Steeling My Haart (14 page)

        
The
phone rang out a couple of times before her mom’s cheery voice sounded over the
line, “Hello, Nicky speaking,” her familiar voice rang out.

        
“Mom,
it’s me,” Emma managed to croak out, suddenly overcome with happy tears.

        
“Baby!
What a nice surprise. Hey, are you okay? What’s the matter, sweetheart? Mike,
pick up the other line, honey, it’s Emma,” her mom shouted to her dad.
 
It was their usual ritual whenever she
phoned.
 
It was so that her mom
never forgot to tell her dad something and saved Emma repeating everything over
two separate conversations.

        
“Emma,
love it’s nice to hear from you,” her dad’s deep voice boomed across the line.
“How was Las Vegas? You win anything?” he joked.

        
Composing
herself, she replied, “No, Dad, I didn’t, but I didn’t have much time to do a
lot other than work really. And, Mom, I’m fine, it’s just so nice to hear your
voices.”

        
“Are
you making sure you’re eating properly, sweetheart? You looked so thin last
time you came out to visit. And whilst were on that subject young lady, when
are you next planning on coming home and see your momma? I miss you.”

        
“Nicky,
will you quit nagging the poor girl?” her father interrupted.

Emma was forced to smile at the
constant quibbling between the two of them. Despite having been married for a
long time, their fondness and devotion to each other hadn’t faded at all. It
was the only part of her life that felt normal every time she called the she
was overcome with the feeling of belonging.

        
“Hey,
guys, I’m fine. I miss you both, too. And, yes, Mom, I’m eating well. You know
George, he won’t let me go by the diner without slipping me a cupcake or two,
and I’ve eaten my own body weight in steak this week in Vegas, so I’m good for
now,” she reassured them. “How’s Grams doing, Mom?”

        
“She’s
as good as can be expected, but she’s not getting any younger, sweetheart. When
you’re back we will have to take a trip out there. I’m sure she’d love to see
you.
 
Her memory’s not doing as
well, though, so don’t you worry yourself if she isn’t too sure who you are.”

        
“Aww,
Mom, I’m sorry.
 
I feel bad I
haven’t been up to visit her so much this last few years. I have had such a
strange few days and it’s all beginning to catch up with me.
 
I miss you both so much and Grams, too,”
she answered, her voice shaking as she bit back the tears that were threatening
to start flowing again.

        
“It’s
okay, honey, she’s not great but were getting through it and are blessed to
have had her with us for so long, but it’s been hard watching her deteriorate
this last couple years.”
 
Emma heard
the sadness in her mom’s voice. Her Grams had been suffering dementia for a
while and she couldn’t begin to understand what her mom must be feeling. As she
sat and listened to her mom everything just skipped into place. Changing the
subject, she spoke quietly, “I have something to run by you though, Mom, Dad.
How would you feel if I said I was tired of living all the way out here and
wanted to come home?”

        
Nicky
squealed like a child whilst her dad made a satisfied humming noise over the
phone and she continued, “I’ve not been happy here for a while and I’m feeling
really homesick right now. Things at work need to be straightened out, but I
have enough savings to get myself a nice home near you guys, plus I have my
apartment to sell or I can rent it out if I need to. I am going to have a chat
to my boss as soon as I can, but I’m confident I can work from pretty much
anywhere with my career. So what do you think?”

        
Her
mom sniffled into the phone as she said, “Emma, it would make me so happy to
have you back here. You know it tore me apart when you decided to move to New
York. I had hopes you’d come back to the firm here after you finished college,
but I am still so proud of what you have done, sweetheart, but I’d love you
back here more than anything. You can stay here for as long as you need to,
baby. We can get the spare room sorted for you to stay in and I’m sure Dad will
help you sort out a house in town when you get back, won’t you, honey?”

        
“Of
course I will and, Emma, I’d love you home, too.”

        
“Well,
if all goes to plan, I’ll be home soon. How have things been with you?”

        
“Dad
has been working hard as usual, and I’ve just put in an application to reduce
my hours at work. I’m getting too old for all the running about and need a
couple of days off to recharge.” She chuckled.
 
Her mom was a kindergarten teacher at
the local school and loved her job.
 
Her Dad ran his own successful garden supplies business helped no doubt
by his love for the great outdoors.

        
“Well,
Mom, when I do come home I’ll be working my own hours and we can do some girly
stuff on your days off. I’ve missed our Mom/Daughter days so much.”

        
“Me,
too, it’s just not the same heading to the stores with Madison or Jean. Oh my
goodness, Emma I’m so pleased. Hey, Mike, do you think we can go ahead now with
remodeling the private bathroom that’s attached to the spare room now it’s
going to get used?”

        
“I’m
on it, Nic, I’ll speak to the contractors tomorrow.
 
How long do you think it’ll be before
you’re home, Em love?”

        
“Guys,
the house is just fine as it is, and I don’t know that yet. I’m hoping a few
months’. Maybe in time for Thanksgiving? I have a lot of things I need to
straighten out here first. Oh, and, Dad, it’s been too long since we went
fishing. How about a trip as soon as I get back, eh?”

        
“I’ll
sort it, love. Looking forward to it, and it’ll be great to have you home
again.”

        
“Well,
it’s gotten late and I need to get some sleep, but I’ll be in touch with you
both as soon as I have made some firm plans. I love you both so much.”

        
“Love
you, too, baby, and you’ve just made me so happy. Speak soon and don’t forget
to holler, honey, if you need us to do anything.”

        
“Bye,
Emma love, and I agree with your mom, let us know if you need us and we’ll be
there in a heartbeat. Good night, love”

        
“Night,
guys,” she said as she hung up, smiling widely and feeling pretty happy as she
clutched the cordless phone to her chest.
 
She took a look around her apartment and wasn’t surprised that she
didn’t feel an ounce of regret at starting the wheels in motion for her move
back to Oklahoma.

        
Tomorrow
she needed to go and speak with Bill to test the waters with her idea of
working from home. Jennie was more than capable of dealing with the day to day
running of her small department, and if she could garner some recurrent work
from the new contacts she had made, then they would even be able to hire a new
assistant to help out in her absence. Interestingly, one of the agents who had
specifically sought her out had suggested she meet with one of his clients
based out in Oklahoma. He was considering franchising his business and if she
was interested he was happy to make the introduction. That could prove to be a
useful contact to have with her plan in mind. Other than having an office in
the same building as the rest of the lawyers, the nature of her line of work
meant that her physical presence in the office wasn’t crucial and she hoped
that she had a close enough rapport with Bill for the suggestion to at least be
considered.

        
She
headed to bed with that thought in mind and slept fitfully, the multitude of
options now running riot through her head and before she knew it, her alarm was
sounding and it was time to get up and head into work. She rose groggily from
the bed and headed to the shower and went about her usual morning routine,
feeling tired after the events of the last few days.

        
Within
the hour, she had collected her latte and was at her desk, greeted by a
mountain of paperwork she needed to sort and sign off. As she was ploughing
through bulk of the work, Jennie arrived.

        
“Morning,
Emma, how was the trip?”

        
“Jennie,
good morning and thank you for keeping everything running so smoothly! Remind
me to ask Bill for a raise for you when he gets in,” Emma joked. “And it was
interesting. Gained a few good contacts and met with a couple of agents who
have some promising leads that might bring us a lot of recurring business.”

        
“That’s
brilliant news! So, come on then, how was our favorite client? Did he behave?”
Emma rolled her eyes at the not so subtle probing of her assistant. “I bet you
wouldn’t believe me if I told you, but he was a gentleman, and I got to know
him pretty well.”

        
“Emma!
You didn’t?”

        
“No
we didn’t, but I’m not going to say anything more. The crap is going to hit the
fan soon enough and you’ll find out!”

        
“Cryptic
much? So you aren’t going to spill, but please tell me you gave him a chance?
He’s unbelievably hot if you don’t mind me saying, and I think you’d make a
perfect couple!”

        
“Jennie!
Seriously! No he’s not getting a chance, and after this last few days I can
definitively say he is not interested I me! I shall say no more and you will
definitely find out more soon enough! Now, let’s get back to this mountain of
paperwork before it threatens to drown me!”

        
“You
spoil sport,” Jennie pouted but took the hint that the conversation was
over.
 
It took the two of them until
just before lunchtime to plough through the mountain of files that had stacked
up, but they managed to clear the bulk of the backlog Emma’s absence had
created.
 
She also noted that Jennie
was far more capable than just an assistant and was impressed with the way she
had handled the caseload in her absence. With a small amount of training Emma
wondered if in fact Jennie could field a lot of the work herself if her plans
came to fruition.

        
As
they were about to break for lunch, Emma’s cell phone started to ring. She
picked it up and looked at the display. I was Lily, so she dismissed Jennie and
hit the answer button.

        
“Lily!
What he hell is going on? I’ve been so worried about you!”

        
“Em,
I’m really sorry, hun. I’ve had so much crap going on here you know with the
kids and Gary,” she tried to reassure. Emma noted a hint of something she
couldn’t pinpoint in the tone of her voice. Still, she was glad to hear from her.
“Tell me, how was Vegas?”

        
“Oh
you know, a bunch of laughs with all the stuffed shirts.” Emma laughed,
relieved at finally hearing from her friend. She was happy to tell her about
the Bruce incident but hadn’t forgotten she wanted to get to the bottom of
Lily’s mysterious behavior. “I almost got it on with Bruce you know, but it
turns out he’s already taken!”

        
“No!
Come on, Em, tell me more!” Lily probed, the undertone in her voice lifted
temporarily at this diversion.

        
“Well,
he was so sweet and acted like a true gent. Seriously, we spent the first day
together and he had the entire day planned. Arnauld didn’t go in the end, so it
was just the two of us. We had an amazing day. He took me to feed the turtles
in the aquarium and it was such a magical moment. Then he wined and dined me
and took me to a show. It would have been the perfect date, if I’m being honest.
Then it all fell apart. It turns out he’s gay! And very much in love. I also
got to meet his other half, Lou, when he appeared. They’d been fighting over
Lou’s wish that he came out to his family. He’s an absolute sweetheart, too. I
think I’ve fallen in love twice over watching them together this weekend.”

        
“You
have to be kidding me. Bruce is seriously a great catch though. Hes undeniably
good looking and has the bank balance to go with it too. Why is it always the
nicest ones who are gay?” she pondered.
 
“You know I was about to whoop with joy when you said you’d made a pass.
I think you’d have been perfect together, but obviously the hunky Mr. Jenson isn’t
interested. Who’d have thought it?”

        
“Yes,
although it does explain a lot. Anyway less about me. Come on, Lil, what’s
going on? The cryptic messaged and you just disappearing on me like that? I’ve
been worried,” Emma delved.

        
“Oh,
just… stuff. I need to see you sometime soon and we can have a long chat about
it all. Gary has a new job and this has been the root of our problems. It’s a
long story and one you will get to know I assure you,” she stated.