Page 63 of The Snowball Effect

“What?” Emma asked, as Regan’s expression made her feel alarmed. “What is it?”

“Um… nothing,” Regan hedged, sliding her fingertips along the metal edge of the table. “You were smiling at me, is all. You don’t normally justdothat unless I say something amusing.”

Emma hadn’t even realized she’d been grinning at Regan, but she supposed it wasn’t a surprise. She felt herself flush fromhaving it pointed out. “I just – people don’t normally do that.” She gestured at where Patty had stood moments ago. “Make a point of my allergy; I usually do it for myself.”

“Most people probably haven’t hospitalized you, either,” Regan allowed, a guilty expression creeping up on her face.

“True.” Emma allowed. “But still.”

Unbidden, she thought about how the only other time she’d had to go to the hospital for her allergy in her adult life had been when she’d been dating Felicity. One of the desserts in the “nut-free” zone on the table clearly hadn’t been truthful, and instead of spending the remainder of the evening at Felicity’s Friendsgiving, she’d been in the ER. Her ex had looked conflicted but ultimately hadn’t joined her because she’d been hosting the party at her apartment, and Emma hadn’t held that against her.

But she’d been lonely and felt like shit in the hospital by herself.

Something told her that even if Regan hadn’t been the one responsible for hospitalizing her, she would have done exactly what she’d done that night – spend the entire time by Emma’s side.

And she supposed that was the benefit of having Regan in your corner. After all, she’d seen the ferocity with which Regan had defended Sutton over the years. Emma guessed it was extended to most people Regan cared about.

Which, wildly, seemed to include her.

Emma cleared her throat, and Regan immediately turned to look at her. “So, I’ve kind of noticed that you bring up the night you sent me to the hospital… a lot.”

Every time they had dinner together – which had been three more times after the roasted chicken of last week – Regan made a point to clarify that there were no nuts, always saying it with a stricken expression.

Regan nodded, that same expression creeping up on her face. “Yeah. I mean, I think about it a lot.” Her big, dark eyes searched Emma’s, imploringly. “It was terrifying to experience. And if it was that bad for me, I know it was way worse for you.”

Emma rolled her lips, almost feelingexasperatedby how damn genuine Regan was. “I want you to let it go. Seriously.”

Regan’s forehead crinkled as her eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Really?”

She found herself nodding slowly, reconciling that she didreallyfeel that way. “I know it was an accident. Yes, you should have read the roommate contract. But… it’s okay, Regan. I’m totally fine, and I can clearly see it’s a mistake you will never make again – or let anyone else make.” She gestured in Patty’s direction.

Regan eagerly nodded, her hand falling to Emma’s, squeezing intently. Her touch was warm and soft. “Never,” she swore. “I’ll eat every nut in the world before I let it get to you. That includes byproducts.”

The sincerity with which she said those ludicrous words made Emma chuckle. As she did, she studied Regan closely.

There reallywerea lot of sides to her. Positives Emma wouldn’t allow herself to have seen in her own stubbornness.

And now that she’d opened her eyes, she was curious.

Curious about these aspects of Regan that she really didn’t know. Even though Regan was the first person to claim she was an open book, even with that silly little questionnaire, Emma had a lot of gaps in her knowledge.

Which brought her back to, “You worked here? I always thought you started at Topped Off as soon as you moved to the city?”

“I basically did. I moved seven years ago this last May, and started at Topped Off in August. Been there ever since,” Regan explained, running her eyes slowly over the restaurant. A smallsmile played on her lips by the time she returned her gaze to Emma. “I discovered that I wasn’t quite thebestwaitress.”

Easily recalling their first encounter, Emma dryly stated, “You don’t say.”

But, again, she felt no malice. Didn’t feel the pull of that embedded grudge. She just… wanted to know more.

Regan laughed her full-bodied chuckle. “Yeah. There was a lot of carnage; it was my first-ever job. I got relegated to making the coffee by the end of my second week, and I realized that I was really good at it. So, going to Topped Off made a lot more sense.”

Seemed simple enough. Emma accepted the explanation with a nod. Still, her curiosity wasn’t sated, and she continued to stare at Regan, trying to make sense of the knowledge she’d accumulated over the years. “Istilldon’t understand why you moved here. As a native, I’ve seen it all. People from small towns looking for a big change. People hustling to make it big in some industry or other. But… all you said when I asked you before was because Sutton lived here?”

Really, Reganwassuch an oddity in that sense. And Emma wanted to understand it. To understandher.

Regan nodded, looking at Emma as quizzically. “Yes? We’ve already talked about this.”

Emma couldn’t help the incredulous frown that tugged at her mouth. “I just… you moved to one of the most expensive cities in the world with no plans because – your best friend lived here?”

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