“That must be difficult,” Emma said with a thoughtful look on her face. Then she hurriedly added. “Not that I am trying to be critical. Home is just a very big deal to me.”
Interesting. She’d never mentioned her family before. Some nurses put up pictures of their kids or extended family. I couldn’t recall ever seeing ones with Emma in them, though. “I’ve never really known anything different. I don’t have any family that I am close to. Other than my grandma, I guess. So I’m free to move wherever my career takes me.” Worried I was boring her, I asked, “Where in Montana are you from?”
“Gardiner. It is a small town just outside of Yellowstone. My dad is a museum curator there at the park.” Emma got a far-off look on her face—like she was watching Old Faithful go off or hiking a trail into past memories.
“I’ve never been there before, but I bet growing up in that environment would have been cool.”I pictured her as a kid, with all that curly hair, tearing down a trail and her dad trying to keep up with her.
“I loved it: the open space, fresh air, and all the wildlife. It was pretty amazing.”
“Chicago must have been a big change of pace, then?” I questioned. If she loved the country so much, what on earth had brought her here?
“Yeah, my first few years here were pretty taxing, but we’ve settled in okay. Me and Becca, I mean. We have been best friends for years. Grew up in Montana together.”
“That’s funny,” I said.
“Why?” Emma’s eyebrows pinched together with confusion and a tad bit of insult.
“I didn’t mean that your situation was funny. I was just thinking of Becca in the middle of the mountains. She didn’t strike me as a country girl.”
“Oh,” Emma replied as she turned her head gazing at something far away in the distance. Had I said something wrong? “Becca dreamed of moving to a big city when she grew up. This life fits her.”
Then there was another awkward pause as I tried to come up with another question and she was lost in her thoughts.I didn’t want this conversation to end, and I wasn’t ready to let her go. Her life was so different from mine—stable family and country life. “How long have you lived in Chicago?” Lame. My question was totally lame, though on topic. I had no game when it came to women, and this situation shone a spotlight on the fact. Great. Dylan would have all sorts of things to say about that.
“Five years.” The answer was short and sweet, and she didn’t volunteer more.
Just thinking of Dylan gave me a good idea. “Since you have the experience here, is there anything else you would recommend to do when I’m off of work?”
She gave me a challenging look. “Are you sure you’re up for a recommendation?”
She was teasing me. Flirting? My heart gave a funny leap. “Well, this is the first thing I’ve tried since moving here. It’s not bad. But you already knew that—so I’m willing to take your word. We’ll see how that turns out.”
Her expression softened. “I have two absolute favorite things about Chicago: the Cubs and the Field Museum.”
A light went off inside of me—like a lightbulb over a brilliant idea. We had another thing in common—though I wasn’t sure how to point it out without looking like a dork.You like baseball? Me too.“I’ll have to give them a try. Maybe I’ll start with a Cubs game, though I’m really not a museum person.”
“How can you not like a museum? There are so many fascinating things. The Field Museum is home to Sue, the largest, most completeT. rexskeleton ever found. It also has one of the largest collections of Egyptian mummies in the United States, the Hall of Gems, which shows all sorts of jewels and objects from around the world, and even the lions of Tsavo.”
“The lions of Tsavo?” I had honestly never heard of them before.
“Have you ever seen the movieThe Ghost and the Darkness?”
“I can honestly say I never have.” I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gone to a movie, let alone watched one in my living room.
“It’s this ’90s movie that stars Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas,” she said excitedly. Clearly, this was a happy topic for her. She pinched her lips together, looked around, raised one eyebrow, and said cautiously, “I’ll make you a deal. You watchThe Ghost and the Darknessso you have a little background, and I’ll take you to the museum and show you around.”
My eyes widened before I could stop them. Was she asking me out? Not that I would mind, but that was more unexpected than if a lion appeared in front of us the trail.
She seemed to read my mind and hurried to add, “It’s not a date. I’m just helping you learn your way around a new place. Deal?” she said as her hand extended out.
My heart sank at her need to clarify that this was a non-date, but then again, a week and a half ago we hadn’t even been talking, so we were making progress. This would go a long way to building our working relationship. “Deal,” I answered. We shook hands, and a connection, like having a warm scarf wrap around both of us and up my arm, had me moving in slow motion.
“Okay. I’m going to go stretch out.” She pointed toward the parking lot. “Have a good day, Dr. Mitchell. Let me know when you’ve finished the show.”
“All right, have a good day.” I lifted my hand in a kind of half wave, still shocked at the turn in the conversation and the warmth left on my palm from her touch.
Emma turned and quickly walked away.
I didn’t quite want to be done with my assignment. I had a light feeling in my chest and decided to keep walking a little longer. Maybe Dylan was right. Maybe doing the difficult things he’d asked was planting seeds for success. Not only in my work life, but in my personal life as well.
