Ithadn’t just been talking about her father that made the evening feel special,either. The love in that house reached out and invited her in, so much so thatshe hadn’t wanted to leave. Her own family looked at her with too much concernthese days for her to appreciate the comfort of her mother’s home. It didn’thurt that Morgan had been visibly flustered each time she reached for Emilia,catching herself at the last minute—although not, she suspected, before Shannonhad seen. Morgan always seemed so cool and put together. Seeing her off balancemade her itch to push her down on the nearest surface and blow her cool evenfurther open.
Theforced platonic nature of the evening had ended in a spectacularly unplatonicnight. She leaned against the handles of the wheelbarrow while her body tingledin recollection. Morgan had been even more intense than usual, and Emiliarecalled the marks her teeth had left in Morgan’s shoulder with a new wave ofhunger. She’d wanted to take her again and again, until Morgan’s breathing wasso ragged it sounded like sobs, and afterward she’d fallen into a dreamlesssleep sprawled across Morgan’s chest with Morgan’s hands still buried in herhair.
Abuzz from her pocket broke her out of her reverie: the alarm she’d set as areminder. Her campaign against the weeds had taken her longer than sherealized. She hurried to get cleaned up, reflecting on all the things the agentwould no doubt say needed updating: the upstairs bathroom, for starters. Shetrailed water out of the bathroom and past the open door of her father’s roomto her own bedroom with its twin bed. The bed was the main reason she hadn’tinvited Morgan to spend the night here.
Thethought renewed the sense of unease that had briefly faded while she thought ofMorgan. That was the reason, wasn’t it? Moving into her father’s room wasn’t anemotionally viable option, even though the queen-sized bed was far moresuitable. She couldn’t bring Morgan into that room. That was all. It hadnothing to do with the fact that having Morgan here, in this house, wouldbridge her two worlds too completely—and there was a guest room with a queenmattress that was perfectly serviceable, even if it squeaked.
Thesethoughts were still on her mind when the real estate agent knocked. She’d hadthe foresight to check the woman’s name beforehand and was prepared to greet KatherineKovaleski with a firm handshake and a smile.
Thesmile, however, froze on her face as the door swung open. It occurred to her,belatedly, that she should have checked the woman’s photo for safety reasons ifnothing else. If she had, it might also have occurred to her that Kate wasshort for Katherine.
Morgan’sex-fiancé greeted her with a polite smile.
“Katherine,”she said as she offered her hand. Emilia shook it because she didn’t see analternative.
Smile, she told herself.Act like anadult.
“Sonice to meet you. Please come in.” Her voice sounded falsely chipper to her ownears, but maybe Kate—Katherine—wouldn’t notice.Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuckingfuck.This could not be happening.
“Andwho’s this?”
“Ohmy God, I’m sorry. This is Nell. I meant to put her away. I can—”
“Don’tworry about it. I’m a dog person.”
She’dhave to be to have been with Morgan, Emilia reflected as Katherine greeted Nell.The pause gave her a chance to scrutinize the other woman.
Morganclearly had a type. Katherine stood as tall as Emilia, and while her dark brownhair was currently pinned up in the sort of sophisticated twist Emilia hadnever been able to manage, she could tell that she had the same thick waves asshe did. Sure, Katherine’s skin tone was lighter, and her eyes were more hazelthan brown, but “leggy brunette” might as well have been stamped on theirpassports. Katherine wore a smart pair of black slacks and casually elegantpumps, giving her a slight height advantage, and her sleeveless blouseaccentuated her curves. She was even prettier in person than in her photograph.Emilia felt an immediate need to hate this woman, which she stifled. She couldget through this. Then she’d just tell Katherine she had decided to go withanother agent. Nothing personal.
Katherinefinished petting Nell and looked around appraisingly.
“Youmentioned this house belonged to your father?”
“Yes.”Grief, at least, cleared her mind of other thoughts.
Katherinegave her an understanding smile. “I’ve worked with quite a few clients in yoursituation. It isn’t easy. One of my other listings is for a man whose fatherrecently passed, too.”
“Iam sorry to hear that.”
“Maine’saging population makes it inevitable, and I enjoy helping where I can. Thisisn’t the kind of thing anyone should have to deal with on their own.”
Emiliadid not point out that it also wasn’t the sort of thing she wanted to face withthe help of her lover’s ex-fiancé.
“Thislooks like a new coat of paint.”
“Yes.”
“You’vedone a nice job. It’s hard, especially when you have so many decisions to makeregarding what to keep.”
“Myfather had a thing for taxidermy,” Emilia said.
“Didhe hunt?”
“Yeah.”
“That’snormal for Maine. I had a listing last year for a man who collected watches.The house was full of them. I could barely show the house there were so many. Anyway,I appreciate the legwork you’ve done here. Shall we look around?”
Emiliafollowed Katherine from room to room, answering questions and trying to do herbest to stay calm. Talking about showing the house was terrifying enoughwithout having to stare at Katherine’s perfect ass and picture Morgan—nope,don’t go there. Katherine made notes as they covered the downstairs, thenascended the staircase. Emilia dug her nails into her thighs and pinchedherself.