Jules nodded and took a small sip of her drink. “Thanks, Mom. I appreciate that.”
Overhead, the lights began to flicker and dim.
A hushed silence fell over the crowd as everyone turned to the blank wall, where the projector played a few ads. A chuckle rose through the crowd, and then,While You WereSleepingbegan to play, earning applause from the audience members. Emma leaned back against the bean bag, reached for a handful of popcorn, and shoved it into her mouth.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Jack walking over to them.
He sat on one of the chairs a few feet away and grinned at her.
She twisted to tilt her mug in his direction and smiled.
Jack gave her a little bow and pressed a finger to his lips.
Emma wrenched her gaze away and tried to focus on the movie unfolding, not the beautiful man sitting a few feet away, filling her stomach with nervous butterflies. Halfway through the movie, she noticed Jules’s bowed head and hunched shoulders when she stood to get a few more drinks. Her heart jumped into her throat as she drew Jules to her feet and into her arms. Wordlessly, Jack led them behind a curtain and to his office.
In silence, he unlocked the door and put a bin to leave it propped open.
He offered Emma’s shoulder a squeeze on the way back.
Emma’s heart was beating so loudly that she thought it was going to burst out of her chest as she pulled out one of the folding chairs and set it down. She coaxed Jules onto the chair and snatched a box of tissues off a bookshelf, pausing to admire a few paperbacks on display. Jules loudly blew her nose, and her shoulders stopped shaking. When she lifted her red-rimmed eyes to Emma, her heart shattered all over again.
What had Kyle done?
And why didn’t he have enough sense not to ruin the holidays?
“Want me to go kick his butt? Or I can ask your grandma to make him a really bad breakfast,” Emma offered weakly. “Just tell me what you need to make you feel better, and I’ll do it.”
Jules pulled out another tissue and dabbed at her eyes. “I don’t think there’s anything you can do.”
Emma perched against the desk and folded her arms over her chest. “That’s not true. As your mother, I can get pretty creative.”
Jules choked back a laugh. “I appreciate that, Mom. But this is one thing you can’t fix.”
Another wave of sadness washed over Emma at her daughter’s resignation.
What was so bad that her usually sunny and optimistic daughter couldn’t handle it?
It didn’t make sense.
“Kyle proposed,” Jules revealed in a whisper-soft voice. “I know I should be happy. Long distance has been hard, but I wasn’t prepared for this.”
Emma tilted her head to the side and studied her. “You had no idea he was going to propose?”
Jules lifted her gaze to her mother’s and frowned. “You did?”
“He did fly out to be with you on Christmas. You mentioned that he was taking a teaching job in the city, so yeah. I kind of assumed you two were on the same page.”
Why hadn’t she just asked?
She’d always thought she and Jules had a better relationship than that—the kind where her daughter could come to her for anything.
Had she misread the entire situation?
“Sweetheart, you know I love Kyle, but if you’re not happy with him, you don’t have to stay,” Emma replied after a brief pause. “It’s your life and your future, and you need to be okay with the choices you make.”
Jules leaned back in the chair and ran a hand over her face. She stared at the light bulb hanging from the ceiling; then, her gaze moved to a spot over Emma’s shoulder. Emma followed her daughter’s stare and lingered on the sight of snow falling steadily outside.
“I do love Kyle, and I do want a future with him,” Jules whispered hoarsely. “I just don’t know if I can marry him.”
