Mom said the blessing for their meal.
Emma placed a big slice of pizza on her plate, got her phone out, and snapped a picture. “Oh, yeah. I’m sending that to Chrissy.” She chuckled.
Mom shook her head. “You’re so mean. You know your sister loves this pizza almost as much as you do.”
“I have to tease her.” Chrissy loved the pizza, and Emma wouldn’t dream of eating it without sharing it with her. “I’ll save some and take it to her tomorrow.”
“That’s sweet, she’ll love it.” Mom had gotten herself a piece of pizza but sat staring at it. She shifted in her seat as though something were bothering her. “I have something I want to tell you.”
The first bite of pizza—full of flavor—suddenly turned to cardboard on Emma’s tongue. She swallowed, the rest of the piece forgotten. “What happened?”
“What makes you think something bad happened?” Mom shook her head reproachfully, but she offered a reassuring smile. “Do you remember me telling you about the new manager at the bank? Dale?” She waited for Emma to nod before continuing. “He asked me out on a date, and I accepted. We’re going to dinner and a movie on Saturday.”
Emma couldn’t have been more surprised if Mom had announced she’d bought an island in the Bahamas. Mom? Dating? Emma had thought about the possibility growing up, but it never seemed like something that would really happen.
Mom reached across the table and rubbed Emma’s arm. “I wish you’d say something. I… I was content to focus on you girls after your dad died. I could never imagine being interested in someone else. But Dale is sweet. Kind. Persistent.” She laughed. “I like him, Emma.”
“You deserve this, Mom. Seriously.” Emma put a hand on top of Mom’s. “Dad would want you to be happy. To find love again.” She wished she could have had the chance to know her dad. To see him and Mom in love and together. “It’s been a long time.”
“Yeah, it has.” Mom sniffed and wiped the corners of her eyes with her napkin. “Thanks, honey. I figured I’d call Chrissy and tell her this evening. But I wanted to tell you first. It will affect you more. I mean, he’s picking me up here at the house and all. It’s going to be weird.”
“You know I’m setting a curfew, right?” Emma straightened her spine and threw Mom a mischievous grin. “And you’d better bring him in so I can meet him on Saturday.”
Mom picked up a piece of pepperoni from her plate and chucked it across the table at Emma. “Of course I’ll introduce you.” She was more youthful than Emma had seen in a while.
“I’m happy for you, Mom.”
They finished their dinner, with Emma enjoying every single bite of her pizza. She offered to clean up while Mom called Chrissy to give her the news.
With hands in soapy water as she washed dishes, Emma’s mind spun. She’d gone through a period of time where she worried about what would happen to Mom if Emma ever found someone. Got married. Now she wondered what she was going to do if Mom was the one who married first.
If Mom and Dale did get married, surely they would live at Dale’s place. There was no way Emma could afford the payment on their house alone, and she sure wasn’t going to move in with Mom and Dale and become the third wheel. It’d be awkward at best.
What if she ended up alone for the rest of her life? Immediately, she knew that wouldn’t happen. She’d always have Chrissy, Wyatt, and her nephew as well as Mom in her life. But still. Was she destined to live in a tiny apartment all by herself?
Could she afford an apartment?
Her financial situation pulled her further into the doldrums that her imagination had stirred up.
She’d been living her life frozen in time. Stuck in the same place that she’d been in when she was in her teens. Or her twenties.
Emma might as well be standing in the middle of nowhere, her feet buried in quicksand. Every attempt to move only further sealed her fate. Everything around her had moved forward while Emma made little to no progress at all.
What if this was all life had for her?
For the first time in longer than she cared to admit, Emma found herself whispering a prayer. “There has to be more, God. There has to.”
10
“You are seriously a life saver.” Chrissy accepted the plate with four slices of homemade pizza as if Emma had handed her treasure. “I had no idea I was craving this until last night when you sent a picture of it.” She lifted a piece of plastic just enough to get a whiff of the cold pizza.
Emma laughed loudly. “Please tell me you’re going to at least remove the plastic before you eat it.”
“Yes. And I might even share a piece with Wyatt.” Chrissy raised an eyebrow as she lowered the plate. “Thanks, sis.” Her expression grew serious. “So, Mom’s dating now. Who saw that coming?”
“I sure didn’t. Though I suppose we should have. Or at least hoped we’d see it eventually.”
Chrissy nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah, I guess so. I just want her to be happy, you know?” She studied Emma. “You going to be okay?”
