Emily kicked off her heels as soon as she walked into her condo. They landed with a thump and a skitter on the tile that probably wouldn't do the leather any good, but she was too tired to even care. Going away for any length of time was always hard because the work always accumulated on her desk while she was gone. Though she had an assistant, apparently Mackenzie hadn't felt capable of handling anything on her own.

They would have to work on that.

Emily glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. After eight in the evening. She knew she needed to eat something but she didn't have the energy to even look. She started shucking her clothes as she crossed to the bedroom, needing a bath with a desperation she hadn't felt for a long time. She twisted the hot tap to open and squirted in a stream of peach scented bubble bath into the water, then went to use the bathroom. She hadn't even taken a few minutes to pee more than once today.

As she sank into the steaming water, she nearly wept, it felt so good. You would think that wearing heels for six or seven years would be enough to train your feet, but a weekend in old comfortable boots had wrecked that. For two weeks she'd been struggling with getting her feet used to heels again. It was ridiculous.

Her cell phone rang in the kitchen but she didn't even glance in that direction. Whoever it was could wait. She had things to do.

The phone stilled for a few minutes, then started ringing again. Emily did her best to ignore it, but in three minutes it rang again. Then again.

"What the hell, people? What is so important that it can't wait for a few minutes?"

Then the thought occurred to her that it might be about her dad. All of the tension she'd almost gotten rid of rolled back, threatening to swallow her again. There would be no relaxation now unless she confirmed that it wasn't about her father.

As she stood up in the tub, she let the water sheet down her body before stepping out onto the absorbent mat. Wrapping a towel around herself she tiptoed into the kitchen.

Neil had called her. Nine times. What the hell?

Swiping her phone on she scanned the dropdown notifications. Four messages. She called voicemail and listened.

"Emily. I realize your time is important but you need to call me back, please."

Dial tone. She pressed seven to delete the message.

"Emily, where the hell are you. You should be home by now."

Scowling, she pressed seven again.

"Emily, you need to call me immediately."

Shaking her wet head she pressed seven, then waited for the last message.

"Emily, you know my time is precious. I don't understand why you're playing this game. Call me back."

She looked at the phone on her hand. What the hell was he thinking? Angry, she hit the power button on the phone and the option to shut it down. There was nothing so pressing that she needed to call him back immediately. That was ridiculous.

By the time she made it back to the tub the water was tepid. Pushing the plunger on the drain she let most of it flow out, then refilled it with straight hot water. She stepped back into the tub and sank down into the heat, letting it roll over her in a wash of comfort.

Neil had been especially possessive since she'd gotten back from Honeywell this time and she didn't understand why. Her own guilty conscience suggested that he somehow knew she'd kissed another man, but she doubted that was the case. They'd only seen each other twice in two weeks, once for lunch and the other time for a dinner sponsored by Neil's realty company. Both times they'd been cordial but not especially friendly. He'd asked her about the plans for her brother’s wedding but hadn't seemed especially interested in the answer. When she'd mentioned the date again and asked him if he was going to be able to make it to the ceremony, he'd told her 'I don't see why not' which was not a definite yes or no.

Emily knew it was because of Jackson that she'd begun to question Neil's commitment. They seemed like a perfect couple. She worked for an advertising firm and he sold beautiful houses. They should be a match made in heaven but for some reason it wasn't.

Sinking beneath the line of the water she let the scalding heat distract her, easing her anxieties about her future. Or at least she tried to. It worried her that Neil had no desire to go to the ranch and meet her parents or siblings.

And if she was honest she would admit that things hadn't been peachy between them for a while. Neil was a very exacting man and she understood that, but her life wasn't scheduled right down to the minute or dime. She had flexibility in her free time and she valued it. Neil just looked for more ways to make money and sell houses.

Emily took as much time in the bath as she felt she needed, then took her time with her hair, blowing it dry and styling it lightly. She hated to go to bed with wet hair because it ended up in such a mess.

Then she headed to the kitchen to scrounge something up for dinner.

Neil answered her call on the first ring. "Where have you been, Emily?"

Immediately she was on the defensive. "I was in the bathtub, relaxing."

There was no way she would tell him that she'd gotten out of the bath just to see who had called. That would satisfy him too much.

"Why do you bathe in dirty water? That's disgusting. Showers are more hygienic."

Rolling her eyes she struggled not to laugh. She'd been taking baths all her life, as well as showers, and she wouldn't be nixing one of her greatest pleasures just because he didn't like it.

"What did you need, Neil? You called eleven times."

"I thought you were ignoring me."

"So, calling more would make me pick up sooner?"

Emily cringed at the cattiness but she couldn't help it.

Rather than answer her he changed the subject. "I have a new client and he wants to go out this weekend to look at properties. I'm going to have to cancel our shopping trip."

Oh. Emily clamped down on a laugh because she'd forgotten about their 'shopping' trip. Neil wanted to go out and look at new cars because he didn't consider his BMW enough of a status symbol for the Houston scene. "That's fine. I need to catch up on some things myself. We can do it next weekend or something."

"I knew you'd be sensible about this Emily. I'll text you later on this week."

"Okay. Good night, Neil."

He hung up on her without so much as a goodbye which, for some reason pissed her off to no end. If you were in love with someone and tying your life to their own, shouldn't you at least tell them good night? Or goodbye? Later Alligator? Something?

Emily wanted to throw something, but she refrained. This was a situation she'd created herself and she had no one to blame but herself.

Jackson's words came back to from the night she left the farm. 'Shouldn't you feel something?'

Yes, she should.

Emily went to bed feeling discombobulated, cranky and out of sorts, knowing that she had to make changes in her life but not sure exactly how to do it or where to start.