What was she going to do for the evening? Between dinner and a movie, Mom wouldn’t likely get back for several hours.
Emma suddenly wished she had a hobby—something she normally didn’t have time for that she could indulge in now.
Her gaze roamed the room and stopped at the television. Marty had mentioned watching episodes of NCIS. Of course, Emma had heard of the show, but she’d never watched it herself. However, as she browsed her choices, she found three different NCIS shows. Which one was she supposed to start off with?
She retrieved her phone from the coffee table and opened her texts to look at Marty’s name. Wondering which show to watch wasn’t a legitimate reason to contact him, was it?
She thought back over her day with Marty. The emotional roller coaster had been exhausting. When he’d called her out on her attitude this morning, she’d been furious with him. Then there were times where he’d bolstered her spirits and made her feel better about herself than anyone else had in a long time.
She especially treasured those moments when he was content to simply sit with her and talk about their lives. When he looked at her in a way that made her feel special. Those moments both thrilled and scared her because it would be easy to fall for him.
She pondered their near kiss at the park. There’d been a part of her who badly wanted that kiss. When he held her in his arms, it made everything right in the world.
If he knew the truth, though, he would choose a path different from hers. If he knew the extent of her debt, understood why she couldn’t have children, it would change everything.
It was better to keep things the way they were.
Friends.
And one friend would ask the other about a television show.
Pushing her melancholy worries from her mind, she sent Marty a text.
“Which NCIS show do I start with? The original? Or does it matter?”
It wasn’t long before a ping came through with Marty’s response.“Yeah, start with the original. There are crossovers to the other two.”
“Awesome, thank you.”Emma started the first episode and decided she’d watch it then pop some popcorn for the next episode.
“Did you get your mom sent off on her date okay?”
Emma smiled as she turned her attention to her phone.“I did. He seems nice enough. I gave her a curfew. Just kidding. Mostly.”
He sent back a laughing emoji. A minute later, another text came through.“I had fun today. And I heard back from Caleb. He got second place overall.”
“That’s awesome. I suppose we should have gone back to watch the rest.”Emma had felt guilty about that later once she was home. Then again, Caleb seemed to have a lot of friends and fellow ninjas there with him. And he did give them permission to leave if they didn’t want to stay all day.
Besides, if they’d stayed, they wouldn’t have cleared the air or talked like they had at the park. All in all, Emma didn’t regret how the day played out.
“Nah, we were fine. We can congratulate him on Monday. Maybe I’ll bring donuts in for him.”
“Sounds like a plan.”Donuts on a Monday morning were never a bad thing.
“Do you have a favorite donut?”
Marty’s question had Emma smiling.“Chocolate. With sprinkles.”
“I’ll be sure to remember that.”
Emma laughed at the donut emoji he sent followed by another text.
“Enjoy NCIS. I expect a full report on Monday.”
“LOL Thanks. Have a good night, Marty.”
“You, too, Emma.”
She waited a few minutes to make sure that was the end of the texts before setting her phone aside and continuing the episode. Somehow, knowing Marty might be watching the same show made her not feel quite as alone.
