“No, you don’t get to decide what I need. That’s how we got into this whole stupid mess to begin with.”
“Truce. Both of you, not another word,” Celia said, putting her pizza down. “Let’s just take a breath.” She turned to Nate and nudged him, her eyes pleading. “She’s trying,” she whispered.
Nate exhaled, looked at his wife, then at his sister. “Ok, we can talk about the numbers later,” he said. “Enough to live on.”
Emma smiled. “And enough to pay my tuition.”
“Tuition?” Nate asked.
Celia’s smile grew wider. “Are you going back to school?”
Emma nodded.
“That’s really, really terrific, Em,” Nate said. “I’m ok with a set allowance, but I have one condition myself.”
“That is?” Here it was.
“You talk to someone.”
She knew exactly what he meant. “I’m not going to a shrink.”
“I didn’t say shrink. Just, look, we’ll figure something out, but you’ve got to talk to a counselor at the very least. You can’t do this alone and you know it. And to be honest, Celia and I are here for you, but we’re not professionals.”
“You’ve got to deal with this now, Emma. You can’t keep pushing it down, it doesn’t work that way,” Celia added.
“I know,” Emma said, pressing on the swell of emotion that was building in her belly. “I’ll think about it.”
“Not good enough,” Nate said.
“Give her space,” Celia said, touching Nate’s arm.
“He’s not very good at that,” Emma interjected.
“He’s trying, Emma. Aren’t you, Nate?” Celia asked.
Nate grunted, then nodded.
“Ok, that’s settled. Now to the more exciting part: tell me about Luke,” Celia said, shoving a huge chunk of pizza into her mouth and reaching for another slice. “When do I meet him?”
Emma rolled her eyes and bit into a forkful of her salad.
Chapter Nine
The walk home from the pizzeria was more relaxed than the walk to it had been.
“Maybe you can come with me to my appointment next week,” Celia said. “They’re going to do another ultrasound.”
“I have to work so it’s not a bad idea. If you want, Emma,” Nate said.
“Are you kidding? I’d love…” She stopped mid-sentence, her smile rapidly turning into something else. “Oh my God.”
Celia’s gaze followed Emma’s to the lone figure sitting on the front steps of the house. “What…” Celia asked.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Nate said.
“Is that…?” Celia asked.
“In the flesh,” Nate answered. “Guess you won’t have to wait long to meet Luke Roark after all.”
“Wow,” Celia said, obviously appreciating the man.
Nate gave her a look.
“What? He’s hot. Besides, raging pregnancy hormones…” Celia said.
Emma squared her shoulders and swallowed hard. Luke was walking toward them. He looked both relieved and, at the same time, like he wanted to kill her.
“What did you do to the man?” Nate whispered, a grin playing on his lips.
“Nate,” Luke said, extending his hand. His icy gaze softened just a little when he turned his attention to Nate. “We had a bad connection when we spoke on the phone,” he said.
“So you decided to fly out to finish the conversation?” Nate asked, shaking Luke’s hand.
“I suppose I did,” Luke smiled. “It’s been a long time, Nate.”
“It has. Good to see you again, friend.”
There was a moment of silence where the men studied one another, the old warmth of their friendship still there.
“This is my wife, Celia. Celia, this is the infamous Luke Roark.”
“Infamous?” Luke extended his hand, his smile disarming.
Celia greeted him warmly. “You sure are,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you, finally. We’ve been trying to get you out here for years now.”
“I know; my apologies. I have no excuse.”
“No worries. Come on, let’s go home. You’ve likely had a long day already.”
Luke nodded and waited for Nate and Celia to lead the way. When they were out of earshot, he took Emma by the elbow and turned her to him.
Goosebumps made her feel chilly in the warm Miami afternoon and Emma turned wide eyes to Luke. “I…” she started, not sure at all what to say, what he expected.
“You left,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“Not good enough,” he said, his gaze cool. “I’ve come to collect what’s due me.”