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“I don’t know. Job security, maybe. Or legal recourse. There are a lot of people who count on her—it’s not the job I would want, but she’s hired people. Either way, she’s either in a lot of trouble or she is the trouble. Neither option is a good one.”
“And what does your sister have to say?”
“Oh.” Caleb chuckled. “She can’t stop talking about it. She thinks that it’s a big publicity stunt for her next tour. She says she wishes that the singer was here in Copper Creek so we could get the concert. But I had to remind her that we’re not built for a gathering that big. It could very well destroy our town. Can you imagine? There are already too many people coming and going because of Shane’s equine therapy services and his country club. If people got word that a famous star came here to get away from it all, then Copper Creek would never be the same.”
“I suppose you’re right,” she said quietly.
“Have you ever heard of her? Emma Hart?”
“I think I’ve heard her music on the radio,” she said even softer.
“Anything I might know?”
She twisted her head around and stared at him. He couldn’t see her eyes, but he could feel them. It was almost like she wanted to say something, but she wasn’t sure she should. Caleb nearly told her to just spit it out, but he didn’t. She was clearly dealing with something, and she wasn’t ready to share it with him. He couldn’t even blame her for that.
A change in subject would have been nice, but if pop culture gossip wasn’t enough to distract her, then nothing would.
As it turned out, being alone and unable to trust anyone was just as hard as finding someone he did trust but not knowing how to help them when they were struggling.
He pulled her tighter against him, allowing her to rest her cheek against his chest. His thoughts continued to spiral as he considered his options. What could he say that wouldn’t scare her off? How could he bring up that he wanted to be there for her?
Caleb cleared his throat and shifted beside her. “So… Sophia is letting you stay with her a while longer.”
Emily nodded.
“That’s nice of them.”
“It is.”
“Do you know when you plan on heading home?”
She fidgeted and sat up. “I don’t.”
“I’ve never met anyone who could take a vacation and have it be so flexible. What did you say you did for work?”
“I work remotely.” She pulled her legs to her chest and rested her chin atop them. “I’ve been able to work all over the country.”
“Oh. I didn’t realize…” Caleb sat up beside her. “That must be nice for when you want to visit places like this, huh?”
She turned her head and rested her cheek on her knees as she gazed at him again. “Yeah. It’s nice to meet new people.”
He frowned, then schooled his features, thankful for the cover of darkness. If there was one thing she didn’t seem to like, it was meeting new people. “What’s the best part about your job?”
Emily turned her face away from him, focusing on something out in the darkness. “I guess the best part is that I love what I do. Not many people can say that. Most of the country has to go to work every day dreading it. You know the phrase work to live, don’t live to work?” Her voice softened, and even from her profile he could see a small smile form. “I had thought I was overwhelmed, and maybe I was. But the truth is, even if I wasn’t getting paid my current salary, I would still want to do it.”
“You’re right. Not many people can say that they have their dream job.”
She took a deep breath. “No, they can’t. The thing is, jobs aren’t supposed to be perfect one hundred percent of the time, are they? They’re supposed to be hard sometimes—otherwise they wouldn’t be worth it. You need to have the bad so you can appreciate the good. And looking at the bigger picture is what we have a hard time doing.”
As her words sunk in, Caleb realized he’d been doing the exact same thing when he thought about his family and the way things were changing. He had only been focused on the bad rather than all of the good things that he’d experienced. He’d dwelt on every betrayal and let it poison him.
Emily had been the one person who had managed to break that cycle. He reached for her hand and laced his fingers within hers before bringing it to his lips and brushing a kiss across her knuckles.
She glanced at him, and not for the first time did he wish there was better lighting. If there had been a full moon, he mighthave been able to see exactly how she felt in this moment. For him, he’d never felt closer to a person—more in tune with who they were deep down.
That was how it had always been with Emily. The more he thought about it, the more he simply had to accept that she’d been put in his life for a reason. She was here to teach him a lesson about trust and gratitude. He only wished he could do something just as good for her.
He’d get to her one way or another. Whatever it was that hurt her—that made her feel unsafe even in a small town like Copper Creek—he’d fix it. Emily needed someone to make her feel whole, just like she’d helped to heal him.
