“Hi. There’s my friend Bryce,” she exclaimed, beaming at him.
“And there’s my friend Olive.”
“Is this your dog?”
“Yes. This is Pearl.”
“Hi, Pearl!” She hugged the dog and both of them looked instantly smitten with each other.
“Is Grandma here yet?” Olive asked.
“Not yet. I’m sure she will be soon.”
The words had barely escaped her mouth when the rear door opened and, as if on cue, Rosie came through, looking smart and stylish as always.
“Grandma!” Olive raced toward Rosie, arms out. The naked love on her mother’s expression made Emma’s throat close up. Every time she saw her mother and daughter, Emma knew she had made the right choice to come home, even with all the baggage between them.
Olive needed Rosie in her life.
Okay. And perhaps Emma did, too.
Those years of their estrangement had been lonely and hard. She had yearned for the close relationship they once had. She didn’t quite feel comfortable yet around her mother but she hoped with time that would continue to improve.
Rosie and Olive hugged for a long time, as if they had last seen each other months ago instead of early that morning.
When her mother set the girl back to her feet and straightened, her gaze instantly fell on the two of them. Her eyes widened.
“Bryce! What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be with your mother!”
“Exactly what I told him,” Emma said, not wanting Rosie to think she was selfish enough to insist the man rush back to town in the midst of his family crisis simply to help her.
“I was telling Emma that I’ve been in a hospital room all day and needed something physical to do.”
“That is so kind of you,” Rosie said. The affection in her expression gave Emma a little burst of jealousy that shamed her.
She had to get over this. Bryce had earned his spot in Rosie’s affection, while Emma still had a long way to go. It wasn’t fair to resent him for the close relationship he obviously had with her mother.
“Did Bryce tell you the news?”
Emma looked between the two of them in confusion. “About his mother’s accident? Yes.”
That surely couldn’t be the reason for her mother’s suddenly bright expression.
“I, um, haven’t had a chance to tell her yet.”
“A chance to tell me what?” she asked, feeling a sudden sense of foreboding.
“Bryce will be helping you with more than rearranging shelving and clearing out clutter. I’ve asked him to handle the whole bookstore refresh. Top to bottom.”
Emma stiffened as all her plans seemed to crash through the front windows.
“The refresh.”
Rosie beamed. “Yes! I’m so excited. He was telling me some of the things you wanted to do and they sound exactly what the bookstore needs to rejuvenate sales. I love the idea of expanding into the space next door and adding a coffee stand as well as more retail space. Genius!”
“Genius,” she repeated, feeling numb.
“We all need to sit down and go through the blueprints for the building and decide the best use of the space. I’ve told Bryce to make this his number one priority for the next few weeks. When he’s not with his mother, anyway.”
