“My no-good, selfish brother.” She whipped off her scarf and threw it next to the lunch bag. “He has permanently taken the number-one spot.”
“Ooh, this is pretty.” The woman picked up an emerald glass paperweight rimmed in gold, with the country of Ireland etched in the middle. “She’ll love this.” She turned to Emmy. “I’ll take it. “
“Great choice.” Emmy’s hands trembled slightly as she lockedup the case and carried the paperweight to the counter. What had Kieran done to make Sheryl so angry?
“I’ll be in the back,” Sheryl said, giving Emmy a frustrated look. She tromped toward the café area.
Carina shrugged and went to help another customer.
It wasn’t until almost five when business slowed enough that Emmy could talk to Sheryl. She pulled her friend to the side in the café. “What happened?” she asked, although she feared she already knew the answer.
“He left.” Sheryl scowled. “He told Mom he got a call from his real estate agent in Dublin, and he needed to fly out ASAP for some meeting about a property he wants to buy. I still can’t believe he did that. He’s so full of himself.”
Emmy reached for a napkin and handed it to Sheryl, who blew her nose and continued.
“Instead of postponing it, he said yes and left at 3:00 a.m. to catch the first flight out. He said he would visit after Christmas, but you know how that goes.” She shook her head. “I should have known he’d bail on us. He doesn’t care about family. He doesn’t even know what the word means.” She started to cry. “He broke Mom’s heart.”
The color drained from Emmy’s face. “This is my fault,” she whispered.
Sheryl’s head popped up. “Huh?”
Emmy told her friend what happened the night before and a little about the carriage ride at Jingle Fest, leaving out the kissing and her declaration of love to Kieran. “I think he left because of me.”
Sheryl shook her head, her ponytail swishing indignantly. “Don’t you dare take the blame for him, Emmy. I’m sure his ego was bruised, but he didn’t want to be here in the first place. You know how eager he was to get out of Mistletoe after graduation. I just thought when he finally agreed to come that maybe...” She collapsed in the chair and looked up at Emmy. “I’m sorry.”
Frowning, Emmy sat down. “For what?”
“For pushing you two together. I knew you liked him back in school.”
“Really?”
“Girl, everyone knew. Except Kieran, Mr. Obtuse.” She took Emmy’s hand. “I thought if he had another reason to be here, he would stay. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt.”
“I’m not hurt.” She stared at her lap, feeling foolish that she hadn’t hidden her crush like she thought she had.
“Your eyes have been puffy all day, and you have on one black sneaker and one white sneaker.”
Shocked, Emmy stared at her feet. “Why didn’t anyone say anything?”
“We were busy today.” Sheryl sniffed. “And I doubt anyone noticed other than me, Carina, Mrs. Weatherly, Joe Quarles—”
“Okay, got it.” She was sure her friend would have named half the customers who visited the store today if Emmy hadn’t stopped her.
“Kieran’s a knucklehead all on his own.” Sheryl’s eyes flashed with anger as she got up from the chair. “And we’ll carry on without him. Just like we always have.”
Emmy watched her friend walk away, and she sighed. Kieran was being a jerk for hurting his family, but he wasn’t a terrible man. And no matter what Sheryl said, Emmy would always feel like she was partly responsible for him leaving.
***
For the next week, Emmy was so busy she could hardly catch her breath. Between running the store and helping Sheryl with Maggie’s party, she was exhausted. After the new year she would have some downtime, thank goodness.
But her exhaustion didn’t keep her from thinking about Kieran,especially when she was alone. Sheryl had calmed down over him leaving, although she was still mad at him. Maggie was more restrained, although Emmy knew her well enough to sense her underlying sadness. Neither of them had said a word about him since he left.
Sheryl had insisted on a semiformal theme for Maggie’s party, so Emmy dressed in the only fancy outfit she owned—a black sequined dress with a flared skirt and off-the-shoulder long sleeves. To make the getup a little Christmassy, she added her holly berry earrings and matching necklace, along with a silver headband. She wore black tights with low-heeled, black shoes, and something rare for her—makeup. She was touching up her red lips when she got a text.
Carina:Ready to go? We’re in front of the building.
Emmy grabbed her coat and scarf and went downstairs. Jeremy’s SUV was parked in front of the shop, and snow covered the ground. Carefully she walked over the inch of snowflakes and climbed into the back seat. “Thanks for the ride,” she said as she shut the door.
