Chapter 37
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Madison’s next-door neighbors were from Minnesota. That was a blessing and a curse because on the second day of the storm, they offered to use their snowblower to clean off Madison’s driveway after the plow had gone through, which allowed them to move freely around town.
“I have an ice fishing tour booked for the day after tomorrow, so I need to catch a plane home,” Charlie told Emmy as he stood next to his packed bags. “Otherwise, I’d stay.”
“I know. I should probably get back as well. Believe it or not, we’ve got Fashion Week in February, and I’ve been working on a design I’m hoping Mitch likes. Maybe he’ll let me sneak a few designs into the show.”
“It’s good to see you doing what you love.”
“I never thought I’d be designing anything for a living, but it sort of found me.”
“I get it.”
Emmy knew that if she stood there in the family room with their bags at their feet too long, she’d start to cry. She missed him already and they hadn’t even left yet.
“Want to ride together to the airport?” she suggested. “We just have to stop and see my dad first. Do you have time?”
“That sounds perfect.”
Emmy said her goodbyes to Madison, Jack, and the rest of the family. Leaving was bittersweet. While she never would have guessed it, even with the challenges, this Christmas had been one of her favorites. She was taking home a heart full of memories.
She and Charlie climbed into the car and then headed to VCU so she could say goodbye to her dad.
“Promise me you’ll call as soon as you get the test results,” her father said, holding both of her hands in a tight grip.
“I promise. And as we vowed, whatever it says won’t change who we are to one another.”
“I know.”
She gave him a hug, taking in the familiar feeling of his embrace. Then she pulled back. “You look good, by the way. The color’s returned to your face.”
“The nurse says I can go home in another day or two.”
“That’s amazing. I promise not to go a whole year without seeing you. I’m bringing you to New York and showing you around. Maybe if you’re feeling up to it, you can come in February for Fashion Week.”
“Deal.”
When it was time to go, she gave him a kiss and said goodbye.
Then she went out to the lobby to meet Charlie.
They took the twenty-minute drive to the airport and turned in the rental car.
Once they were inside, they busied themselves with checking in and getting through security.
Emmy put her phone, coat, and shoes in a bin and went through the x-ray machine.
“How long do you have until your flight?” Charlie asked after they’d reassembled themselves.
“About an hour.”
“Mine’s in an hour and a half.”
They shuffled forward to allow passengers by.
“Want to sit somewhere together for a few minutes?” he asked.
“I’d like that.” She wasn’t going to focus on the fact that she only had a matter of minutes left with him.
They made their way to the retail area to find a spot to sit.
She lumped her bag on the floor and dropped down into one of the chairs at a café. “I think I’ll get a drink,” she said, getting back up. “Want anything?”
“No, thanks.”
“Be right back. Wait with my bag?”
“Of course.”
She got a bottle of water and returned to their seats.
“This was a fun trip,” he said.
She folded one leg under her, took her lid off the bottle, and took a sip. “I know. I promised my dad that I wouldn’t go a whole year without seeing him again. I’d like to make you the same promise.”
“I agree. Maybe the next time we’re in an airport, we’ll be flying somewhere together.”
She smiled, trying not to allow hope to take over, because if anything got between them, it would crush her.
They sat together until Emmy’s flight was boarding. “Well, I have to go.”
They were going back to their regular lives on opposite sides of the country. By car, it took thirty-two hours to drive from her home to his. How were they going to do this?
“You’re worrying,” he said.
She turned her attention to him. “I am.”
“You’re wondering how you and I will manage.”
She nodded.
“I won’t stop until I find a way to make it work.” He pulled her into a hug and gave her a reassuring squeeze. Then he pulled back and kissed her.
“I miss you already,” she said.
“I’ll come visit soon. And maybe you can break away for a long weekend and come to Jackson Hole. It’s incredible. I saw a bison, an elk, and two bears on the same day.”
Her eyes widened. “That sounds terrifying.”
“Well, the art galleries and shops will take your mind off the wildlife.”
She smiled, then gave him another kiss, and, not wanting to say goodbye, she just said, “See you later.”
“See ya.”
As she walked to her gate, he blew her a kiss. Then, she joined the throngs of passengers and boarded the plane.
In what felt like the blink of an eye, she’d landed at LaGuardia and caught a cab back to her apartment.
After all the hoopla and busy days and nights leading up to the fashion show, she hadn’t had time to really notice the shabbiness of her apartment.
With her salary increase over the last year, it was time to find a better place to live.
Emmy planned to make a lot of changes in her life, starting today.
She was going to make things work with Charlie, she was going to throw herself into her next group of designs, and she was going to settle into a new apartment that fit her better.
But before she did all that, she still needed a few answers. She texted Vivienne and asked if she could call her. Vivienne said “yes” right away.
When she got her old boss on the phone, Emmy explained the scrapbook and what Mitch had told her.
“It’s been difficult to hold all this in while you worked in the office every day,” Vivienne said. “I wanted to tell you, but I owed it to your mother to keep quiet.”
“Well, now you can tell me. Mitch said you’d know the full story of why Mom left designing behind. I know she didn’t fit in with his family. What happened?”
“By the time she’d made the pattern for her wedding dress, she was having doubts,” Vivienne said.
“One day, she sat me down in tears and said she wanted to be a mother, but she couldn’t imagine bringing a child into that family full of rules and opinions.
They scrutinized her table manners, how she interacted with people at parties, whether she spoke too long because that would overshadow their son, or whether she didn’t speak enough because that appeared rude.
She said she couldn’t get her actions right, and the stress of their appraisal wore on her and Mitch’s relationship.
The more unhappy she became, the more he seemed to try to compensate, but in the end, his family would always be there, hovering over them, suffocating her. ”
“How sad.”
“After a long discussion that ended in tears, I asked if she loved him. She told me, ‘Not enough.’ I think that was when she knew. To keep up appearances that she wasn’t having any doubts about her and Mitch, she’d left Baudelaire’s, and Mitch’s family paid for her to have her own design studio in Paris.
They completely furnished it and got her everything she needed.
But then it was as if they owned her. She said she felt like a prisoner.
His mother pulled her aside and told her that she’d eventually learn the protocol and find a quiet little spot in the family where she wouldn’t ruffle any feathers.
But because they’d given her so much, she owed them with her absolute devotion to their son.
You know your mom. She wasn’t planning to owe anyone anything.
She dropped her dress and the note off at Mitch’s studio and never looked back.
“She cried a lot over it. She hadn’t meant to hurt Mitch.
She was in tears again in a café when your dad walked in.
He was so sweet to her that she knew at that moment that life could be so much better.
I swear, I think she fell in love with him the minute she saw him.
She told me your dad made her realize she hadn’t really ever loved anyone yet.
So she quietly saw him every day until it was time for him to go back to the U.S.
Then she bought a one-way ticket to Tennessee. ”
“What an incredible story,” Emmy said. “I feel like I never knew her until now.”
“She was a wonderful woman and the best friend a girl could ever have.”
“Can I ask you a tough question?”
“Of course.”
“If you were such good friends with my mom, why didn’t you give me a shot at work?”
Vivienne was silent for a moment. Then, she said, “When your mom was dying of cancer, she called me and told me all about you. She asked me to introduce myself and to be there for you, and Madison too, if she needed me. I knew early on, just by the few designs you’d done for me, that you had way too much talent for the job I offered you.
I second-guessed myself every day you came to work, wondering if I should have tried to help you find something more suited to your talents.
But I also knew that you didn’t believe in yourself.
You’re a hard worker. If I’d given you promotions, you’d have spent your whole life working for me instead of doing something incredible.
You had to get out there and find yourself. ”
Vivienne was right.
“Now look at you. You’re headlining New York runway shows. Pretty impressive.”
Her father’s dream of her mom floated back to her: Emmy needs to know where she really comes from. Maybe it was more than that. Emmy needed to understand who she was, and she was getting there.