Kitabı oku: «For You, Forever», sayfa 2
Whatever atmosphere Emily had picked up on between Harry and Amy, she’d been right in thinking there was something wrong. She was concerned for her friend and determined to get Amy alone in order to get to the bottom of it.
But for the time being, Emily chose to focus on her own happy moment; a boat trip with friends and family to the island of their dreams.
CHAPTER THREE
The sun sparkled off the surface of the water as the boat cut through the small waves. They bobbed up and down, and Emily held onto her stomach protectively. Luckily, she didn’t feel seasick.
“I don’t think we’ve ever had this many people in the boat before,” Chantelle remarked. “Four adults, one child, two dogs. And a baby in Mom’s tummy, of course.”
Emily laughed. “It’s quite the adventure,” she agreed.
Amy was quiet as they went, her arms crossed about her middle, her face turned out to the ocean. She wore an expression of deep contemplation. She was clearly lost in her thoughts, and Emily wondered again what they were. Being out on the ocean, Emily herself had discovered, invited quiet reflection at the best of times, and could easily lead the mind toward an existential crisis. She watched her friend anxiously.
Harry, on the other hand, either had nothing on his mind or was very good at hiding it. He was chatting openly with Daniel and Chantelle about the types of fish that could be caught in the ocean, about their plans for the island and boating in general.
“Now that we have a destination to boat to this will happen much more often,” Daniel was saying. “We’ll be ferrying people over here all the time, for parties and picnics.”
“Sounds awesome,” Harry said in his usual cheery manner.
Chantelle was looking up at her father with rapt attention. “Can we have Thanksgiving here?” she asked, wide-eyed.
“I doubt it,” Daniel replied. “It will take a long time to get the well installed, figure out the plumbing and the solar generators for power. It’s much more work than a few months, and the winter weather that’s coming soon won’t help. Sorry, kiddo, there’s just too much to do between now and Thanksgiving for it to be a possibility.”
Chantelle pouted, looking downcast.
“But we can definitely visit the island as much as the weather allows us,” Emily told her. “And since we won’t be sailing around in circles anymore, but have a place to head to, I think we’ll be able to come out more often than we used to.”
Chantelle pondered her words for a moment, then returned her expression back to happy.
Emily smiled at Daniel. He seemed relieved that she’d handled the situation so well and Emily felt a surge of pride. Her maternal instincts seemed to be sharpening as her due date grew closer.
After a while, they reached the island and the ancient jetty that was barely still standing. The faded sign that proclaimed the island was for sale was still there.
“You can start by kicking that down!” Emily told Chantelle.
Chantelle didn’t need telling twice. She leapt off the boat, ran at the sign, and yanked it out of the ground.
As he tethered the boat, Daniel gestured to a stack of old, rotting fishing crates. “Put it here. We can have a bonfire.”
The idea of a bonfire seemed to thrill Chantelle. She jumped up and down with excitement.
Emily stepped carefully from the boat onto terra firma, trying to absorb the strange reality that she now owned this island, that it was hers. Unlike the inn, which she’d inherited, and Trevor’s, which had come into her possession through his will, this was the first thing she’d truly ever bought, she and Daniel together. It was theirs, and the overwhelming relevance of that struck her even more deeply now that she was standing on its shoreline.
Behind her, Amy and Harry stepped off the boat. They were both wearing bemused expressions as they glanced about them at the scraggly, overgrown island, the strewn debris from years past. Amy in particular must have thought Emily had gone crazy buying this deserted plot of land, surrounded by ocean, filled with squirrels and birds. If she thought Sunset Harbor was uncivilized, what on earth must she think about the island?
“I know it’s not much to look at, at the moment,” Emily confessed. “But there’s so much potential.”
“Of course,” Amy said, looking perturbed as she stepped lightly along the uneven ground. Her high-fashion clothes looked more out of place here than usual.
“Do you guys want the tour?” Emily asked.
Harry nodded enthusiastically, but Amy made only a lackluster noise of confirmation.
“I’ll show you!” Chantelle cried.
She led the way, heading into the trees with Harry and Amy in tow. Their footsteps and noisy voices disrupted the black squirrels that inhabited the island, making them scurry up the trees.
As Emily trekked after them, slower because of her pregnant waddle, she could hear Chantelle excitedly making announcements.
“We’re going to have a tree house here,” Chantelle told them. “It will be a pirate ship for me and Charlotte to play in. And that will be where the magical fairy castle ballroom will be.”
Daniel, having finished securing the boat, came up beside Emily and helped her through the thickets. They drew up beside the others, Emily panting slightly from the effort and exhilaration she felt from being here.
Amy raised her eyebrows as they approached, surprised and interested.
“Are you doing all the work yourself?” she asked Daniel. “It sounds like there’s a lot to do. Too much for one man, especially a soon-to-be father.”
Emily smiled to herself; her friend always had her best interests at heart and knew how difficult Emily found it whenever Daniel was away from home.
“No!” Daniel exclaimed with a chuckle. “We have great contractors for it. Two kids, straight out of college. They’re desperate to add to their portfolio so we’re expecting really great things from them.”
“And other than pirate ships and magic castles,” Harry said, “where will the actual inn parts be?”
“Well, there will be a three-room cabin which we want to start as a sort of writer’s retreat. Tracy is also going to do some yoga workshops on the island, like day-long well-being retreats.”
“It sounds fantastic,” Harry said. “How much do you think you’ll get done over the winter?”
“Depends on the weather,” Daniel said. “It’s a shame it took so long to get the sale through, really. This Indian summer could have given us a head start, but I’m sure it will be over by the time we’ve organized all the machinery and materials.”
Thinking ahead made Emily worry. No longer was the island a fantasy or a dream. It was real. Now everything had to be practical. There was so much to organize and pay for, so many components that had to be in place. They’d barely finished the renovations at Trevor’s. It felt a bit like they’d jumped from the frying pan and into the fire!
But still, Emily was thrilled. She couldn’t quite believe she and Daniel had had the guts to buy the island. Not only had they been brave enough to make a child together, they’d been brave enough to follow their dreams, no matter how crazy they may seem. Emily smiled to herself, knowing that above all else, they were a team, and that together they were indestructible.
“Now, let’s go start a fire,” Daniel said, rubbing his hands eagerly. “Chantelle, can you collect all the pieces of wood on the beach?”
She nodded and hurried off, always in need of a task, always wanting to do her part to help. Then Daniel pulled a package of marshmallows from his jacket pocket. Emily laughed with delight, knowing how happy Chantelle would be when she got back from her trip to the beach to discover Daniel’s plan to toast marshmallows around the bonfire.
“You should have brought your guitar!” Emily said.
But Daniel just smiled and kissed her tenderly. “There will be so many more opportunities for songs around the bonfire,” he said, his eyes going dreamy. “You, me, and the girls.”
Emily gazed at him, awed by the man he was, the gorgeousness of him, and so excited for their future together, for all the adventures that lay ahead.
*
Mouths sticky with melted marshmallow, bellies and cheeks aching from laughter, the small party headed back to the boat. Daniel had called it, saying that the light would soon fade. And besides, there was no plumbing on the island yet and Baby Charlotte had a tendency to kick Emily’s bladder on a regular basis, so she’d be relieved to be heading back within the vicinity of a restroom.
When they reached the main lane, Daniel found their spot in the harbor. There were very few vessels in the water now, though many more than usual at this time of year. Everyone was making the most of the warm weather, eking out as many trips on the water as they could before winter came along and robbed them of that pleasure.
“Thanks for that impromptu trip to your island,” Amy said, hugging Emily farewell. “I don’t think I’ll ever get over how crazy that is.”
Emily smiled at her, tucking loose strands of her hair from her eyes. “When can we hang out just the two of us?” she asked.
Though Amy was often around, they were always surrounded by people. Emily couldn’t actually recall the last time the two of them had gotten together for a good chat, and she could tell that Amy needed someone to talk to right now.
“Chantelle’s back at school tomorrow,” Emily added, “so we’ll be able to find some privacy more easily. How about coffee at Joe’s once we’ve dropped her off?”
Amy nodded and Emily noticed the look of relief in her eyes to know she’d finally be able to offload whatever was on her mind.
They parted ways with Amy and Harry, everyone hugging and waving goodbye, then strolled slowly back to the inn, exhausted from the long day. Even the dogs were dragging their paws.
“I’m tired,” Chantelle said through her yawn as they idled up the driveway.
Ahead of them sat the inn, silhouetted against a deepening blue sky. Its windows beamed out yellow light, looking like twinkling stars from this distance. Emily smiled, content. Seeing the inn always gave her a sense of peace, and made her feel like she was home.
“Let’s have some dinner first and then you can head up to your room,” Emily said. “It’s your first day back at school tomorrow so you need a good night’s sleep.”
Chantelle looked a little sad. “The summer’s over already?”
Emily nodded. “I’m afraid so, sweetie. But don’t worry, you love school! You’ll see Bailey and Toby every single day again. And Gail.”
“Will Miss Glass still be my teacher?” Chantelle asked.
Emily shook her head. “You’ll be in a new class with a new teacher. Does that worry you?”
Chantelle paused, her expression showing that she was thinking about it. “No,” she said, eventually. “I’ll still see Miss Glass on the playground sometimes.”
Emily smiled, then caught Daniel’s eye. He was smiling too.
They went inside the inn, the foyer bright, warm, and welcoming. Bryony was in the side lounge on her favorite couch, surrounded by half-drunk coffee mugs as usual. She leapt up when she saw them, her metal bracelets jangling as she did, and hurried over. Her perfume smelled of spices.
“Guys, I can’t believe it!” she gushed. “An island!” She hugged Emily. “Do you know how few islands there are in the hospitality world? This is going to be a gold mine!”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Emily replied. “Or else it might have been a very expensive mistake.”
Daniel and Chantelle went into the kitchen to make food. Emily decided to head up to the nursery while they were cooking. She wanted to look through another one of Charlotte’s boxes to see whether there were any toys she could pass on to the baby.
She went inside the nursery and sat on the floor beside one of the many boxes that contained her sister’s old toys and clothes, which had been brought down from where they’d been carefully stored in the attic.
This task was always tinged with melancholy. Though Emily felt that Charlotte’s spirit was with her in this house, smiling down on her and the family she’d built, it always felt a little bit like she disappeared more with each day that passed. Time was supposed to make pain lessen but for Emily she felt that the more days that went by without her sister the more she missed her, because the last time they spoke was that little bit further in the past.
She opened up the cardboard box, a smell of dust wafting out with it. Like most of the boxes, this one was filled with cuddly toys. It surprised Emily to see that Charlotte had owned so many stuffed toys. She hardly had any memories of her sister playing with bears or dolls. They spent most of their time imagining worlds and acting out plays. Other than their twin rag dolls and Charlotte’s favorite bear, Andy Pandy, Emily couldn’t recall them ever playing with such toys at all.
But as she reached in and pulled out a faded pink toy, Emily felt a sudden surge of a memory. She turned the toy over in her hands and saw it was a unicorn, its once shimmery sequined horn now dull.
“Sparkles,” she muttered aloud, the name of the toy appearing on her tongue before her mind had even kicked into gear.
Then suddenly she felt a familiar swirling sensation, one she had not felt for a very long time. She was slipping back into the past, into her old memories.
The flashbacks had begun once she’d first returned to the inn. They’d been terrifying at first, frightening memories such as the night Charlotte had died, and the raging arguments between her parents. But then as time had passed, as she processed those repressed memories, Emily had started to experience some of the more pleasant ones. Times when she and Charlotte had played together; had been carefree. This memory filled Emily with a sense of calmness, and she knew it was going to be a nice one.
She and Charlotte were in the attic, in one of the rooms her father had filled with antique items. On the floor beside them was a bronze globe, and Charlotte was spinning it idly with a finger. Sitting next to Charlotte was Sparkles, the beautiful unicorn toy. Brand new, fluffy pink, with a sequined horn.
“Sparkles is sad,” Charlotte told Emily.
“Why?” Emily asked, curiously, hearing a child’s voice coming from her throat.
“Because she’s the last unicorn,” Charlotte explained. “She doesn’t have any other unicorn friends.”
“That’s sad,” Emily replied. “Maybe you should take her on an adventure to cheer her up?”
Charlotte seemed to perk up at the suggestion. “Where do you want to go, Sparkles?” she asked her toy. Then she spun the golden globe and stopped it with a pointed finger. It was a small island to the east of the continent of America. “Sparkles wants to go to an island,” Charlotte informed Emily.
Emily nodded. “In that case, we’d better get in the boat.”
They pulled out old chairs and coffee tables, disturbing the dust and stirring the smell of mildew, then configured them in such a way that satisfied their imaginations that they’d constructed a boat. Then they used a threadbare curtain as a sail and clambered into their boat with Sparkles.
Emily could almost feel the wind in her hair as they sailed across the ocean to a distant shore. Charlotte used a kaleidoscope as a telescope, scanning the room as if searching.
“Land ahoy!” she suddenly cried.
Emily threw the anchor – which was in fact a wooden coat hanger tied to a curtain cord. Then they leaped from the boat and swam to shore.
Panting from exertion, the two girls began exploring the island, poking through the piles of antiques, pretending it was a volcano.
“Look in here,” Charlotte cried to Emily. “Down in the volcano!”
Emily peered behind the hat stand that Charlotte was pointing at. “I don’t believe it!” she exclaimed, playing along.
Charlotte’s eyes were wide. “It’s the rest of the unicorns,” she said. Then she spoke hurriedly to Sparkles. Her face dropped. “Sparkles wants to go down the volcano to be with them,” she said to Emily.
“Oh,” Emily said, a little sad. “Even though that means leaving us?”
Charlotte looked at her dear unicorn friend and nodded. “She says this is her home island. She misses it a lot, and all her friends. She wants to live here. But we’re allowed to come and visit.”
“That’s okay then,” Emily said.
They tied their cardigan sleeves together to make a sling for Sparkles. Then they lowered the unicorn down the back of the furniture and left her there.
“Are you sad to say goodbye?” Emily asked Charlotte as they climbed back into their makeshift boat.
Charlotte shook her head. “No. Because I know I’ll see her again.”
Emily suddenly snapped back into the present day. She was holding Sparkles tightly against her chest, and the toy’s head was wet with her tears. On one hand she felt desperately sad, because she knew Charlotte had never had the chance to see Sparkles again. But the other part of her felt buoyant with joy. The toy was a sign from Charlotte, Emily was certain. Sparkles had been left on that island, down the back of the furniture, completely forgotten about until this moment, perhaps even specifically for this moment.
She hugged Sparkles tightly, then placed her, poignantly, on the shelf overlooking Baby Charlotte’s crib. She felt the circle of life continuing, and smiled knowing that once Charlotte arrived she would have a guardian angel watching over her as she slept.
*
Emily snuggled up into bed beside Daniel. It had been a long and tiring day, and she found herself quickly drifting off to sleep.
“I can’t believe we own an island,” she murmured into the darkness as she began to fall asleep. “My future is looking nothing like I thought it would once.”
Daniel let out a sleepy laugh. “How so?”
“Well, I never thought I’d be married and pregnant. I never thought I’d have Chantelle, or this inn.” She stroked Daniel’s chest as it rose and fell slowly.
“I never thought I’d have Chantelle or the inn either,” he replied.
“But you’re happy you do?”
“Of course.”
“Are you happy we’re having another girl?”
He kissed her forehead. “I’m very happy,” he assured her.
“And that our daughter is going back to school tomorrow where she’s doing fabulously?”
Daniel laughed again. “Yes. I am glad that Chantelle is doing well at school.”
Emily smiled, contented. Sleep seemed ready to take her.
“I’m only sad about one thing,” she said.
“What’s that?”
“That my dad won’t be around to enjoy it all with us.”
Daniel fell quiet then. She felt his arms tighten around her.
“I know,” he said. “I’m sad about that too. But let’s just make the most of the time we have with him now. Let’s make sure every day is as good as it can be. Let’s make each day count.”
Emily nodded with affirmation. “I think we made today count,” she said, yawning. “We bought an island, after all. It’s not every day that happens.”
She felt Daniel’s chest shudder with his laugher. She squeezed herself even more tightly against him, overjoyed and welling with love. Wrapped in one another’s arms, their heartbeats synchronized. They fell asleep in unison, in perfect harmony, two people united by love.
CHAPTER FOUR
Emily took a final sip of her decaf coffee and put the mug down on the kitchen table. She’d slept deeply but had awoken feeling groggy – partly because of the alarm clock being set a whole hour earlier than she’d gotten accustomed to over the summer – and she really could have benefited from some actual caffeine. It was probably the thing she was most looking forward to once Baby Charlotte arrived, the thing she missed the most and yearned for the most. She watched Daniel enviously as he drank his across the table from her.
“Right, darling,” Emily said at last, looking at Chantelle. “It’s time to head to school.”
Chantelle was sitting with her head bowed over a pile of clock pieces, her tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth in concentration. Her empty bowl of cereal was beside her, discarded haphazardly so she could pursue her task.
“Can’t I have five more minutes?” she asked, so absorbed in her task she didn’t even look up. “I just need to work out where to put this cog.”
Since their return from England, Chantelle had been determined to make a clock like Papa Roy. Emily thought it was very sweet that Chantelle was so inspired by her grandfather, but it also broke her heart at the same time. She and Daniel had not yet told Chantelle the news of Papa Roy’s illness; the girl would be utterly crushed when she lost him. They all would.
Daniel took command then. “Nope, sorry, sweetie. You need to get in on time to meet your new teacher and new classmates.”
Chantelle put her screwdriver down with a reluctant sigh. “Fine.”
Emily wished she could convince Chantelle to do her mucky, oily work somewhere more appropriate – the garage, or shed, or just about anywhere that wasn’t the kitchen table, really. But Chantelle wouldn’t hear of it. Papa Roy did his clock fixing at the breakfast table so Chantelle had to as well!
They all headed out to the truck together, Daniel taking the driving seat since Emily was finding it too uncomfortable to fit her growing belly behind the steering wheel. Chantelle hopped in the back into her car seat.
“I can’t wait until Baby Charlotte comes on the ride with us to school,” she said, glancing across at the baby seat they’d recently installed (at Amy’s instance, of course, because you never know when the baby might decide to come and the last thing you’d want to be doing is fiddling with a complicated seat while in the painful grips of contractions).
“Me too,” Emily said, resting her hands against her tight belly. It seemed to be becoming more uncomfortable with each day that passed.
“First she’ll just be coming along for the ride, but it won’t be long before she’ll be walking through those doors with you,” Daniel said with a chuckle. “She’ll be in kindergarten before we even know it.”
Emily felt wistful at the thought. She knew what Daniel meant, that time went by quickly, that they should appreciate every moment because it would disappear from them like sand sifting through a timer. But the future Daniel was alluding to was also one in which her father had long passed. He would not be there when Charlotte started kindergarten. He’d never see the numerous photos that Emily would take of the two girls heading into school together, hand in hand. That future, though she couldn’t wait to be living it on the one hand, would also be fraught with grief on the other. She’d be a different person, changed irreparably by losing Roy.
They drove along the familiar Sunset Harbor roads and turned into the parking lot at the school. It was already very busy with parents eager to deposit their children after the long summer break.
“It’s Bailey!” Chantelle cried, pointing to where her best friend played on the grass. Bailey’s normally unruly auburn hair had been styled into two long plaits. Emily had never seen her look quite so presentable. “But who is she with?” Chantelle added.
Bailey was playing with an unfamiliar child, a very skinny, pale girl with long, straight blonde hair.
“I don’t know,” Emily said. “I’ve never seen her before.”
Daniel parked and they got out of the pickup truck. Emily noticed Yvonne leaning against her four-by-four, chatting with Holly, another one of the moms they were well acquainted with.
“Why don’t you go and say hi,” Daniel told her. “I can supervise Chantelle and do the teacher handover.”
Emily deliberated. She wanted to meet the new teacher but she felt a yearning to reconnect with the friends whose company she’d missed over the summer.
“I’ll be super quick,” she told him, one hand clicking the passenger door catch and pushing it open.
Daniel chuckled and headed off in the direction of the steps where all the teachers were congregated supervising the morning play session.
Emily went up to Yvonne and gave her friend a big hug. Then she hugged Holly as well.
“How was your summer?” Emily asked.
Holly blushed then. Yvonne seemed to be holding back a smirk.
“It was great,” Holly told Emily. “Logan and I took the kids to Vancouver to visit family.”
“And…” Yvonne prompted.
Emily frowned, looking from one woman to the other.
“And…” Holly said, her blush deepening. “We’re pregnant.”
Emily’s eyes pinged open. “You’re kidding!” she exclaimed.
Holly shook her head. She looked shy, but thrilled.
“I’m so happy for you,” Emily cried, hugging her again. “Our babies will be able to have playdates.”
“With Robin,” Holly added, referring to Suzanna’s new son who was just two months old.
“They can be a little gang,” Emily added with a laugh.
Yvonne pouted then. “Ugh, I’m jealous. I wish I was having another.”
“Was it planned?” Emily asked Holly. “You’re blushing like it wasn’t!”
“No,” Holly told her. “It was a surprise. A welcome one, but Minnie’s not even one yet so we didn’t think anything was possible! But in Vancouver the kids were doted on by relatives and we were able to get rest and go on dates and, well, one thing led to another.”
Everyone laughed. Emily felt happy to be back in the company of some of her other school parent friends. Though Yvonne was very much one of her best friends, and Suzanna to a lesser extent, the wider circle of parent friends was very much context dependent. She realized then that she’d missed their company, she’d missed having people to share the trials and tribulations of parenthood with.
“Look at my little Bailey,” Yvonne said then, glancing over at the playground. “She’s taken the new girl under her wing.”
Emily looked over and saw the two of them zipping around the playground. Chantelle, she noticed, was not playing with them. Instead, she was with the boys, Toby, Levi, and Ryan, engaging in a much more rough and tumble kind of game. She wondered why they weren’t all playing together.
Under her breath, Yvonne whispered, “I hope she doesn’t invite her over for playdates though. I met the mom this morning. She’s as sour-faced as her daughter. And the kid’s name is Laverne.”
Emily couldn’t help but giggle. It felt so good to be back with her parent friends, back at the school gates. Last time she’d done this it had all been new and strange. Chantelle had appeared out of nowhere and knocked Emily’s life for six. But she wouldn’t change a thing now. Becoming a mom had been the best experience of her life, and she loved the feeling, the opportunities it had given her, and the people she’d met because of it.
She looked over and saw Suzanna approaching, baby Robin strapped to her chest, his little feet bobbing along with each step she took. That would be Emily soon, she realized, her heart swelling at the thought – both from excitement but also anxiety. Charlotte was going to change everything again, just like Chantelle had. And Roy would not be there to support her through it all. But as she looked from Suzanna to Yvonne to Holly, she knew that she had the best people in the world beside her, watching her back. She could do it. She could do anything with her friends supporting her.
She realized then that she’d gotten so absorbed in catching up with all her friends that she’d lost track of the time.
“I’d better go and meet the new teacher,” she told them, turning to head toward the steps.
But at the same moment she did so, she noticed Daniel approaching. He was looking at his watch with an expression of alarm.
“Daniel!” Yvonne cried enthusiastically.
“Hello, everyone,” he said, sidling up to the group of moms. “I’m afraid I can’t stop to chat, I have to get to work.” He turned to Emily. “Am I still dropping you at Joe’s?”
“Can I introduce myself to the teacher first?” Emily asked.
Daniel looked tensely at his watch. “Um… well…” he said, sounding a bit flustered.
Emily could sense he was clearly eager to make a good impression in his new elevated position at work. She decided to drop it and not cause a fuss.
“Don’t worry,” she told him, relenting. “I can meet the new teacher at pickup.”
She said goodbye to each of her friends, sad to be torn from their wonderful company, and headed toward the pickup truck with Daniel.
“We’ll catch up soon,” she called over her shoulder, waving as they climbed back inside.
Slamming the car door, Emily turned to Daniel. “Remind me not to do coffee dates with Amy on school days. At least not until I’m back in the driving seat of my own car!”
She missed the freedom she’d had before her pregnancy. Missing out on meeting the teacher made her feel terrible. She hoped she hadn’t made a bad impression because of it. She didn’t want to look like an uninterested parent, distracted and self-centered.
Daniel drove out the lot, heading toward town.
“So how was the teacher?” Emily asked him.
“Miss Butler,” Daniel informed her. He shrugged, as though he hadn’t been paying much attention. “She seemed a bit more stern compared to Miss Glass. A little older, a little less soft around the edges.”
“I wonder how Chantelle will take to her,” Emily mused. The little girl struggled at times with authority figures. The soft approach worked well with her, but the main thing for Chantelle really was boundaries. As long as she knew what was expected of her she could excel. She just hoped this new, sterner teacher had the patience needed to reach that point.
“Gail was there as well,” Daniel said. “She’s going to be Chantelle’s counselor again this year.”
“That’s a relief,” Emily replied, thinking again of her father. Chantelle would need Gail’s help more this year than ever. Not only because of the consistency Gail gave her, but because of the life experiences she’d need to be guided through this year.
“So what are you and Amy chatting about today?” Daniel asked.
His question jolted Emily out of her anguished reverie. “I’m not sure, but I think Harry. Did you notice anything odd between them on the island?”
“Not at all,” Daniel said, bemused.
It didn’t really surprise Emily that Daniel wouldn’t have picked up on the nuances of Amy’s behavior. Amy was her best friend after all; she knew her inside and out and could read the smallest signs in her expression.
“They’d better not be breaking up,” Daniel said sternly as he turned into a side road. “We’re about to open the restaurant. I don’t want Harry over-salting the soup with his tears!”
