“Or course I’m sure. She should have been there by now.”
My eyes closed as I replayed the last thirty minutes in my office. Stephanie had walked in and said Robby had left his phone. She had put it on my desk and we started talking about the party for Adaline I was planning. Everything had been fine until Stephanie started talking crazy about Adaline finding out about—“No,” I whispered. The front door, I could have sworn I heard the bell ring, but that’s when Stephanie started talking nonsense.
She heard Adaline coming in.
“Holy fucking hell. Mom, I’ve got to call you back.”
“Emmit! Emmit wait!”
I hit End and rushed to the door. Throwing it open, I screamed out Stephanie’s name. She ran out of her office and up to me. “Emmit, I’m still here.”
My hand came up in a motion to stop her. “What. Did. You. Do?”
Stephanie wore a confused expression. “What do you mean?”
I closed my eyes and counted to ten before looking back at her. “You planned it didn’t you? You arranged it so Adaline ended up here at the shop. Once you knew she was here, you put your little plan into action.”
Stephanie let out a nervous chuckle. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
My heart was pounding against my chest. I grabbed her by the arms and shook her as I shouted, “Don’t fucking lie to me! You are messing with my life, and I swear to God I’ll get the truth out of you somehow, Stephanie.”
“Emmit, we could be happy together.”
I looked at her with a stunned expression on my face. Where in the hell was this coming from? “I don’t love you! I love Adaline! I’ll only ever love her. Now tell me the fucking truth!”
Stephanie broke down crying as she said, “All right! I set the whole thing up. I saw her in the mirror in the hallway after I heard her come in, and that’s when I started to act like we were keeping a secret about us from her. I knew she would step into the room and when I saw her movement, I kissed you.”
My mouth dropped open. “How could you do this to me?”
Her eyes softened as she grinned slightly, “I love you, Emmit. No one will ever love you like I love you.”
How did I not see this coming? With a quick push, I stepped away from Stephanie. “You’re fired.”
“W-what? Y-you can’t fire me!”
I hit Robert Elliot’s number and glanced over my shoulder. “I just did.”
“Hey, Emmit my man, what’s up?”
“I just fired Stephanie. She has lost touch with reality and has seriously overstepped her boundaries. I need you to make sure she is cleared off the property as soon as possible.”
“Oh, um yeah, I’ll get on it right now.”
With a quick nod to no one, I said, “Thanks, Robert.”
Racing into my driveway, I jumped out of my car and ran into the house as I called out, “Addie! Addie!” I had to believe in my heart that Adaline knew I wouldn’t cheat on her. She had to know I loved her.
My mother and sister appeared from around a corner. “She’s not here, Emmit. What in the world is going on?”
My eyes closed as the reality of what happened hit me hard. My eyes snapped open as I said, “She’s gone. She left.” Turning, I punched the wall as I cried out Adaline’s name and fell to the floor.
My mother and Ashley ran over to me as they both fell to the floor next to me. “Emmit, sweetheart, please tell me what is happening.”
Not knowing how I was forming words, I blurted everything out. “Stephanie! She set it all up to make Adaline think she was walking in on us . . . kissing. She twisted our conversation around about Adaline’s party. She . . . she made it seem like we were hiding . . . an affair. When she saw Adaline step into my office, she threw herself at me and kissed me.”
A look of horror moved across my mother’s face as her hands came up to her mouth as Ashley mumbled, “That low-life whore.”
I dropped my head and cried. “I can’t lose her again, Mom. I can’t breathe without her.”