Page 27 of Under Southern Stars
Jack: Sunday.
Emma: Moving fast. I like her already.
Sunday. Two days away. It feels like forever.
I finally start the car, my mind replaying every moment of the evening. The way she’d laughed when I’d told her about the ram incident, how she’d opened up about that mass casualty event, the quiet confidence she carries. How she’d made me feel both completely comfortable and utterly off-balance.
“I don’t know yet, but I want to find out.”
Her words echo in my head as I drive home. That honesty, that willingness to step into something uncertain together. No games, no pretense. Just Sophia being brave enough to admit she doesn’t have all the answers.
Back in my apartment, I pace restlessly, too wired to sleep. I keep thinking about the way she’d defended her work, how she’d made that crack about having a tiny crush on “the newparamedic who keeps bringing me coffee.” The flush on her cheeks when she’d realized what she’d said.
My phone rings. Charlotte, calling from New Zealand.
“Well?” she says without preamble. “How was the mysterious date?”
“How did you—Emma,” I answer myself.
“Obviously. She said you were properly smitten. True?”
I lean back on my couch, still grinning. “Char, I think I’m in serious trouble.”
“Good trouble or bad trouble?”
“The best kind,” I admit. “She’s…I don’t even have words. Smart, funny, gorgeous. Doesn’t take any shit, but she’s got this incredible warmth underneath all that competence.”
“And you’re seeing her again?”
“Sunday.”
Charlotte is quiet for a moment. “Jack, this is the first time I’ve heard you talk about a woman like this. Ever.”
“I know.”
“So when do we meet her?”
The question hits me like a physical blow. When do they meet her? When do I tell Sophia about the estate, the money, the family expectations? When do I risk everything I’d just found by revealing how much I’d been hiding?
“Jack? You still there?”
“Yeah, sorry. Just…it’s complicated, Char.”
