“What’s got you in such a good mood?” Amanda asked as she rinsed out a cereal bowl. Emma belatedly recalled her breakup with Colin—and Amanda’s part in it—and realized how odd her presentation must be to her sister.
“Nothing. It’s a pretty day, that’s all.”
“You look great,” Amanda said, her gaze skimming over another new outfit Emma had purchased over the weekend, this one a simple body-hugging black V-neck and a new pair of jeans that did especially good things for her legs and hips. She noticed Amanda’s focus on the necklace he’d given her. Her sister’s expression grew suspicious. “Are you not telling me something?”
“Can’t a girl be in a good mood?” Emma asked as she poured some juice.
“Sure, I guess,” Amanda said slowly. “Emma, have you met someone?”
Jeez, first Cristina, then Montand, now Amanda. She really needed to stop being so transparent. Amanda distractedly hit the switch
for the garbage disposal. Emma lunged over to the sink, hoping Amanda would forget her question. They both watched in satisfaction as milk, water, and leftover cereal were sucked down the drain in an instant. They looked at each other and shared a grin. For a few seconds, it was like they were twelve and ten all over again and they’d never even heard the name Colin.
Reality hit Emma, and she turned away. She was trying to make peace with Amanda. It was just hard.
“I can’t believe our apartment is fully functional now,” Amanda said, attempting to smooth over the awkward moment.
“Yeah. I’m still in shock,” Emma admitted.
Toby Martin had been true to his word and fixed everything in their unit, even though it’d taken him the better part of three whole days to do it. What confused Emma was his amiability and downright cheerfulness at doing all the work that had been postponed for so long.
“Emma . . . I’ve been meaning to speak to you about what happened on Sunday when you saw Colin and me in the parking lot. I wanted to explain.”
“You don’t need to,” Emma said, sipping her juice to neutralize her sharp tone.
“He was really worried about . . . everything.”
“He was worried about you,” Emma said levelly. “Are you going to see him tonight?”
Amanda looked stunned.
“I know you’ve seen Colin every night since Sunday,” Emma continued. Just be honest, Amanda. Are you going to see Colin? Regularly?”
Amanda nodded uncomfortably. “I’ll make sure he never comes over here,” Amanda whispered.
Emma sighed and set her glass down on the counter. “No. That’s not necessary. This is your home.” She glanced around at Amanda. “Maybe try to do it when I’m not around, though? At least until I get used to things?”
“Maybe it’s not a good idea to have him here at all,” Amanda said miserably.
“Don’t worry about me, Amanda,” she said, getting sick of being perceived as the tragic victim in all this. “Believe it or not, part of me wishes things work out between you and Colin.”
“Really?”
Emma met her sister’s stare and nodded. “If you guys end up euphorically happy together, if it becomes obvious you two were meant to be together . . . then at least I’ll be able to make sense of what you did,” she said before she walked out of the kitchen.
* * *
The brilliant day and her glow about what had happened the previous night stood in direct contrast to the bleak mood hovering in Cristina’s bedroom suite when she arrived that afternoon. Emma took one look at Maureen Sanderson’s drawn face and knew her patient had reached the end of her days.
“Is she still with us?” Emma asked quietly when Maureen joined her in the living room of the suite.
“Only just,” Maureen said.
“Did she ask to speak to Montand?”
“No. She wants to speak to you. I held off on giving her afternoon pain meds because she asked me not to. She seemed worried she’d go before you got here.”
Emma nodded and promised to call Maureen if anything happened on her shift in regard to their patient. She took a deep breath to center herself and stepped into Cristina’s bedroom. After taking one look at Cristina’s bleary-eyed expression and hearing her wheezing breath, Emma knew neither Maureen or she would be returning for work at the Breakers tomorrow.