This was one of those times when being a good friend required faking it. “You don’t have to be sorry, Jewel. I totally understand. I’m bummed, of course, because I loved working with you. And . . .” Emily couldn’t stop the catch in her throat as tears threatened to overwhelm her. “And I really liked living with you, too. I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but have you thought about that? About the house? I guess Chloe and I will have to move out, huh?”
Jewel’s voice quivered, too. “I guess I kind of need you to. I don’t want you to, but I just . . .”
“I know. I get it. And I understand. You’ve been so great to Chloe and me, letting us stay there all this time. We’ve been so lucky.” Her mouth said the words and mostly she meant them, but in the back of her mind she couldn’t help but panic. Jewel owned that house, fair and square, and she charged Emily a pittance in rent to live there. That had been a real blessing, but now she was being evicted with just a few weeks’ notice. Where was Emily going to find a place to live in that same school district that wouldn’t charge her three times the rent? And how was she going to deal with that when she was committed to staying in Trillium Bay until Gigi’s cottage was finished?
“I can help you find a new place,” Jewel said. “I’ll start looking right away. Well, I mean, when I’m not busy with wedding planning stuff. That might be kind of time-consuming. But I will totally help you pack up your stuff. Or I can even do it for you and put it into storage since I realize I’m giving you, like, no time to plan.”
No, she sure as hell wasn’t. No time and no warning. Getting engaged was one thing, but getting married in just a matter of weeks was . . . well, maybe it was sweet and romantic, but maybe it was foolish and shortsighted.
“Jewel, are you sure about this? Why rush into it? Can’t you be engaged for a while?”
“I don’t need to wait, Em. I’m sure about this. Like I said, I’ve known Kevin for almost a year. Be happy for me.”
“I am. If you’re happy, then I’m happy.” Emily took a big, deep breath. This was Jewel’s life and her decision to make. She’d already spent enough energy trying to dissuade her sister and Tag from being involved with each other, and the truth was, Emily wasn’t all that immune, either. She’d kissed Ryan just a handful of times, but her heart was already halfway in. “I think Kevin is a smart guy and very lucky to marry you, but I have to admit, I’m going to miss you like crazy.”
“I know. I’m going to miss you, too, but we’ll still see each other all the time. You know we will.”
Sure they would, but everything would be different.
“And in case it isn’t obvious, I want you to be my maid of honor.”
Maid of honor. Wow. That should be such a thrill. Really it should, and under any other circumstances Emily would be elated, but right now all she could think about was that meant more money. A bridesmaid’s dress for her, an outfit for Chloe, maybe a shower or bachelorette party for Jewel. All while she was trying to work on the island and find a new place in Texas. Holy. Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Really? Me? That’s so awesome,” she lied. “I’m honored to be your maid of honor.”
“I wouldn’t even consider asking anyone else. The ceremony is going to be very small, of course, since we don’t have much time to plan.”
They talked for another few minutes as Jewel rattled on about looking for a dress and what colors she wanted and how cute Kevin had been last night at a party introducing her to everyone as his fiancée. Emily wanted to be pleased about this, but it was so sudden. She’d been on cruise control for the last few weeks, just working on Gigi’s cottage, biding her time until the San Antonio house sold, thinking she’d evaluate her options then. But suddenly most of her options were gone. It was like standing at the edge of a diving board, mentally preparing for a very complicated dive, and having someone rush up from behind and push you in before you were ready. Now Emily was in free fall, just waiting to hit, splat, against the water.
“I’m so excited for you, sweetie.” She’d finally had enough and interrupted Jewel. “I’d love to talk more, but I really have to get to my own job here. I’ll call you again later.”
They said a few more goodbyes, and finally the called ended. Not a moment too soon, because the reality of it all was hitting Emily hard, and she needed to go have a little cry. What the hell was she going to do? Jewel was getting married and had gotten a job. So now Emily had no house to go back to. No business partner to rely on. No money. As soon as this remodeling job of Gigi’s was over with . . . she would have no place to go and nothing to do. Except worry. Holy. Shit.
When Emily arrived at the cottage an hour later, she found only Georgie.
“Hey, where is everybody?” she asked as she walked into the kitchen, which was full of brand-new cabinets with the exact-right finish. Unfortunately, none of these cabinets were attached to any of the walls. She’d thought that would have been completed yesterday.
Georgie reached up and scratched her head, making that topknot of her hair fall to one side. “Um, that’s sort of an interesting story.”
“It’s always an interesting story. What happened this time?”
“Tiny was using the old ladder to get up on the roof to fix that loose shingle. You know which ladder I’m talking about?”
“Does it matter which ladder?”
“I guess not, except for if you knew which ladder I’m talking about you’d know for sure that there was no way in hell that ladder was ever going to hold up under Tiny, but he was so happy this morning about spending time with Gloria that he thought for sure he could just scamper on up that ladder before it even knew it was being climbed. Then he figured he’d fix the shingle and just scurry on back down.”
“Seriously? And you guys let him climb that ladder?” Now she knew which one they meant. She wouldn’t have let Chloe use that ladder, and she weighed two hundred pounds less than Tiny.
Georgie shrugged and scratched her head again. “Well, he’s the foreman, and plus he was pretty convincing. He said it could hold him.”
“Okay, so what happened?”
“Turns out he was wrong.”
Emily crossed her arms. “I gathered that. Is he okay?”
“Not sure. He got to about the sixth rung and the whole thing just gave way, and he came bouncing down with it. Whatever rungs he didn’t break with his feet, he broke with his head. The whole ladder split in two. It was really kind of cool to watch. Except for when Tiny landed he twisted his ankle pretty bad. He didn’t think it was broken, but Matt said he really ought to go have it checked out at the medical center.”
On Emily’s list of things to do? Double-check workers’ compensation and liability insurance.
“Yes, I’m glad Matt told him to do that, but that doesn’t explain where everyone else is.”
“Tiny couldn’t walk, and it took all the rest of the guys to carry him.”
“They carried him? Did it occur to anyone to call a horse taxi or a dray or something?”
Emily watched as the thought registered on Georgie’s face. “That would’ve been a really good idea.”
“Yeah, no kidding. So they are all down at the medical center?”