Emily tilted her head, studying Monica like she was a mildly interesting piece of art. “You must be mistaken. My mother was never interested in my art. In fact, she told me a thousand times I was too stupid to do it.”
She didn’t wait for a response. Just squeezed my hand again and walked by them, head high, shoulders back, trophy gleaming under the atrium lights.
I fell into step beside her, leaving Monica and Anthony standing there with their mouths open and their delusions shattered.
Once we were well out of earshot, she said, “Now I really think I’m going to throw up.”
We made it another twenty feet before I spotted an alcove off to the side. I tugged Emily toward it, pulling her into the quiet space and wrapping my arms around her.
She was shaking.
“Hey.” I held her tighter, one hand cradling the back of her head. “I’ve got you.”
“I know.” Her voice was muffled against my chest. “I know you do.”
We stood there for a long moment, just breathing together. Gradually, the trembling eased. Her grip on my jacket loosened.
She pulled back just enough to look up at me, her eyes bright but steady. “I can’t believe she had the audacity to turn up here.”
“Me either, but let’s face it. She’s struggled for a year with the boundaries you’ve put around her. She was always going to push it at some point.”
“True.” She huffed out a breath. “I’ve been dreading that moment for so long. Building it up in my head as this huge, terrifying thing. And then it just... happened. And I didn’t fall apart. I can’t wait to talk this over in therapy on Monday.”
“You were incredible.” I cupped her face in my hands. “Walking away like that. Not giving her an inch. I’m so proud of you.”
She turned her head to press a kiss to my palm. “Thank you. And thank you for standing by me.”
The words hit me square in the chest. “Always, sweetheart. I love you, Emily. So much.”
“I love you too.” She rose up on her toes and kissed me, soft and sweet. “Now come on. Everyone’s waiting outside and I’m pretty sure if we don’t get out there soon, your mother’s going to send a search party.”
The plaza outside the museum was chaos.
Good chaos. The best kind of chaos. A wall of familiar faces turned toward us as we pushed through the doors, and the noise that erupted was loud enough to scatter a flock of birds from a nearby tree.
My parents were there, Mom already crying, Dad grinning so wide I could see it from thirty feet away. Travis and Brooke. Erica and Devin, their kids running circles around everyone’s legs. And the girls, the whole pack of them. Mia and Maya and Hannah and Poppy and Cassidy and the twins.
They swarmed Emily like she was a returning hero, which I suppose she was.
“Let me see it!” Poppy grabbed for the trophy. “Oh my god, it’s so pretty!”
“Em, I’m so proud of you!” Mia pulled her into a fierce hug. “I knew you could do it. I knew it.”
My mother was next, clasping Emily’s face between her hands and saying something I couldn’t hear over the general commotion. Whatever it was had happy tears shimmering in Emily’s eyes.
I hung back and let them have her. She deserved this. Deserved every bit of love they were pouring over her.
Dad appeared at my elbow. “Hell of a woman you’ve got there, son.”
“Don’t I know it.”
He clapped me on the shoulder, and we stood together watching Emily get passed from hug to hug, her cheeks flushed, her smile so bright it hurt to look at.
Movement near the parking lot caught my eye. A familiar car pulling up to the curb.
Natascha climbed out and opened the back door. Two small bodies exploded from the vehicle like they’d been fired from a cannon.
“Emily! Emily! Did you win? Daddy said you were gonna win!”
