Page 52 of Connected By Souls

“If she’s the one for you that you say she is, then she’s not going anywhere. My best advice is to make sure to communicate with each other as often as you can. Don’t try and guess what the other is feeling. As long as you both understand where each other is coming from, the bond will be unbreakable. If she needs time, she’ll let you know.”

Nodding, I see Emma and Bella making their way over to us, wine glasses in hand. Smiling, I reach out to take her hand, pulling her to my side, wanting the contact.

“So you must be Emma! It’s so nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so many good things about you,” my dad says, pulling her into a hug.

Smiling, Emma returns the hug. “It’s so nice to finally meet you too. You’ve raised an amazing guy here,” she says, smiling at me.

“I can’t take all the credit, but Sage and I are very proud of our kids. He is amazing.” Dad beams at me.

Looking around, I ask, “Where are Mimi, Papaw, and Luna?” Will they be here for dinner?”

“They took Luna to the beach today for some sea glass hunting. They should be here any minute.” He turns the chicken and closes the lid on the grill. “I hope you guys are hungry. I made my special BBQ chicken.”

“It smells wonderful,” Emma says. “BBQ chicken is a favorite of mine.”

“Well, then you’re in for a treat. It’s all about the sauce and letting the wood chips smoke the chicken a little bit.” He tells Emma excitedly.

Pulling her away before Dad talks to her about his grilling techniques for hours, I lead her to the patio sectional, where Bella sits while we wait for dinner.

“So Emma told me she met Mav.” Bella rolls her eyes at me. “You couldn’t have spared her that one?”

“He’s my best friend. I can’t hide him forever.”

“He’s actually funny and quite charming,” Emma says.

“Charming and Mav are two words that should never be in the same sentence. All he knows about being charming is telling a girl whatever they want to hear so they swoon over his God-like body and do whatever he wants them to,” she mumbles the last few words.

“What has you so worked up about, Mav? You two have a fight over work?” I ask, taking a sip of my beer.

“When don’t we fight? He’s infuriating.” She pours herself some more wine.

Deciding not to get involved in that one, I raise my eyebrows at Emma and shrug.

“Noah!” I glance over and see Luna running over to us. Standing, I grab her in a big hug and twirl her around, causing her to laugh. Setting her down, I wave Emma over. “Luna, I want you to meet Emma.”

Emma walks over to Luna and gives her a hug. “Hi, Luna. It’s so nice to meet you. Noah has been telling me what a wonderful dancer you are. I hope one day I can see one of your performances.”

Beaming, Luna lights up. “You like to dance?”

“I do. I can’t dance the way you do, but I love watching it. Growing up, I went to a few ballet shows and always thought the dancers were so beautiful to watch. I love contemporary too.” She winks at Luna.

“I do both! You’ll have to come and watch my next show!” Luna looks excitedly at Emma.

“I would love to,” Emma grins.

“There you are, Noah.” Mimi comes over and hugs me.

“Hi, Mimi.” I squeeze her tight.

“Hey, Papaw.” He walks up and pats me on the shoulder. “I want you both to meet Emma.” I take her hand. “Emma, this is my Mimi and Papaw.”

“Hi, it’s so nice to meet you. Noah has told me a lot about you both,” Emma says, smiling at them.

“Hi, sweetheart.” Mimi gives her a big hug. “You’re just as beautiful as Noah said you were.”

“Hi honey,” Papaw says, hugging her. “It’s nice to finally meet you too.”

“How did your sea glass hunting go? Did you find any new pieces?” I ask.

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