Page 3 of Healing Hearts
“For the record,” she says, “I actuallydothink aliens exist.”
“As long as the real ones are hot, I’m happy to believe in them too,” I say, picking up a fry and sticking it in my mouth. She’s going to eat most of the plate, and when we leave here, she’ll realize she should have brought a jacket, and I’ll end up giving her mine then picking it up tomorrow. These dates are also one of the few times when Emily, who’s normally extremely organized and efficient, is a bit scattered.
“I want the aliens to be intelligent,” she says.
“Of course you would.”
“They could come here and solve all the diseases we have.” She cuts another bite of sausage, and without her asking, I apply the required amount of ketchup.
I know that’s also weighing on her mind—that was last week’s confession. She hasn’t decided yet whether to get her son, Amir, tested for ALS, the same disease that killed her husband. When Omar died so young from it, she did a deep dive into his family history with the help of his parents, and it seems likely that other people in his mother’s family had suffered from ALS, perhaps hidden or undiagnosed.
So last week when I came to rescue her, Emily made me a pros and cons list on a napkin to decide whether she wanted toget Amir’s genetics checked or not. Her writing was completely unreadable, but talking out her feelings seemed to make her feel better.
I wouldn’t even know how to handle that result if it didn’t go the way I needed it to. Amir isn’t even my son, and I know I’d be devastated for her, for him, for a life that would be cut short. We’ll all die someday, but I don’t think I could handle seeing the clock, watching it tick down to nothing.
“You picking Amir up in the morning from your mom?” I ask, trying to shift from the things weighing her down.
“Yeah,” she says, cutting the last piece of sausage and waiting for me to put ketchup on it.
I do and then say, “There’s a fall fair in Mohawk tomorrow. One of the guys at work told me they have kiddie rides with an all-you-can-ride pass on Sunday. I could meet you and Amir there?”
“Would you?” Her expression brightens. “He’d love that, and I’d love it too,” she says. “You’re ridiculously thoughtful sometimes.”
Given how emotionally fragile Emily has been the last few weekends, I need to ramp up that quality for the next little while. Maybe I can’t dig her out of her hole, but I don’t mind the dirt, so I’ll climb down there with her and see whether I can bring a smidge of light with me.
“Just with you,” I say, offering her the last fry on the plate.
She takes it and pops it into her mouth, a hint of contentment in her expression, and as a starting place to slotting her back together, that’s not so bad.
Chapter Two
Emily
“How was the fall fair yesterday?” Tyler, my older brother, asks on Monday morning. “You went with Trent?”
The second question is loaded with meaning. He’s aware he can’t ask more than that. From Mom to Maggie to Tyler to even Lila, who was somewhat resentful when she asked, everyone wonders if there’s something going on between me and Trent.
We’ve been friends since last year when we all organized a fundraiser for our hometown of Little Falls. But even I can admit we’ve become closer since my dad’s death, since Maggie and Grady got back together, since Lila left for New York City.
But there isn’t anything more than friendship between us. Not even a little. He doesn’t want it, and I don’t want it—not that we’ve talked about it. No one seems to believe us. Which often makes me mad. Men and women can be friends. Even when one half of that equation is a guy who oozes charm and sex appeal.
“Yeah, we went together,” I say breezily as I check that I have everything needed to look after Victoria for the morning.
Although Tyler has the money, courtesy of Victoria’s famous popstar mother, Mia Malone, he hasn’t hired a nanny. Instead, he’s cut back his thrift store and his clothing creation business. For the hours he does work, family and friends are cobbling together a schedule. It’s not ideal, but I also understand why he’s doing it.
As he told me, he’s not sure he’ll have another chance to be a dad, so he’s going to soak in every subtle change in Victoria as she grows. Paired with that is the fact that Mia is so famous, and photos of their baby are in such high demand, it’s hard to know who to trust. So I get that part too. At some point, that might calm down, but so far, it hasn’t. Tyler has security at the house and store now, but it’s still more madness than I’d want to deal with.
My house showing schedule and my client bookings are usually reasonably flexible, so rearranging my schedule once a week during a morning or afternoon to look after Victoria at Tyler’s house isn’t a hardship. Amir is in school, so I get all the baby snuggles to myself. And sinceIdon’t know when I’ll get this much baby contact again, it’s a win for everyone involved.
“That’s all I’m going to get—a ‘yeah, we went together?’” Tyler prods.
“Heard from Mia?” I ask, giving him a pointed look.
“All right, all right.” Tyler holds up his hands. “I get it. Trent, as a topic, is off limits. He’s your friend, yadda, yadda, yadda.”
And Mia is also off limits, but I don’t point that out. She’s been gone since late July, and it’s now late October. At first, I thought she’d return sooner rather than later. I can’t imagine leaving a child behind, despite the arrangement she made with Tyler, despite her level of fame and scrutiny.A child. I could never.
And I’m not as sure shewillcome back now. I imagine it’s a hard pill for Tyler to swallow. Much like my friendship withTrent, whatever is or isn’t happening with him and Mia is not up for discussion.
