Confessions from the Quilting Circle - Maisey Yates Page 0,76
envy was something she liked a lot better than pity.
“Yeah,” Emma said, blushing a little. “I’m just going to run in for a second.”
“Her mom doesn’t know about him,” Catherine said.
“Well, he’s twenty-one. I figured I’d wait on that.”
“Yeah, my mom would kill me,” Prathika said.
“Mine would just worry so hard she might open up a hole in the ground. I’m just...”
“Bye!” Prathika and Catherine said together, and Emma scurried off toward the garage.
Luke was there, just like she knew he’d be.
“Did you bring me cake?” he asked.
“Oh...no. Sorry. That was dumb, I can go get you some cake...”
“I’m kidding, Em. I don’t need cake.” He pulled her in for a kiss and she sighed, leaning into it.
“I wish you could have been there,” she said.
“Well, if your mom knew about me I could have been.”
Guilt gnawed at her. Both guilt over lying to her mom, and guilt over what hiding Luke meant for him. “I know.”
“I’m not going to lecture you on your birthday. But I do have something for you.”
Her heart skipped. She’d really, really hoped he would get her something and she had spent a lot of time wondering what it might be. When he handed her the small wrapped box her heart skipped.
For a moment she was worried it would be a bracelet. Like it would somehow be...something she had to put aside because her dad had just given her the bracelet and she couldn’t put her boyfriend’s bracelet over her dad’s bracelet.
She turned it over, then started to untie the ribbon. Then the delicate tissue paper. She took the lid off the white box, and revealed a small, delicate necklace with a pearl on the end.
The chain was rose gold.
It matched the bracelet.
Emotion swelled up in her chest and she didn’t know what to say or do. It just felt right somehow.
“It’s not a lot,” he said, “I know. But I know you love the ocean. A pearl seemed right. Maybe someday there will be more than one.”
She pushed herself up on her toes and kissed him again, hard. “It’s perfect,” she said.
So was he.
And it was weird but in the moment she felt caught. Between him and the pearl. Him and her dreams of going away. Of that life she’d created in her head. New experiences and everything else.
He was a new experience she hadn’t realized she’d wanted. And leaving here would mean leaving him.
“Let me,” he said, taking the necklace out of the box and clasping it quickly around her neck.
She touched it, then looked up at him. “I...”
“Your mom won’t notice. You got lots of gifts.”
Pain twinged slightly in her chest. He was clearly slightly irritated about being a secret. And she felt...well, she felt bad about it, too.
About all the secrets.
The bracelet was heavier on her wrist then.
How could she see the light if she was keeping everything in the dark? Her dad had trusted her. To know who she was and what she wanted.
She had to fix this with him. But she had to fix some things with her family first.
“I wasn’t going to say anything about my mom. I was just going to say thank you. Again. I love it.”
“Good,” he said, shoving his hands into his pockets and taking a step backward.
“I have to go.” She looked out the window of the garage and saw her mom, aunt and grandma walking out of the diner, holding gifts and balloons. “Everyone is leaving.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Yeah. And I’ll text tonight.”
He reached out and touched her hand, and Emma smiled. Then she went to the door and ducked outside, running across the street toward her family.
Her mother, grandmother and aunt were loading everything into the back of her mom’s car. Emma watched them for a moment, then touched her necklace. Immediately, her mother’s eagle eye went right there.
“Where did you get that?” she asked. “It’s pretty.”
Emma hesitated for a moment, and then decided she wasn’t going to hide it. “My... Luke gave it to me.”
“Who’s Luke?” her mom asked.
“He’s my... Over there,” Emma said, waving her hand. “He’s my boyfriend.”
Rachel blinked. “You have a boyfriend?”
“Cute Mechanic is your boyfriend?” Anna asked. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I—I didn’t tell anyone!” Emma said. “And I’m sorry. I should have told you. I should have told all of you. I just... Mom, I’ve been trying so hard not to do anything to upset you.”
Her mom looked like a harsh breeze off the sea could have blown her over.