“Thank you. That’s all I’m asking for, and a promise that if you get scared, or angry with me, or need a break, you’ll come to me to talk. No more running away. Things are going to happen between us. I’m going to do thingsthat will piss you off, and you’re going to do things that make me crazy, but you can’t leave like that. That’s not how this is going to work.”
He was so earnest right now, telling her to take a chance on him when, in reality, he was the best man she had ever known. If it didn’t work with someone as kind and filled with integrity as Theo Clairmont, she was destined to be alone.
The thought made her want to cry. Her stomach growled and she seized the distraction like a lifeline. She grinned. “So, the farmers’ market and breakfast? That sounds nice.”
“Yeah, it does,” Theo said, grinning back at her. “It sounds amazing.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“What are you guys doing here?”Amber asked her sisters the next Saturday afternoon. “It’s really not a good time,” she said, trying to close the door. Allie jammed her foot in while Lily and Evie pushed it open, and they came in anyway. “Okay, then, come in,” Amber muttered.
It’s not that she wasn’t excited to see them, but she wasn’t ready to show anyone how overwhelmed she was at the moment.
“We came to kidnap you for lunch, but it looks like you need more than that,” Allie said, eyeing the organized chaos of Amber’s living room. Spreadsheets and papers were stacked on her coffee table, gray fabric scraps she was sewing for decorations were scattered across the couch, and lists of attendees and menu options were taped to the walls.
"What is all this?" Lily asked, picking up a fabric swatch. She looked concerned.
Amber hesitated. She was torn between wanting to push her sisters away, to maintain the facade of having everything under control, or letting them in to share some of what had been weighing her down for weeks. Seeing their genuine concerncracked her resolve. "It's...for the gala. Did I not tell you guys I took over the planning and organizing for it?”Ha ha ha. No big deal. Just 600 people poised to watch me fail spectacularly and lose crucial funding for Theo’s campaign. Ha ha ha.
She felt sick.
“No, you didn’t tell me,” Allie said. “Did she mention it to you?” she asked Lily and Evie. They both shook their heads. “This seems like kind of a big deal not to mention to your family.” She fixed Amber with a stare.
“It’s not a big deal. I just sort of had this idea for making the Hope Gala an even better, bigger event for Theo’s campaign, but his campaign manager doesn’t think I can pull it off, and it’s just...” her voice broke off. “I’m trying to get everything perfect and...it’s a lot.” Amber sat on the couch heavily.
Allie moved closer, her tone softening. “This would be a lot more feasible if you weren’t trying to do the work of ten people. Why haven't you asked us for help?” It was her sister’s expression that made her crumble. Allie was one of those deeply caring people who would give you the shirt off her back if you needed it.
“I know you all have things going on too," Amber admitted. “I was doing fine until I suddenly wasn’t. The event coordinator at The Grand River Hotel has been taking care of everything, but I got this last-minute idea to change the decorations and it snowballed to another little thing I thought I could make better, and now I’m not sure I can finish everything on time. I’ve got this charity race tomorrow, and the gala the weekend after that, and I’m just a little stressed right now is all.” Her voice wobbled. “Nothing a little sugar and caffeine fix can’t cure.” She tried to smile because her sisters’ faces were so concerned, but all she could manage was a sigh. “I can handle it.”
Lily set down the fabric swatch and sat on the couch next to her. She took Amber's hand. “It’s okay to ask for help.” Her softgreen eyes were sympathetic. “We’re your family. I could totally help with the decorations. I’ve got a glue gun and I’m itching to use it.”
Evie pushed her glasses, purple with rhinestones today, up her nose and peeked at the guest list on the table. She whistled. "This is a lot of people. I can help. I make spreadsheets all day long at the library. I’ll organize everything into a list for you. Would that help?”
"I don't know. I just feel like I need to prove I can handle this.” She hesitated, not sure how much to share with something so new and fragile still. “I'm terrified of messing it up," Amber confessed. "It's not just my reputation on the line. It's Theo's future too. This event is a huge deal for his reelection. And I don't want to be the reason he fails. I don’t want to let him down.”
Her sisters were a lot of things. Slow on the draw was not one of them. Amber watched them exchange a whole conversation without using words. "Is this about more than just the campaign? Is there something going on between you two?” Evie asked carefully.
“No. Maybe. No,” Amber stammered, then groaned with frustration. She took a deep, steadying breath, and faced the mix of fear and exhilaration that she had been avoiding. “Honestly, I have no idea. I have zero experience with this.”
The looks again. Amber ignored the three of them eyeballing each other. “I know what you’re thinking, and it’s not that.” It wasn’tthat. It couldn’t be becausethat—falling for Theo—was the worst idea she’d ever had. She had done plenty of ill-thought-out things in her life, like dancing on a bar, or wearing four-inch stilettos to walk the dog, but she could handle those consequences. Falling in love had the potential to shatter her.
The thought alone made her feel like getting up and leaving her own apartment.
“Sometimes it sneaks up on you whether you want it or not,” Allie said dryly. “I wasn’t looking for a relationship when I moved back here with Sammy, but I fell in love with Davis when we got to know each other. It was how he took care of me, and how he listened to me, and believed in me when I didn’t yet.” She blushed. “And we had this chemistry from the second we met that I knew wasn’t a fluke.”
“Oh please, it’s not nice to brag,” Evie said, fanning herself. “Your chemistry’s so hot, it almost makes me pregnant.”
Amber laughed at Allie’s red cheeks. “How about you, Lils? How did you know you loved Tucker?”
Lily twirled a fabric flower petal between her fingers. “I don’t know if there was a specific moment,” she said. “We’ve been together since ninth grade.” She shrugged half-heartedly. “It was just easy, I guess.”
She looked so sad for a second that Amber squeezed her knee. “Just because things started one way doesn’t mean they have to stay like that forever,” Amber said gently. Lily nodded but didn’t say anything. It was always tricky to talk to Lily about Tucker. She wanted to tell her to ditch him and start over with someone who treated her like she deserved...like how Theo treated her.
She swallowed hard. “I don’t know what I feel,” Amber confessed, the words feeling both terrifying and liberating. “But I’m scared to death I’ll mess up the best thing I’ve ever had.” Falling in love with your boss never worked out. They would inevitably break up, and then what? She’d be out of a job and a relationship. Everyone knew it was the saddest cliché in the world. Johnny’s warning flashed in her head.
If things don’t work out, it’s not the golden boy of Northfield that’s going to feel the damage, it’ll be you.
Saying the words out loud was foreign. She didn’t even recognize herself. The vulnerability. The fear. It was everythingshe had avoided all her adult life, and yet here she was. It was enough to make her hyperventilate.
