In Your Dreams (Blue Heron #4)(85)

“No, I’m here with my sisters,” she said. “We’re spying on Jack.”

“You better not be,” he said.

“Pru says you have no game.”

“Should I be more like her, then?”

“Please, God, no. You know what she told me the other day? She and Carl were watching a Walking Dead marathon, which of course put them in the mood for love, so—”

“Stop! Come on, Faith, you’re as bad as she is.”

Faith winked at Emmaline, and Em felt a warm rush of affection. She’d always liked Faith.

“Oh! The baby’s kicking. Feel.” She grabbed Em’s hand and put it against her stomach, and sure enough, there was a mysterious roll and then another.

Wow.

There was a baby in there. Okay, obviously, there was a baby in there, but feeling the little thing move around... “That’s really amazing,” Em said, and her voice was husky.

“Faith, come on—leave them alone.” Honor Holland came over and gave a rueful grin. “Sorry for the parade of sisters, Jack. How are you, Emmaline?”

“Just fine. Nice to see you.”

“You, too. Come on, Faith. Your nachos just came out.”

“Oh! Gotta go! Eating for two and all that.”

“Honor, you’re my favorite sister,” Jack called as they left.

“What?” Faith said over her shoulder. “Who’s making you godfather to her firstborn child?”

“I take it back, Honor. Faith is my favorite,” he said. Honor waved.

“You have a very nice family,” Emmaline said.

“They’re okay,” he said. “A little overwhelming, but they’re pretty great.”

Then his gaze jerked to the door.

Em looked, too.

Of course. Hadley had just come in, wrapped in a glamorous ivory coat and high caramel leather boots, a green-printed scarf tied in a complicated knot. Her hair was in a ponytail, making her look fresh and energetic. She took off her coat in a graceful swirl, revealing dark green leggings and a really adorable lacy top. Sophisticated yet fresh, casual yet elegant. Maybe Emmaline should take a photo and use it as a reference for how to dress for a date, because suddenly, her basic black dress felt both incredibly boring and pathetically ambitious at the same time.

She sighed. In another minute, Hadley was going to come over and say hello and make Emmaline feel like a gorilla who’d been allowed to dress up for the evening and play with the humans.

“So you had a story about a call?” Jack asked, looking back at Em.

“Do you want to go say hi to your wife?”

“Ex-wife, Emmaline, and no. Tell me about the call you went on.” But his gaze drifted back toward Hadley, and he was frowning.

“You’re frowning,” she said.

“I’m irritated,” he said.

“Sorry, Grumpy Cat.”

“Not at you. We should’ve stayed at Hugo’s.”

“I’m sure she would’ve tracked you wherever you are. It’s that computer chip she put in your neck.” Emmaline took a nacho and waited for Hadley to float over and coo at Jack.

But much to her surprise, Hadley didn’t come over. She did see them, gave a nod and a smile and took a seat at the bar. Not directly in Jack’s line of vision, but not out of it, either.

Hmm. Suspicious. Even more suspicious, she took a book out of her bag.

Well, well, well. Hadley could read.

Then again, Em well knew the loneliness of the dinner table when night after night, it was just you and the quiet. Sometimes it was welcome. Sometimes it was not, and if ever there was a place to come when you felt lonely, this was the place.

Could be a coincidence that Hadley had shown up.

“So you have a cat?” Emmaline asked.

“I do,” Jack said, returning his gaze to her. “Lazarus.”

“Catchy.”

“I found him when he was a kitten. Looked like he’d been attacked by something, all covered in blood, ear torn off, broken leg. I took him to the vet, and they didn’t expect him to make it through the night, but he did.”

His left hand was on the table. As was her right hand. Almost touching. She hadn’t even noticed. Should she pull her hand away? Would it be even more obvious that she was nervous if she did?

He had big hands. Big, strong, masculine hands. Em swallowed.

Jack’s little finger touched hers, just that smallest caress. A very slight smile tugged as his mouth, and happiness ballooned in her, warm and full.

He’d brought her flowers. He’d shaved. His little finger was making her feel wobbly, and if his little finger could do that, then what about an entire hand? What about his—

“Oh, no! No!”

Both Em and Jack looked over at Hadley, who had one hand over her mouth, the other clutching her phone to her precious little ear.

Damsel in distress, take two.

Emmaline sighed. “Go see what’s wrong,” she told her date.

“No,” Jack said, though his eyes were on his ex. “If she needs me—”

“And she will.”

“She can come over here.”

Em rolled her eyes. “You’re wasting time.”

“Eat your burger.”