Page 31 of Blitzing Emily

“You’re going to have to try this on someone who might believe it. Since when do you get engaged to a woman we didn’t know you were dating?” Brandon’s mama didn’t yell. She used much more lethal tactics, like guilt. It was hard to believe that Mama could still make a grown man want to hide somewhere till she settled down, but this was one of those times. “Emily Hamilton sang here last year, honey. How many times have I invited you when your daddy was out of town, and you told me you’d rather be dragged buck naked over broken glass than go to the opera?” His mother finally took a breath. “Does she know this?”

“Mama. I’m sorry.” He didn’t dare glance over to see the expression on Emily’s face at that moment.

His mother’s voice softened. “I know there’s another story here, and youwilltell me what it is.” He braced himself for incoming. He spent the last thirty-four years knowing that his mama left the best for last. “You are not having a baby, are you? Please tell me you didn’t get that young lady pregnant. What will her parents say?”

Oh, there it was.

“Mama. You taught me better than that,” he cajoled. He glanced over at Emily, who was stifling laughter. She’d heard every word. “Where’s Dad?”

“He went to hit a bucket of balls with Dylan. He says he can’t believe you’d consider getting married without bringing Emily home to meet us. Honey, I’m so disappointed in you. I’ve waited so long for this, and—”

“Mama.Mama. I promise I will not marry anyone you haven’t met yet.” Emily was now smothering laughter with both hands. If this had been happening to anyone else, it would probably be funny, but right now, he’d appreciate a little support. He could only deal with one woman at a time, though, so that discussion would happen later.

“When are we going to meet her? We want to meet her mama and daddy, too. They’ll be our family, honey. It’s important.” He took the exit to Emily’s place and resisted the impulse to floor it.

“I know, Mama. Of course she wants to meet you, too. She has performances in Seattle, and then she’s going out of town for several weeks. I’ll ask her when it will work to get everyone together, and we’ll do it.” He pulled into Emily’s driveway. “I need to scoot. Let me call you back when I’m in the car again.”

“Okay. Do not think I’m going to forget about this, young man.”

“I know you won’t. Tell Dad and Dylan I said hey.”

“I will, honey. I love you.”

“Love you too.” He hung up his phone. Emily was already climbing the steps to her front door, and he hurried after her.

“So, your mom was on a tear. Welcome to my world,” she said.

“Oh, yeah. She’s probably taking away my allowance.” Emily opened the front door, and they trooped inside. “I’d love to chat about this, but I’m going to be late. We can talk later if you’d like.”

The look on Emily’s face was comical. “Our parents think I’m pregnant. This should be interesting.”

Suddenly, everything was a little awkward. He wasn’t sure what to say, and he certainly wasn’t sure what was appropriate. She wore his ring, but she wasn’t his. She put her purse down on the hall table and shuffled around a little. She bit her lip and a flush moved over her cheekbones. He watched the previously smiling and relaxed Emily retreat behind a wall of uneasiness. She folded her arms in front of her.

“Thank you for taking me out to lunch, and for the beautiful ring. I could have worn my ring, you know.”

No, she couldn’t have. Everyone would expect her to have an engagement ring someone pulling down over twenty million dollars a year could afford to buy for her. He pulled the small silver circlet of hearts out of his jeans pocket, and put it back on the middle finger of her left hand. “You’ll still wear it.” He held her hand in both of his. She didn’t pull away.

She took a deep breath, and tipped her face up. Her golden eyes searched his. “Do you really think this is going to work? I—I’m just not sure.”

“We’ll be fine.” He leaned down, planted a kiss on her forehead, and told her, “I’ll see you later.” He felt her smaller hand gripping his.

“I’m okay. I—I’ll understand if you have something else going, if you’re meeting up with someone or have an appointment. I know this was sudden. You have a life you might want to get back to.”

“We can cross some more stuff off your list. We’ll have dinner or something.”

He didn’t want to leave. He turned, though, and hurried out the front door.

Chapter Seven

DESPITE A SEVERAL-PAGES-LONGto-do list, it was apparent to Emily the best thing she could do was rest. She made it up the stairs to her room and flopped onto her bed. The unpacking would have to wait. Again. She was running out of clean underwear, but that was the least of her problems right now.

A short time later she heard the scrape of a key inserted into the lock on her front door, and Amy’s voice echoed from downstairs.

“Hey, weirdo. Where are you?”

Emily tried to call out, “I’m up here,” but anything above a normal tone of voice brought additional waves of pain. She heard Amy’s light footsteps on the staircase. Hopefully, she’d figure it out for herself.

“There you are,” Amy said. She flipped on the overhead light, which could be seen from space. Emily threw her left forearm over her eyes. She was a few seconds too late. She let out a groan.

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