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“Come on,” said Claire. “We get to ride in the limousine again.”
*****
Spencer was still furious. How did this guy dare to insert himself into Emily’s life? He’d only known her for half a day. The only thing that made this guy a hero was dumb luck—he happened to be there at the right time. And why did Spencer have all the bad luck? Why did he run and hike all those miles looking for Emily, while this jerk got to just show up and save the day? And after all of his efforts, Spencer didn’t even get to carry her up to the apartment. And then the jerk had the audacity to be a doctor. Both of them—doctors. He watched his sister across the table as she laughed with Brad, her head leaning in close to his. Was he looking down the front of her shirt? He needed to have a talk with his sister.
“Spencer, you’re awfully quiet,” murmured Charlie. “Are you still worried about Emily? I saw her before she fell asleep. She’s going to be fine.”
“No. I mean... Yes, I’m worried, but that’s not it. I don’t trust this Josh guy,” he answered softly, since the object of his disdain was sitting on the other side of Charlie.
“He’s okay. You can’t blame him for having a crush on her. It happens all the time, so you better get used to it.”
“What do you mean, it happens all the time?”
“Every guy she meets falls for her. She usually doesn’t even pay attention. I’d bet a million dollars she didn’t even notice Josh is good-looking.”
“You think he’s good-looking? I think he looks like a jerk.”
Charlie chuckled. “He’s cute, Spencer. But that doesn’t mean Emily thought so. I’ve known her all my life and I’ll tell you she’s never done anything like this for a guy before.”
“What do you mean? What did she do for him?”
“Not for him, you big dummy—for you. She went on a crazy hard hike and planned to camp out, sleeping on the ground. These things are way out of her comfort zone. And she did it for you, not for Josh.”
“She’d never been on that hike. She had no idea what she was getting into.”
“But if you know Emily, you know she read all about it before she went. She at least knew it would be really difficult.”
“And I’d never have expected her to do that. I was coming to her apartment to talk to her.”
“I know, I know. But she didn’t know that. And let’s face it. You didn’t even know you were coming to talk to her until right before you did it.”
“If I’d just talked to her on Friday, none of this would have happened. It’s my fault she’s all bunged up.”
“Don’t be silly. This is Emily we’re talking about. She has a mind of her own, and it works in crazy unpredictable ways.”
“So you don’t think she’s attracted to Josh? The doctor?”
“No, I don’t. But let me ask you a question. Have you forgiven her for going out with Asher Denning?”
“That seems like it happened months ago. Yes, I’ve forgiven her. I didn’t even think about it after I found out she was in trouble.”
“Well, you need to remember she doesn’t know that. She thinks you’re still angry. And when she wakes up tomorrow, it’ll still be on her mind.”
“Do you think she likes me?”
“Ohmygosh! Are all men this dense? Yes, she likes you. Of course she does.” Charlie shook her head. “Now, can you enjoy dinner?”
“Sure.” He felt his spirits lifting… Emily liked him.
An uneasy truce lay between Spencer and Josh for the rest of dinner. Both seemed to acknowledge they didn’t like each other, but they didn’t have any more arguments. At least not overtly.
“What does Emily do?” Josh asked after everyone else at the table had summarized their present school or work occupations.
“So you don’t even know?” He let a little sneer creep into his voice. So great to finally have a one-up on Josh.
“Well, no. While I was attempting to keep her from falling to her death, we didn’t discuss mundane things like work or school.”
Charlie interrupted. “Really, Josh? Falling to her death?”
