“More butter?” she asked.
“Right, the answer in any situation is to add more butter,” he confirmed.
He quit yanking, rubbed more of the mixture on the grate, and tried again. How had she wedged her arm inside so thoroughly? She wasn’t entirely certain of the physics in this situation. The one thing she was certain of? Whatever they were, the physics of this situation sucked.
Ethan sat back on his heels again, thinking.
“I called Grandpa,” Fiona hollered, running to them, with a tub of butter in her hand. “He’ll bring his axe.”
Emmaline said, “no,” at the same time as Ethan.
Fiona raised her hands like she was giving up. “You said call him if it’s a big problem. He said he’s always close, anyway.”
Oh no. Oh hell.
It’s not that Em’s parents didn’t know she was a bit of a screw-up. It’s just that she tried to hide it from them whenever she could. But they’d seen her through many episodes and brought them up. Often.
“If it helps, I don’t think she meant he’ll chop off your arm,” Ethan assured.
Emmaline gave him a look like he was the one who had gone nuts. “No, I don’t think that’s what he would do, either.”
There they were, stuck by the gutter with her arm thrust inside…and her dad on his way.
Worst case, her dad would bring up the divorce and how he had told her moving to California was a bad idea to begin with. Best case? He’d have laryngitis and be unable to speak.
“Bloody hell,” Ethan said, wiping at his forehead with his arm.
“Should we play cards or something while we wait?” Em asked, attempting to be the picture of innocence.
“Em?” a male voice finally called from a truck, pulling up beside them.
Em glanced up to where James climbed out, eyes wide, with their mom and dad. Oh good, they all showed up.
Dad wasn’t in uniform, so that was good. They hadn’t called him from a shift. And Mom wasn’t dressed up like she’d been at an important lunch or anything, either. Still…
“Hell,” Em said under her breath. She let her head fall forward. “Hey Mom, Dad, James.” She recovered quickly and waved jauntily with her not-trapped arm. “Got myself into a little pickle here.” She followed this with, “Again,” under her breath.
“Well, I don’t know about anyone else, but I am appreciating the many opportunities to come to your sister’s rescue.” Ethan did the guy mind-meld thing with James, where they talk only using chin jerks and glowers.
Then James really looked at Em, puzzled.
Yeah, she understood that feeling, too.
“Ethan, you’ve met my brother, James. This is my dad, Jim, and my mom, Patty.” Just to round out the embarrassment. “Everyone, this is Ethan, my…uh…”
Well, they hadn’t discussed what they’d tell the parents. Shit.
“He’s her boyfriend,” Fiona said with a whole heaping of pride. “This is Annie. If they get married, she’s going to be my sister!”
Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck.
Annie waved.
Ethan locked eyes with Em, mirroring her own feeling of being paralyzed with surprise.
This was one of those times she wished she could vanish. Nope, no need to sparkle for herself. Ethan could have all the attention. Every single crumb. Where was some wallpaper to fade into when she actually needed it?
She could call herself a chameleon and blend into the background more skillfully and effectively than she’d ever blended before.
