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Linley warmed a cinnamon roll in the microwave for me as I blathered on and on about Esme. I knew I was probably telling her too much, and being too excessive, but I couldn’t stop myself.
“You sound happy,” Linley said, when I took a pause to eat.
“Do I?” I asked, my mouth full.
“Yeah, you do. I know I was a little negative when you first told me about this plan, but it looks like everything worked out in the end anyway.”
“Yeah,” I said, swallowing, but unable to swallow the lump of discomfort that I had whenever I thought about how things with Esme began with a lie. A plan. A silly plan, in hindsight, but still. I’d wanted to use her to one-up Wyatt. I felt gross whenever I thought about it, so I tried not to think about it. That worked most of the time, but every now and then, I’d remember and feel awful.
No matter what happened with Esme, she could never find out about it. I couldn’t let her know I was the kind of person who would make a plan like that. It would change everything about how she saw me.
“Don’t worry. You figured out it was a mistake. We all make mistakes, Paige.” Linley gave me a hug and then another cinnamon roll.
* * *
“Okay,I’m going to hold her and then you can bring Potato in,” Esme said the following Tuesday when she brought Stormy over to meet Potato. We also had another date night planned. In two weeks, she was cutting back her hours, so we’d be able to have more dates and she’d have more time to devote to book collecting and her blog. Summer was in full swing and all I saw were beach days and lobster dinners and sweaty nights and lazy afternoons out in front of us.
“Okay,” I said, going to get Potato as Esme brought in Stormy. She was so pretty and friendly, and I really hoped Potato wasn’t going to freak out about a huskie in his house.
I led Potato into the room where Esme was holding Stormy. Stormy perked up at the sight of me and then Potato. As soon as he saw the dog, Potato stopped in his tracks, and twitched his tail. He didn’t seem stressed, just curious.
Stormy wagged her tail and seemed to want to come over to see about the new friend.
“That’s Stormy,” I said to Potato. “She’s a new friend.”
Potato looked up at me and then skipped over to Stormy to investigate. Stormy sniffed, but didn’t attack Potato. Both Esme and I watched our respective pets take their measure of each other. There was lots of sniffing and testing and then Stormy lay on the floor and Potato started licking her ears.
“I think that’s a good sign?” I said. Stormy jumped up and got in a playful stance and then started moving from side to side. Potato did the same and then they were chasing each other through the house.
“Okay then,” Esme said with a laugh. “They’re going to sleep good tonight.”
Stormy and Potato chased each other for a little while and then curled up on Potato’s bed and fell asleep together, Stormy curled protectively around Potato.
“I can never get enough pictures of this cuteness,” Esme said as we both took a million shots.
“I was convinced they were going to hate each other,” I said. “Potato is very particular.”
“So is Stormy. She’s a complete diva most of the time, but maybe that’s why they’re matched for each other.” She looked at me and I couldn’t help but lean over and kiss her.
“I don’t know what I would have done if they hadn’t gotten along. That would have been awful,” I said. It had been a serious concern when I realized that Esme and I were getting closer and closer. That definitely would have been a bad omen.
“Now that we’ve got that all sorted out,” Esme said, breaking the kiss and pushing me toward the couch, “we can get onto the second thing I came over for.”
“Is it these?” I asked, yanking my shirt up. I wasn’t wearing a bra, mostly because it was hot and I figured I was going to take it off anyway. It paid to be efficient.
Esme smiled. “They’re definitely part of my plans.”
At the mention of “plans,” I froze. I didn’t know why that word made me think of how we’d started, but it did and then I was immediately taken out of the moment. I tried to cover, but Esme noticed immediately.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” I covered my boobs back up and shook my head.
“No, I’m fine. I just forgot about a work deadline and I need to send an email.” I had pulled this answer completely out of my ass, but it was plausible.
“Okay,” Esme said, moving back from me. “Do you need me to go?”
I grabbed her arm. “NO!” Ugh, tone down the desperation, Paige. “No, just give me a minute and I’ll be back.” I needed that time to get myself together anyway.
Esme went to pet Stormy as I pulled out my computer and pretended to type out an email and get my heart to stop pounding.
