Back to Me (Book Three ✓)

thirty-six

EMMA

"Okay, so Adam will be coming," I note to Gemma as she frantically scribbles across her baby shower notepad. "He told me at work on Monday."

After his conveniently timed vacation, Adam came back as if nothing strange had happened. Not our almost hook-up and not his out-of-nowhere trip.

In a way I was glad to be back to normal Adam and Emma, but it was sort of weird to see him at my office door, a mug of coffee for him and a hot chocolate for me in his hands when he finally showed. Maybe the sooner we forget the whole situation ever happened the better.

"Okay," Gemma murmurs, looping a dramatic circle around one last pair of guests. "That just leaves Beck and Zoey. And the baby, I guess."

"Hm." Nadine grunts disapprovingly, leaving a maroon stain around the edge of her coffee cup. Her dark eyes scan her cafe quickly before coming back around to us, brows set in a stern scowl.

I nod shyly. "They're coming, too."

Gemma stares at me, her pen hovering above the paper. "If you say so..."

"Look, I don't love it." I sigh, facing both of my friends. "I actually don't like it at all. But they're his family. His nephew."

"And that family includes his father, too, Miss Emma." Nadine clucks her tongue, crossing her arms over her chest protectively. "You mean to tell me that girl didn't know he was coming? Knowing the trouble it would cause?"

I press my palms to my eyes, tired of analyzing the same things again and again. Was I mad at Beau for fighting?

Mad isn't really the right word. Worried, more like.

Worried the altercation would set him over the edge, tear him down again. But after watching him fall apart in my arms after bailing him out, all I felt was proud. Proud that through everything, Beau somehow managed to make it.

That and anger at Jack, Beau's dad. For what he did at the party, yes. But more for what he did when Beau was younger. For not loving him the way he deserved.

And yes, I'll admit, I'm both a little pissed off and skeptical of Zoey.

"She said she asked Jack after she found out we weren't going." I mutter, the excuse seeming flimsy even to me. "Beau changed plans and apparently she never mentioned it."

"She just forgot to let Beau know?" Gemma cocks her head to the side, pen propped between her lips. "Isn't it, like, a big deal - the stuff between Beau and his dad? Doesn't she-"

I hold my hands up and shake my head. "Okay, okay, okay. Enough about Zoey! She's got a lot on her plate, with the baby and all, so maybe she did forget. I don't know." Her stress was nearly palpable the last time I saw her, the fussy little boy attached to her hip. "I don't want to think about Beau's ex more than I have to. So can we maybe move onto something else?"

"All I'm saying..." Nadine rests a hand on my forearm. "Is that I don't like her."

I can't help but smile. "I know."

"And she better watch out at the shower." Gemma pouts. "We'll kick her ass if she doesn't."

"And I'm very grateful for that." I laugh, my hands naturally resting atop the basketball dome under my shirt.

"Speaking of our baby," Nadine coos, "How was your appointment yesterday?"

"Great." I beam proudly. "Baby is doing amazing, it all looks normal. Now it's just waiting out the clock."