Haddie rolled her eyes. “He does not. I think he actually got engaged right before I left.”
“Aww,” Emma crooned. “Good for Collin. But Levi… I mean, how great would it be for me and Matteo if the two of you did actually hit it off?”
Haddie scoffed. “Oh, so this is all about you?”
“Absolutely,” Emma admitted. “And Matteo.”
“Ems, as much as my goal in life is to make all your dreams come true, I won’t know if I’m hired back for year two until I make it through year one, so whether or not I find your almost brother-in-law attractive doesn’t matter because our relationship now is 100 percent professional and…platonic.” Emma raised her brows, but when she opened her mouth to retort, Haddie blurtedout, “Moratorium! I’m instituting a moratorium on who I am or am not attracted to, and in exchange I will bestow upon you the great honor of coming furniture shopping with me.” She gestured around the room.
Emma sighed. “Fine.” She pursed her lips and thought for a moment. “You’ll get hired back after a year. You’re too good at what you do.”
Haddie huffed out a mirthless laugh. “Principal Crawford said the last person in my position, who I guess wasn’t born and raised in Summertown like everyone else on staff, didn’t have the town’s best interests at heart. Thanks to her, I have to prove that I do.”
Emma snorted. “The last person in your position was a seventy-eight-year-old con artist who embezzled field trip money so she could buy an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. So unless you start cruising around town in a giant hot dog, I think you’re probably safe.” Haddie shrugged, but Emma opened her mouth to continue. “So, I have one more question before we go, and I promise it has nothing to do with your pupils turning to hearts when you look at your roommate.”
Haddie groaned and pushed herself back up to standing, holding an arm out for Emma. Then she pulled her friend to her feet.
“Why Toblerone?” Emma asked.
Haddie opened and closed her mouth. That wasn’t the question she’d been expecting. “Because I love chocolate?” That was a perfectly acceptable response, right? “I am human,” she added.
Emma raised her brows. “And those who don’t like chocolate are not?”
Haddie scoffed. “Obviously.”
“Okay,” Emma continued. “ I’ve never seen you eat a Toblerone. I feel like I should have seen one or two or ten whenever I came to your apartment.”
When Emma still lived in the city. When Haddie felt like she still had some semblance of family, thanks to her friend.
“For example…” Emma pointed to her T-shirt, which sported the images of three potted flowers and read,I Wet My Plants, a pun and homage to Summertown, famous for its award-winning topiaries and gardens. “I not only love my punny tees, but I wear them almost every day.”
“Yeah, we need to talk about that,” Haddie replied with mock concern. She loved her friend’s quirk and that she wore it on her sleeve…or at least the front of her tee.
Emma held her hand out for more chocolate, and Haddie pouted, yet ultimately obliged.
“It surprises me not that you came here with zero furniture but somehow managed to wedge your treadmill into your back seat. So why is your love of this—I don’t know—airport delicacy a complete mystery to me?”
“Ding! Ding! Ding!” Haddie tapped her nose and grinned at her friend. But then her smile fell as the fragment of a memory settled in.
Emma’s expression morphed to mirror Haddie’s, as if she felt it too.
“You okay, Hads?” Emma asked.
“Yeah. It just reminds me of a trip I took with my mom once,”Haddie told her. It was the last image of her mother that was seared into her brain, her breaking off a triangle of the Swiss chocolate treat and handing it to her as they sat next to each other on an airplane.
“Did your grandma never get it for you?”
Haddie shook her head. “My grandmonster? Nope. From the time I was six years old she pretty much ignored anything I said.”
Emma gave her a sympathetic nod. “Do you…want to talk about your grandma? I still wish you would have let me come for the memorial service.”
Haddie pressed her lips into what she hoped resembled a smile. “Nope,” she replied again. “I want to get a bed, though.”
Emma narrowed her eyes. “Oh, we’ll get that bed, my friend. But mark my words. You’re on my home turf now, and Summertown is a place where people talk. To each other. About their feelings. If you’re going to live here, you’re going to have to abide by our rules.”
Then she grabbed Haddie’s hand. “You know I just want to make sure you’re okay, right?”
Haddie nodded. “I’m okay. I promise. But know that in my rusted Tin Man heart, I do appreciate you worrying about me.”
