He dropped his pen onto the desk and laced his hands in front ofhim. “You’re right. She leads Dex around like a puppy dog.”
“But she loves you.”
“Sometimes I wonder if I’m enough without the money.”
“You really suck at reading women.”
Brent’s eyebrows rose. The comment seemed to have shocked him.“It’s not like there’s a manual or anything.”
She threw her hands out in front of herself. “You have me.”
“Well, then tell me, oh master of women.”
She squinted and gave him a cheeky grin. “Ha ha. Very funny.”
“I’m serious. Tell me.”
She shook her head. “She doesn’t care about your money. She’suber-rich on her own. If she cared about that, she sure as hell wouldn’t havemarried you. She would’ve found some other trust-fund yuppie to punish.”
He leaned in closer. “I’m listening.”
“She cares about how you treat her. Open the door for her, pullout her chair, and protect her from the bad shit—even if it’s her parents. Butdo it gently. Forget about the money. She can buy whatever she wants. Your wifeis beautiful. If you don’t pay attention to her, soon enough, someone else willcome along who will.”
“I’m trying, but I have no idea how her mind works. What she didto you and Dex is fucked up.”
He was right about that. If Grace hadn’t come between them, she’dbe happy and in love with her right now. She pushed the thought from her mind.Then she cleared her throat and blinked to hold back the tears brimming in hereyes. “How is Dex?”
“She’s sick.”
Emma leaned forward in the chair. “Oh.” Her first thought was togo to her, take care of her, and tell her she’d always be there for her. Butshe couldn’t do that until Dex made up her mind.
“Yeah. I came home last night, and she was putting up the lightsat my house.”
“By herself?”
“Yeah. I went out and helped her finish. She couldn’t stopcoughing.”
“Does she have the flu?”
“She said it’s just a head cold.”
Emma got up, walked to the window, and stared out at the fallingsnowflakes. “I hope she’s not working today. It’s miserable out there.”
“Knowing Dex, she probably is. You know what she always says, ‘Thelights have to be strung.’ She’s got a helluva work ethic.” Brent stood at thewindow next to her. “It does seem pretty bad out there. Maybe you should go seeher.”
“Maybe.” She continued to watch the snow blow across the sky.“Anyway, I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”
“It’s cool, Em.” He bumped her shoulder with his, and she knewthings between them were good.
“Well. I’m going to head home. I don’t want to get stuck here allnight.” It wasn’t like she had anything better to do.
“Okay. Be safe. Call me if you get stuck.”
“Will do.” She smiled as she left Brent’s office. Outside of herfamily, he was the most dependable person she knew and also a really good friend.
The forecast this morning had said the snow should stop in a fewhours, but you never knew how accurate that was. They’d given only a 20 percentchance of precipitation today, and it was currently falling thick. Emma wentinto her office and gathered a couple of files she could work on at home if thesnow got too heavy. She’d stop at the store on her way home to pick upprovisions just in case. A big pot of soup sounded really good.
* * *
Emma pulled up in front of Dex’s house and sat for a moment watchingthe snow flurries. She was thankful it had slowed some since she’d left.Driving in these conditions was stressful and exhausting. Dex’s SUV was in thedriveway, which meant she was probably sicker than she’d let on. She rarelytook a day off.
The flurries waned as the knot in her stomach grew. Emma wasn’tsure if she was ready to see Dex again. It had sounded like a good idea whenshe was at the store. She’d gone home and made soup with chicken-bone broth andvegetables. She’d also made a small pan of cayenne brownies and tucked a notein with them in case Dex didn’t feel like eating them right away.
Now that she was here, her insecurities were taking hold likeGorilla Glue. She drew in a deep breath and blew it out. From what Brent hadtold her earlier, Dex probably needed some comfort food. So Emma just needed toget over herself and get out of the car. Bringing Dex something warm to eat andchecking on her was the right thing to do, even if they weren’t seeing eachother anymore.
She gathered the bag containing the soup and brownies from thefront seat, maneuvered through the freshly fallen snow, and knocked on the doorlightly. She didn’t want to wake her if she was asleep, although she hadn’tthought about what she’d do with the food if Dex didn’t answer. She was caughtoff guard when the door swung open and Grace was standing in the entryway.
Grace put her hand on her hip in her usual irritated fashion.“What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“Dex is sick, and I’m taking care of her.”
“Don’t you have a husband at home to take care of?”
“I take plenty good care of my husband. Not that it’s any of yourbusiness.”
Emma shook her head. “Listen, Grace. I didn’t come here to sparwith you. I brought some soup for Dex.” She peered around Grace. “Is she up andabout?”
“No. She’s upstairs sleeping. I’ll take it.” Grace reached out andtook the soup from Emma’s hands before she could protest. “It’s not vegetable,is it? I’m not a fan of that.”
“It’s chicken vegetable, and the soup is for Dex, not you. Has shebeen to see the doctor? Are you making sure she has lots of fluids?”
“You don’t worry about Dex. I can take care of her.” She startedto close the door, but Emma put her hand up and stopped it.
“You know, you may be able to take care of her, and you may alsobe her best friend, but you’ll never be her soul mate, Grace. You lost thatopportunity when you married Brent.”
“Nothing has
