“Going to Ireland is now on my bucket list. Maybe I’ll add getting married in a castle.” Laughing, she hands me back my phone.
“Take one of the three of us.” Mickey bounces in his seat. “You can put it in your scrapbook too next to the picture of Bella.”
“Mick.” Delaney runs a hand over his hair. “I’m sure Emma has taken a million photos during her trip. She doesn’t need one of us.”
“I’d love one,” I interject before Mickey can plead his case. “I’m trying to capture all the best moments of my trip, and I think this ranks high up there.”
Mickey darts up from his chair, pushing to his tiptoes. His hand flies into the air above his head. “Does it rank up here?”
I follow his lead and stand, raising my hand above his. “Way up here.”
Delaney rises to her feet. “Let’s take it by the display case. What’s better than having cupcakes as a backdrop?”
“Two new friends,” I say with a smile.
Her arm falls over my shoulders. “Two new lifelong friends. The next time you’re back in Manhattan, your first stop needs to be here.”
I don’t know if I’ll ever come back to New York City again, but I grin as Mickey grabs for my hand. With a skip in his step, he leads me across the bakery.
Grateful that Lester apparently has theafternoon off, I plop myself down on a bench in the lobby.
The temperature outside has to be closing in on one hundred degrees, and I didn’t dress for that. I’m wearing jeans and a pink patterned lightweight blouse. The sandals on my feet may be uncomfortable, but they’re a much better choice than the boots I almost wore.
I can’t wait to get up to Case’s apartment to shower.
A glance at my phone screen tells me that Maya is likely already gone, but I want to give it until quarter past five before I hop on the elevator.
I drop my phone in my purse and peer into the shopping bag at my feet.
I picked up an antique brushed gold frame for Drake’s wedding photo after I ordered a large print on the Printe app. My brother couldn’t have known when he developed the app, that I’d use it to print a picture of him kissing his bride a year later.
After typing Case’s address into the order form, a wave of guilt washed over me because in the very next breath, I typed Case’s name into a search engine on my phone.
My quest was focused on one thing. I wanted information on what chased Case out of New York City seven years ago.
I found nothing connected to that.
All that I did find were pictures of the man I spent the night with and an array of stellar reviews for his work in the app market and stories about his philanthropy.
The list of charities that he’s donated money to is staggering.
The combined amount is astronomical, yet he never took direct credit for any of it.
Each contribution to a worthy cause was in the name of a foundation he’d set up through Cabbott Mobile.
He’s a good person who suffered through something so devastating that it drove him across a continent with only the clothes on his back.
“Emma?”
I turn at the sound of Maya’s voice.
As always, she looks every inch the professional in a tailored blue pencil skirt and white blouse.
“Hey.” I push to stand. “How are you?”
Her face brightens. “I’m doing well.”
I shift from one sandal to another. I want to go up to the apartment, but I can’t be rude.
