Page 16 of Second to None
They discussed numbers and developed a road map for Gloria’s conversation.
“Now it’s time to celebrate,” Emily said, carrying the two bottles of champagne out from the kitchen. She popped the corks and let the sparkling liquid spill into the glasses.
“I would have baked a celebration pie if I’d known,” Violet said when Emily handed her a flute.
As soon as she’d served everyone, Emily raised her champagne. “To the generosity of Max Varela and the Catalyst Foundation.”
“Hear, hear!” the group cheered and sipped their champagne.
“To K-9 Angelz,” Gloria said. “I can’t wait to see the kids’ faces.”
They drank again.
“To Emily,” Violet said in her soft voice. “She made all this happen.”
A chorus of “To Emily” rose from the small group, and Emily felt a rush of satisfaction. Not because the board recognized her contribution, but because her vision was going to become a reality. She hadn’t truly grasped that until this moment. The children she cared about so deeply were going to learn about love and responsibility from some of the best teachers in the world—the canine kind.
“Mommy, what’s everyone yelling about?” Izzy stood at the archway into the dining room, her high ponytail sagging to one side because she tugged on it when she was concentrating. She balanced on one stocking foot with the other braced against her calf, the purple polka-dotted socks arguing with her orange-and-turquoise-striped leggings. At least her sweatshirt was solid orange. However, it had a flashy sequined heart in the center. Even at age nine, Izzy had her own unique fashion sense. Beside the little girl, their collie mix, Windy, settled onto her haunches, her long, silky tan-and-white coat rippling slightly as she moved.
Laughter swelled around the table. “Sorry we disturbed your studying,” Violet said. “We’ve just had some good news about the center.”
“Cool,” Izzy said without much enthusiasm. Then she brightened. “Can I have some champagne?”
Emily walked over to put her arm around Izzy’s small shoulders and bent to whisper in her ear, “I’ll let you taste mine later.”
Izzy nodded. “Did Violet bring a pie?”
“Not tonight, punkin. Your mama surprised us,” Violet said.
“Are you done with your homework?” Emily asked.
“I just have to read a chapter of my book.” Izzy threw her mother an innocent smile. “I thought I could read it to you.”
“Absolutely. Just give me a little while to finish up my meeting.” Emily knew she was being manipulated, but she loved having Izzy read to her.
“Yay! Thanks, Mommy.” Izzy did a cheerleading jump and headed for the stairs.
“We’ll get out of your mama’s hair now,” Gloria said, leaning on her cane as she eased up from her chair. “I can’t gallivant around late at night at my age, anyway.”
Everyone drifted toward the door and said their farewells, except for Violet. She settled into one of the crushed-velvet armchairs in Emily’s living room, crossed her ankles, and gestured toward the matching one that faced her. “I just wanted to congratulate you again on getting that funding,” Violet said. “Having fresh air and grass and dogs running around in that open space will do the kids a world of good. Now tell me again how you know this Max Varela.”
“He and Jake worked together on a body-armor project for about six months down at Camp Lejeune. Max is a chemist. According to Jake, a genius one. Which makes sense, since Horace says Max sold his company for a billion dollars.”
“Did your husband like this Max?”
Emily nodded. “He considered him a good friend. Although Max kind of withdrew toward the end of the project. Once he left the base, he didn’t keep in touch. It was strange, because he spent a lot of time at our house for the first four months or so. But I guess he was busy creating V-Chem.” She smiled. “He was always very focused.”
“Soyougot to know him, too.”
“He came to dinner and played with Izzy and watched movies with us. He was fresh out of grad school at MIT, so he didn’t know anyone at Lejeune. I figured he was lonely.”
“I got my granddaughter to do that Google thing on the Internet. He’s a fine-looking man.”
Emily felt the blush crawl up her cheeks as she remembered how much she’d wanted Max to kiss her last night. “It wasn’t like that at Lejeune,” Emily said, suddenly afraid of what Violet was thinking. “We didn’t ... there wasn’t anything ...”
“Of course not. You were a happily married woman.” Violet waved a hand in dismissal of the idea. “But your situation is different now.”
The phrase nagged at Emily. She’d just heard someone say something similar, but she couldn’t come up with the source. “Yes, now I’m a busy single mother.”
