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“How long were they together?” she asks, resuming rummaging through that drawer.
Emma: Nope.
“Almost six years,” I murmur, and she lets out a shocked sound as her jaw drops.
“That’s like twice as long as my time with Dillon, and just those three years felt like a lifetime. Clay, she’s got baggage.”
Me: Then let’s go bungee jumping.
“Maybe, but from what I’ve seen and what she’s said, she seems okay. It doesn’t matter, it’s only been a few weeks. We don’t talk every day. Like I said, friends.”
Emma: Tell me when and I’m there. :)
I stare down at her text and then realize I forgot to say, “Let’s gowithbungee jumping.” An unexpected warmth trickles from my chest down into my arms. I don’t know if this reaction is because I found someone else who loves to be adventurous like me or if it’s because she wants to spend time with me. Either way, I’m going to let that comment sink in for a while.
“What do you talk about?” she asks.
“Jules, what is this?” I put my phone back in my pocket and pick up the hand drill. Bryce’s bed is one of those that converted to a headboard and footboard from his crib, so it should be pretty easy to take apart.
“I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I don’t plan on getting hurt by her again, and we talk about dumb stuff. About our day, she asks me ‘would you rather’ questions, music things.”
“Would you rather? Clay, she’s really trying to get to know you.”
“Is it so bad that someone wants to get to know me?”
She holds up her hands in surrender. “That’s not what I’m saying at all.” She lets out a deep breath. “I just want the best for you, and I’m not so sure it’s her.”
I understand what she’s saying, I really do, because I wonder this too, daily. This is the part where I choose to not tell her about the things Emma has sent me. This game . . . I know it’s because she wants me to know her too. Like when I told her my favorite food was pizza, she had her favorite pizza place in the city ship me their signature pie. It was delicious, and that day I did feel closer to her. She also sent me a large box of Skittles because I said I love them, and she sent one of her favorite books that she said I had to read,The Alchemist.
“Uncle Clay, can we keep Bruce at your house?” Bryce asks as he walks over to me and holds up the stuffed shark fromFinding Nemo.
“Sure, buddy.” I put the drill down, take the shark to go put him in my truck, and look back at Juliet. “Listen, I want the best for me too. I don’t know what that is. Maybe it’s something, maybe it’ll be nothing. But I can’t live like I did last year, especially when it comes to her. You know I’ve worked really hard on myself to get to this place I’m at now. The thing with Emma . . . at the end of the day, she’s not going anywhere. Avery, Emma, and Cora are a permanent part of our lives now, and I’m trying to figure out what that looks like for me. I just need you to trust me to sort that out, okay?”
She tilts her head a little as she thinks about what I’ve said, and I run my hand through Bryce’s hair. There’s pity and understanding on her face, or maybe it’s just unconditional love. As her eyes stay locked onto mine, a small smile makes itself known as her face relaxes, and she says, “Okay.”
21
EMMA
“Why do you keep checking your phone?” Cora asks, scowling at me while rubbing her gloved hands together.
She’s grumpy as I’ve dragged her out for a walk through Central Park to get to a workout class I signed us up for. She was shocked when I told her I wanted to do this as exercise isn’t something I do a lot of, but then she quickly laughed and said she wanted to be here to record this momentous moment for blackmail later. Thing is, I didn’t tell her the class I wanted to attend was at eight in the morning.
“I’m not checking my phone,” I tell her, slightly defensively, because I am actually but I don’t really want her to notice.
Last week was Valentine’s Day, and it’s been six and a half weeks since I’ve seen Clay. It’s not that I couldn’t have hopped on a plane to go visit him, I just had no reason to, and he hasn’t exactly asked when he’ll see me again.
“Yes, you are. And you know how I know? Because before your stay with Clay, you lost your phone all the time. I swear they invented that phone locator ding from your watch just for you. Now though, it’s glued to your hands twenty-four seven.”
“That’s not true.”
“Emma,” she chastises, puffing a cloud of steam into the air while shooting me anAre you kidding me?look.
Today, the winter weather is beautiful. The sky is clear and blue, there’s a dusting of snow on the ground, and although the trees are all bare, the icicles hanging off them are all sparkly and pretty.
“Ugh, fine. Yes, I’m hoping he’ll text me. I’m pretty sure we’ve passed step one and are on to step two, but it’s kind of hard because I don’t want to be too obvious or too nosy. Other than what he freely volunteers, I have no idea what he’s doing or what he has planned.”
