“Em?” I said, and Emma met my eyes. My gaze dropped and my heart raced at what I was about to ask. I hadn’t told anyone of my insecurities, but I loved Emma. She truly was the best friend I’d always dreamed of. And I knew she wouldn’t judge. “Do…do you think I’m…enough, for Jesse?”
Emma stared at me in silence a touch too long. I looked down at my hand. It still felt like it was mine. “June,” Emma said, pulling me from my stupor. “Please look at me.”
I did as she asked and felt my throat clog up. Emma’s face was serious. She looked fierce, when she said, “I mean what I’m about to say and you need to hear this: you are point-blank the best girlfriend I have ever had. You are sweet and kind and have the inner strength of an entire Roman legion.” Tears filled my eyes and Emma took hold of my hands. She gripped on tightly. “And you are stunning,” she said, emphatically. “Beautiful, utterly gorgeous,banging.”
I laughed through my tears as she listed those off.
Emma sobered and said, “I’ve seen how you look at yourself, babe. I know you didn’t swim that day before treatment because you don’t like how you look. But I am a brutally honest person—just ask Chris. And I am telling you, you’re a fucking ten.”
I laughed again, and Emma released one of my hands to wipe the tears from my cheek.
She tipped her head. “Do you believe me?”
I breathed deeply. “I’m trying to,” I said. “I was never one to care that much about my looks. But when I lost my hair and my skin reacted to the treatment and the steroids changed my body and everything else that comes with fighting cancer…” I shrugged. “I guess I lost my confidence somewhere along the way.”
“I understand. I have days where I feel like that too.”
“You do?” I asked. Emma always seemed so sure of herself. “I never would have guessed.”
“How could I not? For all those reasons you’ve just listed. But…” Emma trailed off.
“But what?” I said, clinging to her every word.
She smiled. “But I know my worth and what I’ve fought to still be here, on this earth, breathing. And that reminds me of what I’ve always known.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
Emma’s smile turned into a grin. “That I’m fucking fabulous.”
I laughed—I laughed so hard that Emma joined in and we faced each other on the pillows.
When our laughter faded, Emma said, “Jesse adores you, June. I mean, look!” She pointed to all his drawings.
“I imagine his previous girlfriends were cheerleaders with perfect hair,” I said, feeling my chest squeeze. My insecurities were still there.
“But they weren’t you, and it’s you who he adores.”
“I often wonder, though, that if it wasn’t for us both being here at the ranch, would he have ever even looked at me? And that worries me,” I confessed.
“Babe, that boy would tackle everyone in the world to find you if he’d known you were out there.”
“I’m pretty sure quarterbacks don’t tackle,” I said, fighting a smile, but feeling my soul being soothed by this talk.
Emma rolled her eyes at me. “Then I’m sure he’d make an exception.” Emma dropped a kiss on my cheek, and said, “Face it, June, Jesse Taylor is gone for you. You have that boy whipped.” My body filled with warmth.
Before I knew it, words were spilling from my mouth. “When I met him, it was like I felt a shimmer in the very fabric of the universe. Like,wow, I think I’ve just found my person.” I paused and met Emma’s gaze. “You know the meaning of soulmates? The story that God split a being into two and they had to find one another on earth again?”
“Yeah,” Emma said softly.
“It feels like that for me. Yes, it’s quick. But a month ago, we all thought we were going to die. We might still. We don’t exactly have the luxury of taking our time to find happiness.” I smiled to myself. “And with Jesse, I’m not sure I would have been able to not fall for him so fast, even if we were well.”
“You love him,” Emma said—not a question but a statement.
“I’m falling for him, Emma. So hard,” I confessed.
She launched forward, knocking me back on the bed. “I can’t breathe!” I said as she wrapped me up tightly.
“I don’t care,” she said, planting another kiss on my cheek. “I’m just so happy for you.”
