“Jake told us that your parents have passed away already.”
“Yeah…” So many years have passed and yet tears always accompanied any talk about my parents being in heaven.
“Oh, Emily.” Sandy hugged me and cried with me. “How lonely you must have been all those years without a mother and father. Holidays could not have been very joyful for you.”
I nodded in agreement. “But this Christmas is different. I don’t think you’ll ever know how much I appreciated the four days I spent with your family. It truly felt like I was a part of a family again, and I thank you for giving me that sense of belonging.”
“Emily. Regardless of where you and Jake are now, or where you will be in the future, I want you to come to me when times are tough, or when you think of your mother. I know I can’t substitute, but I would like to be there for you if a need should arise, OK?”
“Thank you, Sandy. I’ll do that.”
We took a few minutes to compose ourselves and then talked about everything from Jake’s childhood to mine to details of everyone coming to dinner tonight. Jake had so many family members living nearby. I would meet many aunts and uncles and cousins tonight. An hour had flown by when Jane arrived ecstatic to see me here.
“Emily! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming early? Does Jake know you’re here?”
“No. I actually don’t know where he is. He and I had a big misunderstanding this morning, and I need to work my way back into his good graces,” I said kiddingly.
“I can’t imagine him being upset with you. I’ve never seen him so in love with anyone. Right, Mom?”
“I would have to agree. It’s unusual the way he looks out for you and loves you. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so passionate about anyone,” Sandy said wistfully. “I think he’s forgotten about all the other women in his life—namely, me.” She was happily laying on the guilt like a real mother would.
“No. He speaks highly of you all the time. He loves you and Jane very much.”
“No, he loves you very much.” Jane shook her head no. “Emily, come with me. I’ll show you around the house and you can see what my room looks like.” I followed Jane through a vast hallway and up a grand staircase. All of the bedrooms were on the second floor with the exception of the guest suite up on the third floor. Jane’s room was larger than my living room and dining room combined. It was filled with memorabilia from all over the world.
“Jane, have you really been to all these places?” I marveled at a large map with different colored pushpins. Each member of the family had his or her own color displaying all the places they’d visited. There wasn’t a continent that didn’t have a pushpin. Even Antarctica had Bobby and Sandy’s color pushed into it.
“OK, what’s going on? You might be able to fool Mom but you can’t fool me. You look as though you’ve been crying all morning.”
“Am I that obvious?” Was that the case or was Jane so in tune with me already that she could read my face so readily?
“You didn’t go into hysterics by yourself about this whole my life is a dream, when is reality coming crap, did you?”
For the first time today, I laughed. As much as I wanted to bring Jane into my confidence about what happened this morning, it felt a little too raw. Rather than discussing this further, the topic of San Francisco came up.
Jane, too, was curious about how I’d reacted to Allison.
“I didn’t get upset with your brother. I told Jake I didn’t want to hear anything about her, but I’m dying to know what happened between them. Will you tell me?”
“Ally and I were roommates for two years. She’s Jake’s age and was up north modeling.”
“Yeah, I thought she was unusually tall and gorgeous.” I shuddered at how pretty she was. “I felt like Smurfette next to her.”
“Emily, you’re so funny. Anyhow, she was after Jake since the day they met. She finally told me during lunch that she and Jake hooked up briefly while she worked in LA. She was really upset when I told her how much Jake loves you. I don’t think she’ll be bothering you anymore.”
I felt grateful toward Jane for taking my side over her old roommate’s. There was a bond that had been created between us during my weekend up north. This bond was different than the one I had with Sarah. Jane and I felt like true sisters rather than close friends. I wished more than anything we could become sisters one day.
“So, why did she want to talk to Jake?”
“I don’t know. She won’t tell me. I’ll get it out of Jake next time I have a chance.”
“Thanks, Jane.” I hugged my dear friend.
“So, I want you to know that I booked tickets for you to come visit me in New York over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. I hope you don’t have plans already.”
“No way. Jane…you didn’t have to do that.”