Eli rubbed his shoulder. “I’m stiff, but I’ll be okay. We’ve all had worse injuries on the job site.” He nodded at her gauzed hand. “And you?”
“Just some bruised knuckles. Nothing I can’t handle.”
Nick’s eyes lit up. “Eli, remember that time I put a nail through my hand? That was awesome.” He held up his left hand for Emily to see.
Sure enough, he had a scar along the flap of skin between his thumb and pointer finger. Emily grimaced as her toast made another appearance.
Michael rejoined them, having left Rocky behind. “That’s nothing. You didn’t even hit bone. I’ve hit bone.”
“Uh, guys,” said Eli. “Emily’s gone green. Maybe we should end this conversation.”
Nick grinned. “Aw, you’re adorable when you’re green.”
Michael didn’t comment but he analyzed her face, his lips quirked, as if he appreciated having a reason to look at her.
“Ignore him,” said Eli. “So Michael told us Trent won’t be joining us for the rest of the shoot.”
She looked at Michael. “You did?”
“I just let the team know Trent is no longer available.”
She let out the breath she was holding and thanked him with a nod. “Right. He had…a conflict.”
“No matter,” said Michael. “We’ll be just fine, won’t we, Em?”
She nodded through her melancholy. Last night, sitting on a couch with Michael, she’d been encouraged, able to face the world. Now, in the light of day, the reality of her situation hit her. How would she explain the situation to people? Never mind theHandymencrew, she still had to talk to her family. What would they say? Chris would take her side but he’d want to point out all her errors. Her mom had never warmed to Trent. She’d say Emily lost two years of good time when she could have been planning a wedding with a more deserving man. As for Emily’s father, she’d have to drag him away fromThe Price Is Rightfor five minutes in order to drop her bombshell.
She had no idea what she was supposed to do next. She felt hollow and drained, like a water pipe that had had its valve shut off.
Her man had found solace in another woman’s arms, despite the fact Emily had tried to comfort and support him time and again. That hurt her more than imagining them between the sheets. If she tried, she might actually be able to forgive the physical betrayal. It was the emotional one that cut deepest.
She wondered what Trent was doing now. Was he at home, licking his wounds, dismayed at being caught? Was he systematically shredding all her photos, taking care to lop the little heads off first? Perhaps he was fucking Veronica without a care in the world.
Michael wrapped an arm around her shoulders, somehow understanding everything. “Come on. I know demolition is done, but maybe I can find something else for you to smash.”
“I’d like that.” Outlawing all thoughts of Trent for the rest of the day, she followed Michael.
***
“You’re in a good mood today.”
Michael looked up from his lunch and turned toward Nick. “Why shouldn’t I be? We haven’t run into any issues on the job yet. Emily’s grandmother took good care of the house, so we don’t have to do a lot of the work that would have slowed us down on other renovations. Most things are up to code. We’re ahead of schedule and Emily’s happy with the progress. Am I not allowed to be happy too?”
“By all means, let your happy flag fly.” His brother took a huge bite out of his sandwich and chewed. “It’s just when Trent was around, you were a bear. He miraculously disappears and you’re as playful as a puppy. Which leads me to one question.”
“And that is?”
“Did you kill Emily’s fiancé?”
“Would you please shut your mouth?” Michael glanced toward Emily to see if she’d heard the comment, but she was deep in conversation with Franka. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nick has a point,” said Eli. “We have a surplus of concrete on this site, more than enough for cement shoes. Besides, you and Emily have gotten chummy really fast.”
“Is that a crime?”
“No,” said Eli. “But I think you know what we’re getting at. Trent may have pulled another no-show, but last we heard, they were still engaged.”
“That’s because I haven’t updated you.” Michael lowered his voice. “She called it off. She caught him mauling another woman. It’s been going on for six months apparently.”
