Chapter Thirteen
Jesse
After
“You did great today,” Emery said to Charlotte as she sat on the other side of the kitchen table from us.
Since I had spent the morning with her, Emery wanted me to participate in their end-of-day meeting to discuss how she had done.
“Thank you,” she replied. “I really enjoyed myself, and I know I’m going to love working for you.” She made sure to speak to the both of us and that was something I’d picked up on immediately. “Tomorrow morning, I’ll let myself in through the side door. I know where I’ll find Emery, but where can I bring your coffee to?” she asked me.
During the tour, she had noticed I hadn’t shown her a home office. Once I moved Cinched out of our apartment, I never brought it back into our house.
Emery rubbed his hand over my shoulder. “Soon, her office will be in the far bedroom in the north wing,” he said, stopping to smile, “but for now, I have a feeling you’ll find her in the library.”
“He’s right about the library part.” My brows rose. This was the first time I was hearing this news. “My office is going to be where?” I asked Emery.
“We’re converting the space for you.” He nodded toward Charlotte. “It’s the first project I’m having her work on.”
“I ordered your furniture this afternoon,” Charlotte added, grinning at the both of us. “I put a rush on the order, so they’re promising it will be here in a month.”
“Emery …” I heard myself whisper, my eyes solely on my husband. “Thank you.”
I knew Charlotte was watching this moment happen between us, something that should probably take place privately. I didn’t care. He had known for less than a week that I had pulled back from Cinched and he had already designed a new space for me and had ordered it without my knowledge.
And I knew I would love every inch of it.
This man was so wonderful, it hurt.
Once Charlotte left, I would thank my husband an entirely different way. In the meantime, I turned toward Charlotte and said, “I think you did exceptional today. Our time together this morning couldn’t have gone better. You seem to have picked up everything with ease.” I crossed my legs as Emery’s hand slid across my thigh. “Do you have any questions for me?”
“No questions, just a suggestion.”
I nodded, urging her on.
“I was thinking I could take Tommy to his art class on Wednesday. That way I can get familiar with the route to his school and after school program in case I have to take him in the future.”
She hadn’t met Tommy or Viv yet. The introduction was going to happen tomorrow. I wanted to wait a day just to make sure Charlotte was a good fit before I got the kids involved. Now that I knew how well things were going, I believed it was time for her to meet them.
When I swallowed, there was a tightening in the back of my throat. “I think that’s a fantastic idea.”
“Now, let’s talk about Boston,” Emery said. He kept his hand on my thigh but scrolled his phone with his other one. “I’d like to go on Thursday, take the first flight out and get there before breakfast.” He looked up at me. “I’ll do what I need to at the builder’s office and you can show Charlotte around our place.”
Although Emery and I hadn’t discussed me joining them, I didn’t need to pull up my own calendar to know that I could. There was nothing on it except for Tommy’s activities, which Luz would manage in my absence.
“I think that sounds perfect,” I told him.
Charlotte was holding a pen, pressing it against a notebook, prepared to write down whatever we were saying. Every time I saw her today, she’d been holding both the exact same way.
“Exciting,” she exclaimed. “I’ll make the arrangements as soon as I get home.”
There was so much enthusiasm in her voice it sounded like she genuinely wanted to go.
I could understand why. Boston was a magical city.
Emery pushed his phone aside, taking a few seconds before he broke the silence. “I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, Charlotte.”
She stood from the table. “I’m going to grab my things from the hall closet, and I’ll let myself out through the side door. You both have a great night.”
I smiled at her and as she turned away, I went over to the fridge, grabbing some freshly sliced pineapple and blueberries that Luz had picked up from the farmers market this morning. I poured a little of each into a bowl, took two forks out of the drawer, and brought everything over to the table.
Emery speared a chunk of pineapple with his fork and popped it into his mouth. “I have an idea.” He swallowed and followed it with several blueberries. “Why don’t we send Charlotte back to Burlington on Friday morning and the two of us stay in Boston an extra night.” He took in another bite full. “I need some time alone with you.”
“So Charlotte—”
“Will pick up Tommy from school to give Luz a break and she’ll make sure he has what he needs before she goes home for the night. Luz will stay with the kids and we’ll fly back the next afternoon after we have brunch on Newbury Street.”
I certainly couldn’t turn down what he was offering. A night with him in my favorite city, one where it all began for us, sounded like absolute heaven. And the fact that he had thought of it on his own made it even sweeter.
“You better let Charlotte know about your change of planes before she gets home and books the tickets,” I said.
Emery immediately lifted his phone off the table, and I watched his thumbs press the screen as he typed out a text to her.
When he set his phone back down, I said, “How do you think today really went?”
He ran his hand across the top of his head, messing up the hairs but going over them again to fix. “She seemed to understand everything I explained to her and what I tested her on she passed.”
I laughed. “You tested her?”