Our Happily Ever After (Bold As Love 5)

For two days, Emily doesn't talk to me nor look at me. During this time, I don't exist to her. I've been sleeping on the couch as if I'm an unwanted house guest. That's what I am really. Emily only fixes enough supper for her and Drake, or they eat out. Drake has ignored me too. If I'm home, he stays in his room, and Emily locks herself in our bedroom. Neither of them want me around and I can't blame them for that.

I can't believe I basically forgot about her birthday. I might as well have forgotten about her because I didn't call to let her know I would be late. It never crossed my mind. I was wrapped up in hanging out with my teammates and the rest of the world disappeared for a while. That should have been what we argued about, not my actual job. I still don't understand what she meant. It's never been a problem before, but now, she hates it? What the hell?

To make matters worse, I leave tomorrow for two upcoming away games, and if I don't fix this, I won't even be able to tell Emily bye. There has got to be some way for me to make it up to her, but how do I recover from this? What is there for me to do to correct what I've done? And if she really does have a problem with my playing hockey, what am I supposed to do about that? Until I can come up with a way, Emily and Drake are going to continue to act as if I don't exist, and I'm going to have to accept that for now.

In the passenger seat of my car, there's information on a few places in the Outer Banks where we could have our wedding. Emily must have put them there this morning along with the note laying on top.

How are we supposed to make wedding plans when I don't even want to talk to you? Would you even show up for that?

Damn it! I need to fix this before I leave, because if not, it's going to be that much worse when I get back. While I'm out for the day, I make some calls and hope like hell this will work.

* * *

“Sweetness,” I say when she walks in the door of our apartment with Drake trailing behind her. She doesn't even flick her eyes over at me. She heads to our bedroom, and I stand to follow her. “Emily, please.”

At this, she halts, slowly turning to face me. “What?”

I hand her a folder. Inside are my detailed thoughts about each of the locations. “We need to talk, but I want you to have a good night first.”

“What are you talking about?” she questions with confusion.

Just then, there's a knock on the door. Perfect timing for my surprise. I am so thankful I could make this happen and I really hope it softens Emily up for later. We need to get this settled. I open the door and on the other side of the threshold is Mike.

“Daddy!” Emily squeals and rushes past me to tackle hug him.

“Hey, honey. It's so good to see you.”

“What are you doing here?” she asks, stepping back as if to exam him.

“Jake wanted to surprise you. Have you had supper yet?”

She shakes her head.

“Then c'mon. I'm taking you out for dinner.”

Sweetness grins, runs to grab her purse, and follows him out. It feels good to see her smile again, even if it's not for me. I shut the door behind them and start to walk away, but the door opens back up.

Emily rushes over, hugs me tightly, and whispers, “I'm still mad, but thank you, Jake.”

And then she's gone.