Change what?
How long it’s been since you saw a game
Emma didn’t realize she was holding her breath until her lungs began to burn. She exhaled and waited for her vision to clear.
I’ll think about it
After a few minutes with no response from Tyler, Emma returned her phone to the nightstand and rolled over onto her pillow. Today was wide open, which suddenly seemed like a special brand of torture.
She threw off her sheets and scampered into her closet. This called for her yoga mat and spandex. Stat.
* * *
On Sunday in the late afternoon, Emma stood on the step sandwiched between Lindsey and Vaughn, their breath misting in the chilly air. Calgary's winter sun was a beautiful but disappointing illusion. Unless a Chinook was blowing, its warm glow gave no respite from the cold.
"Emma! Lindsey and Vaughn, I’m so glad you could make it! Come on in." Emma’s mom, Sharla, shuffled to the side to let them in. Rob, her dad, sat in his favourite recliner with his reading glasses on. He kicked down the footrest and set his paper on the coffee table.
“Smells delicious.” Lindsey sighed as they hugged all around. They unbundled themselves and hung their coats on the hooks by the door.
Sharla beamed at them and clasped her hands in front of her. “I hope you like it. I made shepherd’s pie, Jell-O salad, rolls, and Nanaimo bars."
Emma nudged Vaughn on their way into the kitchen. “I’m going to watch you eat the Jell-O You know that right? No dropping it into your napkin.”
“It’s made withhorse hooves,” Vaughn hissed.
“Mmm.” Emma stifled a laugh at Vaughn’s horrified expression. His eyes darted around the table, looking like a cat who just found himself on an ice rink.
Lindsey playfully elbowed him. “Did your mother never cook for you?”
“I’m from California. We ate out of Trader Joe’s freezer.”
“You knew a trader with a freezer?” Sharla asked.
Vaughn pursed his lips. “It’s a grocery store,” he answered, then muttered under his breath, “but so much more than that.”
They sat down around the table, which Sharla had decorated for spring. With long, harsh winters, Albertans were forced to be a perpetually hopeful people—which was a nicer way of saying irrationally optimistic.
Emma’s phone buzzed in her back pocket as she sat down. Out of habit, she pulled it out and checked the screen, then nearly swallowed her own tongue.
“Emma, is everything okay? We’re about to say grace.”
Emma blinked and looked up. “Mmhmm.” She slid the phone under her thigh and clasped her hands on the table. Rob recited a short prayer, then Sharla invited them to dig in. Emma’s heart pounded as she passed her plate for her dad to load up a serving of shepherd’s pie.
“Since Lindsey and I are both here, I’m dying to know who that message was from,” Vaughn murmured as he took a pathetically small portion of the green Jell-O with little pieces of pineapple floating in it.
“What, you don’t think I have other friends?”
Lindsey snorted. “Not who would text you on a Sunday afternoon.”
Emma scoffed. “I will have you know that I spotted a guy at the gym the other day and he said we should do it again sometime.”
Vaughn nodded seriously. “That’s basically second base for you.”
“I know, right?”
Sharla looked up. “Emma, you’re dating someone?”
“No. I’m very much not dating someone.” Emma took a large portion of Jell-O salad and grinned at Vaughn before setting her plate down on the table. She took a deep breath. She should tell them, shouldn’t she? About Tyler and the licence? It wasn’t like it was anything to be embarrassed about since it ended well.
