Page 111 of Free to Believe
I close my eyes in relief.
“Now will you calm down?” Jenna demands.
Reaching out, I hook an arm around my daughter. “Will you?” I finally recognize my daughter’s constant nagging for what it really is: her own concern.
Slipping an arm around my waist, she mutters, “When I see Em come through security.”
Throwing back my head, I laugh.
* * *
“Didthey say what the delay was, Em?” Jenna asks from the back seat of the Pilot as we drive back to Sconset.
Em twists in her seat. “High winds in New York. We couldn’t take off. I was on the cell with Caleb pestering the hell out of him to ask if his jet was available for me to use. He laughed and said if they weren’t taking off at JFK, it was unlikely they’d be taking off at Teterboro.”
“Caleb has his own jet?” I jump in to the conversation.
Em twists back and nods. “His business does.”
“I’m surprised they didn’t run over me with the jet when I came to New York, then,” I mutter under my breath. Or at least I think I do until Em whacks me in the arm.
“Stop that. They’re getting better about this.”
Jenna, my little snot of a daughter, outright asks, “Who’s on Team Dad this week, Em?”
“Wait? What? There’re teams?” I’m amused, appalled, and intrigued all at once.
“Dad, there’s a betting pool on who will be the last you’ll win over.”
I very briefly take my eyes off the road to shoot a killing look at Emily. “And you’re aware of this?”
She shrugs. “It keeps them from betting on sex.”
Jenna laughs while I groan. “Fine. Tell me. Who is for and against?”
“Completely in your corner? Holly. Swear, that girl has some inner eye none of us can figure out. But the day after the show, she was all Team Jake.”
“I didn’t say more than two words to her.” I’m stunned.
“With Holly, you don’t have to. It’s what shesees.”
“Okay. So, Holly. Is that it?” I demand.
“Surprisingly, no. Jason, Ali, Cass, Colby, and Charlie,” Emily concludes.
“Which leaves, your brother, Caleb, Keene, and Corinna,” I conclude.
Em waves her hand. “Corinna’s already falling. She wanted to know how many to cook for over Christmas. When I told her you already had plans to go to your parents, she wanted to know where to send a special package.”
“Whoohoo! Corinna baked goods!” Jenna yells from the back seat.
“And the others just need…my blood?” I conclude.
“Time, Jake. Time. I predict Caleb, Phil, Keene,” Em confides. “Normally, I’d say Phil last, because he’s my brother, but frankly, Keene can just be a prick who holds a grudge.”
I chuckle. “I kind of got that impression.”
“I’ll tell you all the good stories later.”
