Page 12 of Love Hollow at Last
Emi held up her hands.“Slow down.”
“No,” said Aya.
“I don’t even know what we’re fighting about,” said Emi slowly, “but I can tell that I’ve really touched a nerve.”
The old Emi would have been angrier, but the new Emi was talking as if she were lifting quotes directly from some pamphlet about dealing with difficult people.She’d probably had experience talking down patients with schizophrenia, and that annoyed Aya even more.
“You know,” she said, “you’re right.This isn’t your fault.It’s Noah’s.”
And before Emi could stop her, Aya left.
11
Noah
Aya was chaining her bike to the same rack they had used as elementary school kids.She had biked to school more often than he had, as her family lived closer.But Noah had done it once or twice, mainly because he didn’t want to be left out.Aya was faster than he was, but he tried hard to keep up.Even as a kid, he’d always had the sense that he couldn’t measure up to Aya.She was smarter and funnier than he was, and he always had the sense that she’d go far.Celebrity was supposed to insulate him from that feeling, but instead, it had made it worse.Not only was Aya close to getting a prestigious doctorate, but she’d also spent years of her life propping up a museum that his parents adored.She would be able to point to a way that she’d made her mark on the world, whereas all he had to show for his last decade of life were some albums that already sounded dated.
Aya saw Noah watching her and glared.She didn’t wave.
“Dammit,” he said.As usual, he didn’t stutter on the word, but he did succeed in getting Grace’s attention.
“What is it?”
“Just a crazy townie,” Noah said, wincing as he lied.“I’d better go head her off.”
“She won’t be able to get in,” said Grace without looking up from her computer.“Ever since I made Mike send that memo, nobody is buzzing in random strangers.”
Noah shook his head.Grace really needed to learn more about small-town life.Aya was sure to chat with someone, figure out that they had a cousin or friend in common, and find her way in.Love Hollow was big enough that not everyone knew one another but small enough that you were somehow connected to just about everybody.
And sure enough, Aya was soon knocking on his office door.
“Hi,” said Noah.His voice was artificially cheerful.“How are you doing, Aya?”
“Not so well,” she said.She was unfolding something from the pocket of her jeans.He tried not to look too hard at the jeans.Her cheeks were flushed from the bike ride, and she looked just as beautiful as she had the day before.Normally, Grace gave him a hard time about his penchant for hanging out with beautiful women and never making a move.Sometimes, those women made the first move themselves, of course, and that was always the end of their friendship.But Grace probably wasn’t going to comment on how gorgeous Aya was.Aya’s anger was even more noteworthy than her flushed cheeks or her beautiful hazel eyes.
“I don’t know what you thought you were doing with this proposal,” Aya said.“But I’m not bringing it to the board.There’s no way this will help mitigate the damage you’re doing to our event.”
“What’s…” But Noah couldn’t get the next word out.Which was unfortunate because Aya thought she knew what he was going to say.
“What’s the harm in one bad event?Funny you should ask, Noah.We might have to shut down the museum, as it happens.Bet you didn’t think plain, old-fashioned lack of money would spell our doom rather than all of that shit your parents went through, but that’s the reality.”
Noah tried not to feel happy that she had used his name, but he failed.He realized he would rather have Aya rant at him than hear praise from pretty much any other human being.
Grace cautiously stepped into the fray.“Noah’s parents are objectively wonderful,” she said.
As usual, Grace’s instincts had been good, and Aya softened for a moment.“They’ve done everything they could,” she said.“But it might still amount to nothing if we have to close our doors.”
Grace gave a solemn nod.“Well, we can’t let that happen.Let me see what I can do.”
Aya was still hesitant.She smoothed the piece of paper.“I was under the impression that this proposalwasthe best you could do.”
Grace gave a wide smile, as if it were Christmas morning and she were presenting the room with home-baked cinnamon rolls.“Well, if it doesn’t work for you, we will absolutely have to find something that does.”
“Yes,” said Noah, and Aya instantly snapped from doubtful to angry.
“No,” Aya said.“You can work on it or not.I don’t care.But I think my original plan was a good one, and I’ll be sure that more press than just Twyla covers this story.”
“One more chance,” said Grace.“We’ll bring you something better, and we’ll get this off your plate.”
