“What are you reading?”
I flip the cover to show him. “The Motorcycle Diaries.”
His lip twitches. “Not a romance?”
I shrug. “This one caught my eye.”
And I’m enjoying it. The idea of traveling, of waking up every day to a new place.
“Ben was going to travel.” Jared clears his throat. “He had the ticket booked when he was diagnosed.”
“I know.” My throat tightens, remembering. “South America, right?”
Jared nods. “You never wanted to travel?”
My eyes skitter away from his. “It was never an option.”
My parents certainly wouldn’t have let me. And Arron barely let me out of the house. When Jared doesn’t say anything, I look back at him.
“It is now,” he says finally, his eyes searching mine. “You can do anything you want to, Em. Even travel, if that’s what you wanted to do.”
My brows draw down. “I – I can’t. I mean, I don’t need to.”
I have my work at the florist. And... and I have Jared. I don’t need anything else.
But for a moment, I let myself wonder what it would be like. I’ve never left the country. The furthest I’ve ever traveled was coming here. Running away.
I wonder if Jared would come with me. My lips tilt up at the thought. “We should get back. Angelo’s acting strange lately.”
Jared frowns, but he follows my lead as I swing my legs off his lap. “In what way?”
“Not sure.” I slip under his arm as we start walking back. “Maybe he has his own stuff going on.”
We’re walking down the street when I hear my name. “Emmy!”
Turning, it takes me a second to scan the street. Then my lips stretch into a grin. “Carla?”
She looks good. Less tired. Less strained. And beside her—
“Jared!” Carla looks delighted as she reaches us. The little girl at her side looks up at us, her tight curls close to her head. Carla brushes a hand over her hair, her smile affectionate. “This is Katie. Katie, you remember Emmy?”
My heart.
Myheart.
“Hi, Katie,” I crouch down, smiling. My throat feels tight. “You okay?”
She nods, peeking up at Jared as she hides behind Carla’s leg.
I straighten, my face holding a question.
Carla’s eyes are shining. “NEAD. No evidence of active disease. It’s… it’s good, Emmy. Really good.”
I can feel the back of my eyes prickling, and I swallow hard. Jared steps in, his voice genuine. “That’s amazing. I’m so pleased for you.”
She grins. “If we hadn’t had that inheritance, it wouldn’t have been possible. The timing. Did Emmy tell you, Jared? We had a lawyer contact us. Someone passed away, and it turned out we were the next of kin. It covered everything we needed for a new trial in Germany. We wouldn’t have made it otherwise.”
Jared pauses. “Really? That’s incredible.”
