“Travel safe.”
“You, too.”
Emily sighed when she disconnected the call. If she’d learned nothing else this morning, it was that once family or anyone else was in your life, it was all but certain to get very complicated.
20
Boone had given Pete a long holiday break to spend with the new woman in his life in New York. The fact that his top executive was actually excited about seeing the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving parade in person had come as a shock.
“You’re just a kid at heart, after all,” Boone had teased him.
Pete had responded with an expletive that was definitely not very childlike.
Now with Pete out of town, Boone had to deal with the calls coming in from various contacts in Charleston as they moved forward on opening their fourth restaurant, hopefully by spring.
“I really need you down here as soon as possible to sign the papers if you want that location you liked in the historic district,” his Realtor announced when Boone returned his call. “There’s another bidder, but the owner’s eaten at your restaurants and he liked your plans. He wants to get the deal in place now before his people start insisting on taking the higher offer.”
“You do realize this is Thanksgiving week,” Boone said. “How about next Monday?”
“How about Friday?” Caldwell Marshall countered.
“Nobody works on the day after Thanksgiving,” Boone protested.
“Sorry. He insisted it be by the end of the week. Even Friday’s pushing it. I think he was hoping for Wednesday.”
Boone sighed heavily. “I’ll try to make it work. I’ll get back to you before the end of the day.”
He hung up and called Emily. “How would you like to take a trip to Charleston on Friday?” he asked when she answered.
“It’s a very romantic city,” she responded cautiously. “Are you suggesting a private tryst, just the two of us?”
“I wish,” he said and explained what had come up. “I can’t call Pete back from New York to handle this, so it’s up to me.”
“Then you have to go.”
“Not without you,” he replied flatly. “I am not going to lose a whole day with you for business. Our time together is limited enough as it is.”
“While it’s very nice to know that I’m so high on your priority list,” she said, “things like this are going to come up for both of us. We’re going to have to be flexible.”
“So, be flexible,” he encouraged her. “Come with me.”
“B.J., too?”
“I could leave him with Jodie,” he said, though he didn’t even try to hide his hesitation.
“Only heaven knows what she’d make of it,” Emily concluded. “Samantha will be here. He could stay with her and Cora Jane, I’m sure.”
Boone considered that option but dismissed it as well. “It’s his school vacation. I want to spend time with him, too. And you know he’ll be over the moon to have a whole day with you.”
“Then we’ll all go,” she said. “He and I can wander around and sightsee while you do your business.”
“I’ll take you out for a great meal afterward,” he promised, relieved that she’d agreed to this.
“On the day after Thanksgiving?” she said with a laugh. “A couple of lettuce leaves will probably be all I can stuff down. You know how Cora Jane overdoes it.”
“Then we’ll play the meal by ear,” he compromised. “Thank you for going along with this. I know it’s not what you had in mind for your Thanksgiving break.”
“Hey, give and take is what life is all about, or so I’m told. And I’ll be with you. What’s the downside of that?”
“Any good at give and take?” he asked. “Because I have to tell you, I’m a work in progress on that front.”
“Me, too.”
“Well, so far you get an A-plus in my book.”
“Watch out. I may have to come up with a test of my own to see how you score.”
“Whatever it takes to make this work,” he said readily. “See you in a few days. Love you.”
“Love you back.”
He was smiling when he hung up. Crisis averted, and as a bonus he’d just negotiated for an entire day with Emily far from Jodie’s prying eyes.
* * *
Because of the necessity for secrecy surrounding the location of the safe house, there was no media invited to the grand opening. Only members of the board, key contractors and Emily were there as the first women moved in with their children.
Sophie had assigned Emily to show them to their rooms and explain about the amenities the house offered. The first woman, whose name was Lisa, regarded Emily with understandable caution as they climbed the steps to the second floor. Her two girls, who were so thin it was hard to tell their ages, looked to be no more than six and eight, though it was possible they were older. Their eyes held a world-weary exhaustion no child should ever know. They hung back behind their mother as they climbed the stairs and avoided making eye contact. Emily didn’t like thinking about the kind of life that had made them so timid and fearful.
Emily opened the door to their room, which had been painted a buttery yellow trimmed in white. Sunshine poured through the windows and splashed across the polished wood floor. Though it was a little tight, Emily had managed to fit a full-size bed in the room, just right for cuddling, she thought. She’d also squeezed in a small dresser, bunk beds and a comfortable chair. She held her breath as they saw it for the first time.
“This is for us?” the youngest one exclaimed, her eyes wide. “The whole room?”
“It looks brand-new,” her sister said.
“It is,” Emily confirmed. “Every single thing in here is new.” She glanced at the mother and saw tears welling up in the woman’s eyes. “I hope you’ll be comfortable here.”
As the tears spilled over, dampening her cheeks, the woman said, “You can’t know...” She blinked and tried again. “You can’t possibly know what this means to us.”
Until that moment,
