“How much do you think we can get?”
“Wrongful firing settlements usually fall anywhere in the range of five thousand to eighty thousand dollars, but your reputation was ruined as well, which takes this to an entirely new level. I know of one client who was fired for testifying on behalf of another employee in a sexual harassment suit who received more than a million dollars.”
“You’re not saying I could wind up with that much!”
“You could,” he said. “You never know. It’s all a matter of negotiation now.”
Emery felt as though a giant weight had been lifted off her shoulders. And she had Dallas to thank for it. “It’s going to be a nice Christmas, after all.”
“Oh, the money won’t come that quickly. The holidays will actually slow the process. You’re still looking at a month or more.”
“I can last a few months. I’m just saying that the pressure is off. Now I know I’ll be able to take care of my mother and grandmother.”
“You’ll be able to do that and have plenty left over.”
She thanked him and, just as she hung up, her mother knocked on her bedroom door. “You awake?”
Emery propped her pillows up and sat against the headboard. “Yeah. Come on in.”
Connie slipped inside the room and perched on the edge of the bed. “I’ve been trying not to wake you. I know you’re on California time, but I’m so excited you’re here I could hardly wait to see you. Thank you for coming.”
Emery reached for her mother’s hand. “I’m glad I’m here, too. And I want you to know that you’re not going to have to worry about anything, not as far as money is concerned.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m going to win the lawsuit. Ethan has confessed.”
Her mother’s lips curved into a smile, but she started to blink quickly—an obvious attempt to avoid tears. She was hurting so badly that any kindness made her cry. “Thank you, honey. I’m so glad I have you. I promise I’ll pay you back as soon as I receive my divorce settlement.”
“I’m not worried about that. This will buy you the time you need to make sure it’s a fair one.”
“Thank you,” she said again.
Emery pulled her into an embrace. “We’re both going to make it through this.”
Thursday, December 24
Over the next few days, Dallas felt his mood grow steadily worse. He’d tried calling Emery a number of times, but his calls went straight to voice mail; there wasn’t even any ringing. He’d left her several messages, but she never called him back. It was as if she’d disappeared off the planet, as if their time together had been blotted out.
What was going on? He wanted to know how she was doing, how her mother was doing, even how her grandmother was doing. And he wanted to bask in the relief Ethan’s confession gave them both—her, because it made such a difference to her immediate future, and him, because he no longer had to worry about her being in a terrible situation. Once she received her settlement, she’d be able to support herself until she found another job that she actually liked. And if she couldn’t find anything right away? She could survive until a better opportunity came along. That sex video wouldn’t hold her back forever. It would become old news as soon as someone else—a movie star or other high-profile figure—made headlines with his or her own sex tape. Or divorce. Or affair. Or other scandal.
Emery would soon be in the clear and he would like to have been able to celebrate with her. But there was only this strange, ominous silence.
Had she cut him off? He suspected she had, that she was handling their separation with the same grit and determination he’d seen when they parted at the airport and she wouldn’t even let him kiss her.
But he truly cared about her. Couldn’t they have some kind of relationship? Despite all of his issues, he couldn’t help hoping for that, at least. Having her out of his life completely made him miserable.
He tried to tell himself that he had to let her do what she needed to do. He was the one who’d decided they couldn’t pursue a relationship. And his reasons for it were still true. She’d crashed into his life like a comet—made a huge impact—and now he had to fill the hole.
He tried to do that by taking his brothers bouldering, as he’d promised. They went ice-skating, too, with the students who were still at the school. And they went Christmas shopping. Dallas even wrapped the presents he’d bought—for the first time ever. They were crudely done, but at least he’d put forth the effort.
He was doing everything he could to get into the holiday spirit, but the moment Emery left, Christmas had lost its sparkle.
“It feels strange not to have Emery here,” Liam said as they were making dinner on Christmas Eve. Aiyana and Cal were due to arrive home at any moment, and Dallas had recruited his two youngest brothers to help surprise them by making the family’s traditional Christmas Eve dinner of salmon in parchment pouches with slivered vegetables. “I was sort of getting used to having her makeup in the bathroom.”
“Yeah, toward the end that didn’t bother me anymore, either,” Bentley chimed in. “We’ve never had a sister. I mean we have sisters-in-law, but have never lived with a girl. I really liked her.”
“And I bet she’d be a lot better at this than we are,” Liam said as juice rolled out of the corner of one of the pouches onto his lap, and he had to drop it and jump up to get a rag. “Mom makes it look easy.”
“Mom makes everything look easy,” Bentley agreed.
“What’s Emery up to?” Liam asked as he returned to his station and continued to tie string around the packets Dallas was filling with food. “Is she having a good Christmas in Boston?”
Dallas had ignored the mention of her name, but he couldn’t ignore
