Enjoy this excerpt from Guiding Emily
Prologue
Emily. The woman who would become everything to me. The person I would eat every meal with and lie down next to every night—for the rest of my days.
She was just ahead; behind that door at the far end of the long hall. I glanced over my shoulder. Mark kept pace, slightly behind me. I could feel his excitement. It matched my own.
Everyone said Emily and I would be perfect for each other. I’d overheard them talking when they thought I was asleep. I spend a lot of time with my eyes closed, but I don’t sleep much. They didn’t know that.
“A magical match,” they’d all agreed.
I lifted my eyes to Mark, and he nodded his encouragement. I gave a brief shake of my head. Only four more doorways between Emily and me.
I picked up my pace. A cylindrical orange object on the carpet in the third doorway from the end caught my eye. Is that a Cheeto? A Crunchy Cheeto? I love Crunchy Cheetos.
I tore my eyes away.
This was no time to get distracted.
We sped across the remaining distance to the doorway at the end of the hall. The door that separated me from my destiny.
I froze and waited while Mark knocked.
I heard Emily’s voice—the sound I would come to love above all others—say, “Come in.”
What was that in her voice? Eagerness—anxiety—maybe even a touch of fear? I’d take care of all of that right away.
The door swung open and Mark stepped back. He pointed to Emily.
I’d seen her before. Emily Main was a beautiful young woman in her late twenties. Auburn hair cascaded around her shoulders and shone like a new penny. With my jet-black coloring, we’d make a striking couple.
“Go on,” Mark said.
I abandoned all my training—all sense of decorum—and raced to her.
Emily reached for me and flung her arms around my neck.
I placed my nose against her throat, and she tumbled out of her chair onto her knees.
I swept my tongue over her cheek, tasting the saltiness of her tears.
“Oh … Garth.” My name on her lips came out in a hoarse whisper.
I wagged my tail so hard that we both lay back on the floor.
“Good boy, Garth!”
She rubbed the ridge of my skull behind my ears in a way that would become one of my favorite things in the whole wide world.
Next to food.
Especially Crunchy Cheetos.
Mark and the other trainers were right—we were made for each other. I was the perfect guide dog for Emily Main.
Chapter 1
“Weren’t you supposed to leave for the airport half an hour ago?” Michael Ward asked his boss, whose fingers were typing furiously on her keyboard. “You’re still planning to get married, aren’t you?”
Emily Main’s head bobbed behind the computer, her eyes fixed to the screen.
“I can’t believe you put off a departure to Fiji to help us launch this new program. Your wedding’s in two days.”
“We’ve been working on this for almost a year. I wasn’t about to leave when we’re this close. I just need to finish this last email.” She hunched forward and peered at the computer screen.
“There,” she said, pushing her office chair back as the email whooshed from her inbox. “Done.”
She looked up at Michael, blinking. It was probably the first time she had looked at anything besides a computer screen in hours. “I brought my suitcase so I could go to the airport straight from the office. I don’t have to stop at home.”
Michael raised his eyebrows at her. “That’s all you’ve got? A carry-on and a satchel for a week—a week that includes your wedding? My wife packs more than that for a three-day weekend.”
“My wedding dress is a classic sheath and the rest is bathing suits and shorts.”
“I would have thought Connor Harrington the third would have wanted an elaborate wedding—one fit for the society pages.”
“Our wedding is going to be very elegant—think JFK Junior and Carolyn,” Emily said, flinging her purse over her shoulder and reaching for the retractable handle of her suitcase.
Michael stepped in front of her. “I’ve got this,” he said. “I’ll walk you to the street. I’d like to congratulate Connor on snagging our office hero.”
Emily hesitated.
“He is picking you up, isn’t he? You’re flying there together?”
“He went out over the weekend. He wanted to do some diving with his best man … sort of a bachelor party reprise. I was traveling with my mom and maid of honor, but they flew out yesterday as planned. The company paid to change my ticket, but it would have cost almost five hundred dollars for Mom and Gina to change theirs. It wasn’t worth it. ”
“But you don’t like to fly.” He peered into Emily’s face. “Did you talk to Connor about that before you decided to stay an extra day? You have told him about your fear of flying, haven’t you?”
Emily shrugged. “I’ve mentioned it, sure, but I haven’t made a big deal out of it.”
“So what did he say?”
“He suggested that I get a prescription for Xanax and sleep the whole way out there.”
“Really? That’s what he said?”
“He’s a Brit, for heaven’s sake. ‘Stiff upper lip’ and all that. He’s not the sort of guy to coddle anyone—and I’m not a needy type of gal. You know that.”
Michael cocked his head to one side. “Do you have to change planes?”
Emily nodded.
“You don’t want to be knocked out for that.”
“I’ll be fine.” Emily threw her shoulders back. “You don’t need to worry about me.”
“I know—I’m sorry. It’s just that I wouldn’t let my wife make the trip alone if she felt like you do about flying.”
“I fly alone all the time, and nothing’s ever happened to me. There’s no reason this time should be any different.”
Michael lifted his hands, palms facing her, and shrugged. “Okay, but I think he could have at least offered to pay to change your mom’s flight or something.”
“I’ll be perfectly fine.” Emily walked past him into the hallway. “I promised Dhruv that I’d say goodbye before I leave.”
“He’s going to miss you. You’re the one person here that really connects with him.”
Michael watched her shoulders sag slightly.
“Hey,” he said, rolling the carry-on to a halt beside her in the hall. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you. The whole team is going to step into your shoes while you’re gone. We’ve talked about it.”
“Of course you will. I shouldn’t worry about him.
I’ve got the best team in San Francisco.
Scratch that. On the entire West Coast.” Emily gave him a teary smile and punched him playfully on the shoulder.
“I know you’ll take care of everything while I’m away, Michael—including helping Dhruv stay connected with the team. ”
“Good!” Michael continued down the hallway.
“I don’t want you to give this place a second thought while you’re gone.
If anyone deserves a vacation—and a gorgeous beach wedding—it’s you, Em.
But don’t get too comfortable.” Michael turned and smiled at her.
“We do need you to come back. We’d be lost without you here. ”
Emily laughed and pushed him toward the elevator. “Why don’t you go push that button, you wonderful suck-up. It’ll take ages to get an elevator this time of the morning. I’ll stick my head into Dhruv’s cubicle and be right back.”
***
Emily found Dhruv, as usual, leaning into the bank of computer monitors, intently focused on the complex strings of code in front of him. She cleared her throat. When Dhruv didn’t move, she tapped him lightly on the shoulder.
Dhruv sat back quickly and spun around. A smile spread across his face when he saw her.
“I wanted to say goodbye before I go.”
Dhruv nodded. “Goodbye.”
“I’ll see you a week from Monday.”
“I know. You’re getting married in two days, then you have your honeymoon for a week, then you come back to work,” he recited.
“That’s right. You remembered.”
“I remember things.”
“Yes, you do. That’s one reason you’re so very good at programming,” she said.
“I know.”
“Okay … well … have a good week. You can go to Michael if you have … if you need anything.”
“I know.”
Emily regarded the shy, socially awkward middle-aged man who was, by far, the most proficient member of her extremely talented team of programmers. “Bye.”
Dhruv nodded.
Emily stepped away.
Dhruv leapt out of his chair and called after her. “Have a happy wedding.”
Emily swung around and gave him a thumbs-up then turned back toward the elevators where Michael was waiting.
From Guiding Emily