Chapter Twenty-Four #2
have been quick to run away from an emotionally fraught situation like dealing with a parent with dementia.
It would have been easy to put his mother in a care center and forget about her. Yet Bryce had stepped up and was doing his
best to be a dutiful son, making regular visits and dropping everything to be at her side after her fall a few weeks earlier.
If her mother were in a similar situation right now, would Emma be as dutiful and loving as he was? She wanted to think so,
but she wasn’t sure.
She was finding it very hard to resist him.
“Are you able to have any other life besides work and taking care of your mom?” she asked. She certainly didn’t feel like
she did. Her life right now consisted of caring for Olive and devoting all her remaining energies to the bookshop.
“Sure I do,” he said. “You already know I read a lot. Well, I listen to audiobooks, anyway. I usually take Pearl for a run
in the morning before I head to work, then we try to squeeze in a quick hike or walk in the evening. Sometimes I go to the
gym, though not as often as I should.”
Why did he bother going to the gym at all when he had such a physically demanding job? The man never seemed to stop moving.
She had a sudden memory of watching him haul in lumber for the renovation. He had hardly even seemed to notice the weight.
Her stomach felt shaky, as if she were teetering on a slippery log trying to cross a chasm. She couldn’t seem to stop thinking
about how wonderful she had felt to have his arms around her, his strength surrounding her.
“What about your love life?” she dared ask.
She had asked him the other day why he hadn’t settled down and she only realized after their kiss that he had deftly changed
the subject without giving her any information at all.
“What about it?” he asked, his tone wary.
“How do you manage anything like dating, in the middle of caring for your mom?”
“I’m not caring for my mother all the time. Even when she lived at home with me, we had caregivers who helped.”
“Still, I’m sure it’s a big burden. That’s a lot of responsibility on your young shoulders.”
No matter how broad they might be.
“I date. I’m not currently seeing anybody on a regular basis, but I’ve had a couple of serious girlfriends over the past few
years.”
Who? Anybody she knew? She wanted to ask but wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.
“What happened? Why didn’t any of those serious girlfriends turn into anything more?”
“Why are you so interested?” he countered.
She felt her face flush and hoped he couldn’t see under the floppy beach hat she had to use because of her coloring.
“Curious. That’s all.”
“You know how it is. One reason you date people is to see if you fit together for the long haul. Neither of those relationships did.”
“Why not?”
He didn’t answer immediately. “One of them fell in love with another guy, a coworker,” he finally said. “The other one wasn’t
crazy about the situation I was in.”
“What situation? Your mom?”
He nodded. “This was a year or so ago. I can’t really blame her. I had to back out of a hiking trip in Canada we had been
planning for months because things were coming to a head with my mom. Her condition was progressing quickly and her needs
were becoming too much for the assisted living facility she was in prior to her current care center. It wasn’t a good time.
My girlfriend at the time was overwhelmed by it all.”
She was outraged on his behalf. “That’s awful. Who was it? Anybody I know?”
He sent her a sidelong look. “Again. Why do you want to know?”
“So I can ban her from my bookstore for being a horrible person.”
He shook his head. “You don’t know her. Carly isn’t from here. She lives in Eugene. Long distance wasn’t really working out
either.”
“Still.”
“And she’s not a horrible person. Over the years, I’ve learned I can’t judge somebody else’s reluctance to put themselves
in a tough situation, for whatever reason.”
Emma could. And did. She wanted to find this Carly and punch her in the throat for hurting a good man.
“My mom’s situation made her frustrated and uncomfortable. But that’s not the only reason. There were other problems between
us.”
He gazed at the girls, who were now pretending a couple pieces of twigs were people living in their castle, then back at Emma. If she wasn’t mistaken, a hint of color crawled up his neck. But maybe it was the beginnings of a sunburn.
“Carly was finishing up law school with plans to be a criminal defense attorney. She knew what she wanted and I think she
was looking for somebody . . . smarter.”
Emma stared, aghast. “Are you kidding me? All the more reason I need to ban her from my bookstore if she ever comes in. I
might ban everyone named Carly. You’re one of the smartest people I know.”
“You don’t have to patronize me, Emma.”
“I’m not! Trust me, I’ve met a lot of not-smart people in my life, not to mention people whose life choices have taken away
even more brain cells. As I’ve watched you work on the bookstore renovation, I’ve been amazed at what you do. You’re precise,
you’re detailed, you’re a creative problem solver. You’re bringing things together in ways I never could have imagined.”
“That’s different.”
“It’s not. It takes math to figure out the angles of cuts, the layouts, the construction materials you’re going to need. Most
people find that difficult but you handle it like it’s second nature.”
He looked pleased at her words but she felt compelled to go further.
“And you’re incredibly well-read. You’ve told me some of the audiobooks you listen to when I’ve asked. History, philosophy,
science. You’re constantly learning, constantly growing. Just because school didn’t come easily to you and you didn’t go to
college doesn’t mean you’re not smart. You’ve learned to adapt and to succeed, and that takes a kind of wisdom and intelligence
no silly law student could ever have.”
He looked at her for a long moment, a flicker of something deep, something real, in his expression. Emma caught her breath, her heart pounding, and she couldn’t help wishing they were alone back in her quiet bookshop instead of here on this beach, surrounded by strangers.