Page 148 of Give Me Love

“Yeah. He was a mess. His wife was a good woman. I knew her,” Emily says.

“That she was,” Lou agrees, taking her glass.

“How did you two…?”

Emily looks almost bashful, which I feel is unlike her character. “That was not planned.”

“Most great love stories aren’t,” Lou chimes in.

“Oh, hush,” Emily says, taking a sip from her glass before sitting at the island. “I was the vet here long before Lee and I ever had a thing. Actually, it was my first job out of vet school. Lee wasn’t around much then. He was into fighting. Mixed martial arts, actually.

“I worked for his father, but he died and then Lee took over the family business. He and Penny had just gotten married, and then boom he had to take over all of this.” She waves her hand around. “It was a lot on a new couple, and I watched them go through tough times, but they always came out good in the end.

“They were great together, and Lee’s love for her showed. They got pregnant, she lost the baby, and then discovered she had cancer. She passed not even a year later.”

Shit, I couldn’t imagine. Losing your baby, then finding out your wife has cancer and losing her, too.

“It was hard on him,” Lou says. “Monnie and I came to live with him for a while, to help around here, but Monnie was just getting the diner up and going, so a lot of the time it was just Emily, the cowboys, and me.

“Lee drank himself stupid for a while. He was hard to be around. Hell, he even fired me once or twice,” Emily says with a laugh. “But it was too late. I was already invested in this place, and I didn’t give a rat’s ass how much he tried to push me…us all away.

“I made sure he ate and kept things clean around here when Lou had to go be with her husband. I cared for the animals, kept the sunshine in this big house. Every day I’d open all the curtains and windows, and he’d go behind me and shut them. I never stopped, though.”

“No, you didn’t,” Lou says. “And Lee saw. He knew without you he’d be a dead man.”

“Thank you,” Emily says. She clears her throat. “So, what about you two?” She looks at me.

“Who? Bryce and me?” I ask.

“Well, who else?” Lou says, walking over and grabbing more wine.

“How did you two met? Bryce was never one to tell his business.” Emily rolls her eyes.

I laugh. “I met him at Red, actually. Well, technically, I met him at Mugs & Books.”

“Mugs & Books? Is that the name of the coffee shop you own?”

“Yes.”

“Clever name,” Emily says.

“Thanks. I can’t take credit, though. A woman named Karen owned it before me, but she decided to move closer to be with her kids. Anyway, I saw Bryce at Red, but we didn’t get a chance to speak, and then he and Jace came in the shop one morning.” I roll my eyes, remembering how much of an asshole Bryce was. “He wasn’t very nice.”

They both look at each other and laugh. “He has his moments,” Lou says.

“That he does,” I reply. “Regardless, there was something about him. I can’t pinpoint it really…” My eyes cast down. “It’s like I’ve known him forever, you know?” I look back up.

Emily smiles a little. “I do know.”

“Are you in love with him?” Lou asks before taking a sip of her wine.

I shake my head. “Umm… I’m not sure about that.”

“You’re not sure, or you’ve just never admitted it?”

I shrug. “I’m not sure.”

“Oh, you’re sure,” Emily says. “It’s written all over your pretty face.”

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