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I loved her.
But not because I needed her to move on with my own life, though that was true too.
I loved her because she was optimistic and light, affectionate and funny. I loved her because I felt more like myself around her than I’d ever felt with anyone, like she unlocked somethinginside me I hadn’t known needed a key. She was the solution to the mysterious hunt that was Archie Kasper. She had the map and the key, and I knew I’d never be as whole without her.
I moved to the computer and sighed as the screen flared to life. I had an address, which I’d gotten a long time ago, just after the mishap. It was how I’d sent the letter. Now I just needed a flight. When it was booked, I laid down in my bed, hoping sleep would come now that I’d worked through the complicated worries inside me.
When I woke again, it was to a bright new day, and an adventure on the horizon. Hopefully the first of many, and I hoped—with all my heart—that those in the future would be with Emily.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Every Day’s a Day for Half Cat
EMILY
The next week was hard.
Like all holidays since Jake’s death, this one crept up miserably, serving mostly to remind me that he was gone. I wasn’t sure how my parents were doing—I’d left soon after dinner Tuesday, and hadn’t spoken to them since. I suspected they were probably doing better, it seemed to me that we all needed a little time. I knew I did.
Time to process all that I’d finally said to them and all that I felt.
Time to lick my wounds and let my mind and heart settle on the reality that Archie Kasper was not going to be part of my life.
Time to decide what I was going to do next.
But that time crept by so slowly it was laughable.
Wednesday, I received a call from Wheeler, the editor at the travel magazine that had sent me to Kasper Ridge to get the story of the hunt. They’d been quiet, and I’d figured that either thingswere busy and they hadn’t had time to go through what I’d sent, or that it was disappointing somehow and wouldn’t make the cover.
I answered the phone bracing for the latter, hoping for the former.
“Hello?”
“Hi Emily, how are you?”
“I’m okay, Wheeler. How are things there?”
“Really good, thanks. Listen, we’re really excited about the story you sent. I’m pushing it to a first of the year cover.”
I’d done it. I’d gotten the cover. Excitement zoomed through me. “Really?”
“Really. I honestly didn’t know what to expect from this, but you managed to make it an adventure with a really human edge—it’s incredible.”
“That’s pretty much what the whole place is,” I told him, smiling into the phone as pride lifted me. “It’s this incredible travel opportunity, but it’s laced with so much history and love.” I had a fleeting thought that I couldn’t wait to tell Archie the good news, then my mood plummeted as I realized I couldn’t.
“You got all that into the story, and the pictures are great too. I’d planned to send a photographer after you if we decided to run it, but I wanted to ask if I could buy these from you instead?”
Surprise straightened my spine as I stood in front of the window in my living room, looking out at the street with its holiday decorations gently swaying in the wind. Magazines usually appreciated photos with a story, but I’d only had a photo run with my words once before, and that was online. I wasn’t a photographer by any stretch of the imagination.
“Yeah,” I said, unsure if I was supposed to negotiate, play hardball on the price.
Wheeler told me what they’d give me per photo, which was far more than I thought a few snaps from my phone were worth, and I agreed.
“When does it run then?” I asked him, hoping it was soon.
“The online version will be up next week,” he said. “The glossy will be the January issue. The cover. We’ll send payment for both as soon as the accounting department gets it processed.”
I was shifting my weight and pacing the small living room of my apartment, happiness doing its best to claw through the other emotions that had been bogging me down since leaving Colorado. “That’s amazing. Thank you.”
