Chapter Fifteen
Emma plastered a big, cheerful smile on her face as Trent introduced her and Ryan to his parents, Kate and Gary Lamar. “It’s such a pleasure to meet you,” she said.
“Yes, indeed,” Kate replied, looking anything but pleased.
“I can’t tell you how glad we all are to have Trent here with us for a little while,” Emma said, giving Ryan’s hand a squeeze.
“So you’re Ryan’s…girlfriend?” Kate paused before that last word, like it didn’t quite fit.
Because it didn’t. Even Emma knew that. She and Ryan were just…friends with benefits. Hooking up.Having wild sex against the wall right below your feet.She felt exposed, as if they somehow knew she wasn’t wearing panties, that Ryan had ripped them off her just minutes earlier. But no. They didn’t know that, not any of it, and it was none of their business. “Yes, I’m Ryan’s girlfriend.”
Ryan had gone oddly quiet, his brown eyes carefully blank. The tension in the air was thick enough to taste. She remembered Ryan telling her that Trent’s adoptive parents had kept the two brothers apart, thinking Ryan was a bad influence. That was why they’d grown up not knowing each other, and that sucked, as far as she was concerned.
“How long are you guys in town?” Ryan asked, his tone even and polite.
“Through the weekend. We weren’t expecting Trent to stay here in Haven this long.” Another little barb lobbed in Ryan’s direction by Kate Lamar. “We came to try to talk some sense into him.”
“I like it here,” Trent said.
“I’m glad you’ll be here a few days because I’d really like to talk,” Ryan said, “but right now, I’m afraid I’m running late for work.”
“I thought you worked at that zip-line place Trent’s been telling us about?” Gary Lamar said.
“I do, sir. I also bartend at the local pub a few nights a week.”
“Oh.” Kate’s face scrunched into an expression of distaste.
“We’d love for you come out to Off-the-Grid tomorrow. Trent can show you around the place. He’s been working hard,” Ryan said.
Kate nodded. “Yes, I would like to see it.”
“Great. I look forward to seeing you there.” Ryan turned to give Emma a quick peck on the lips, then climbed onto his bike and cranked the engine.
Trent’s parents recoiled, and Emma cringed. They’d spent Trent’s whole life keeping him away from his brother, convinced he’d be a bad influence. And now that they’d come here to Haven, they’d stumbled on him making out with Emma, the two of them clearly looking like they’d just had an afternoon quickie. He was tattooed, and he rode a motorcycle, and he worked in a bar, but he was also one of the most honorable men she knew.
Trent was lucky to call Ryan his brother, and Emma would do everything in her power to make sure his parents knew that. But she wasn’t going to cause a scene in front of Trent.
Instead, she drove home from Ryan’s condo, fixed herself a sandwich, and sat down in the living room with her laptop to work on the final digital renderings for the Haven Memorial. The memorial itself would arrive next month, and then she could begin work on the reflecting pool and gardens that would go around it. She’d done four separate designs—one for each season. In the spring, she would accent the memorial with brightly colored tulips and dahlias. In the fall, she would plant a bed of mums. But her favorite was summer, when she would surround the memorial with brilliant, red poppies.
As the memorial would be completed in June, she’d be planting the poppies first, and she could hardly wait. The mayor was organizing a grand opening event on July first, with live music, food, and games for the kids. She was a bundle of nerves about it but also crazy excited. Chewing her bottom lip, she made one last tweak to the summer design then saved them all and sent them to Lucas and Mary for their input and approval.
And oh,holy crap, there was an e-mail from the University of Georgia in her in-box. Her heart almost burst out of her chest before she realized it was a request for additional information. They wanted to see her portfolio. Was that unusual? Most applicants to this program were fresh out of high school and didn’t even have a portfolio yet.
Did it mean they were trying to look past her unimpressive GPA and SAT scores to let her work experience speak for itself? As she drafted a reply, attaching a link to the online portfolio she’d created when she found out Lucas and Mary were retiring, nerves swam in her belly.
She hadn’t realized until this moment how much she wanted,neededto get into this program. It was her fresh start, the chance to learn everything she needed to know to be able to open her own landscape design business someday. She gulped a deep breath and pressed Send.
Please, please, please let this be a good sign.
She glanced at the clock. It was just past eight. Time to go see Ryan. First, she went into her bedroom to change. Her tattoo had finally healed enough that she could wear jeans again, but tonight she felt like dressing up. She slipped into a green wrap dress and bronze ballet flats and freshened up her makeup.
Why not? It was Friday night, and she wanted to look nice.
The look on Ryan’s face when he caught sight of her made it all worthwhile. He turned his head and nearly dropped the glass of beer he held in his right hand. She smiled at him as she slid onto an empty barstool. “Hey.”
“Untapped amber ale?” he asked, his eyes burning like cocoa under the track lighting above the bar.
“Yes, please.” She crossed one leg over the other and watched him work.
