“Oh my God! You areterribleat this. Why couldn’t Libby have answered the phone?”
“Jesus, Emma. Forget the details. The point is, after a few minutes, he finally came out and asked if I could give you some time off so you can come see him.”
“And?!”
“And I told him you had some time right now because of the storm, but that it was also the reason you won’t be able to go anywhere for a few days…”
Not bothering to dry off my hands, I pick up my beer and take three long gulps.
“Thought so,” Harrison says with a reluctant smile. “He’s sending a plane for you as soon as the airport opens up. He wants you to go see him in Valcourt.”
A plane? Valcourt? My brain feels like it’s going to shut down and I don’t know what to focus on first. I turn on the water and rinse the pot, my mind racing through what Harrison has just told me.Nope. Do not get your hopes up, Emma. Not after spending four miserable months trying to forget him.“The smart thing for me to do would be to just try to forget him. I have a life here and he has a life there, and that’s that.”
“True, but if the two of you are meant to build a life together, you’ll find a way to make it work,” Harrison says, turning the water off and taking the world’s most thoroughly rinsed pot out of my hands. He dries it, letting his words float in the air.
Build a life together? I don’t think that’s going to happen. He probably wants more meaningful casual sex. I let the water out of the sink and watch as it swirls down the drain. After a moment, I say, “He doesn’t believe in building a life with someone. He’s a lone wolf.”
“That’s stupid. There’s no such thing. Wolves are pack animals.”
“Right? That’s what I told him.” Shaking my head, I say, “I’m not going to go. It would be a really bad idea. I know I said I was cool with the whole temporary thing, but to be honest, I have been struggling to get over him. I shouldn’t put myself through that again.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Harrison says, nodding his head. “Although, to be honest, I’m not sure you’d have to get over him again.”
“Why? Did he say that?” I ask, swallowing hard.
“Not exactly. It wasn’t so much what he said but how he sounded,” Harrison says, having a sip of his beer.
No beer sipping! Only girl talking!! “What did he sound like?”
“Like a guy whose heart was broken.”
31
Long Haul Booty Call
Emma – Somewhere Over the Atlantic Ocean
“What are you up to?” I ask, smiling into my mobile screen.
Priya holds up perfectly shaped tortellini. “Making dinner while I wait for the mailman.”
“Yum. What’s the filling?” I say, wondering how long it’ll take her to realize I’m on a freaking private jet at the moment.
“Chicken and truffle.”
“Nice. Cream and chive sauce?” I ask, holding up a glass of champagne and taking a long sip.Come on, look at the screen.
“Yup,” she says, brushing egg wash on a circle of dough.
For the past several weeks, Priya's been putting her culinary skills to use at home while she waits for an acceptance letter for a med school she doesn’t want to attend. She’s started cooking again, but says each meal she makes feels like a goodbye to the real Priya, so it’s more like a torturous ‘looking for closure’ thing than anything else. So far, she’s had two rejections and no answer from the other schools, and somehow the ‘noes’ have depressed her even more. But I get it. Rejection feels awful, even if itisfor something you never wanted in the first place.
“Wait? Are you wearing a scarf?” she asks, squinting. “What are you dressed up for?”
“I thought I’d try to bring back the days when a woman would get all dolled up to go on a plane.” I hold the mobile at arm’s length so Priya can see I’m dressed in long black dress pants, a long-sleeved black sweater, and a Burberry knock-off scarf that I picked up yesterday. I turn the phone so she can get a look at the luxury with which I’m surrounded.
“Did you say you’re on a plane, because that looks like a living room in some rich person’s…oh my God, is that Pierce Davenport’s plane?” she asks, her voice rising two octaves.
“Umm-hmm. He sent his jet to pick me up for the weekend. No biggie,” I say nonchalantly.
