Oh. My. God. I loved him.
“Flanagan? Emily Flanagan, hello?” Sadie waved her hand in front of my face.
I blinked before slowly turning around to see Sadie and Don looking at me with puzzled expressions.
I gave them a smile that ended up being more of a grimace.
“Sorry, I was daydreaming.”
“Must have been a pretty shitty daydream,” Sadie said. “Can you have a daymare? That sounds weird.”
“Something on your mind, Emily?” Don asked kindly.
“Um, not really. Sort of. Yeah.”
“That’s one hell of a confused answer,” he said.
I turned to my computer and pulled up the project details that I’d been working on. “Take a look at this.”
He moved behind my chair and scanned the screen in front of him, then looked at me. “This is pretty thorough. Where did you get the time to construct this?”
“By not sleeping,” I joked, even though it was true. I hadn’t slept a full night in weeks.
“That explains why you haven’t gone out for drinks the past couple of times, either,” Sadie grumbled.
I ignored her. “Owen Cooper’s Green House Project, as it stands, is built around the idea of constructing brand new, affordable, ecologically friendly houses, which is wonderful, but…”
Don frowned. “But?”
“Building from scratch every time isn’t something that will work in most environments. But if we were to, how should I put it, shrink Cooper’s idea in order to implement parts of his eco-friendly designs into existing houses and apartment buildings, then that might be a more effective strategy toward creating environmentally friendly homes in urban areas using what we already have. I was thinking—”
“There’s even more to this scheme of yours?”
I smiled weakly. “When is there not more?”
“You’re right. Continue.”
I pointed to a few schematics in my plan. “The idea came to me when I was working on those park specifications. There’s no reason why we can’t incorporate these ideas into the green spaces we have. It would be great for the parks we’re planning in the future. There’s the possibility of building entire Green House neighborhoods. If we constructed mini-wind farms or park-based solar panels which local, low-income housing was connected to, then we’d effectively set up a social energy grid which would simultaneously power local residences using green energy, and also help with the financial burden of rising energy prices for the residents. On top of that, having communal energy stores would be useful if abnormal weather hit, causing the national grid to go down.”
Of course, I was thinking about how my mom was left in the lurch whenever her power went out. Half of the inspiration for this entire project came from her, and my desire to fix her problem.
Don was silent for a few moments, which I knew was a good sign. It meant he was seriously considering my proposal. Eventually, he grinned.
“I like this a lot. It could do with a little more refining, and possibly a trial-run somewhere smaller, but I like it.”
I grinned back. I had barely slept as I worked on this plan. It had acted as an excellent distraction from the rest of my problems. Now that I had Don’s approval, I would have to get in contact with Owen Cooper or Carla Stevenson to go over my proposal with them. That filled me with excitement and dread.
What would Eli have told them about the way I broke things off? There was a reasonable chance that my prospective business partners would consider me an awful and unreliable person.
And yet, something told me that Eli, despite the way things ended, wouldn’t do that to me. He was as judgmental as I was, and had an opinion about every person he met, but he was a reasonable man beneath the sarcastic comments and catty remarks.
My heart hurt thinking about him because there were so many good things about him.
Sadly, he hadn’t contacted me once since I left, which I both expected and deserved. It wasn’t as if I had contacted him, either. Outside of my daily check-ins with mom, everything related to Frazier Falls made my heart hurt, so I avoided it.
I thought back to the day I’d left. Mom had been upset when I rushed into the house to pack my belongings. She didn’t want me to leave—not out of selfishness for her, but for a chance there might be an Eli and me.
“I take it you don’t want to go out for drinks?” Sadie asked, pulling me out of my thoughts once more. “You know, the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else.”
I stared at her. “Sex isn’t a solution.”
“Sure it is. Eli Cooper isn’t the only man in the world for you.”
I refused to tell her how wrong she was. “I’m exhausted. I think I’ll throw myself into bed as soon as I get home.”
“Sounds healthy.” She looked me up and down. “You do look like hell.”
“Ouch.”
“Only telling it like it is. Take care of yourself this weekend.”
“You too, Sadie.” She turned and left the office, leaving only Don and me. I stared at him. “I thought you were leaving.”
He laughed lightly. “Not before you. As in, leave now. Go to bed, like you said you were planning. You need rest.”
“What are you, my dad?”
“If that’s what it takes to get you to look after yourself, then sure, why not?”
“You’re thirty years too young to be my dad, and he’s a dead-beat son of a bitch currently living in an alcoholic stupor in the middle of nowhere, Ireland.”
“Then clearly you need a stand in.”
It was impossible to be in a bad mood when Don was around. He put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed slightly.
“Come on. I’ll take you home.”
I didn’t have it in me to protest, so I shut down my computer, collected my things, and followed Don to his car. I only lived a short walk from the office, but the drive back to my apartment was appreciated once it sunk in how tired I was.
“Don’t work yourself so hard,” he said, pulling in front of my apartment. “Burnout won’t do any of us much good.”
“I know, I know. I can do better than this.”
He smiled. “Everyone is allowed to have a moment or two.”
Whatever song that had been playing on the radio had finished, and the DJ was giving a weather report.
Something about a major storm hitting the southwestern states, including Colorado. I tuned in to hear them say that experts were warning residents to stay indoors and prepare for potential blackouts.
“Oh, crap,” I let out as my insides went cold.
His expression grew serious once he saw the look on my face. “Emily, it’ll be okay. Colorado has had a month of reasonable weather. There’s no snow or ice on the ground to make things dangerous. As long as your mom stays indoors, the storm will pass, and she’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, I guess so …” I mumbled, not entirely convinced. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going to go horribly wrong. I chalked it up to a daughter’s natural inclination to worry about her mom. I gave Don a halfhearted smile and a wave as I walked toward my apartment. “I’ll see you on Monday. Have a great weekend.”