“So how’s Boston?” Emma asked.
Brant could tell that she was struggling to stay awake. He’d love to be there curled around her while she slept. “I’m in Greenville, remember?”
“Oh yeah, that’s right. When are you coming home?”
“Probably sometime next week.”
“I’m going to miss you,” Emma said.
“Me too, baby. Why don’t you get some sleep and I’ll call you tomorrow?”
“Mmm, ’kay. I love you.” The breath hitched in his chest as she ended the call. He wondered for a moment if he was hearing things that weren’t there. No, he knew what she had said. Surprisingly, he found himself hoping that she meant the words and that it wasn’t just the result of too much alcohol. There were two women wanting to be a part of his life but there was only one from whom he wanted to hear words of love—the woman who had just spoken them to him.
Chapter Twenty-one
Emma looked in the mirror the next morning and gasped. She vaguely remembered someone having the bright idea of doing homemade tattoos the previous night. Shit, she was pretty sure she had started it. Right in the middle of her chest was a crooked heart with the word “Bran” in the middle of it. Oh my God, she’d even left the T off the end. Great, everyone knows you only eat bran when you have digestive issues.
Even after a scrubbing so hard she had taken off a few layers of skin, the Sharpie still prevailed. She picked a shirt that covered up most of her drunken body art and left for work. She went straight to Ella and Beth’s floor to see their tattoos. Beth had to pull her into the office to show hers since it was on her breast. “Nick loved it. He said he would be turned on all day knowing it was there.”
Ella pulled her shirt down, showing another crooked heart with “Declan” written in the center. “All right,” Emma huffed, “why am I the only one with a misspelled name on my chest? Who did it?”
Beth looked guilty before raising her hand. “I think I did. Don’t judge me, though. I had had way too much to drink by then.” Turning to Ella, she said, “You weren’t drunk, why didn’t you stop us? Or at least encourage us to use something a little less permanent than a Sharpie?”
Shaking her head, Ella replied, “Hey, I tried to talk you out of it, but you were both bound and determined to go through with it, even when I pointed out that the marker was permanent. So . . . I did what any good friend would do, I joined you.”
Emma grimaced. “Well, I’ll go back over mine with some bleach and a loofah tonight. I’m sure it’ll be gone in a few days . . . or weeks.”
Suddenly, the mood sobered as Ella asked, “Have you heard from Gray? How is Suzy doing?”
“He said she’s feeling better but would like for everyone to wait to visit. I wanted to go by there during lunch, but he told me she’s not really ready for visitors yet,” Beth finished, looking miserable. “Part of me wants to go anyway, but I know how my sister is. She likes time to think things through and I feel that, regardless of my wanting to see her, I need to give her space.”
Emma put her arm around Beth, giving her a brief hug of understanding. “I would love to see her, too, but I think Gray knows what she needs now better than we do, so even though it’s tough, let’s do this for her.” Before she could comment further, the phone on the desk rang and Beth jumped to get it. Emma walked out with Ella and they promised to have lunch the next week. She took the elevator to her floor and felt a pang of disappointment knowing that Brant wouldn’t be there waiting as he usually was.
She worked steadily through the morning and grabbed a quick sandwich for lunch, eating at her desk while playing Candy Crush. She was almost bored enough to call her mother—almost. Instead, she settled for her sister. She could still get the same gossip from Robyn but wouldn’t be forced to answer a lot of awkward questions as she would with their mother.