Page 72 of Love's Cure

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The next morning, sheheaded down to the Café at her usual time, her mind made up to get through the day. She’d been making too much of their growing relationship, putting her own spin on it. Was it her hormones at play? She couldn’t stop thinking about having a family of her own. A real family—loving mother and father, and one baby, or more.

Her day started with a crowd of locals coming in to talk and gossip about the Summer Faire. Merchants were allowing their doors to open late to catch up on the news and compare success.

Midmorning, the cleanup crew met for coffee before tackling the job of taking down banners, signs, and balloons and sprucing up the town. But it was a slower day than most, with everyone relaxed and feeling good about the event.

Her staff, some hungover, pitched in to give the Café a decent straightening and cleaning before the lunch crowd appeared.

As she was wiping down tables, Whitney appeared carrying Timothy in a front-facing carrier. Seeing his sweet face, knowing her hopes of a child might be dashed forever, Crystal fought tears.

“What’s up? Why the sad face?” asked Whitney giving her a look of concern.

“I let Emmett know I was upset with the way Diana acted toward him at the picnic and why he didn’t do anything to stop it. I told him I thought we ought to step away from one another.”

“Wait a minute,” said Whitney. “You told him all that?”

Crystal nodded, wanting to cry. “You saw how Diana was hanging all over him. She took my seat on the blanket when I went inside, and she wouldn’t move. I was forced to sit off the blanket on the grass on the other side of Emmett.”

Whitney shook her head slowly. “Yes, I wondered what was going on with that. She’s a beautiful, aggressive young woman and she seems determined to catch Emmett’s attention. What did he say when you told him how you felt?”

“He said Diana was like a family friend working on his father’s campaign, that he has to be kind to her.”

“Do you want to know what I think?” asked Whitney, putting the pacifier back in Timothy’s mouth.

“Yes. I’m at a loss,” said Crystal.

“My suggestion is for you to just leave it alone. Give Emmett time to think about things. You’ve told him how you feel and now the ball is in his court. No matter how long it takes.”

“Diana told me it would never work between Emmett and me because his family favors her.”

Whitney’s cheeks grew red. She narrowed her lips. “I’ve known women like her. Diana is a bitch. Believe me, she won’t get away with it in our crowd. Poor Dirk. He’s starting to get comfortable in town and doesn’t need a sister to mess things up for him.”

Crystal gave Whitney a squeeze on the arm. “Thanks for being here for me. You can imagine how insecure I felt when Diana talked to me that way after his mother had been awful to me.”

“Let’s see how independent Emmett is,” said Whitney. “I’m sorry you’re having to go through this, but it might make your relationship stronger in the future.”

“If there is any future with us,” grumped Crystal. “I don’t want to be one of those women who’s jealous if her spouse even looks at another woman. But I need to know how the future is going to play out with Diana in it.”

“That sounds fair to me. But remember, no contact with Emmett. He has to figure it out for himself.”

“Got it,” said Crystal. “It’s suitable timing anyway because, for the next eight days, I’m working on a play in Ogunquit and will be gone most of the time.” She waved to someone coming into the Café. “What can I get you?” she asked Whitney.

“A glass of water,” Whitney said. “Timothy and I are simply going for a walk. And after gorging myself on food all weekend, that’s all I need.”

Crystal served her water in a paper cup. “Take this.”

“Thanks. See you later,” said Whitney. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” said Crystal, overwhelmed by the way Whitney had tried to build her up.

The day progressed with no lunch order for Dr. Chambers. Crystal shrugged and kept on moving. Whitney was right. Even if she had jumped the gun a bit in trying to find out his long-term feelings for her, she had to give Emmett time to come to his own conclusion about them. In the meantime, she hoped never to cross paths with Diana.

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Acouple of days later, Crystal went over the normal morning and night routines for the Café with Misty for the umpteenth time. “Thanks for taking over for me. I’ll see you whenever I’m needed here. Otherwise, I’ll be gone for several days.” At first, Crystal had planned to leave after lunch each day to drive to Maine for the play, and then after the show that normally ended about ten o’clock late, she’d either drive back to Lilac Lake or spend the night in Ogunquit with friends. Then she realized it wouldn’t be fair to Misty to do that. Especially when Misty would take care of opening and closing the Café and overseeing staff as part of a trial period.

“Take care driving,” said Misty. “And don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine. Use this as a break from everything here, including a certain doctor.”

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