Page 100 of The Emma Special

Katie looked up from her phone. “Daniel said⁠—”

Allison slapped the pen down onto the couch. “If you say ‘Daniel said’ one more time! What’s going on with you two?”

Katie shrugged. “Nothing yet. He’s fun to hang out with, but that’s about as far as things have gotten.”

Allison hunched over the diary mumbling, “Katie and Daniel have not defined the relationship.”

“What’s the rush? We haven’t even been on an actual date yet. We’re just hanging out.”

Emma raised her hand high above her head. “I haven’t been on a date with James either, but now we’re living together.”

“What’s that like, by the way?” Summer asked. “Spill the tea.”

Emma’s neck and face heated at the memory of James greeting her in the kitchen earlier that morning. “He wears glasses.”

Allison let out a riotous laugh. “That’s the big perk of living with a man? Glasses? Aaaand?”

Ugh. If the girls only knew how well he wore them. Glasses had never looked so good on a man. She hadn’t even told them how his hair was disheveled in all the right ways when he rolled out of bed and lumbered into the kitchen for coffee first thing in the morning. Did anyone else know he didn’t sleep in a suit? “It was… oddly comforting knowing he was in the next room.”

“You may be the first couple in history to sleep in separate bedrooms on their wedding night,” Summer said.

“Marty and Clark didn’t sleep together the first night,” Katie reminded them.

“So, when is Mr. Hottie taking you on a date?” Allison asked.

“Oh! I almost forgot,” Emma said, sitting up straighter. “I need a dress to wear to a charity event. A nice one. Also one that is zero dollars because I don’t have a job.”

It still hurt that she wouldn’t be able to take the job Lottie had offered her. For a moment, things had been looking up. Then she’d injured her knee for good before she’d even left the Moore’s house.

“If James invited you to a party, I’m sure he’d be willing to buy you a dress,” Katie said.

Emma clasped her hands at her chest. “Please don’t make me go full Pretty Woman. Do you remember what happened to Julia Roberts when she went into that fancy clothing store?”

Allison tapped on her phone screen. “I have this pink dress that would look amazing on you.” She turned the phone around to show them the dress in question.

Emma gasped. Allison wore a light-pink dress of perfection with puffed sleeves. It was fitted around the torso with a twirl-worthy hemline. “It’s gorgeous!”

“It’s yours whenever you need it.” Allison waggled her eyebrows. “It pretends to be a sundress, but the fabric is high end. The zipper in the back goes all the way to the neck and there’s a hook you can’t unclasp on your own. James will love it.”

James would love it. Why did the thought of James finding her attractive make her absolutely giddy? “Do you have any boring shoes I can borrow that I can walk in post surgery? I’m not allowed to wear heels.”

“I do,” Allison said matter of factly. “And I think we need to get started on planning your lingerie party.”

“My what?” Emma shouted.

“Oh, you’re right. I bet my paycheck that Emma folds within the month,” Katie said.

“I’ll wager the same on two months,” Summer added. “Just because I know Emma’s stubborn and will make the poor guy suffer as long as possible.”

Emma glanced between her friends. “What is happening?”

“We’re making sure you’re prepared for your big night. Whenever it may be,” Allison said.

“I’m not wearing lingerie for James!” Emma pushed up from the recliner with a bit too much gusto and toppled forward.

Katie grabbed at Emma’s arm but only succeeded in making her fall sideways instead of face-first. In the end, it was Summer who dove to the rescue. Or, rather, sacrificed herself as a cushion for Emma’s fall by throwing herself onto the living room rug.

All of the air whooshed out of Emma’s lungs as she toppled. Katie was poised above them, awkwardly holding Emma’s leg like she’d just saved a priceless vase from shattering into a hundred shards.