Page 39 of Flare
His bear, so restless for the past few days, settled down, radiating contentment. Ward hoped the evening would go well enough for there to be a second date—and a third, and a fourth…
Their food arrived quickly.
Ward couldn’t take his eyes off Emily as she bit into a rib, a small dab of the lavender-honey sauce clinging to her lower lip. She caught him staring and quickly wiped her mouth with her napkin, her cheeks flushing again.
“Justin wasn’t exaggerating about these ribs,” she said.“The lavender actually works with the barbecue sauce. I wouldn’t have thought of that combination.”
Ward nodded, forcing himself to focus on his dinner rather than the way her lips moved when she spoke.“He’s always experimenting. Last month it was barbecued duck with chipotle-cherry sauce. That was good too, but this…” He took another bite and closed his eyes in appreciation.“This is something else.”
A comfortable silence settled between them as they ate. Ward was surprised at how natural it felt, sitting across from her like this. No awkward pauses or struggling for topics. His bear hummed contentedly inside him.
He enjoyed the sight of Emily licking the sauce off her fingers and felt himself grow hard. Thank the stars, the table hid the bulge in his lap!
When Emily had polished off half the rack of ribs, she sat back and took a long sip of her lemonade. Her expression turned serious.“I should probably tell you about what happened in Spokane. With Andrew, I mean.” Her voice dropped, barely audible over the restaurant’s ambient noise.
Ward’s supernaturally sharp ears had no problem hearing her, though. He put down his cornbread and gave her his full attention.“Only if you want to.”
Emily nodded, her fingers tracing nervous patterns in the condensation on her glass.“It all started when my mom got sick about two years ago. Lung cancer.” She swallowed hard.“By the time they caught it, it was already stage four.”
“I’m so sorry,” Ward said, feeling a pang.“I remember your mom from when we were kids. I always thought she was the nicest teacher at our elementary school.”
A small, sad smile touched Emily’s lips.“She loved teaching first grade. After Dad died, she worked two jobs for most of my childhood. Moving to Spokane with me got her a better-paying teaching job. Everything was going so well.” She took a deep breath.“I’d just started working for Andrew’s real estate development company when she was diagnosed.”
Ward kept his expression neutral at the mention of Andrew.
“He was…” Emily paused, seeming to search for the right words.“So charming. So sympathetic. He said all the right things about family being the most important thing. I thought he reallyunderstood what I was going through.” She looked away.“He made me feel like his moon and stars… for a while, anyway.”
The bear inside Ward bristled with jealousy, but he pushed it down. This wasn’t about him.
“When things got bad with Mom,” Emily continued,“Andrew arranged for me to have paid time off. He…” Her voice caught.“He paid all of Mom’s hospital bills. Her insurance didn’t cover everything, and she was drowning in debt.”
Ward’s stomach twisted. No wonder Emily had fallen for Andrew. The guy had swooped in during her most vulnerable time, playing the part of her savior.
“At first, the chemo seemed to work. Mom was weak and sick from the treatments, but the cancerous spots were shrinking. Then, last November, she took a turn for the worse.” Emily’s eyes grew distant.“Dr. Avila said she didn’t have long and recommended hospice. Even with all the drugs they gave her, she was still in a lot of pain. I spent every moment I could with her. Andrew came to the hospital to see us and…” She took a long pull of her lemonade.“He proposed to me right there at her bedside. Mom was so happy because he promised to take care of me after she was gone.”
Her eyes shone with tears that quickly overflowed down her cheeks. Ward resisted the urge to reach across the table and wipe them away.
Emily dug in her purse for tissues and blotted them up before blowing her nose.
“She died a couple of nights later,” she continued, her voice thick with emotion.“And I felt so guilty because I was relieved that her suffering was over.” She looked up at Ward, fresh tears spillingfrom her now-reddened eyes.“It sounds so awful to say I was glad she died. Because I miss her so much. I’d give anything to see her again.”
“It’s okay to want someone’s pain to end, even if it means letting them go,” Ward said as gently as he could.
Emily grabbed a fresh tissue. Ward ached to take her into his arms and comfort her. Instead, he did the only thing he could: give her space to regain her composure.
“Thank you for listening,” she said.“I haven’t really talked about this with anyone. Andrew, well, even before things went bad, he hated hearing about anything he couldn’t fix.”
“Thank you for telling me,” Ward said.“And I’m so sorry for your loss.”
Their server came by to refill their drinks. Emily busied herself with wiping away the last of her tears and smeared eyeliner.
Then she fixed a smile on her face.“Enough about me. Tell me about how you became a carpenter. Maggie said you’re great at it.”
Ward nodded, taking a drink of his tea before continuing.“My dad always dreamed I’d follow in Ellie’s footsteps—go to law school, join the family firm. He had my future all mapped out.” He smiled ruefully.“But I always preferred working with my hands to schoolwork and memorizing textbooks.”
“I remember you were always making things,” Emily said.“You built that amazing tree house for your cousins one summer.”
Ward felt pleased she remembered.“Yeah, that was my first construction project. I looked the other day, and it’s still there.Needs some repairs. It’ll be a while before D.A. is old enough to play on it, though.”
