,” she said, completely ignoring Emma’s presence.

“Hey, Brandy. How’s it going?”

“Better now that you’re here.”

Zack let out a strangled laugh and glanced over at Emma, who was trying to suppress a giggle. “Brandy, this is my… “

“Yes, I heard. Hello Zack’s friend, Emma,” Brandy purred.

“Brandy works at the front desk at Bradford Financial,” Zack explained while tugging at the white collar of his dress shirt.

“It’s nice to meet you, Brandy,” Emma said. She could have said something totally inappropriate, and Brandy wouldn’t have noticed. The woman’s eyes were glued to Zack, and he squirmed uncomfortably under her intense scrutiny.

“Save me a dance later, Zacky,” Brandy said, and she sashayed away without waiting for his response.

The minute she was out of sight, Emma turned to Zack and teased, “Zacky?”

“Yes, I know. It’s obnoxious. The woman adds a ‘y’ to the end of everyone’s name, not just mine.”

“Whatever you say, Zacky,” Emma said with a grin. “When you told me about your coworkers, you failed to mention Brandy.”

Zack was about to reply when Dan returned with their drinks. “Drink up, buddy. The night is young!” Dan proclaimed and winked at Emma.

Zack took a long pull on his beer and scooted his chair closer to hers. It was an obvious show of possession, but Dan seemed oblivious. He sat down across from them and attempted to engage Emma in conversation.

“So, Emma, what do you do?”

“I own A New Chapter.” Since Dan looked confused, Emma added, “The bookstore about a mile north of downtown Clarkston.”

“Ah, yes. I’ve heard of it, but I haven’t been there. Now that I know you own it, I’ll have to stop in.”

“Why, Dan? I thought you told me that you didn’t like to read,” Zack said with unmistakable sarcasm.

“Well, I like to read some things,” he said. “Do you sell Playboy there?”

Zack didn’t give Emma time to answer. He stood up abruptly and pulled her with him, almost spilling her drink in the process. “Hey, there’s the bride and groom. We should go say hello,” he said and quickly steered Emma away.

“Thanks for the save; otherwise, I was going to have to smack your boss,” Emma hissed through her plastered-on smile. The bride and groom had spotted them, and she didn’t want to look like an unhappy guest.

Zack introduced Emma to Justin and his lovely bride, Trisha, who looked just like a bride should look on her wedding day. Emma observed the happy couple wistfully while they chatted with Zack about their wedding ceremony and shared a laugh over their eight-year-old ring bearer, who had dropped their rings on his way up the aisle.

The longer they stood there with the beautiful couple, the sadder Emma became. This is what it should have been like on her wedding day. She should have been buoyant and effervescent like Trisha instead of plagued with doubts and worries. Emma wondered what the guests at her wedding had seen when they had looked at the bride. Had some of them been able to tell that she seemed less than ecstatic as she was pronounced Mrs. Emma Babcock? (She had reclaimed her maiden name, Murphy, after the divorce.) The overriding feeling Emma remembered having on her wedding day was that she was giving something up rather than gaining something. It wasn’t about her independence or her dreams of success. She had achieved all of that when she had opened the bookstore. No, what she had given up that day was her chance to have a true and satisfying love, the kind of love that would last a lifetime. Now that Mark was out of her life, she still wondered if she would ever find that kind of love.

It took her a moment to realize that Zack was leading her back to their table. “Are you ok? You look a little pale.”

“I’m fine,” she replied. When they sat back down, Emma noticed that a fresh drink had been placed at her seat—Dan’s handiwork, no doubt, although he was nowhere to be seen. When Zack became engaged in a lengthy discussion about financial matters with his coworkers, Emma quietly sipped on her rum and Coke. Zack glanced over at her occasionally, and she kept giving him a reassuring smile. An hour later, there were three empty glasses on the table in front of her, and the crazy thing was she didn’t remember how they’d all gotten there.

Sometime later, the lights were dimmed, and the guests filled the dance floor for the first slow dance. Sure enough, Brandy appeared out of nowhere and asked Zacky to dance.

“Sorry, Brandy. I promised the first dance to Emma.” Zack held out his hand to Emma, and she gladly took it. She wasn’t entirely sure that she would have been able to stand up without it.