CHAPTER 22
Emma
My dad moves the little top hat.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four spaces.
Right onto Park Place.
“Son of a bitch,” my dad mutters.
“Yes,” Midge hisses with a fist pump of victory. She’s as big a mogul in Monopoly as she is in the legal game. She’s got two hotels on that space and it’s sure to bankrupt my dad.
“You seriously can’t let the sick person win?” he grumbles at her as he starts counting out money from his remaining pitiful stack.
“Oh, you’re fine.” Midge snickers as she holds her hand out across the board but not before she shoots me a sly wink.
And this is just…
So freaking weird.
Playing Monopoly with the Midge Payne at my father’s kitchen table.
No, it’s beyond weird. It’s outlandishly bizarre.
And yet, I have to say it’s been eye opening. I’m now able to see Midge as a real human being versus the recluse who was fabled to be able to smite us mere mortals to dust with just a single narrowed gaze. I’ve found the woman is charming, funny, and most importantly, she’s really, really into my dad. With him, she’s doting and affectionate, but she doesn’t let him get away with stuff. For example, she’s insisted he start a heart healthy diet and completely obliterated all of his junk food from the house. Each day this week, she’s come over and helped me cook something for him that’s nutritious and portion controlled, as I’ve insisted I stay at his house with him during the day. Not that my dad had a weight problem, because he exercised regularly, but he did love his sweets.
Apparently, that’s in the past now, and Midge assured him that she was sweet enough to keep him satisfied. I didn’t like the wicked gleam in my dad’s eye when she said that and I had to think of sick babies and abused puppies so my mind would not think of my dad and Midge having sex.
“I’m finished,” my dad says as he throws the rest of his money down. “I don’t have enough to pay this brutal landlord across the table from me, and I don’t feel like taking out a loan from her.”
“Poor baby,” Midge coos and then looks at me sitting to her left. “You want to finish Emma?”
“No way,” I tell her seriously. “Not about to have your beady little slumlord eyes all on me. I stood a slight chance when you were focusing on bankrupting my father.”
Midge lets out a bark of a laugh, and I give her a smirk back.
See… so weird that we’re sitting here joking with each other.
“Well, I’m going to suggest an early movie,” my dad says as he looks at me. “But before we do, Midge and I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Uh-oh,” I say teasingly as I start to put my very small stack of remaining money back in the appropriate trays. “This sounds like a parental talk.”
“It is,” he says soberly, and that catches my attention so I turn to face him. “We think you should head back to join the tour immediately.”
I’m shaking my head before he even gets the words out. “No way. A few more days and then I’ll go back.”
“Emma,” my dad says soothingly. “I’m completely fine, feel fantastic, and I’ve Midge here to worry over me. But you, my dear daughter, are restless. I know you want to get back to Evan, so you should just go.”
“I do not want to get back to Evan,” I say stubbornly, and I’m not surprised when both my dad and Midge snicker. They’ve both made fun of me the last week because every time Evan calls I act like a high school girl tittering over her crush. And once Evan sent me a huge bouquet of flowers and I had—according to Midge—the most adorably goofy grin on my face for hours.
“It’s time,” Midge says, and I turn to look at her. She’s not my parent but she is my boss, and she goes on to prove it. “I’m hereby officially rescinding your family medical leave. Your dad doesn’t need you hovering and you need to get back to work, and since I still pay your salary, you have to do what I say.”
And that is definitely a snicker from my dad, so I shoot a glare his way. He just shrugs at me innocently.
“Emma,” Midge says softly. Kindly. Like a friend. “Go back to Evan. He misses you and you miss him, and you’re still his attorney and you still have work to do with him. Your dad is fine and I’ll take good care of him, I promise you.”
“Honey,” my dad says just as softly. I turn to him, and his eyes are warm and adoring. “Please go. You have a life to lead and I’m pretty sure the best part of it is waiting for you in Chicago.”
It’s true. Evan’s there now and getting ready to go on stage in a few hours for the first of two concerts being held in Chicago. He’s probably on the bus with Sirius, playing his guitar or just chilling with a beer. His pre-show ritual is pretty basic and focused on relaxation. If I were there, it would be spent in the bedroom with his hands stroking my skin and his mouth on my…
“Alright,” I proclaim as I stand up from the table. “I’ll go.”
My dad and Midge give me smug grins, and I give them a pass. In fact, I give them so much of a pass that I lean over impulsively to hug Midge before rounding the table to hug my dad.
“Love you, honey,” he says as he squeezes me back.
“Love you too, Dad,” I tell him as I pull away, and then with no mistaking the excitement in my voice, I say, “I’m going to go call Evan right now.”
I nab my phone from the table where it had been sitting and practically skip my way back to the guest room I’d been staying in. I’m dialing Evan as I shut the door and he picks up as I hop onto the bed and cross my legs.
“Hello?” I hear on the other end, and I’m so stunned that it’s not Evan answering, I actually pull my phone away from my ear to make sure I dialed the right number.
I did, so I say, “Hello?”
“Emma?” I hear back, and then I recognize the voice.
Tyler.
“Um… yeah,” I say back hesitantly. “Is Evan there?”
Tyler gives a laugh and it’s neither snide nor menacing as I would expect. Instead, it sounds actually kind of warm and amused. “He’s out giving Sirius a walk. Has a lot of pent-up energy since you’ve been gone, and I’m talking about Evan and not your dog. He should be back soon though, but then he’ll be jumping in the shower and heading into the arena.”
“Oh,” I say with disappointment. “Well… will you ask him if he has time to give me a call when he gets back?”
“Sure,” he says easily, and yeah… this is a different Tyler. And as if to add confirmation onto that, he says, “Listen, Emma… I was going to wait to do this when you got back but since I’ve got you on the phone, I wanted to tell you how sorry I am about the way I’ve been treating you. I really don’t have any excuse except perhaps I was a little too exuberant over this Phoenix deal. But I’ve talked things out with Evan, and I know he still has a decision to make, but at least we’re talking about this all reasonably and with a little more objectivity.”
I knew this might be coming as Evan had given me the heads up, but still… I’m just a little surprised by the sincerity of his words. And because I’m not one to hold grudges, I give him quick assurances. “It’s really okay, Tyler. I know you’re just looking out for him.”
“You’re really sweet to say that,” he says good-naturedly.
And this is nice. Me having a conversation with Tyler on a friendly basis. As if he’s actually a friend.
Which gives me an idea. “The reason I was calling Evan was I’m going to fly into Chicago tomorrow morning on the earliest flight I can get. He’s not expecting me until the day after that, so now I’m thinking… maybe I should just surprise him. What do you think?”
Tyler doesn’t even hesitate. “I think he’d love that. Of course, you know he’ll still be zonked out when you get here so your surprise might involve waking him up when you arrive.”
Yes, that would be a very nice surprise indeed.
“Just grab a cab from the airport,” Tyler continues. “I’ll leave your name with security unless you have your credentials with you.”
“I don’t. I left in such a hurry I didn’t even think about it.”
“No problem,” he assures me. “Security will let you through. Just come straight to the arena. I’ll text you the address.”
“Thanks, Tyler,” I say with genuine appreciation. This is so much better than I expected.
“You’re welcome,” he returns genially. “And when you get some time once you get settled in, I’d love to talk with you one on one about the Phoenix deal. I think I’m pretty clear on what Evan’s main concerns are, and I’m thinking we can make a counter offer they’ll accept, which will alleviate a lot of those things. I’d like to go over those with you, and I figure if I can convince you, then you can convince Evan.”
The smile that had been on my face just a moment before slides off and my gut tightens just a bit. “Tyler… while I’d be more than happy to spend whatever time you want, even if I agree with you, I’m not going to push Evan one way or the other. I’ve told him I’m staying out of the decision making.”
“Even if it’s in his best interest?” Tyler asks quietly.
“I mean, of course, I’ll make sure I highlight the things that are in his best interest, but honestly… there’s not a clear choice to me, so I don’t feel comfortable pushing him one way or the other.”
Tyler’s quiet for just a moment, and then he gives a somewhat pained sigh before saying, “Okay. Fine.”
“I’m really sorry, Tyler,” I feel the need to add on.
“It’s good,” he says briskly, and I can sense he’s a bit peeved with me.
“Well, okay then,” I murmur. “I guess I’ll see you sometime tomorrow. If anything changes I need to know about, let me know. Otherwise, I’ll text you my flight details in a little bit.”
“It’s a plan,” he says almost woodenly.
“So we’re good?” I ask him to make sure. “And you think it’s okay for me to surprise Evan tomorrow?”
“It’s fine, Emma,” he says, and this time, he sounds sincere. “And don’t worry about what I just asked you to do. It was probably inappropriate anyway. We’ll all work this out together, okay?”
“Okay,” I say in agreement, completely confused and having no clue if Tyler’s mad or now my new good friend. I guess I’ll find out once I see him, as I can read a lot more from facial expressions and body language.
I exchange farewells with Tyler and then immediately pull out the laptop Evan had given me to make flight reservations. I’m pleased to see a six AM flight that will get me in close to nine. Evan will no doubt still be sleeping, because after a concert and whatever required meet and greet or party that’s being thrown, it’s almost guaranteed Evan won’t get to sleep until probably two or three AM. And since we’re often traveling the morning after, he’s developed a routine of sleeping in pretty late, sometimes not rising until close to lunch.
Yes, I think it’s going to be a very pleasant surprise for me to slip into bed with him tomorrow morning and hopefully rock his world with said surprise.