Chapter 19
Mrs. Fairfax’s warning rang in her ears as Emily hopped onto her bike and headed downtown. She wasn’t nearly as cavalier about losing her position as she’d made it sound.
She reassured herself that all she needed was enough money coming in to cover basic living expenses. If she had to have five roommates and share a bathroom to make that happen, that’s what she’d do.
Minutes later, she stepped into the warm friendliness of Cuppa Joe. When she found herself wishing she was meeting a friend, she shoved the self-pitying thought aside.
After getting her latte, she took it to a nearby table. Once seated, she pulled out a small notebook and a pencil.
While she knew any note-taking could easily be done on her phone, she believed that her particular brain was more creative when she wrote things out.
Music
Tapping her pencil against the table, she took a long sip of her latte and wrote her notes.
Crestwood Academy—follow up on application
Research best practices for teaching music classes online and in person
Contact GraceTown General Hospital re music therapy pos?—
“You’re looking way too serious for a Monday morning.”
She looked up into the teasing eyes of Dalton.
“Simply doing a little life planning.” She gestured to the empty chair at the table. “Please, join me.”
“Don’t mind if I do.” He dropped down and set his ceramic coffee cup on the table. “Tell me about this life planning.”
Emily closed the small notebook. “Nothing has been decided yet.”
“I hope you know that your job with Gran is secure.”
“It’s only temporary.” The contract she’d signed had been for thirty days. That meant a mere nine days from now she would be out of a job…and a place to live. “Once your grandmother has the procedure, she’ll have no need for me.”
Surprise skittered across Dalton’s face. “Has she decided to do it?”
“I don’t know for sure, but Mrs. Fairfax seems to think so. She and your father are meeting with the cardiologist this morning.”
Dalton smiled broadly. “That is good news.”
“It is.”
“What’s on tap for you today?”
“Right now?” She lifted her cup. “Finish my latte.”
“Would you like to cross something off your wish list?”
She pulled her brows together. “Wish list?”
“You told me you once dreamed of getting in a convertible and driving with no real destination in mind.” He cocked his head. “Is that still something you’d like to do?”
“Yes.” She smiled. “But I don’t have a convertible.”
“I do.” Dalton downed the rest of his coffee. “And I happen to have the rest of the day free. Interested?”
Emily left her bike locked up in front of Cuppa Joe and strolled with Dalton to his car.
Once he was behind the wheel, he slanted a questioning glance in her direction. “Where to?”
“No particular destination.”
“Works for me.” He put the car in reverse at the same time his phone rang. “Hold on a second.”
He answered without putting the phone on speaker, so Emily could hear only his part of the conversation. “Hey, Jaclyn, what’s up?”
His brows pulled together, and he frowned. “Then don’t meet her. Just because she’s in the area doesn’t mean you have to rearrange your life to suit hers. No, she hasn’t contacted me.”
When he hung up, he turned to Emily. “Apparently, my mother is going to be in Baltimore tomorrow. She texted Jaclyn about getting together.”
“Your parents are divorced.” Emily had known his parents weren’t together, and hadn’t been for years, but that was the extent of her knowledge.
“Since I was sixteen. Mom wanted out. Even before the divorce was final, she and her new friend moved to Florida.” Dalton offered a sardonic smile. “As he wasn’t keen on starting off their life together with two teenage kids, my mom gave my dad full custody in exchange for a generous financial settlement.”
“Did you see her much as a teen?”
A muscle in his jaw jumped. “Dad attempted to help us stay in touch, but she always had an excuse why visiting her wouldn’t work.”
“Do you have contact with her now?”
Dalton’s gaze turned distant. “I don’t, but she and Jaclyn text occasionally.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how hard that must be on you and your sister.”
“Not as difficult as you might think.” His eyes grew dark with memories. “During those last couple of years before they split, our home was a battleground. The only thing worse than hearing them argue was the tense silence that followed a big fight.”
Emily wondered what it would be like to live with a spouse you argued with all of the time, or live in an environment where the air in the house was thick with unexpressed emotions.
Over the years, more than one woman had told her she was lucky to be single. That you could be lonely even while married and that at least she didn’t have to ask a husband’s permission to do what she wanted.
Dalton backed the car out of the driveway. “Which way?”
Emily blinked, then quickly rallied and gestured the toward the closest way out of town.
A light breeze ruffled her hair. Leaning back against the seat, she smiled. “This is how I envisioned a road trip.”
“Except you dreamed of doing this alone,” Dalton reminded her, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “Instead, you’re stuck with me.”
“Being with you isn’t so bad.”
They drove for several miles before they reached a fork in the road. “Stay straight or curve right?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Your choice.”
Emily wanted to tell him that she had too many choices right now in her life, that he could decide. Until she recalled their talk about committing to a specific direction.
He was right. Her fantasy trip. Her choice. “Curve right.”
When he wheeled the vehicle in that direction, Emily smiled. “I know what you’re doing.”
“Taking a drive?”
“You’re trying to show me that I need a plan and a direction.”
His lips quirked upward. “Is that what I’m doing?”
Emily saw the next turnoff up ahead, and before he had a chance to ask, she gestured. “Stay straight.”
“Roger that.”
“I know I need to find some direction in life.” She blew out a breath. “While these past few weeks have been fun and full of new experiences, I need a plan going forward.” She gave a little laugh. “I’ve never been great at making decisions. I was always more of a do-what-needs-to-be-done kind of person.”
“Give yourself more credit. You were making a plan when I came upon you in the coffee shop. You have an idea where you want to be, what you want your life to look like.”
“I don’t. Not really.” The realization had her frowning.
“I believe you do.” Dalton slanted another glance in her direction as they approached another fork in the road. “You just need to get out of your head and follow your gut.”
After picking up her bike at Cuppa Joe, Emily headed home. She didn’t bother to text Chloe or Jaclyn or Mackenna. It was a work night. She already knew they wouldn’t be interested in going out.
No matter,Emily thought as she climbed the porch steps. She’d always been good at entertaining herself.
Passing the parlor on the way to her room, she spotted Myra sitting in a tall wingback chair. A book lay open on her lap, but her head was tilted back, and her eyes were closed.
Alarm skittered through Emily with the force of a flash fire.
She hurried across the room. “Myra, are you okay?”
The woman’s eyes instantly opened, and Myra blinked several times, then gave an embarrassed laugh. “Oh, sorry. I must have fallen asleep.”
Expelling the breath that she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, Emily sank onto the sofa. “You scared the bejesus out of me.”
“I’m sorry I frightened you.” Myra offered an apologetic smile. “While the visit with Dr. Hobart went well, I found it somewhat stressful.”
“Stressful in what way?” Emily asked, then added, “If you don’t mind my asking, that is.”
“I don’t mind. Dr. Hobart explained the risks and benefits of the procedure.” Myra waved a dismissive hand. “While it was nothing I hadn’t heard before, having the procedure scheduled for Friday?—”
“This Friday?” Emily’s voice rose, then cracked.
“Exactly my response.” Myra chuckled, then quickly sobered. “He’s worried about me having some…event…and doesn’t want to wait any longer now that I’ve made up my mind to have it done. According to him, I’m extremely fortunate nothing has occurred yet.” Leaning over, Myra took Emily’s hand for a second and gave it a quick squeeze. “My decision to have this done is because of you.”
Emily held up her hands, palms out. “Hey, I don’t know anything about what they want to do?—”
“No, but you believe I still have a lot to live for, and now I believe that myself.” Myra sat back in her chair. “I’d convinced myself that when Walt died that my life was over. Thanks to you, I no longer believe that’s true.”
Emily knew that Myra was the one who’d taken the opportunities Emily had put in front of her and run with them. “How long will you be in the hospital?”
“Not long, since we’re going with a newer type of implantable defibrillator, a subcutaneous one. My understanding is that while the leads and the generator will be under the skin, unlike the conventional type, the leads for this one won’t be in the heart itself.”
“That’s nice, I guess.”
“I think so.” Myra smiled. “Dr. Hobart will have his partner—an electrophysiologist, a cardiologist who specializes in arrhythmia—do the procedure.”
“You’ll be in the hospital for a few days, maybe a week?” Emily was already planning what activities she could bring to the hospital when she visited, but Myra laughed.
“Dr. Hobart said I might go home the same day, or at most, spend the night in the hospital.”
“Really?”
“Surprised me, too.” Myra closed the book on her lap. “Apparently, most patients return to light to moderate activities within a few days.”
“I’m guessing no contact sports.”
“He actually told me that.” Myra laughed and shook her head. “I’m apprehensive, yes, but now that I’ve decided, I’m eager to get it over with.”
“If there’s anything I can do?—”
“You’ve already done it.” Myra met her gaze. “I’ve loved having you here with me.”
It was almost, but not quite, a good-bye.
Emily knew if she asked, Myra would let her stay past her contract date, but she also knew she couldn’t stay forever.
When she reached her bedroom, Emily flopped back on the bed. Had it really been only a month since she had sat with her friends, playing cards and talking about do-overs?
Right now, it felt like forever.
She’d had such high hopes when she’d drunk the liquid.
What she hadn’t realized was how much she’d miss her friends and her house and her garden. And she still didn’t understand why people like Irene died so young and other people lived into their nineties.
She sure hadn’t expected to feel so lost about how to forge ahead in this new life.
Maybe she should have walked away from Serena Nordine and never drunk the youth elixir. Maybe it would have been better if she’d left well enough alone.
Myra came home the same day she had the surgery, and her family was all there waiting for her. After giving Myra a hug, Emily left her with her son and grandchildren and took off on her bike.
She couldn’t recall ever feeling this low, this alone in the world. Hoping exercise would shake off the melancholy, Emily rode her bike, ending up at Maplewood Park.
Despite its state of disrepair, the grounds of the park still felt like home. Attaching her bike to the lone bike rack, Emily headed to the bench by the hollyhocks.
When it came into view, she came to an abrupt stop.
There, sitting on the bench as she’d been a month earlier, was Serena Nordine.
Today, the red highlights were gone, and she’d pulled her dark hair into a high pony. The shorts and top had been replaced by a white summer dress. But the intensity in her vivid blue eyes was the same as she settled her gaze on Emily.
“Serena. I didn’t expect to see you here.” Emily moved forward as everything in her quivered. She hadn’t expected to see Serena ever again.
“It’s good to see you, Emily.” Serena patted the bench beside her. “Sit.”
Once Emily sat, Serena shifted her body to face her. Those blue eyes—violet, really—searched hers. “How have you been?”
The concern in Serena’s eyes and the warmth in her tone had Emily relaxing.
“I’m…adjusting.” Emily spoke cautiously, not sure what the endgame was here. “It’s been difficult.”
“You’re not happy.”
“Things haven’t gone quite the way I thought they would.” Emily gave a little laugh. “But I’m persevering. I’ll make the best of it.”
“You don’t need to.”
Emily stilled. “I don’t understand.”
“I’m here to offer you the chance to undo it all, to go back to being Til.”
“What?” Emily blinked, and her heart shifted into overdrive. “How would that work?”
“Well, it starts the same.” As she had before, Serena pulled out a small, beautiful vial. This time, however, she didn’t immediately pass it to Emily. “Unlike before, you won’t take anything with you, not the memories of your new experiences, not your musical talent.” Serena’s tone was matter-of-fact. “Myra will not have had her surgery or become friends with Til’s friends. It will be as if the past four weeks never happened.”
“You can do that?”
Serena nodded.
Emily’s mind whirled. Was this not the very question she had been pondering? Had becoming Emily been a mistake? Would it have been better to stay Matilda and leave her life unchanged? Sure, she’d have her ninety-two-year-old body back and fewer years ahead, but she’d also have her friends.
“I can give you twenty-four hours to say your final good-byes.” Serena’s gaze searched hers. She set the bottle on the bench between them. “The choice is yours. But you must be certain, because this change cannot be undone.”