Chapter 60 Emily
EMILY
Ichecked my phone for the fourth time in ten minutes. The screen was blank. My reflection stared back, looking as pathetic as I felt.
Cam hadn’t texted all day. Which was fine. Totally fine. He was busy. He had a business to run and two kids to wrangle. He had a life full of priorities that ranked higher than validating my insecurity before noon.
Except he’d sent one every day since I’d been at Mia’s. Without fail. Sometimes before I was even awake.
My thumb hovered over our message thread. The last message was one from yesterday afternoon, with pics of the girls artwork. They’d drawn a picture of me, saying they missed me. Man, I missed them too.
More than anything, though, I missed Cam. I missed the safety of his arms, the solid weight of him against me that made the rest of the world feel a little less chaotic. I missed the way his eyes crinkled at the corners right before he laughed, like I was the best part of his entire day.
Looking at his texts, my fingers itched to type something. Anything. A casual hey or a stupid meme or literally any excuse to break the silence. But that felt needy. Desperate. Like the old Emily who would have twisted herself into knots trying to figure out what she’d done wrong.
I set the phone face down on my desk with a resolute sigh.
The muffled thud of footsteps on the carpet pulled my attention up. Mia stood at the edge of my desk, her expression carefully neutral in a way that made my stomach flip.
“Come with me.”
“Okay?” I half-laughed, searching her face for some hint of what was going on. “That’s not ominous at all.”
She didn’t smile. Didn’t roll her eyes. Just turned and started walking toward Jack’s office.
Oh god. This was bad. This was definitely bad. Had I messed something up? Missed a deadline? Accidentally sent an email to the wrong client? I followed her down the hall, my heart climbing steadily into my throat.
Mia pushed open Jack’s door without knocking and gestured for me to go in first.
Jack sat behind his massive desk, looking every bit the intimidating CEO he was. Dark suit, sharp jaw, those piercing hazel eyes that always seemed to see right through you. He nodded at the chairs across from him.
“Sit down, both of you.”
I lowered myself into the leather chair, my spine rigid, my hands clasped tight in my lap. Mia settled beside me, still wearing that unreadable expression.
“Emily.” Jack’s voice was low, measured. “I need to talk to you about the art scholarship.”
My stomach dropped straight through the floor.
“Oh.” My voice was small. Hollow. “Look, I know I was upset about not getting it, but I promise it hasn’t affected my work. I’m completely focused and—”
“That’s not what this is about.” He held up a hand, cutting off my rambling. “I need you to hear me out.”
I clamped my mouth shut and nodded, my heart hammering so hard I felt it in my temples.
“When the winner was announced, something didn’t sit right with me.” Jack leaned back in his chair, his gaze steady. “So I did some digging. Pulled some strings. Asked some questions that made certain people very uncomfortable.”
Where the fuck was this going?
“And as it turns out, my instincts were right. The winner was Lindsay Buchanan.”
“Umm, I’m sorry, I have no clue who that is.”
“Rebecca’s stepdaughter.”
The name hit me like a slap. Rebecca. The woman who’d made Mia’s life hell, who’d been fired for her behavior, who had connections to one of Catalyst’s directors.
I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. Could only sit there, frozen, while the pieces started clicking together in my brain.
“Rebecca leveraged her relationship with Director Stevens.” Jack’s lips pressed into a thin line. “She pressured one judge to flip their vote. She buried another judge’s submission entirely. It wasn’t a contest. It was a setup. The original vote was five to one in your favor, Emily. You won.”
The words floated around my head like fragments of a dream, refusing to land anywhere solid.
“I... what?”
“You won the scholarship.” Jack’s voice softened, just slightly. “It’s yours. It always was.”
My vision blurred. For a second, I waited for the punchline. I waited for my mother’s voice to echo in the back of my skull, telling me I was delusional for thinking I could be anything more than a pretty face. But the voice didn’t come. Jack wasn’t mocking me. He was telling me I was good enough.
“The board has been informed,” Jack said.
“The scholarship committee has formally reversed their decision.” He paused, something almost gentle crossing his usually stoic face.
“I’ve seen your work, Emily. You’re exceptionally talented.
The directors and I are sorry you were put through this, and we hope you’ll accept the scholarship as you rightfully deserve. ”
A sound escaped me, somewhere between a laugh and a sob. I pressed my hand over my mouth, trying to hold myself together, but it was no use. The tears flowed, silent and relentless.
“I...” I choked on a sob, pressing my palm flat against my stomach to stop the somersaulting there. “Are you serious? You’re actually serious?”
“Completely serious.” Jack glanced at Mia, then back at me. “Take some time to process. The offer stands whenever you’re ready. Congratulations, Emily. Truly.” He rose from his chair, buttoning his suit jacket in one smooth motion.
I took it for the dismissal it was, pushing to my feet on shaky legs. “Th-thank you. Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Emily, wait.” Mia’s hand on my arm stopped me. “Give me one minute. I’ll be right out.”
“Oh sure, okay.”
Stepping into the hallway, I leaned against the wall of Jack’s office, trying to stop my knees from giving out. I pressed my fingertips against my eyes, like that could somehow contain the flood of emotions threatening to drown me.
The office door hadn’t closed all the way. Through the gap came the soft rustle of fabric. Then a sound that was unmistakably kissing.
“I love you for that.” Mia’s voice, soft and full of warmth.
“I appreciate the sentiment, sweetheart.” Jack’s low rumble. “But I didn’t do it for you.”
“I know.” A pause. More kissing. “Which only makes me love you more.”
Fresh tears pricked at my eyes, but these ones felt different. Lighter somehow.
I won. The words echoed in my head, louder than my doubts. Louder than my mom.
The door swung open and Mia appeared, her lipstick slightly smudged, her eyes bright. She grabbed my elbow without missing a beat.
“Come on. We have to go.”
“Where to?”
“You’ll see.”
“The diner? What the fuck?”
Mia nudged my elbow, steering me toward our usual booth in the back. “Walking. Let’s try walking, Em.”
“Right. Walking.”
I followed Mia, sliding into the worn vinyl seat across from her, still dazed. “Honestly, can you blame me? I just found out my entire future got stolen and then handed back to me in the span of fifteen minutes. My head is spinning.”
“I totally don’t blame you.” Mia flagged down the waitress. “Two cups, please. And six more when the rest of the girls arrive.”
“Sure thing.” The waitress nodded and disappeared.
“Everyone’s coming?”
“Everyone’s coming,” Mia confirmed.
I slumped back against the booth, pressing my palms flat on the table like I needed something solid to anchor me.
“I still can’t believe it.” My voice was reed thin. “I actually won.”
“You actually won.” Mia’s smile was soft. “How does it feel?”
“Fucking amazing. It’ll just take some time to wrap my head around it all.”
“Fair enough. You deserve it and I’m so glad it all turned out right in the end.”
“Only because of that amazing husband of yours.”
“Oh yeah, he’s definitely getting lucky tonight.”
That made me laugh. “What are you on about? He gets lucky every night.”
Mia chuckled. “True. I’ll just make sure it’s extra memorable.”
The bell above the door jingled and moments later, Hannah and Maya slid into the booth.
“What did we miss?” Hannah grabbed a menu even though it was way past lunch and we weren’t ordering food.
And Maya looked… well, like she’d stuck a fork in a toaster. Her usually neat brown hair frizzled at the temples, and her eyes held a lost, frightened look. “Maya? You okay? You look like you got chased by a bear.”
“I wish,” Maya muttered, dropping her head onto her folded arms on the table. “Bears I can handle. Bears have predictable negotiation tactics.”
Mia bumped Maya with her shoulder. “Okay, you’re freaking us out.”
“Uh huh,” I agreed.
Maya let out a long breath and lifted her head. “I just got a text from my brother.”
“And?” Hannah looked like she was about to burst from curiosity.
“Nate’s coming back.”
The name landed like a grenade in the middle of the table. Hannah’s eyebrows shot up and Mia’s mouth fell open. I just stared, as color rose in Maya’s cheeks.
“Wait.” Hannah leaned forward, her eyes gleaming with the kind of delight that meant trouble. “Nate O’Hara? Who was your brother’s best friend since they were six years old? Who accidentally saw you naked right after your eighteenth birthday?”
Maya groaned, her color deepening.
Hannah wasn’t done. “The guy you had the biggest crush on from age twelve until he left to join the army, never to be heard from again?” She paused for dramatic effect. “That Nate O’Hara?”
Maya’s expression flattened. “Gee, thanks, Hannah. You really know how to make a girl feel good about herself.”
“I try.”
“And yes.” Maya dragged both hands down her face.
“It’s that Nate O’Hara. And I am completely fine.
Not spiraling at all.” Her voice pitched higher on the last sentence, betraying the lie.
“Mom’s throwing a big homecoming party at Lacey’s and you all need to come because I am not facing that alone. ”
“We’ll be there,” I said immediately.
“Obviously,” Mia added.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Hannah’s grin was downright predatory. “This is going to be amazing.”
Maya slumped back against the booth.
Before I could offer more comfort, the bell jingled again. Poppy, Cassidy, Annie, and Samara filed in, squeezing into the booth until we were packed in like sardines.
“Alright, we’re here.” Cassidy sat next to Hannah. “Before we get started, what was with the cryptic text, Mia?”
Mia just smiled and gestured toward me. “Tell them your big news.”
Six pairs of eyes swung in my direction.
“There was a mix-up with the scholarship.” I took a breath, still hardly believing the words coming out of my mouth. “Turns out I actually won it.”
The booth exploded. Poppy shrieked. Annie grabbed my arm. Samara clapped. Questions flew at me from every direction until Mia held up a hand.
“Long story short. There was some fraud involved, Jack sniffed it out, and Emily is officially a scholarship recipient.” She beamed at me. “Our girl’s going to art school.”
“Oh my god, Em!” Poppy lunged across the table to hug me, nearly knocking over the coffee cups. “I’m so proud of you!”
The buzz kept going until Cassidy cleared her throat.
“Okay, okay. This is incredible news and we’re all thrilled. Honestly, Emily, it’s just the best news.” She reached into her bag. “But we’re actually here for another reason.”
She placed a heavy, tattered book on the table.
The Yearbook.
My stomach did a little flip.
She opened the scrapbook that Poppy and Hannah had made in high school. It was ridiculous, full of glitter and inside jokes, assigning a ‘Most Likely To…’ for every girl in our group.
Silence fell over the table as she flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for. She turned the book around and slid it across the table toward me.
My own teenage handwriting stared back at me, loopy and uneven. And there, in glittery purple letters across the top of the page:
Most Likely to Doubt Love.
“We had no idea what you were dealing with back then.” Cassidy’s voice was gentle. “You had every reason to doubt love, Em. Every reason in the world.”
I blinked hard, forcing the tears back.
Maya gave me soft look. “But things are different now, right?”
Samara spoke next. “Cam loves you. And even if you haven’t admitted it to yourself yet… you love him too.”
Cam.
The image of him filled my mind. The way he’d held me on Mia’s bathroom floor when I was falling apart. The way he’d shown up every single time I needed him, even when I’d tried to push him away.
I’ve got you.
His hands on my skin. He touched the scars on my stomach with the same reverence he touched my face. There was no hesitation in him. No flinching. Just pure, unadulterated adoration.
For over ten years, the mirror had only shown me something broken. Something unlovable.
But when I looked at myself through Cam’s eyes, I didn’t see the damage anymore. I saw a survivor. I saw an artist. I saw a woman who was loved.
The heavy, cold stone of doubt that had dragged at me for a decade was gone.
A deep certainty settled around my heart, warm and heavy and golden.
“Yeah.” My voice was steady. Sure. “I do. I love him.”
They all exhaled at once.
“So what are you going to do about it?” Annie asked quietly.
“Yeah, Em.” Poppy’s eyes were bright. “What’s the plan?”
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. What the hell was I meant to do? March over there and just... tell him?
Mia was already digging in her purse. She pulled out her car keys and pressed them into my palm.
“Go tell him.”
I stared at the keys, then back at her. “What, now?”
“Yes, now.” She made a shooing motion. “Off you go.”
“But I... we’re in the middle of...”
“Emily.” Mia’s voice was firm, but her eyes were soft. “Go.”
I looked around the table. Every single one of them nodded. Poppy actually pointed toward the door.
“Okay.” I scrambled out of the booth, my heart racing. “Okay, I’m going.”
“Finally!” Hannah called after me as I pushed through the door.
The afternoon sun hit my face as I burst onto the sidewalk, Mia’s keys clutched tight in my hand. My mind spun with a thousand different ways to say the three words that suddenly felt like the most important ones I’d ever speak.
I loved Cam Rockford.
I unlocked Mia’s car and slid into the driver’s seat. My hands were shaking, but my heart had never been steadier.
I was going to get my man.