Chapter 6
Emerson~
T hough we weren’t putting on the event, children’s fundraisers always put me on edge. For the sake of the children, I always wanted them to go as perfectly as possible, and I always worried that no one would show up. Yeah, it was a great write-off, and lots of people liked to attend just to be seen, but I still worried, hating the idea of any children’s event being a bust.
At any rate, tomorrow’s event was being held by the FTC -For the Children -and it was a non-profit that focused on education, and a lot of the money raised went to school supplies and things like that. However, the difference between FTC and other educational non-profits was that they also raised money for end-of-the-year teacher bonuses to lure more qualified teachers to the poorer districts. Now, since Sands Cove didn’t fall into the category of needing that kind of help, the fundraiser was for the city of Port Lucia, and that’s also where the event was being held. Since it was being held on a Friday night, Ramsey and I were going to attend, then stay at our place here, rather than drive home after a long night.
Now, usually I got a lot of support for events like this, but Roselyn had called me earlier this morning to let me know that she wasn’t feeling her best, and Delaney had sent me a text that her and Deke were babysitting the babies this weekend, so that Dash could continue to convince Eden that she hadn’t made the biggest mistake of her life.
The kids, gotta love them.
As for Ava and Ace, they were out of town on a very much-needed vacation this week. Ace had been burning the midnight oil for the past two months on a huge embezzlement case, and though he was RMM’s top counsel, RMM wasn’t his only client. All these years later, he was still trying to prove to Ava that he’d been worth the risk twenty-four years ago, and so working solely for RMM felt too much like a handout to him. Ace McIntire was a man that was very big on paving his own way, despite the fact that his intelligence had proven his worth many times over.
Nonetheless, as much as I loved and enjoyed my family, I wasn’t the type of person that was scared to show up somewhere alone. I wasn’t easily intimidated, and I’d never been overly concerned with what other people thought of me. That was probably my greatest strength, though I liked to believe that I had a few. The world was a cold bitch, and while the meek might inherit the earth one day, that would only happen if they didn’t all get eaten alive before then.
“Are you still ready for tomorrow night?”
I looked up from my desk to see my new supervisor leaning against the door frame. Adrian Cossacks had started working for CPS only a couple of months ago, but he’d come to us with a good reputation for being a genuine crusader for children. Along with his impassioned speech on his first day, he really seemed involved with his agents and what we did here. While our previous supervisor, Leticia Soares, had been functional enough, I’d never seen her go above and beyond like Adrian seemed to do.
I could also admit that he was easy on the eyes. He stood at about six-foot-one, had dark auburn hair, clear hazel eyes, and when he smiled, he looked like the perfect example of an American male. He also filled out his clothes nicely, so it was obvious that he saw a gym regularly, or else he had the best genes on the planet. All in all, Adrian Cossacks looked like he could be a sitcom dad; good-looking, personable, and smart.
“Well, since we don’t really have anything to do with it, there’s not much to get ready for,” I pointed out.
Adrian grinned as he walked further into my office. “True, but it’s not a secret that you’re very passionate about children’s charities, Emerson.”
“True,” I agreed. “However, I will be there if that’s what you’re asking.”
“It’ll be good to see a familiar face,” he replied. “Not sure how many people from CPS will be there, but since I’m new to the area, I really want to attend as many children’s functions as I can. It’ll help me determine which organizations could use more help and which ones are plenty stacked.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Well, it just so happens that I have a list of all the local children’s charities for the Port Lucia area.”
Adrian smiled back. “Of course, you do.”
“I can email it to you, and then if you have any questions, I can help go over them with you,’ I suggested, always willing to help recruit people for the cause.
His face softened. “I’d really appreciate that.”
“Be careful,” I warned playfully. “I might start recruiting you for all of them.”
“Luckily, I don’t have much of a personal life, so I have plenty of time to devote to the greater good,” he quipped.
“If there’s anything worth sacrificing your time for, it’s anything involving children,” I replied.
“I couldn’t agree more,” he said kindly. “In a perfect world, our jobs wouldn’t need to exist.”
“In a perfect world, no jobs would need to exist,” I teased.
“Too true.”
Knowing that I needed to get back to work, I said, “Well, let me email you that list, and then let me know if you have any questions after you review it.”
Adrian gave me a quick nod. “Will do.”
I watched him as he walked out of my office, and it was hard not to automatically feel disappointment. While he kept saying all the right things and putting in the hours to be on top of his game, I’d been doing this a long time, and I’d lost count of how many people of power and position had come and gone from this place. While this particular career field wasn’t an easy one, I still found myself resenting the people that had given up, then moved on. I mean, I understood that working with children was hard, but what did they think they were signing up for when they chose this field of work?
At any rate, I just wasn’t ready to put all of my eggs in Adrian Cossacks’ well-meaning basket. He hadn’t proven himself yet, and it was going to take more than a couple of months for him to do that. At least, where I was concerned. I knew firsthand how it felt to be at the mercy of someone that you couldn’t depend on, and I refused to ever let any of my kids down. So, yeah, Adrian Cossacks was going to have to prove himself to me before I trusted him completely.
When my personal cellphone rang, I grabbed it off my desk to see Sally’s name flashing across the screen, and I immediately smiled. Sally Allerman and I had been friends since we’d been kids, both of us growing up poor and neglected. However, we hadn’t been the only ones. Living in Hantover, it’d been me, Sally, Scott French, and Henry Ricker that had made up our little band of poverty-stricken bandits, and while life had been dark back in those days, Sally, Scott, and Henry had been my light. Actually, we’d been each other’s lights, and when I’d left Hantover, I hadn’t forgotten them.
Now, to describe my childhood friends, Sally had been a very malnourished redhead, though astoundingly optimistic. She’d also been fierce and loyal, and she still had those qualities as an adult. Henry had been very shy with big brown eyes, though also very smart. He had kept us out of trouble lots of times, and he’d just grown up to be a very intelligent man. As for Scott, he’d been sort of our leader back then, and he’d always been very protective of all of us, and he still was. He also had silvery-blonde hair and black eyes, which gave him a very magical look about him. I could remember lots of girls throwing themselves at him when we’d been younger.
Answering the phone, I said, “Hey, Sal.”
Instead of greeting me, she got right to the point. “I’m not sure if Henry and Scott are still going, but I’ll be there Friday, and I’m just wondering how fancy I need to dress.”
Now, because we’d grown up poor, our definition of fancy was a lot different than other people’s definition of the word. To us, a nice dress with heels was considered fancy. Honestly, if someone were to drape a diamond necklace around Sally’s neck, she’d probably hyperventilate on the spot.
“It’s casual-formal,” I told her. “Suits and dresses, no tuxedoes or ballgowns.”
“Okay...I can do that,” she replied seriously.
“You know, you don’t have to go-”
“What?” she gasped. “Of course, I have to go. Those kids were me once upon a time, Emerson. While I can’t go to all of the events that you do, I still like to go to the ones that I can.”
“Fair enough,” I conceded. “Do you have a date?”
“No,” she answered, though she didn’t sound troubled by the thought at all. “If all else fails, I can beg Scott to escort me.”
In a perfect world, Sally’s marriage would have lasted, as well as Scott’s. However, while Henry was still very happily married, Sally and Scott were divorced, and while she had no problem dating, her trust issues weren’t as severe as Scott’s. Now, while Scott wasn’t a woman-hater by any means, he’d given happiness a try, and he wasn’t up to doing it again.
“Well, if anyone can get Scott to go to a charity event when he doesn’t want to, it’s you,” I joked.
“Too bad he doesn’t make my vagina sing,” she sighed seriously. “We’d be so perfect for each other if only I didn’t think of him as a brother.”
I started laughing, and for the next fifteen minutes, we talked about Sally’s dry spell.