Page 4 of The Emma Special

“Do you know him? He was dreamy.” Emma fanned her heated face. “Thirteen-year-old me would have loved a poster of him on my bedroom wall.”

Summer snorted then covered her mouth with her hands. “Sorry,” she said through a laugh. “Are we talking about the same James Moore?”

“I don’t know. Who are you talking about?”

“The guy we went to school with,” Katie said. “Skinny, brown hair, thick glasses, 5.0 GPA.”

“Um, that does not sound like my hero. He was buff stuff and no glasses.” Emma clasped her hands in front of her and gasped. “Speaking of GPAs, did I mention I got a job?”

Katie shoved Emma’s shoulder. “No way!”

Allison held up a hand. “Wait, are you talking about another princess booking?”

Emma reached for her coffee. “I got a real, adult job. I start on Monday.”

Her friends cheered and wrapped her in loving hugs as she fought to keep her coffee from sloshing out of the cup. It was the end of an era—the jobless era—and her friends were right here, ready to celebrate with her.

Allison swung her hand in the air like she was about to lasso a heifer. “A round of drinks on me!”

Emma raised her hand. “I’ll take a muffin instead because I haven’t eaten today, and I don’t love drinking my calories.”

Allison got up and headed toward the cafe counter without a word, but Summer folded her arms over her chest and leveled Emma with a disapproving look. “How many times have I told you not to skip meals?”

“Only twenty this weekend,” Emma replied honestly. “It was a hectic day. I walked the Randalls’ dogs this morning, cleaned Miss Judy’s house, then made my big appearance at Riley Jones’s birthday party before rushing here. No time for sustenance.”

The excuse was real, but it wasn’t the true reason she’d skipped meals. The girls knew money was tight. Emma ate granola bars and peanut butter crackers like they were the only two food groups.

Allison returned and handed the plastic-wrapped muffin to Emma. “Eat.”

She grabbed the mega muffin and tore into the wrapping. “Thank you! I’ll pay you back. Promise. Shoot, Katie, I meant to ask if I can borrow that pencil skirt and a couple tops until I get my first paycheck. I have absolutely nothing appropriate for this desk job. I can pretend to be professional eight hours a day, right?” She looked at her friends’ smiling faces. “What?”

Summer gently brushed a hand over the windblown toasted blond curls that had escaped from Emma’s updo. “It’s hard to take anything you say seriously when you’re still wearing the elf ears.”

“All of you come by our place after church,” Katie said, “and we’ll play runway to find Emma a super cute first-day outfit. Bring an accessory to donate to the cause. She needs the power suit for pixies pretending to be executives.” Katie picked up her copy of Love Comes Softly. “Now, can we please talk about this book because I am unwell and need to vent.”

Emma chewed a bite of cinnamon muffin and blinked away the extra moisture in her eyes as the girls chatted about the unconventional love story of Marty and Clark on the American frontier.

Chapter 2

James Remembers

I can’t believe it. Emma Glass had sat in the passenger seat of his car.

Dressed as a pixie.

James shifted into gear and pulled onto the downtown street. He’d dreamed about talking to Emma plenty of times. He’d even imagined what it would be like to walk down the crowded school hallways with her hand in his and have her smile directed at him, but the reality trumped every adolescent dream. He’d watched her charm audiences and strangers his entire senior year of high school, and apparently not much had changed since they were in theater club together.

Clearly, he still wasn’t on her radar. She hadn’t given him a second glance the entire year they were in school together. She was the cute, friendly freshman, and he was the nerdy, invisible senior. She stole the show, and he hid his way through high school like it was his job.

Years later, they were both still in town and running in completely different circles. He hadn’t bumped into her even once since he graduated from law school and returned to work at the firm with his dad. Not that he hadn’t fantasized about crossing paths with her again. He’d done that plenty of times.

Emma Glass… James glanced at the mess covering his passenger seat and floorboard. She sure had a way of leaving her mark.

The minivan behind James beeped its horn, and he lifted a hand in apology as he moved through the four-way stop.

The center display lit up with a call notice from Dad. James drove another block before he answered. “This is James Moore.”

“Where are you?”