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I peeked over my shoulder to see him standing there in a black skinny tie and a grey button-up stretched over his big, muscled frame. His adorably deep frown looked like it had no place on his normally jovial face.
“Hi, Emmett,” I smiled.
“Hi. I… think I owe you an apology,” he said, eyeing Julian. “Mind if I borrow her a sec, brother?”
“I do.” Julian’s quick reply made Emmett laugh. “Where are you taking her?”
“Julian,” I flashed a teasing look. Clenching his jaw, he relented.
“Fine, borrow her. But return her to me as soon as possible, please.”
“You got it, lover boy.”
I almost heard Julian’s eyes roll as Emmett walked me out of the bright dining room and into a little greenhouse of a hallway that led to the garden patio outside. I tried not to look too charmed or amused as Emmett struggled with how to start his apology.
“Look, I…” Emmett cleared his throat. “I don’t even… well, first of all – ”
“Emmett. Don’t worry,” I relieved him. “I know it looked pretty bad that night when I ran away. I’m not going to try to explain why I reacted so strongly, but what I will say is that your brother took pretty damned good care of me that night. I’m fine now. You slipped up, but it’s not the end of the world. I had a great weekend, and I’m not angry at
all.”
Emmett blinked, silent for a second.
“Wow. That went a lot better than I thought.”
“What, you thought I was going to be a raging bitch about it?” I teased.
“No, but Julian tore me a new one all night after you guys left. He really didn’t let it go, he was beyond pissed for you. I was about to offer him my truck as an apology.”
“Well, we did take your truck home that night,” I laughed.
“Yeah, but I mean for keeps. Anyway, thank you, Sara. I’m so fucking grateful that you’re not pissed at me,” Emmett exhaled, running a hand over his short-cropped hair. “You probably know this, but my brother likes you a lot. I can tell.”
I smiled. “How can you tell?”
“Man.” Emmett drew in another deep breath as he looked down the hallway and into the dining room. “It’s kind of crazy, but I can see the difference in him. In just the way he looks and talks. Sometimes he can be kind of… vacant. Like he’s on autopilot. And it just feels like he hasn’t been lately.” Emmett squinted as he studied his brother from afar. I turned over to find him sitting with his mother, the two of them laughing. “It feels like he’s actually in the moment, and present, and reacting. Like you flipped a light switch in him. Does that make sense?” he winced.
“It makes perfect sense. And it’s incredibly flattering to me.”
“Well, I’m actually not trying to flatter you,” Emmett grinned. “It’s just the truth. And listen, I know you guys are leaving for Biarritz tomorrow, and I just wanna say, when you’re there with him… if you see or hear anything that mentions the name Lucie, don’t… jump to conclusions. It’s not what you think.”
I grinned at Emmett’s need to protect his brother while trying, for once, not to spill the beans on a secret.
“You’re very sweet, Emmett, but Julian already told me about Liz and Lucie.”
“Jesus fuck, seriously?” Emmett looked bowled over. “Wow, that’s…” He looked at me as if I’d just told him I was secretly the Queen of England. “That’s really fucking amazing. That’s really cool, ‘cause I didn’t think he would ever – ” He cut himself off again. He rubbed his chin and cleared his throat. “Look, I’m supposed to stop blowing up his spot, but I just gotta say – whatever he feels for you, Sara, I think it’s pretty big. Right? It’s gotta be. It took me two years to get the full story about Liz and Lucie out of him. Lukas doesn’t even know most of it, so… thank you for being someone my brother feels like he can talk to. He’s never really chosen to have one of those.”
I bit my grin. I knew Emmett wasn’t trying to flatter me, but somehow, that simple statement had me more honored than I could ever remember feeling.
“Alright.” I heard Julian’s voice shortly after his distinct footsteps started ambling over. “I’m sure whatever you’ve said by now, the damage is sufficient,” he said to his brother. “I’ve come to collect her if you’re finished here.”
“Sure am.”
Julian looked at me with a smile. “I know you might have just reached your limit of Hoults for today, but my mother is requesting some time with you, if that’s okay.”
“That’s more than okay,” I replied.
“Shit, hold on,” Emmett said. “Actually, I have one more thing to say to Sara, okay?” he said, laughing at Julian’s are you shitting me look. “Just go, J. She’ll be right there. I promise,” he insisted.
