Page 100 of Crazy In Love
Care.
Even if nothing ever happened between us again, it was obvious.
Bridger Chadwick cared that I was upset.
And that was more surprising than my mother’s berating phone call.
twenty-seven
. . .
Bridger
We’d beenat the antique store for an hour, and Emilia was making small talk with not only the shop owner, but everyone who was in the store.
It was clear. She was in her element.
Surrounded by art and pieces with history.
I admired it.
But I knew she was devastated by her mother’s phone call. I was a dude who thought he had the world’s best mother, and this was the second time I’d heard the woman berate her daughter.
And I didn’t like it.
Emilia was good at pretending that she was okay. Probably something that she’d learned at a very young age.
I understood it more than I wanted to admit.
“So, you can ship all the items to us?” I asked as I handed her my credit card.
“Yes,” the woman behind the counter said. “I think your wife really loves the mantel.”
My wife?
I nodded and signed the slip, choosing not to correct her.
I glanced at Emilia as she stood there taking photos of the mantel and the three other pieces she’d chosen, all of which would be shipped to Rosewood River.
Her gaze moved, locking with mine, and she smiled.
And my fucking chest squeezed.
It was unexplainable the way it made me feel when she smiled.
It was unexplainable the way it made me feel when she was upset, the way she’d been in the car after speaking to her mother.
“You ready?” she asked, walking my way.
“Yes, the car’s outside. They’re going to ship everything out in the next few days.”
She nodded before saying goodbye to the store owner, whom she’d just hugged as if they were long-lost friends.
Once we were in the car and heading back to the hotel, I glanced over at her as she typed into her phone.
She dropped her phone back in her purse and looked up at me. “That was Beatrice. Everything is totally fine. My mom freaked out over nothing. She hasn’t even been in the store.”
“So she just calls you and treats you that way over nothing?”
