Chapter 7
Emmeline was up late making the soup, buns, and cookie dough. Then, she slept for a few hours and did a half-day at Tempest before flying down to Millie’s on Torch.
It was a two-hour flight but she loved being in the air. It was one of the few places where she could stop working and thinking and just be. Up here, there was nothing she had to do, and nothing she could do, since she had to hold onto her handlebars. It was liberating.
Looking down at the vast world below, Emmeline watched as the snow-covered Starshine Valley gave way to uncovered earth as they went farther south, the air around her getting less frigid the longer they flew.
They arrived at Liam’s farm two hours later.
In the summer, the farm was lush, the fields bright and green, with a constant flurry of workers on the land; in the winter, it was empty and quiet.
Torch landed in front of Millie’s large gray farmhouse, and while her dragon was hardly winded, when Emmeline dismounted, she stretched her muscles.
Millie and Liam didn’t have dragons—Liam wasn’t from a Drakkon family, and Millie had her hands full with her kids—but they did have a small stable for the dragons to rest in when the Sterlings came to visit, and Torch headed there now.
It was beside the farmhouse, and Samreen’s dragon, Sholay, was already there on the rocks, a huge pile of fish beside him, along with a water basin.
The dragons rubbed their faces along each other’s necks in greeting, and Emmeline climbed up the three steps to the front door, pulling her phone out from her crossbody purse to check her father’s location.
They had left an hour before her and his location showed that he and her brothers were still an hour away.
Emmeline punched in the key code for the front door. She had hardly made a step into the house when she heard a shriek from within.
“Khala!” four-year-old Noah cried, running down the hall toward her. Emmeline glimpsed two-year-old Ira hanging off Samreen, then Noah launched himself into her arms. She caught her nephew, spinning him around as he screamed with delight and she smothered him with kisses.
“I missed you!” she told him, setting him down. Noah grinned up at her, and Emmeline saw Millie on his face, a sight that made her heart warm.
“You’re finally here!” Noah replied, jumping up and down.
“Let me look at you,” she said, putting her hands on his shoulders. She inspected him, then said, “Noah, why do you get bigger every time I see you, huh? I need to tell your mama to stop feeding you so many vegetables. You have to stay my little baby forever!”
He giggled, then looked over Emmeline’s shoulder, out the window of the storm door. “Did you come on Torch?” he asked, trying to run past her. She grabbed him before he could.
“Hey! Where are your shoes? And your jacket? It’s cold!” He pouted. “We can say hi to Torch in a second. Come on.”
Emmeline closed the front door, then went to kiss her mother and niece hello. Ira reached for Emmeline, and Emmeline scooped her into her arms, twirling her around. Ira giggled.
“Okay, now you watch them while I clean up and cook,” Samreen said, straightening the front of her top, which was navy blue and part of a matching set. Her dark hair was clipped back in a knot, and she redid it now.
“I made soup,” Emmeline said. Ira reached for Emmeline’s nose-ring, and Emmeline scrunched her nose, blocking Ira’s hand. “Dad’s bringing it with the boys.”
“Is there enough for everyone?” Samreen asked, picking up toys and throwing them into the basket. Emmeline never knew how things would be when she saw her mother, and the complicated nature of their relationship made her nervous.
Sometimes her mother could be her best friend, but sometimes, her mother could be so harsh.
Emmeline loved her, and knew her mother loved her as well but, as the eldest, there was a lot expected of Emmeline.
That pressure often pushed her to succeed and surely had a part to play in her success, but sometimes, it felt like too much.
“Yes, there’s enough,” Emmeline said.
“Good.” Samreen nodded in approval. “I’ll make some sooji ka halwa, then. Millie’s in labor and Liam is with her. The baby should be here soon.”
Emmeline hoped the labor didn’t last too long; she had told Millie to do her pelvic floor exercises, but she wondered if Millie actually had.
As Samreen cleaned up the house, Emmeline distracted her niece and nephew, both of whom were fighting for her undivided attention. She loved them to bits, but they were a handful, and she wasn’t running on much sleep, so she was glad when, an hour later, her father and brothers arrived with Motu.
Then it was an absolute madhouse, but fun, too. They baked the cookies, and while her family could be tiresome at times, she did love having everyone together. Finally, Liam called her to let them know they could come to the hospital; the baby was here.
“How’s Mills?” Emmeline asked.
“She’s good,” Liam replied. “Tired, but good.”
Before Emmeline could respond, she heard her sister in the background: “Where are my chocolate-covered pretzels, Liam?”
“Uh . . .” Liam trailed off.
“Don’t worry,” Emmeline told her brother-in-law. “I’ll bring them.”
“You’re a lifesaver.”
“Liam?” Millie asked again.
“Come quick,” Liam whispered, before the line went dead.
With a snort, Emmeline went up to their bedroom and found them in the bedside table drawer, knowing her sister’s favorite snack would be there instead of in the pantry.
Bringing the pretzels down, Emmeline packed them with the rest of the food as her brothers attempted getting the kids into their jackets and shoes.
You would think that between four adults, they could handle two toddlers, but the toddlers gave them a run for their money.
Finally, everyone was ready, and they went out. Haris left Motu with Sholay, and they all went to the car, while Emmeline went to Torch. Noah followed Emmeline, and Ira’s gaze strayed to the two of them, immediately sniffing out plans she wasn’t being included in.
“Distract her,” Emmeline told her brothers, and when Ira was looking the other way, Emmeline turned to Noah. “Quick, before Ira sees!”
Noah grinned and Emmeline took his hand, both of them running over to Torch. Her dragon perked upon seeing Noah and blew air into the kid’s face, making Noah laugh. Then, they mounted and took off, Torch flying slowly with the child on board.
When they got to the hospital, Torch went back to Millie’s; Starshine Valley was particular in that it was a haven for dragons, so it had the necessary infrastructure, but most other places, like where Liam and Millie lived, did not.
At the hospital, Liam met them in the lobby, earning congratulations from each of them before they went up to meet Millie and the baby.
“What name did you settle on?” Samreen asked Liam, as they exited out of the elevator. Emmeline already knew.
“Eve,” Liam replied.
They all went into the hospital room, arms filled with the food and flowers and balloons.
“Mama!” Ira cried, rushing to Millie’s side.
“Hi baby,” Millie replied tiredly, reaching a hand out for Ira.
Emmeline looked over at Millie, and it suddenly felt as if she hadn’t seen her sister in so long.
“How are you faring?” Emmeline asked in a low voice, as the others crowded around Liam and the baby. Ira ran off as well, leaving the sisters on their own for a moment.
“I keep forgetting how painful childbirth is,” Millie replied, eyes wide, though there was a soft smile on her lips, as well.
“It’s the hormones,” Emmeline told her, squeezing her hand. “That’s how you got tricked into it again.”
Millie laughed, squeezing Emmeline’s hand back. Emmeline felt a pang in her chest. She wished her sister lived closer, that they could see each other more often.
If Liam wasn’t so wonderful, Emmeline would surely be more bitter about it, but how could she be when her sister was so happy?
Still, Emmeline missed her all the time.
“Go check out Eve,” Millie said with a smile. “You’ll be happy.”
Emmeline glanced over at the little bundle, her lips immediately spreading into a smile as she saw the brown skin and dark hair.
“Yes,” Emmeline said proudly. “Three for three; she looks just like me.”
Liam snorted. “You always say that.”
“Yeah, but she’s right,” Millie said, as the baby passed into Emmeline’s arms. Emmeline and Millie looked very similar, and those same genes went down to Millie’s kids.
“No complaints from me if our kids get the more good-looking half of the gene pool,” Liam said, kissing Millie’s temple; she smiled. Emmeline bopped the little baby’s nose.
They all hung out for a bit, until Millie nestled deeper into her bed. “Okay, now everyone leave me alone, I’m tired,” she said, yawning. Everyone got up to leave, including Emmeline, until her sister said, “Emmy, not you, obviously.”
Emmeline’s heart warmed. She sat back down with her sister, until it was just the two of them left. Then, she pulled out a cardamom bun and handed it to her sister, who immediately began unraveling it. She took a bite, sighing.
“Amazing, as always,” she said. Emmeline smiled, taking a bun out for herself as well. They had come out well, though she wished they had risen a bit more.
“This would be so good with coffee,” Millie said, pouting. “I miss coffee.” Her pregnancies always made her hate caffeine.
“Speaking of,” she started. “There’s a situation I need to update you on.”
“I love a situation,” Millie said, perking up. “Tell me.”
“If you’re finally done being pregnant and giving birth, I can,” Emmeline said.
“Yes, yes, I am done—tell me!”
Feeling nervous then, Emmeline warned, “It’s possibly dramatic.”
“Even better!” Millie replied, ripping off another piece of cardamom bun and popping it in her mouth. “The drama in my life at the moment is trying to stop my children from killing each other.”
“Stop, they aren’t so bad,” Emmeline said, going to her niece and nephew’s defense.
“Mhm.” Millie didn’t look convinced. “You know the other day Noah proudly came over and told me that he gave Ira a bath.”
“Oh god. How did he reach the sink?
“He didn’t.”
Emmeline cringed. “Do I want to know?”
“I’m telling you either way—he used my favorite coffee mug and toilet water.”
“Nooooo!” Emmeline cried, covering her face with her hands.
They both shook their heads, laughing.
“It’s okay; he’s cute so it makes up for it,” Emmeline said.
Millie laughed. “Okay, now tell me!”
“Oh, right.” It was so easy to lose track of what they were talking about when she was with her sister; conversation kept shooting off in a million directions. “Well, remember how I’ve been trying to get Anh Trang to invest in Inferno?” Emmeline started.
“Yes,” Millie replied.
“She came to Ginny’s birthday—we all missed you, by the way.”
“Ohmygod, I saw the pictures, everyone looked so good. I can’t believe Ginny isn’t a baby anymore.”
“Absolutely. Anyway. Anh was there, and she wants to add a coffee shop to Tales & Tails.”
“The bookshop? I haven’t been there in forever!”
“Yes. If I can get her a good proposal, she’ll give me a stake in the shop, plus invest in Inferno.”
Millie’s mouth dropped open. “That would be amazing!” she said. “You’ve been wanting to get her investment forever and this is the perfect opportunity to impress her.” She paused, confused. “Where’s the drama in that? You can definitely do it.”
“Um . . . well . . .” She trailed off, wondering how her sister would take the next bit of news. “Anh made the same offer to someone else, as well, and she’s only going to pick one of us.”
“Ooh, a competition. Slightly more saucy.” Millie finished off her cardamom bun, thinking. “But not really, since there’s no one you can’t beat.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Emmeline said. “My rival—it’s Luke Hayward.”
“Oooooh.” Millie drew the word out for a good thirty seconds, eyes growing wider and wider, her mouth open. “Now that is dramatic.”
Emmeline looked at her sister closely, but Millie’s expression was unreadable. Luke was, after all, the guy who had broken Millie’s heart.
In university, Emmeline and Millie were a year apart, and when Emmeline was a senior, she had to spend an entire semester hearing Millie crush on Luke Hayward, notorious man-whore.
“It’s a bad idea, Mills,” Emmeline warned, over and over, but Millie was undeterred. She was a girl with a crush. Eventually, Millie succeeded in going out with Luke and, one date later, she claimed she was in love.
Until two dates later, after they had slept together, Luke callously broke Millie’s heart.
“I’m not interested, and I never will be,” he had said, blunt and unfeeling.
Emmeline could not leave such behavior unpunished.
He needed a taste of his own medicine, so Emmeline did what he had done to Millie: she’d made him interested in her, slept with him, and then been cruel.
She had told him exactly what he had told Millie when he had broken it off with her, and it was then that he finally realized the ruse.
She would never forget how he’d blinked, jaw slack with shock. “This was all for revenge,” he said, dumbfounded.
Guilt had prickled through her, but she had finished what she’d started. Emmeline barked out a laugh. “Did you really think I don’t already own a copy of Letters to Milena?”
His face flashed with pain, but it was so quick she must have been imagining it because, not even a second later, he’d laughed out loud. His teeth shone as he’d flashed her a wolfish grin.
“I am just gutted,” he had replied with mock disappointment, holding a hand over his heart. “Here I was thinking it was fate.”
Sarcasm had dripped off his words, and for some reason, his tone had made her bristle. Her cheeks felt hot. He was letting her know it didn’t mean anything to him—and why had she been surprised? Nothing ever did, as his reputation would confirm.
She couldn’t really hurt him.
Then, he’d looked at her carefully, something turning in his mind.
“I must say, I’m impressed,” he said, stepping closer. “You really are like me.”
Her heart sank at that. She wasn’t like him—she couldn’t be. She’d left him without another word, avoiding him entirely until they graduated that spring. Later that year, she opened Tempest, and two years after, he opened Inferno, making them business rivals.
Emmeline might have gotten her revenge, but she had never forgiven Luke for breaking Millie’s heart. Millie had cried for a week! It had been horrible to witness her little sister so sad because of a stupid boy. Just the thought of it now made Emmeline upset.
“Em,” Millie said, voice confident. “You’ll win the investment. I know you will.”
Luke was her match, which would make beating him difficult, but Millie was right.
There was no one Emmeline couldn’t beat, and that included Luke Hayward.