Only in Dreams(40)
“Over here,” I yell from behind a pile of boxes. “Babe? I’ve gotta go. Dinner time.”
“Okay, are we good?” Henry asks, uneasy that the conversation is coming to such an abrupt end.
“Yeah, I’m sorry I flipped out on you,” I reply.
“Are you sure we’re fine?”
“Yes, I promise.”
“Okay, then go eat. I should probably do the same.”
“I love you,” I say softly.
“I love you, too, and goodnight.”
As I hang up the phone, I look to see Emmie standing directly in front of me. From the expression on her face, I can see she already knows more than I wish she did.
“He told you?”
“Huh?” She tries to play ignorant, placing the plate of foil-covered food on the table next to us.
“Please, you’re a terrible liar, so don’t even try,” I warn.
“I might have overheard Colin and Christian talking while I was cooking dinner.”
“How much do you know?” I question.
“He told you he’s still in love with you?” she inquires.
“Pretty much.”
“What are you going to do?” I have no idea how to answer that question.
“What am I supposed to do with that? I told him I’m in love with Henry now. Then I got the hell out of there.”
“What did Henry say?”
“I told him I want to come home, but he … he wants me to stay.”
“Did you tell him what Christian said?”
“No!” I exclaim. “Do you think I’m crazy? That will only make him think something has been going on, when it hasn’t. And besides, he’s been weird enough lately.”
“What do you mean?” she asks.
“I don’t know. He seems distracted. Every time we talk he has to go because he’s about to take a nap or something else. It just always seems like it’s something,” I explain.
“What do you think’s going on?”
“I have no clue. Maybe it’s work or his grandmother. I know she can be a nightmare, and I’m sure it’s worse with the wedding getting so close and me out of town.”
“So are you flying home?” she inquires, moving closer.
“Not yet. I promised Henry I’d at least give this another week.”
“What about what Christian said?”
“What about it?” I ask, narrowing my brows in puzzlement.
“Have you thought about giving him another chance?” I can’t believe she just asked me that question.
“When you were engaged to Colin did you ever consider giving one of your exes another chance?” I ask, not masking my disgust.
“First of all, I’ve only been with one other man besides Colin, and he killed himself so that really wasn’t an option,” she reminds me. Damn it! She always has the my-ex-committed-suicide card, which makes most of my comparisons completely irrelevant.
“You get what I mean. I’m committed to Henry. I don’t even know how you could ask me that.” Emmie looks away quickly, and I can tell she’s hiding something. “What?”
“Huh?” she mutters innocently.
“No, I know you! Spill it.”
“I might have heard Christian tell Colin that he’s not ready to give up on you.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I ask, irritated.
“I think he’s going to ask you out on a date.”
“What? Well, that’s too bad. I’m not going,” I say firmly.
I pull the foil off the plate she brought me. Mashed potatoes, chicken breast, and green beans are placed neatly in even portions. The smell hits me, and I can’t help but moan in delight. I skip the fork and dip a finger into the mashed potatoes.
“Umm …” Emmie begins, then stops herself.
I look at her, then demand, “What?”
Emmie shakes her head, and continues. “I don’t think he’s going to take no for an answer.”
“He’s just going to have to. Thanks for dinner, but I better get back to work.” I’d had enough fun talking about Christian and his sociopathic behavior. Henry’s right. I simply need to put my head down and get through the next few weeks. The only way Christian is going to distract me anymore is if I let him.
WAKING UP AT six o’clock in order to avoid breakfast with the Bennett boys is starting to take a toll on my sanity. On one hand, I’ve been more productive in recent days than probably ever before, but on the other, I’m getting quite cranky. This morning when Henry called, I actually hung up on him.
This isn’t normal behavior for us. All morning I hope he will call back, so that I can apologize. Why on Earth I feel like he is the one who needs to call me, I don’t know. Perhaps it’s just another instance of me not thinking rationally when I receive improper amounts of sleep.