Page 88 of Objection to Love

Em looked at her sister, striving for a lighter tone even though she still felt a hard lump in her chest that was constantly reminding her how horrible a sister and lawyer she’d been that day. “Just what finer things is she talking about?”

“Oh, you know. Colin Firth, Matthew MacFadyen, Johnny Lee Miller. A little Richard Armitage maybe.”

Em must have looked confused because April’s mouth lifted in a smile, some of the hollow sadness fleeing her eyes for a moment. “Jane Austen movies. AndNorth and South.”

“Oh. Of course.”

“If you need to go, you can. Really. I know your trial isn’t over.”

Em was shaking her head before April had finished. “Not a chance. I’m here until Jackson gets home. However long that takes.”

April scooted over, wrapping arms around her shoulders. “Thank you.”

Em returned the hug, putting all the emotion she was feeling for her sister and little unborn niece into the action. As if her hug could fix the broken pieces of April’s life right now. As if it could make up for Em’s crappy sister status.

It couldn’t. But Em was starting to think about what she needed to do to make sure it never happened again.

And it was making the heavy lump in her chest even heavier.

Em’s headlights illuminated the front of Garrett’s house when she pulled into her driveway. She’d stayed at April’s until Jackson had gotten home around eleven p.m. He’d taken an Uber to April’s parents’ house and then brought their other car home. Em had left April in his capable hands. And the capable hands of the pizza, ice cream, and plethora of candy bars Em had ducked out to grab during their screening ofEmma.

Emma’s self-centered actions had gotten to Em, making her feel as if a spotlight was shining on her, reminding her just how self-centeredshe’dbeen. Reminding her that, despite her attempts to control things, everything had spun out of control. She didn’t need to see it happening on the screen too. April warned her she would miss the best parts if she left, but Em had waved her off, saying she’d be back soon.

With a little more force than necessary, she put the car in park. Several hours with her sister hadn’t numbed her anger. Anger at herself. Frustration hot enough that it felt like it might boil out of her eyeballs. Her hands still felt like they were shaking every time she thought through her day.

How could she have been so dumb? How could she have dropped the ball so completely? Not only at work, but with her sister. The one time her sister had tried to rely on Em instead of the other way around… Em had let her down.

She grabbed her purse from the passenger seat and almost made it out the door, the hot feelings spurring her into movement. Into action. But at the last moment, she slumped in her seat, her head falling against the steering wheel.

She didn’t want to do it. She really didn’t want to do it. But she needed to.

She needed to break up with Garrett.

Something needed to give. Before the last few months, she’d never struggled to be both a good sister and daughter, and a good attorney. But, all of a sudden, she was fighting with her parents, forgetting her sister, and making major mistakes at work. Nothing was working anymore. She couldn’t just quit her job, and she wasn’t going to quit her family, so the only option left was Garrett.

And he was probably quitting her soon anyway, so she may as well beat him to the punch.

Yet, somehow even that knowledge wasn’t unraveling the mess of apprehension and regret already twisting in her stomach. It was like her entire midsection had turned to stone and a pile of snakes all at the same time. Em was fairly certain the snakes were venomous too, if the nausea was any indication.

Gathering what little strength she had, Em took a deep breath. She had to do it. It was the only option. Adjusting her grip on her purse, she pushed the door open. And before she could convince herself otherwise, she was striding up the walk to Garrett’s house.

She knocked twice and stepped back. Any moment now he would open the door, and she’d have to say the words she’d practiced twelve times on the way home.

Except the door didn’t open.

Leaning sideways, Em double-checked that the light was on in the front room. Then she knocked again. Still nothing.

The mess in her stomach was becoming more snakes and less stone. If she didn’t do this tonight—while the pain of the trial and forgetting the ultrasound were still fresh and poignant, then she didn’t think she’d have the nerve to do it tomorrow. And then Garrett would go accept a job in Texas or something, and Em would…

She would have failed. Her relationship with Garrett would have failed in addition to her family relationships and work responsibilities, and Em couldn’t survive another failure. She needed to end this on her terms.

So again she knocked. He probably wouldn’t answer; he was probably asleep and just left a light on. But she had to try one last time.

It wasn’t a surprise when the door didn’t open this time, but it still cut through Em’s already hurting heart. She turned around. At the same time, a lock clicked, and the door swung wide.

The sudden movement startled her, and she jumped back, almost falling off his porch. Her purse fell from her shoulder, and she shoved it back up with painful awkwardness as she turned back to the doorway. Garrett was there, grinning at her with wet hair, basketball shorts, and nothing else. No shirt. Nothing. Not even socks to maintain some sort of decency.

Em fought the heat crawling up her neck and into her cheeks as she tried really hard not to stare. It was as if she’d never seen him without a shirt—she had, though. She’d already seen him shirtless at the lake, and one would have thought the shock would have been less this time.

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