Page 55 of Flare
She’s courting us!His bear informed him ecstatically.
But of course, Emily wouldn’t understand the significance of her action, even if Maggie did.
“It’s the least I could do after you spent all night protecting me from Andrew and then cooked me breakfast,” Emily said, oblivious to Ward’s inner turmoil.
She set the bag on a clean corner of his worktable.“I got pulled pork on sourdough from the Wildcat Springs booth. And your favorite—macadamia chocolate chunk cookies.”
Ward grinned, pleased she’d remembered his cookie preferences.
“Well, I should get back to the booth,” Maggie said.“We’ve been crazy-busy all day, and I don’t want Violet to think I abandoned her.” She squeezed Emily’s shoulder warmly before heading for the door, calling over her shoulder,“Don’t keep her here too long, Eddie. We need her help.”
Ward felt annoyed by his cousin’s transparent matchmaking. The moment Maggie was out of sight, he turned back to Emily.“Maggie put you up to this, didn’t she?”
Emily’s eyes twinkled, and for a moment, she looked lighthearted—so different from the frightened woman from yesterday afternoon.
“She might have suggested coming to see you over my lunch break,” she admitted.“But I wanted to come. And I thought you might be hungry.”
His bear preened at her words.See? She’s thinking about our needs.
Shut up, Ward told it irritably. But it was getting harder by the minute to stick to his resolution about giving Emily space.
“Well, it smells amazing,” he said, wiping his hands on a clean rag tucked into his tool belt.“Thank you.”
Emily’s expression turned serious, her smile fading.“Also… I wanted to say I’m sorry.”
Ward frowned, confused.“For what?”
“For bringing Andrew here.” She bit her lip, her gaze dropping to the floor.“For dragging you and your family into this mess. For making you feel you had to stand guard all night.”
Ward stepped closer, fighting the urge to pull her into his arms.“Emily, look at me.” He waited until her eyes met his.“You didn’tmakeme do anything. I chose to. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
“But—”
“No buts.” His voice was soft but firm.“Andrew Brunborn is the problem here, not you.Neveryou. You—you’re perfect.”
Fuck. He hadn’t meant to say that last part. But the relief in her eyes made his chest ache.
He pulled over a stool and dusted it off before patting the one across from it.“Stay for lunch? Unless you need to get back to the festival right away.”
Emily nodded, looking around his workshop with interest as she took a seat.“I’m on a break until 1:00 p.m.” She pulled a foil-wrapped sandwich out of the bag and passed it to him, then handed him a lilac-infused lemonade.
Their fingers brushed during the exchange, and Ward felt that now-familiar jolt of awareness. He unwrapped his own sandwich, grateful for the distraction of food.
Emily took a bite of her sandwich and closed her eyes briefly in appreciation. When she opened them again, she asked,“Can I tell you something?”
“Of course. You can tell me anything.” Ward’s bear stilled, sensing something important was coming.
Emily took a deep breath.“So, last month, Andrew invited me to come with him to a big real estate awards dinner.”
The memory seemed to pain her, her fingers fidgeting with the edge of her sandwich foil.
“So there I was, sitting at my vanity, putting on makeup,” she said, her eyes fixed on some distant point beyond Ward’s shoulder.“I’d spent almost two hours getting ready because I knew Andrew would expect everything—my hair, my makeup, everything—to be flawless. I remember panicking because I had a huge pimple on my chin.” She touched the spot, now clear, absently.“I knew Andrew would notice it and say something mean about it. And he did.”
Ward remained quiet, giving her space to continue, though his bear growled at the thought of Andrew making his mate feel so insecure.
“I see now how silly I was,” she continued.“But Andrew and his awful grandmother both made me feel that if I wasn’t perfect all the time, I’d ruineverything. Like I’d embarrass his entire family just by existing.” She shook her head.“The whole time Andrew and I were engaged, I was always worried about saying the wrong thing or wearing the wrong outfit or using the wrong fork.”
Ward put down his sandwich and turned to face her fully.“That’s not silly, Emily. That’s heartbreaking.”
