“Did I start this story with ‘let me tell you some great stuff about me’? No, I did not.” She sighed. “Look, it happened and she had me arrested. So I’m going to need you to be on my side.”
He needed caffeine for this. “You said the charges were dropped.”
“Yes, because they couldn’t prove it was me. And that’s not my point.”
Right. Alison liked her grudges. She liked to hug them, hold them close. This of course was why she had only him and his dad. People didn’t understand how big a heart she really had, and how easily she could be hurt. “Okay, well, since you’re already mad, you should probably know that Emma’s renting 2A.”
“Oh, I figured that one out for myself, no thanks to you.”
“Look,” Simon said. “It doesn’t matter what happened all those years ago. You need a tenant for that building and Emma wants to lease it. And you’re trying to be more open to people, right?”
“Maybe.”
“Definitely. So start with Emma. Just a suggestion.”
Alison told him where he could put his suggestions and disconnected.
Simon shook his head, rolled out of bed, fed his dad, let Jodie in, reminded his dad to keep his pants on until he got home, and then left. It was a PT day, which made it a good day. He got to the clinic early enough to get his own workout in first. He saw two patients in a row, then had a thirty-minute break before his third patient—Emma. So he was surprised to find her in the front reception area, sitting in a corner with a laptop and a mug of steaming tea.
Something in his chest warmed at just the sight of her. And that wasn’t his only reaction. He felt himself smile, like really smile.
You got it bad.
“Hey,” he said. “You’re early. On purpose. In the morning. Everything okay?”
She jerked and pulled out her earbuds. At her quick movement, Hog scrambled behind Emma, hiding.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you guys.”
“No, it’s okay.” Emma reached behind her to put a hand on Hog. “I was about to throw this thing out the window anyway,” she said of her laptop.
Simon ruffled the dog’s big head. “Sorry, buddy.”
Hog licked Simon’s hand. He was forgiven.
“I’m stealing your internet,” Emma said. “I still haven’t gotten signed up at the apartment.”
“Feel free to use mine. The network’s Malicious Virus, and the password is cookies, no caps.” When Emma laughed, he smiled. “It’s the only password my dad can remember. What are you working on?”
“Getting a business loan. Oh, and I met your cousin Ali.”
“She let you call her Ali?”
“No. But I did it anyway.”
He laughed. “Because . . . ?”
“Because when I knew her, I knew her as Ali. And also because it irritated her.”
He laughed again and sat next to her. “Bet that was fun.”
“It had its moments. So . . . you’re Ali’s boss?”
“Temporarily.”
“Small world. Did she tell you that we were mortal enemies in high school?”
“I didn’t know you two had a past when I suggested you call her,” he said. “But yeah, she told me the story.”
“Okay, that’s good news. Maybe you can fill me in on why she hates me so much.”
This gave him pause. “You don’t know?”
“I know she accused me of putting out to get good grades. I know she scratched ‘bitch’ into the car I drove to school.”
He knew this wasn’t his fight. It was, however, his circus, his monkey. “She has some issues.”
She snorted at the understatement.
“Look, I’ll just say that she had had it rough. Nothing in life has ever come easy for her. Making friends is a challenge, and I imagine it must’ve irked her that the friendliest girl in school, and one of the most popular, didn’t like her.”
Emma was brows up. “She told you all that?”
“I filled in the blanks.”
“It’s not that I didn’t like her. We just didn’t hang out in the same circles. The only reason we knew each other at all was because I replaced her at the internship at the women’s center. We overlapped for maybe a day? She never said a word to me. Then she was gone and suddenly people were gossiping about me. It turned out that she’d spread a bunch of hurtful rumors, which never made any sense.”
Damn, Alison. “I’m not going to even attempt to give excuses for her, but I can tell you that she’s a different person now. She’s still got a pretty tough exterior, but if you’re lucky enough to get to know who she is on the inside, she’s good to have by your side. She’s fiercely loyal and would lay down her life for you.”
Emma shook her head. “I’m going to have to take your word on that.” She drew a deep breath. “Look, I’m willing to leave the past in the past. I’m much more worried about the now. I’ve got an interview at North Bank later. I want to get this one right. I had no idea how hard it would be to get a business loan. Turns out being in a coma isn’t an excuse for not working for an entire year, and I’ve been turned down twice already. I think this might be my last shot.”
He hated that for her. “I’m sorry, Emma.”
“Me too. I was excited. For a minute I actually thought I’d finally found my thing. My new place in the world.”
“Have you tried options other than traditional banking? There are lots of other options.”
“I hope you’re right,” she said.
“Just don’t give up.”
“I won’t.”
“Should I make you pinkie promise?”
Smiling, Emma stuck out her pinkie. When they touched, an electrical current went through them both.
“Still there then,” she murmured.
Yeah. It was still there, big-time. And the other night they’d gotten way too close to the fire. So Simon gestured to the gym. “You ready?”
“Sure. What’s a little more torture in a day anyway.”
AFTER THE PT session was over, Simon watched Emma head to the locker room and then he walked out to the juice bar, where he found Kelly brooding over her books. “Everything good?”
“Better than,” she said. “Business is up.”
“So why don’t you look thrilled?”
She moved over to make room for him. “It’s grown so fast. It’s too much for me to manage on my own.” She paused. “The hospital offered to buy me out.”
He was surprised. “And you’re thinking about it.”
“Yes.”
“I thought you wanted to be your own boss forever.”
“I do,” she said. “But I also want to live my life.”
Simon got that. All too well. He spent most of his waking hours working these days, no real life to speak of.
“Forget about me,” she said. “How’s Emma doing?”
The interest was sincere. She’d been there throughout Emma’s entire treatment, from the time she’d first come from rehab and could barely move, to now when she was close to starting to run again—if she wanted. “If” being only because Simon had his doubts she was actually ready. She was holding back from full recovery, he knew this. What he didn’t know for certain was why—though he had his suspicions.