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“Emily?” Aubrey’s voice called from the door. She turned to her friend, a small but genuine smile gracing her lips as she rose to cross the room to her friend.
“Aubrey,” she said as she reached her friend, the two women wrapping each other in a hug.
“It’s nice to see you out of your room,” Aubrey whispered close to her ear. “I was beginning to worry.”
“I just needed some time to grieve,” she replied, swallowing down a lump. She’d cried her heart out, but it was time to put those tears aside. She needed to focus on her future.
“I understand.” Aubrey gave her another squeeze before she pulled back, looking at Emily. “You’ve been through so much.”
Emily had always admired her friend. Aubrey was one of the strongest people she knew. “I know your circumstances have always worked against you. What I’ve been through is nothing.”
“Stop that,” Aubrey held her upper arms, giving them a squeeze. “What you’ve been through would break many and here you are, standing strong.”
Emily shook her head, somehow, more tears shimmering in her eyes. “Not that strong. I’m trying. But without Jacob…”
Aubrey’s hands stilled. “He’s done a great deal for you.”
“He has,” Emily whispered. “But he hasn’t done those things for me, he did them for Ash.”
A small frown creased Aubrey’s brow. “Are you certain?”
Emily looked away, staring at the intricate pattern on the wall. “He has said as much.”
“Take this from a woman who misread the signals from a man, he doesn’t touch you like a man who doesn’t care. In fact, he touches you like you’re the most precious thing on Earth.”
“But…” She let Aubrey go and twisted her hands together. He had kissed her, held her close all those hours in the carriage.
“I told Nick all sorts of things…” Aubrey held Emily’s hands in hers. “Because I wasn’t ready for the feelings he brought out in me.”
Emily looked back at her friend. Aubrey had been involved in her own mystery when Nick had courted her. “Tell me.”
“I told him I didn’t want to marry, and I’d meant it at the time. I’d worked so hard for independence and my parents hadn’t exactly taught me much about what a healthy marriage looked like.”
Truer words had never been spoken. Aubrey’s parents had never even married. “Jacob’s mother is awful.”
Aubrey nodded. “I can see why he’s taken with you then because I don’t know a warmer, kinder person than you.”
Emily’s throat worked around a lump of emotion, but it wasn’t sadness she felt this time. Gratitude filled her words. “Thank you.”
“He might need time.” Aubrey leaned closer. “But if you really care about him, don’t give up just yet. You need him but if I’m not mistaken, he needs you too.”
Could that be true? “What would he need me for?”
Aubrey shook her head. “Don’t you know, Emily? You’re the sort of person who brings out the best in the people around her.”
Appreciation swelled in her chest. “You are the best friend.”
“No, actually, you are.” Aubrey laughed then. “And Lord Robinson would be lucky to have you.”
She hoped that was true. Hugging her arms about her middle, she crossed the room once again, looking back out the window. This time, it was less watching and more just thinking.
Should she tell Jacob how she felt? Did she just give him space to breathe?
As her thoughts swirled, a loan horseman appeared on the massive drive that led up to Aubrey and Nick’s home. She stopped, staring, her arms dropping to her side.
The rider drew closer and with a strangled cry, she realized that it was Jacob.
“What is it?” Aubrey asked, rushing to her side.
