Rush

Her hand darts into the air as if she’s taking an oath. “I promise that before we leave New York and go our separate ways, I’ll sing you a song in the shower.”

And I promise I’ll let you go.

I keep those words to myself even though it’s a promise I don’t want to keep. I don’t have a choice. When her brother gets back to town, this ends. It has to end.

Chapter 46

Emma

“Is that a new game?” Mickey cranes his neck to get a better look at the screen of my phone.

“Mick.” His mom gives him a playful tap on the shoulder. “Don’t be nosy.”

I laugh off the idea that any child his age could be nosy. “I tell my students back home that it’s good to ask questions and to be inquisitive.”

“According to Miss Owens, you are a very good boy.” Delaney directs her words to her son but offers me a soft smile.

When I stopped in at Sweet Bluebells, I didn’t expect to see Delaney and Mickey huddled together at a corner table.

They spotted me just as I was about to order a cup of lemonade to go. When they waved me over, I couldn’t resist joining them.

I turn my phone’s screen around and place it on the table in front of Mickey. “This is an app I use to organize and print my photos. It’s called Printe.”

His gaze scans the screen before he taps his index finger on an image. “That’s Bella.”

I caught her in a moment of bliss as she was looking down at her small baby bump yesterday. I showed her the picture, and she insisted I send it to her. The tears in her eyes when she thanked me for taking it made the image a keeper.

“I’ll print that one for my scrapbook back home.” I slide my finger over the screen. “Today, I’m going to get a larger print made of a very special picture.”

“Who is that?” Mickey leans closer to me.

“My brother and his wife.” I turn the phone toward him. “It’s a pretty great, isn’t it?”

He shrugs. “I guess it is if you like weddings.”

“I love weddings.” Delaney shifts her chair closer. “Can I see?”

I hand her the phone.

“Emma, this is gorgeous.” Her eyes dart up to look at me. “Where did they get married?”

“Ireland.”

“Going to Ireland is now on my bucket list. Maybe I’ll add getting married in a castle.” Laughing, she hands me back my phone.

“Take one of the three of us.” Mickey bounces in his seat. “You can put it in your scrapbook too next to the picture of Bella.”

“Mick.” Delaney runs a hand over his hair. “I’m sure Emma has taken a million photos during her trip. She doesn’t need one of us.”

“I’d love one,” I interject before Mickey can plead his case. “I’m trying to capture all the best moments of my trip, and I think this ranks high up there.”

Mickey darts up from his chair, pushing to his tiptoes. His hand flies into the air above his head. “Does it rank up here?”

I follow his lead and stand, raising my hand above his. “Way up here.”

Delaney rises to her feet. “Let’s take it by the display case. What’s better than having cupcakes as a backdrop?”

“Two new friends,” I say with a smile.

Her arm falls over my shoulders. “Two new lifelong friends. The next time you’re back in Manhattan, your first stop needs to be here.”

I don’t know if I’ll ever come back to New York City again, but I grin as Mickey grabs for my hand. With a skip in his step, he leads me across the bakery.

***

Grateful that Lester apparently has the afternoon off, I plop myself down on a bench in the lobby.

The temperature outside has to be closing in on one hundred degrees, and I didn’t dress for that. I’m wearing jeans and a pink patterned lightweight blouse. The sandals on my feet may be uncomfortable, but they’re a much better choice than the boots I almost wore.

I can’t wait to get up to Case’s apartment to shower.

A glance at my phone screen tells me that Maya is likely already gone, but I want to give it until quarter past five before I hop on the elevator.

I drop my phone in my purse and peer into the shopping bag at my feet.

I picked up an antique brushed gold frame for Drake’s wedding photo after I ordered a large print on the Printe app. My brother couldn’t have known when he developed the app, that I’d use it to print a picture of him kissing his bride a year later.

After typing Case’s address into the order form, a wave of guilt washed over me because in the very next breath, I typed Case’s name into a search engine on my phone.

My quest was focused on one thing. I wanted information on what chased Case out of New York City seven years ago.