Page 5 of Marrying Emma

Chrissy beamed. “Thanks. I’ve been craving them for days.”

Emma smiled at her big sister. Her eyes traveled to the expansive bump that cradled her unborn nephew who was due in a month.

She couldn’t wait to meet the little guy. Truly. But sometimes, it was difficult to grasp the fact that she’d never carry a child of her own. What if she did get pregnant one day and her child inherited her heart condition? What if the pregnancy itself caused Emma’s new heart to fail? There was too much at stake.

Instead, she’d become the devoted aunt, babysit every chance she got, and that would be enough.

She pushed her melancholy thoughts from her mind. Wyatt and Mom were both in the living room visiting so she moved closer to her sister. “How are you feeling? For real?”

Chrissy shrugged and leaned against the edge of the counter. “Tired, excited, nervous. I’m ready for him to get here. I try to stay away from the internet and all the horror stories, you know?”

Emma was glad to hear that. Last year, Chrissy and Wyatt lost their baby just after the first trimester had ended. There’d been no warning that anything was wrong until they’d gone in for their monthly check-up to find there was no longer a heartbeat.

It’d taken them six months to get pregnant again, and poor Chrissy had been living on edge ever since. Emma could hardly blame her. She could only imagine how nerve-wracking it must be to analyze every symptom, count kicks, and tick each day off the calendar. “I’m glad you’re staying away from the internet. Just one more month, and that’s if he doesn’t decide to grace us with his presence earlier.”

“Yeah, I know.” Chrissy sighed and rubbed her belly lovingly with one hand. “I keep having to give the whole thing over to God. Some days, it’s hour by hour.”

Emma envied Chrissy’s ability to lean on God. It was something Emma had struggled with for a long time. She put an arm around her sister’s shoulders. “You wait, you’ll be holding a screaming baby in your arms before you know it.” She smiled. “Have you guys decided on a name yet?”

Chrissy laughed. “At this rate, he’ll be lucky if he has a name before we leave the hospital.” She shook her head and motioned to the enchiladas. “Come on, let’s go eat. Later, you’ll have to tell me the latest Marty escapades.”

Emma stopped in her tracks. “Do I talk about him that much?”

“I’m not complaining.” Chrissy tried to hold back a smile, but the corners of her mouth curved upwards anyway.

Emma groaned.

Maybe Mom was right, and Emma did need to find some new friends. One thing was certain, though. Marty didn’t have to be one of them.

Which meant she seriously had to expand her circle of acquaintances beyond home and work. In other words, she needed to get a social life.

That was a depressing thought.

3

The week before a holiday usually meant attendance at the gym was low. This week, in particular, was an incredibly slow one. Many of their customers had time off for the Fourth of July weekend or had plans to meet with friends and family. Aside from Emma, Marty was the only other person in the gym. Caleb was gone for the afternoon, and Bo wouldn’t be in until after open gym to help the following class.

Emma tried to keep herself busy, but finally admitted defeat and opened the newest book on her phone app. A girl could only clean bathrooms, mop the viewing area, and restock the cooler so many times.

She’d just started getting into the storyline when a slap on the counter made her jump, her phone nearly slipping out of her hand. She shot Marty a scowl. “Seriously? Don’t you have something else to do besides scare the life out of me?”

Marty chuckled, one elbow leaning against the counter, his blue eyes sparkling with humor. “I have literally nothing else to do.” He nodded toward her phone. “And neither do you.”

“How do you know I’m not working on something important here?”

As though the guy had been trained by the Flash himself, Marty snatched her phone and used one finger to swipe through a few pages of the book she’d been reading. His grin widened. “A romance novel. Yep, real important.”

Emma stood from her chair and grabbed the phone back before turning it off to lock the screen. “It’s an inspirational romantic suspense novel.”

By the amusement on his face, that clearly made no difference. “Okaaay.” He chuckled. “How about you put that away and come out on the floor with me? There’s no one else here. Try a few obstacles. Get some exercise.”

Emma immediately shook her head. “No, thank you.”

“Why? Are you scared?”

No. Maybe. Near panic set in as her brain ran through all the possible scenarios like it did every time she considered going out there. What if it caused her heart to race or put too much strain on it? The last thing she needed was to look like an idiot in front of Marty.

Speaking of which, he’d clearly been ready to tease her. There must have been something on her face that caused his smile to fade. “You are scared. Did something happen?”

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