THE KNOCKING STARTED a few minutes after I closed my office door.
“I know you’re in there.” Max’s voice carried through the door.
I sat frozen in my swivel chair, hands over my face, staring through my fingers at the door.
The doorknob turned but I had already clicked the lock closed. The doorknob rattled.
“Avery.” Emmett’s voice, this time. He sounded pissed. “Open the door.”
Of course he was pissed. I had put him in this predicament. I couldn’t keep my big mouth shut, so I blabbed our secret to Hannah. And now because I wanted my precious little restaurant, he wouldn’t get to be mayor.
I heard him sigh in the hallway. “I’m going to fix this.”
I didn’t answer him. I didn’t see how he could get us out of this mess. It was me or him, but not both.
“Nothing’s changed, you know.” There was a gentle thunk and I imagined his forehead resting on the other side of the door. “I still feel the same way about you. I’m going to go deal with this, but I just wanted you to know that.”
I wanted to open that door, but seeing his face would make this so much harder. He wasn’t going to let me give up my restaurant. I didn’t want him to pull out of the race for mayor. I just needed time to think, by myself, without the intoxicating distraction of him.
Eventually, when I didn’t answer, his boots thumped on the hardwood floors as he left the hallway, and I slumped into my chair.
Elizabeth’s words from yesterday rang in my head. He’s the one who takes care of everyone else. I always worried he’d never have someone in his corner, taking care of him.
I wanted to be that person for Emmett, the one who put his needs first. I didn’t have a lot of practice at this relationship thing but I knew in my heart he needed that from me. He had always put others first, but I didn’t want him to put me first for this. Being mayor was too important to him.
The photo of me and my mom sat on my desk, catching the glare from the light streaming in through the window. I pressed my lips together in an unhappy line as I studied my mom’s face, so proud and excited to be opening her own restaurant.
If I threw the towel in now, history would be repeating itself. Maybe not in the same way, but I’d still be giving it all up for a man.
If I gave the restaurant up, my mom would be so disappointed. I could already see it on her face, the crushed look of confusion as I told her why. Would she understand? She and my dad, they were nothing like Emmett and me. They didn’t laugh together like Emmett and I did. They may have loved each other deep down but they weren’t friends the way Emmett and I were.
My mom would be disappointed. Keiko would be disappointed. Max, too.
Could I bear to see this beautiful heritage building turned into the next crappy tourist restaurant? No.
Could I watch as Chuck fired half my staff and made the other half wear low-cut tops to draw in more customers? No.
Could I watch Keiko’s family’s restaurant be stripped of all its character, its charm, its history? No.
But I couldn’t bear to see Emmett crushed, either. I couldn’t sit by and watch him go back to his company, knowing he could have won the election but gave it up for me. He was going to win, I knew he would.
My heart broke into fragments, because I knew what I was going to do. I knew it from the second I left town hall.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out and stared at the texts from Hannah:
Please call me.
Avery, I am so sorry.
I feel awful. I can’t believe I did something so stupid. Please call me.
I dialed and she answered on the first ring.
“Hey.” She was breathless.
“Hi.” I twirled the ring around my finger, realized what I was doing, and stopped. I didn’t want to look at it, not right now. It was just another painful reminder of what I was doing.
“You never should have told me about you two, I was supposed to keep it a secret and I let you down.” Her voice broke.
I was silent a second, rubbing my face with my hand. Was I annoyed that Hannah hadn’t locked the door? Sure. But Cynthia being in the bookstore at the wrong time wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t fair for Hannah to feel like this over a mistake I could have easily made.
“It’s okay, Han. It easily could have been me saying it.” I twirled the ring again before I forced myself to stop.
“Where are you? Emmett was looking for you.”
“I know.” I swallowed. Emmett’s words from the other side of the door rang in my head. I’m going to fix this. How? How could he possibly fix this mess we were in? Of course he’d try, though, because he was Emmett. He was the guy who fixed everyone’s problems.
“People are upset about this,” Hannah whispered. “You should have heard Keiko giving Isaac a piece of her mind after you left town hall. Even the council looked upset.”
I thought again about the words Elizabeth said to me yesterday, about how Emmett takes care of everyone, and no one takes care of him, until me.
“Married people work together all the time,” Hannah continued, “and companies figure it out.” She hummed. “You could sign a contract or something.”
Emmett and I were married now. It wasn’t a real marriage on paper, but I loved the guy. I told him that, and I meant it.
I wanted to fix this. Not just for me, but for Emmett. This time, I wanted to be the one in Emmett’s corner.
Hannah’s words registered and something clicked in my brain. “Wait. What did you say?”
“Uh.” She sounded embarrassed. “I read it in a book. A romance novel. A boss wanted to date someone who worked for him so they signed a contract that said all the decisions about her employment would be made by other managers. She wouldn’t report to him.”
My scalp tingled and I could almost feel my neurons firing. “Hannah. You’re a genius.”
“I am?”
I smiled and stood, picking up my bag. “You sure are. I need your help, do you have some time today?”
“Of course! Yes. I want to help.”
“I’ll be at the bookstore in five minutes.”
