Page 126 of Summertime Friends

Loving Emerson consumes me.

Loving Emerson will never be a mistake. It might hurt now, but it was utterly glorious, riveting, and purpose-giving.

That’s what I want to remember.

Since I laid eyes on her, she has consumed every part of my body. Her complicated smile and emerald green eyes, the way that when she laughs too hard, she snorts and hiccups simultaneously.

It’s moments over FaceTime when I catch her cooking dinner with a glass of red wine in one hand and the spatula in the other, dancing to her not-only-shower shower playlist without a care in the world. Listening to and supporting me in chasing my dreams. Always willing to accept a call, even when the time difference was inconvenient. She brought out the best in me. A light on the grayest of London days. It was moment by moment, but I fell more in love with her each time.

There’s an ocean of moments between us that remind me she’s special.

You don’t meet many people in your life like Emerson.

You don’t experience love in your life like Emerson. Let me reassure you (and myself) that though she doesn’t believe in it, she knows how to give it. She wouldn’t properly call it love, but it is.

When people like her love you, you know you can’t ever let them go.

And to think I’m being forced to let her go.

Getting over Emerson is going to consume me.

51

EMERSON

Now

Natalie sings to the tune of ‘It’s Friday’ by Rebecca Black, a song that lived rent-free in our heads for about a year in 2011. She remixes the words to better suit our Saturday boat day.

Our sandals clack on the dock as we walk out to the boat we rented. Situated in Montrose Harbor, we’ll leave from here and eventually link up with a few other of our friends’ boats in the playpen, located off Ohio Street Beach. It’s the best place to hang out after boating around. It’s a no-wake zone with endless music and swimming—and hot, tanned, shirtless guys, which we are finally contributing to today—and one of our favorite parts of Chicago in the summer.

It was Cal and Liam’s idea to go out on the lake today. They claimed they have a surprise for me, which slightly scares me. During the summer, it’s typical for Natalie, Chloe, and me on the weekend to get lucky with boat invites, courtesy of Natalie’s connections. There’s always something or someone with a boat, and the three of us have never turned down a day on the water or a good time.

I love the water. Growing up in the Midwest, being on a lake within an hour is easy. I grew up water skiing and wakeboarding. Natalie’s parents used to take us up to Central Lake, Michigan, for two weeks every summer. We’d sleep in a cabin but spend almost every waking minute in the water.

I toss Natalie my bag to put with hers on the boat when I hear my name called out behind me.

“Emerson!”

“I don’t recognize that voice,” Natalie says quietly to me. She stretches her neck to look over my shoulder to see who it is.

“I do.” I spin around. “George!”

I take off running down the dock, losing my sandals in the short distance. I jump into his arms when I reach him. My legs wrap around him to prevent him from dropping me.

“Did she just Bachelor koala hug him?” I hear Chloe snicker to Cal.

“Koala, what?” he asks back.

“You know, throw her arms and legs around him like a koala hangs onto a tree. The girls on The Bachelor do it during one-on-one dates.” Cal stares at Chloe, dumbfounded. “Never mind. Who is that?”

“It’s George!” I say. He sets me on my two feet. “What are you doing here?”

“Oi, missed you, States.”

“I missed you—Beatrix!” I’m surprised by the woman walking with Liam. He’s carrying a large, bright orange Yeti cooler in his hands.

“Hi, Emerson,” she smiles at me.

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