Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Emiko
When Rhett held my hand, it sent tingles through my body. We exchanged phone numbers before we left. I think Rhett can see that there’s something holding me back. The respect that he shows me and my family is important to me. I think he’s even started to win my brothers over.
But when I got home, I felt guilty, like I did something wrong. My mom came and sat with me, like she knew what I was feeling. Last night I dreamt of Seth and he told me that he was proud of me and how strong I am. That I needed to open my heart up again. And that he’d always be with me.
I woke up sobbing and missing Seth even more. But I also felt relieved. Like Seth came and helped me realize that I can move on. I can let someone else into our lives. And I think that someone is Rhett.
Today is the first day for teachers only, it gives us a few days to get our classrooms in order.
Rhett: Morning. I hope it’s okay for me to text you. I wanted to say have a great first day
Emiko: Morning. Thank you. Are you working today?
Rhett: I work everyday. I haven’t been able to hire another pharmacist yet
Emiko: So you don’t have any days off?
Rhett: I close up the pharmacy when I have things to do. And I’ve started looking for another pharmacist
Emiko: That’s good. I was worried that you didn’t get any time to relax
Rhett: Would you like to have lunch with me today? I can bring something to you
Emiko: I’d like that. But I’m not sure what our schedule is going to be like
Rhett: Just text me. I’ll pick something up and come to you
Emiko: Okay. Thank you
Rhett: See you soon
I get up and find my mom making breakfast for everyone. Just like it was back home.
“Morning, sweetheart. I make pancakes, eggs and sausage. You need a good breakfast.”
“Thank you, Mom.” I smile as I grab a little of each.
“Do you want us to come see you for lunch? Since you’re not teaching yet, we can come visit?” my dad asks.
“Oh. Um. Rhett offered to bring me lunch today.”
My mom smiles at me and comes to sit with everyone.
“I like that idea. I think we’ll take the kids to a movie and maybe to that water park in the next town over.”
“I don’t know if I’ll be working all day.”
“It’s okay. You and Rhett can maybe spend some time together,” my mom says with that same smile that Felicity gave me yesterday.
I’m beginning to think my family is planning something that I should know about. I squint at each of them and they all just smile at me. Even my dad. What. The. Fuck.
When the twins come down, I’m almost ready to get going.
“Please be good and listen today,” I say to them.
“We will, Mom,” Kaito says.
I give each of them a kiss and head to my new job. After I meet with the principal, I head to my classroom. Since today isn’t a school day, my principal said it’s what they call a ‘teacher’s work day.’ We don’t have our first day of school till next week. I text Rhett.
Emiko: Hey! I don’t have a set schedule till next Monday. So whenever you’re hungry for lunch, I’ll be here
Rhett: Is there anything you want for lunch?
Emiko: Surprise me
Rhett: Okay. I’ll be there around twelve
Emiko: See you then
Rhett
I can’t wait to see Emiko for lunch. Now I just need to figure out what to take.
“Felicity to the pharmacy, please, Felicity to the pharmacy.”
“What’s up?” Felicity asks as she comes over.
“I need some ideas for lunch. I’m going to take something to Emiko.”
“YOU ARE?” she squeals.
“Shhhh.”
“Omg. I’m so excited for you! I know. A picnic.”
“But she’s at school.”
“Yeah, but you can still take a picnic basket and use the tables to put it out. I’ll go and get you sandwiches from Brewbirds and we have a picnic basket for sale here. It has all the utensils, plates and glasses. I’ll even wash it for you.”
I watch my sister run off before I can say yes. Well at least that part is settled. I look at the time. I have four hours till I get to see my girl. Whoa. Where did that come from?
“HELLO?”
Sabrina snaps me out of my Emiko daydream.
“Oh, hey. What can I get for you today?” I say to her.
“I’m picking up my mom’s prescriptions.”
“Okay, one sec.”
I go to the wall and find her mom’s meds. Times like these makes it hard to live in a small town. Anyone you decide to date is always going to be here. I’ve dated a few other women since Sabrina. It’s just never felt right. But Emiko? I can feel it every time I look at her…she’s the one I’ve been waiting for.
I hand Sabrina the meds.
“Have you ever thought of trying again with us?” she asks.
I look at her and choose my words carefully.
“We had our chance before. I can’t keep saying how sorry I am for not living up to your expectations.”
“It’s not that you didn’t live up to what I wanted. You gave up before we really had a chance.”
“We were together for two years, Sabrina.”
“That was high school. We’re adults now. What if we tried again?”
“I’m sorry?—”
“You’re an asshole.” She frowns as she stomps off.
“Wow,” Paxton says as he comes over to my area. “I guess she’s never going to let it go? What about Emiko? You think she’d make trouble for you two?”
I sigh at my brother. “I don’t know. I keep hoping that Sabrina will find the one for her.”
Felicity bounces back over with a wicker picnic basket and plops it on my counter.
“I got you sandwiches, some fruit cups, chips, sodas and water. Oh! And some desserts. I also washed everything in the basket so you don’t have to worry. I added a cute little table cloth for you to use too.”
“Emiko’s going to know that I didn’t do all this.” I laugh.
Felicity shrugs. “Sometimes you need a little help. That’s where I come in.”
I have a feeling Felicity’s planning something. She’s sneaky like that.
* * *
It’s finally time for me to leave and I’m suddenly nervous. What if she thinks this picnic idea is dumb? I grab the basket and a blanket in case she wants to sit outside.
“Good luck, big brother!”
I laugh as I walk to my car. The drive to the high school is only ten minutes. But in that ten minutes I’ve almost talked myself out of it. Maybe I should just drop off the food and leave. When I get to the school, the lot is half full. I wave at the people I know. I bet they’re wondering why I’m here.
I get to Emiko’s room and watch her for a minute. She’s perfect. I knock on the wall and she spins around to face me.
“Hi.” She smiles. “Come on in. I’m trying to make my room feel inviting. What do you think about the tables being in a square shape? So no one is looking at anyone else’s back?”
“I like that idea. I always thought it was weird to have to stare at the back of the person in front of me.”
Emiko smiles. “Me too.”
“I’ll help you move the furniture around and then we can eat if you’re hungry.”
“Thank you. That’s a nice picnic basket. I don’t think I’ve ever gone on a picnic.”
“I thought we could either eat in your room or out on the grass.”
“We could spread it out in the middle of our square when we’re done.”
We get to work and position the desks exactly how Emiko wants them. Then I get the blanket and the picnic basket. We sit down and I start taking out the items in the basket. Felicity wasn’t joking, she made sure we had a feast.
“This is incredible. Thank you for doing this.”
“I can’t take the credit for this. Felicity got the basket together for us. I’m no good at things like this.” I chuckle.
“I’ll be sure to thank her when I see her. Your sister is adorable. I’ve always wanted a sister. I love my brothers, but sometimes I think having a sister would be nice.”
“I don’t know about that. Felicity is a handful.” I laugh. “You can borrow her anytime.”
Emiko laughs.
“Is there anything you’re allergic to? Or don’t like to eat?”
“Not really, I like most things and I’ll try anything once.”
“I like that outlook. ‘Try anything once.’”
“It’s what my parents used to tell us when we were little. How can you say you don’t like something if you’ve never tried it? So that was their thing. Try things once and you can say you don’t like it after.”
I put the sandwich halves, veggies and fruits on plates so we can pick and choose. I love listening to her talk. I can see a sadness in her, but also a spark that I love.
“What made you decide to become a pharmacist?”
“I like science and I thought about becoming a doctor. But I didn’t want to spend that much time in school.” I chuckle.
“What about you? What made you decide to teach?”
Emiko gets a sad look on her face and I’m worried that I touched a sore spot for her.
“I got pregnant with my twins when I was sixteen. There were times I wanted to quit school, but I had a teacher that pushed me to keep going. I mean, I had my family and their dad. But having Mrs. Kramer in my corner really helped me to keep going. She told me that I could do it even with my babies. That she would help me as much as she could. And that’s what she did.”
“Can I ask where your twins dad is?”
Emiko sighs softly. “We lost him last year. He was a state trooper and was shot on a call.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“That’s part of why I decided to move here. The memories were just too much. I felt like all of us needed a new start.”
“I’m glad you chose Wintervale,” I say as I take her hand.
“I am too. So, what do you do for fun here?”
“Honestly? I spend my free time snowboarding in the winter and in the summer we like to go camping. But since we lost our parents, we spend most of our time at the store.”
“I’m sorry about your parents. Losing people you love is the hardest thing to go through.”
I kiss the back of her hand.
“It is the hardest thing in life. If there’s anything I can do to help you, I’m here.”
I don’t know why I feel such a strong connection to Emiko. But I do, and I want to protect her and her babies. Emiko smiles at me.
“Thank you. I’m here for you too. I’m not sure why I feel so connected to you—but I do. Seth was the only one I’ve ever been with and I never thought I’d want to get to know anyone like that again. You make me feel alive, like I’m opening my eyes for the first time in a long time.”
Hearing Emiko say these things makes me feel really good, knowing she feels the same way that I do. That strong connection to her isn’t in my imagination. I lean forward and kiss her. That jolt of electricity between us is incredible.
“Wow,” she whispers.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.” I smile at her.
We spend the rest of the day talking and arranging her room. I love listening to her talk about how excited she is to meet her students. We even made plans to go to dinner with her family and mine.