Forever and For Always. Sophie Love

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      They began to stroll together, hand in hand, up the gravel path. Emily glanced up at the house, where she could see a woman with glossy black hair standing on the porch, several bags beside her, ringing the bell over and over.

      “I think you’re right,” Daniel said.

      Emily gasped, suddenly realizing who it was standing there.

      “Oh no, I forgot about Jayne!” she cried. She checked her watch. Eleven. Jayne had said she’d be arriving at ten. She hoped her poor friend hadn’t been standing there a whole hour ringing the bell.

      “Jayne!” she called, racing up the gravel path. “I’m so sorry! I’m here!”

      Jayne spun at the sound of her name. “Em!” she cried, waving. When she noticed Daniel pacing toward them just a few steps behind, her eyebrows shot up, as if to say, “Who is this guy?”

      Emily reached her and the two women embraced.

      “Have you been standing here for an hour?” Emily asked, concerned.

      “Oh, come off it, Emily. How well do you know me? Of course I didn’t get here on time. I was about forty-five minutes late!”

      “Still,” Emily said, apologetically. “Fifteen minutes is quite a long time to stand on someone’s porch.

      Jayne stomped the decking with the heel of her boot. “Sturdy, solid porch. It did a good job.”

      Emily laughed. Just then, Daniel reached them.

      “Jayne, this is Daniel,” Emily said hurriedly, knowing she had no choice now but to introduce him.

      Daniel courteously shook Jayne’s hand, even while she eyed him like a piece of meat.

      “Nice to meet you,” he said. “Emily’s told me all about you.”

      “She has?” Jayne said, her eyebrows rising up her forehead. “Because she’s told me nothing about you. You’re a well-kept secret, Daniel.”

      Emily couldn’t help but blush. Jayne wasn’t one for subtleties, or keeping her mouth closed when she really ought to. Emily just hoped that Daniel didn’t search for meaning in her words and come up with conclusions that really weren’t true.

      “Want me to help carry your bag?” he asked.

      “Yes, please,” Jayne replied.

      The second Daniel bent over to pick up her bags she craned her head to check out his backside. She caught Emily’s eye and nodded her approval. Emily cringed.

      “Let me take those,” Emily said quickly, nudging Daniel out the way and grabbing the bags. “Wow, Jayne, these things are heavy! What did you pack?”

      “Oh, you know,” Jayne said. “Two outfits a day – daywear and nightwear – plus an extra something for a formal evening, just in case. Lingerie, of course. Facemasks and moisturizers, makeup bag and brushes, nail polish, hair straighteners, curling tongs – ”

      “Did you really need to bring straighteners and curlers?” Emily queried, lugging the bags over the threshold and into the corridor.

      “ —and crimping irons,” Jayne added. “You never know what mood might strike.” She grinned wickedly at Emily.

      “Emily,” Daniel said, “you seem to be struggling. Why don’t you let me take those up to Jayne’s room?”

      “Thanks Daniel,” Emily said, making sure she was strategically blocking Jayne’s view of Daniel’s butt as he bent over. “Why don’t you put those in Room One please?”

      The original guest room, Room One, was affectionately nicknamed Mr. Kapowski’s room by Daniel and Emily, but right now Emily didn’t feel like delving into that particular story. She knew she sounded weirdly rigid and formal asking him to put the bags in Room One, but at this point in time she didn’t care; her sole focus was getting Daniel safely away from Jayne as quickly as possible, preferably without her ogling his ass as he climbed the stairs. The farthest room in the house seemed to be a good distance.

      Emily turned to Jayne. “Let me give you the tour.” She steered her friend into the living room.

      “Oh my God!” Jayne squealed before the door had even closed behind them. “Is that the new man in your life? Tell me it isn’t so! Really? How did you keep it so quiet? Why aren’t you calling up everyone you’ve ever met, including your kindergarten teacher and the postman, to tell them you’re dating a hot lumberjack?”

      Jayne spoke incredibly quickly, and loudly, in a way that could give someone a headache after five minutes in her company.

      “He’s not a lumberjack,” Emily whispered, feeling embarrassed. How had she forgotten how brash Jayne could be? What on earth made her think it was a good idea to invite her oldest friend to the B&B when doing so would mean her relationship was scrutinized? She didn’t want her to scare Daniel off; she’d already done a pretty good job of that herself by blurting out that she loved him yesterday.

      “But girlfriend,” Jayne added, “he is seriously hot. You can see that, right? I mean I know your tastes have gone all wacky over the last few months but you can still see a hot guy when he’s standing in front of you, right?”

      “Yes,” Emily whispered, rolling her eyes. “Please don’t be weird with him. It’s new. Really new.”

      “What do you mean weird?”

      “Like don’t say anything about babies or marriage. And don’t mention Ben, or any of my exes. Or my mother. Please, God, don’t say anything about how crazy my mother is.”

      Jayne laughed. “You really like this guy, don’t you? I haven’t seen you this anxious in a long time.”

      Emily squirmed. “Actually, yeah, I do. I think I’m in love.”

      “No. Freakin’. Way!” Jayne cried, the volume of her voice rising a thousand notches. “You’re in love?”

      Just then, Daniel entered the room. Emily froze and Jayne’s eyes widened in shock. She pressed her lips together.

      “Oops,” she said loudly, looking from one mortified face to the other. “So Daniel,” Jayne added, breaking through the wall of tension that had filled the room like a balloon, “tell me all about you.”

      Daniel looked from Emily back to Jayne and gulped. “Um, actually, I think I’ll leave you ladies to it. The dogs need walking.” He backed out of the room in a hurry.

      Emily sighed, feeling herself deflate. It hurt her that Daniel was acting so awkwardly about the fact she was in love with him. She turned to Jayne.

      “Can we get out of here for a bit? I could show you around Sunset Harbor. You’ve never been here and this is where I spent most of my summers as a kid so it would be cool to show you the sights.”

      “Babe, tell me what footwear I need and I’m totally on it. Are we talking hiking boots? Jogging sneakers?”

      Trust Jayne to have brought every possible type of footwear with her.

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