Page 70 of Love Me Ever After
“I thought that might be the case,” agreed Janine. “Take the rest of the week to recover and we’ll see you in the office on Monday. I’ve sent you a few things I want updates on, so make sure you get to those asap.”
“Got it. Thanks, Janine. Have a good weekend.”
Relieved, I ended the call and fell back onto my pillows. I drifted off again, waking almost an hour and a half later. Blinking hard to try and wake up, I had a shower then got dressed.
Taking a load of washing to the machine, I put it on, then set my laptop up on the table. I needed food before facing the mountain of emails in my inbox. Opening the fridge, I was met with a very sorry sight. A wilting lettuce, some cheese and half a bar of chocolate. There wasn’t even any milk. Blowing out a breath, I decided to go to The Blue Goose for brunch, then head to the gym. I could do with burning off some steam.
Twenty minutes later, I sat at the table by the window, laptop open, furiously typing away in response to all the emails Janine had sent. Bryony Burton kept me topped up with coffee and gave me the biggest farmhouse breakfast I’d ever seen; bacon, eggs, sausages, hash browns, baked beans, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms and toast. My stomach rumbled as she approached the table with the plate piled high.
“You look like you needed it.” She grinned. “Plus we had a few things that had to be finished, otherwise we’d just have had to bin them.”
I laughed. “I came in at the right time then.”
She placed cutlery down next to the plate. “Enjoy.”
And I did. Every last morsel. Leaning back in my chair, I patted my belly, ready to tackle the rest of my inbox before lunch. For the next hour, I replied to all the actions in my inbox, made a couple of client calls and basically caught up on everything I’d been behind on.
It managed to take my mind off obsessing what had happened to Ems.
Satisfied I wasn’t skiving, I took off to the gym.
While I put myself through my paces on the treadmill, my mind went over all the possible scenarios.
Ems got jealous of Whit and thinks we hooked up.
She wants to break up.
If we did, I couldn’t hack living in the house.
I’d have to find somewhere else to live.
Could I stay in Ealynn Sands?
Would I have to grease some palms to get the New York job?
By the time I was done, I’d pretty much gone through every permutation of what could happen.
None of it looked appealing.
Because none of it had Ems in it.
The time apart reminded me exactly what she meant to me. I didn’t want to lose her again.
Unless I’d lost her already.
The thought horrified me.
I wished I knew where she was.
Going through a session of chest exercises, I tried to clear my mind, focusing instead on the burn in my shoulders and pecs. That pain I could handle. I knew how to fix that.
By the time I got home, I was ready to send out a search party to find Ems. I’d speak to Sara, Darcy, Georgie, Sonya—anyone who might know where she could be.
When I heard sounds coming from Ems’s room, I took the stairs two at a time, coming to a halt by her open door. She was unpacking an overnight bag, her back to me.
“Where the fuck have you been?” The words came out harsher than I’d meant them.
Slowly, she turned around to face me. “That’s some welcome home.”
