The Best Laid Plans. Amy Vastine

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СКАЧАТЬ Mommy. It’s a surprise. Are you surprised?”

      Kendall nodded. Simon gave his younger companion a nudge and bent down to whisper something to him. Little Aidan stepped forward and placed his gift on the table in front of Kendall.

      “I like it when we all go to the zoo and when you make us brownies,” he said. Kendall unwrapped the gift to find a framed photo of the four of them at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

      She set down the picture and opened her arms for Aidan. “That is so sweet. I love going to the zoo with you, too.”

      Simon placed his present on the table. “I like it when we all watch movies on Max’s big TV and have pizza-and-movie nights.”

      Kendall wiped the corner of her eye. “I like that, too, buddy.” She opened the next present, which was a giant popcorn bowl with four smaller bowls nested in it, each labeled with their names. “Thank you,” she said, giving her son a big hug. “I don’t understand what you two are doing here past your bedtimes, though.”

      “There’s one more present,” Simon said with a big grin.

      Emma watched as Max stepped up to the table empty-handed. Kendall’s confusion quickly faded at the sight of him. In that moment, it was clear she knew exactly what was happening.

      Max dropped to one knee and the two little boys followed suit. “I like how the four of us hold hands when we cross the street. I like how serious you get during innocent games of Go Fish,” he said, causing Kendall to laugh through her tears. “I like that whenever you buy Simon something, you think about Aidan, too. I like that we rely on one another and that it’s not nearly as scary as we both thought it would be. I like you, Kendall. And it may be weird, but I think liking you is even more important than loving you, which I also do. I love you more than I ever thought possible.”

      “I like you and love you, too,” Kendall managed to choke out.

      Max reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box. Emma’s own heart melted in her chest. She could only imagine how it felt to be Kendall right now—cherished, wanted, so very loved. She couldn’t wait for it to be her turn at this kind of romance.

      “Kendall, I like it that we already act like a family.” Opening the box, he presented her with a ring. “Will you marry me and make it official?”

      “Please!” Simon and Aidan shouted from either side of him.

      How could her sister say no to that? Emma watched as the soon-to-be family hugged and Kendall accepted the proposal. The entire restaurant erupted in applause. Even Lucy, the hopeless unromantic of the family, snatched up her napkin and dried her eyes.

      “We’ll take the boys home so you guys can continue your celebration,” Emma said after getting her own hug from Kendall.

      “Don’t worry about it. I got them a babysitter.” Max nodded behind him. Standing out like a sore thumb amongst all the servers dressed in black stood Max’s neighbor, Charlie. He was a giant, probably six foot four, and had on jeans and a Chicago Cubs T-shirt. Charlie taking the boys was not part of the plan.

      “I thought Lucy and I were going to take them back to Kendall’s?”

      “Charlie offered to watch them at my place,” Max said as if it was no big deal.

      Charlie and his extra-wide smile came over to congratulate the happy couple. He was Max’s only friend in the city besides Kendall. Emma knew him from the hospital. He was the paramedic all the triage nurses flirted with when he brought someone into the ER. Emma could admit there was something attractive about his dark brown hair and green eyes that were always smiling.

      “But that wasn’t the plan,” she said, unable to let it go.

      “The plans changed, Nightingale. Is that okay?” Charlie asked. The way he looked at her made her stomach feel weird.

      “Someone could have texted,” she said to Max, who was oblivious to her frustration.

      “Let’s not make a big deal about this,” Lucy said, bumping Emma with her hip and glaring.

      This was Kendall’s night. Emma needed to pull it together. Plans changed. Not her plans, but other people changed their plans all the time. Roll with it, she told herself.

      “You can come over and help me get them to bed if you want. Floor Three has the good cable. All the movies we want at the touch of a button.” Floor Three was Charlie’s nickname for Max because he lived on the third floor of their three-flat. Charlie had a thing for nicknaming everyone he met. It was weird but oddly cute at the same time.

      His invitation threw her off for a second. His eyes were locked on hers, still smiling but so intense. He had this way of making her feel as if there was no one else in this world he wanted to be looking at other than her.

      Her face warmed. “I have to work tomorrow. Maybe it’s best you’ve got them.”

      “Another time, maybe.”

      “Maybe.” Maybe not. There was only one thing Emma knew for sure—Charlie Fletcher was not part of any of her plans. No matter how those eyes made her feel.

       CHAPTER TWO

      “IF YOU HAD to choose between the Bulls of the nineties and the Blackhawks of today, who has the most raw talent across the board?” Charlie asked as he sat on Max’s couch, watching hockey.

      “That’s tough,” Max replied. “The Bulls had Jordan, the greatest player of our lifetime. There were other guys on that team with talent, but they couldn’t have won championship after championship without Jordan.”

      “Exactly. You have to pick the Hawks. There isn’t one guy we can’t live without. There are threats everywhere.”

      Max’s phone beeped. He checked the message and typed a quick reply. This had been going on since Charlie had gotten there.

      “Everything okay?”

      Max scratched the back of his head after tossing his phone on the coffee table. “I’m all for people being helpful. But sometimes people think they’re being helpful, when, in fact, they’re being a pain in the butt.”

      “Someone at work?” Charlie asked just as the Blackhawks started a power play. The game was tied and would determine which team would have home-ice advantage in the playoffs.

      “I wish,” Max said, his own eyes glued to the television. “I’ve been engaged for less than a week and this wedding is already making me cranky.”

      The hockey puck refused to go in the goal no matter what the Hawks tried. Another shot went wide.

      “Come on! We only need one goal, guys!” Charlie shouted at the screen as if the team could hear him.

      “We’re going to lose this game if we don’t convert on this power play.”

      “The Hawks will pull this out. We just need one. We can get one.” Charlie had faith. He believed things would work out in the end—they СКАЧАТЬ