“Of course,” Jo said.
“Thank you.” Emma turned back to her computer before Jo could say anything else.
Jo stood beside Emma’s desk for a moment, but when Emma continued to not look at her, Jo headed into her office and closed the door behind her.
So much for an easy fix.
On a normal day, Emma would tell Jo why she needed the afternoon off. Today, Jo could only assume she’d be at the twins’ baseball game. Jo had to apologize to her before she left for the day. She’d snapped at Emma when Emma was trying to do her job—or, not her job, not exactly. Emma was trying to rein in the rumors, and Jo didn’t bother listening before dismissing her. Emma was doing more than her job, was doing what she could tomake Jo’s life easier. Jo hadn’t understood that yesterday, but she did today. She needed to tell Emma.
But all morning, Emma avoided letting any pauses linger in their interactions. Jo would open her mouth and Emma would interrupt with something, and so Jo never apologized.
When Emma dropped off Jo’s lunch, she didn’t stay to eat with her.
“I’m going to head out,” she said instead.
Jo looked up at her and smiled gently. “Have a good afternoon, Emma.”
“You, too, Ms. Jones.”
Jo could feel her smile go strained. Emma turned and left without another word.
—
Jo considered not goingto the game. But Ethan didn’t deserve her not showing up because of personal issues. And it provided another opportunity to apologize to Emma.
Like she did every game, Jo wore her standard baseball cap and big sunglasses and sat in the top row of the bleachers. She scrolled through various apps on her phone instead of anxiously watching the parking lot to see when Emma would arrive.
She saw her immediately anyway. Dani and Ezra raced to the field like they always did, Dylan and Avery moving more slowly, three rottweilers and Jo’s assistant with them today. Emma was in a tank top and shorts, waves of hair past her shoulders and sunglasses on top of her head. It was the most casual Jo had ever seen her. Jo’s breath caught.
She prepared herself for Emma noticing her, realizing where she sneaked off to all these summer afternoons. She expected Emma to freeze, to look confused, maybe even hurt. She did notexpect Emma to smile up at her and wave as she climbed the bleachers. Jo attempted her typical nonchalant wave, but her fingers were rigid.
Avery was quiet as she and Emma joined Jo in the top row. She sat next to Jo, Emma on the other side of Avery. Jo and Avery’s eyes met, then Avery’s darted away, back toward her sister.
“Nice day for a ball game, isn’t it?” Emma asked, flicking her sunglasses down over her eyes.
“It is,” Jo said.
She had no idea what was going on.
Emma knew she’d be here. Did Avery tell her today, or had Emma known for some time? Had Jo been confused about how to tell her for no reason? Emma knew but didn’t think it was important enough to discuss? Jo needed to ask Avery, or even Dylan, who was still in the grass with the dogs.
Jo had been in plenty of awkward situations at work. She could be charming and disarming and win the day. Here, though, she couldn’t figure out how to keep conversation going. She sat silently until Vincent arrived. She saw his smirk when he noticed Emma and prayed he wouldn’t say anything stupid.
“Emma,” Jo said, “this is my brother, Vincent.”
Emma smiled and shook his hand. Was Jo imagining how her movement seemed stiff?
“It’s nice to meet you,” Emma said.
“Likewise,” Vincent said, his smirk fading into a smile. “Surprised my sister let you take the afternoon off. The way she talks about you, you’d think the show would fall apart without you there.”
Jo could have hugged him.
“I’m quite sure that’s not true,” Emma said.
Jo shifted on the bleacher. Emma glanced down the first baseline.
“Anyway,” she said, “now that Dylan has been the one who had to pick up the dog poop, I’ll go take those pups off his hands.”