But her guilt was replaced by panic when she heard the jiggle of a key in the front door. The door opened, and she let out a relieved breath, which wasn’t her typical response to seeing Josh.
“Hurry. Shut the door and lock it,” she said.
He didn’t argue or goggle at the mess. He did as she asked, putting the bag he’d been carrying on the coffee table. “Where do you keep the garbage bags?”
She opened the pantry door, reached up for the box, took out one for her and one for him.
Josh took both bags. “I’ve got it. You go sit down.”
“No time,” she said, taking a bag from him. “If we’re lucky, we have two minutes before someone starts pounding on the door.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” He nodded, then grinned. “Okay, go. Whoever fills their bag fastest wins.”
“You’re on.” She swept the containers off the counter and into her bag. “Wait a minute, what do I win?”
“Bragging rights,” he said, heading for the living room and a pile of clothes on a chair.
Em glanced at Brad. His head was bowed, and his lips were turned down at the corners, the picture of sorrow. As if sensing her attention, he lifted his gaze to hers, and she saw the worry in his eyes. She knew what he was seeing, what he was thinking. Her brother had looked at her the same way last fall when he’d come to bring her home.
But no matter what it looked like, she was better than she’d been then. She gave Brad a bright smile, hoping to lift his spirits, but an hour later, she was having a hard time keeping up a cheerful front.
Bri had been right. The afternoon had brought a steady stream of visitors, and Em had enough baked goods and casseroles to last at least two months. The freezer on the back porch that she’d never had reason to use was almost full.
Patsy was in her glory and in hostess mode, plying their guests with tea, coffee, and cookies. Phil, who like his son had been a high school gym teacher and varsity football coach, was timing everyone’s visits. Every fifteen minutes, he whistled, signaling it was time for one group of visitors to leave and to allow another group in.
And then there was Josh, holding court. He didn’t do it intentionally; people were just naturally drawn to him. Grudgingly, she admitted, if only to herself, that she understood the attraction. It had nothing to do with his looks. Okay, so for some of her visitors, they were definitely a draw. But Josh had a gift for making people feel at ease and appreciated.
Bri was right. Having him stay had been a good idea. He’d never strayed more than a few feet from Em and had saved her butt on a few occasions when she didn’t know someone’s name or when talk veered to her hero status. She’d noticed he was as uncomfortable as she was with the accolades, sharing them with his crew and EMS.
As though he sensed the direction of her thoughts, Josh glanced at her, smiled, and mouthed You okay? She didn’t want to admit she was tired and nodded instead. His gaze roamed her face, and then he excused himself from her neighbors down the road and walked to where Patsy was placing a fresh batch of oatmeal cookies on the kitchen table.
Brad stood by the patio doors, a few feet behind Josh’s mom. Em had been avoiding looking at him in case someone noticed. It was bad enough that Gus sat behind him staring. Whenever someone commented on it, Em said the goldendoodle was mesmerized by the wildlife in the backyard. Em allowed herself a quick glance at Brad and then wished she hadn’t. His expression hadn’t changed. If anything, he looked more depressed, and she was afraid she knew why. Abby Mackenzie sat at the table with two of Em’s coworkers, Gwen and Todd.
The three of them weren’t shy about sharing their opinion that she needed to get a life and get back in the dating game. As they’d told her five minutes ago, a near-death experience was a life-changing moment. They were probably hatching a plan now. And they weren’t the only ones, Em thought when Brad lifted his gaze to hers.
Her fiancé was a man of action. There wasn’t a problem he couldn’t solve. It’s what had made him an exceptional detective. And apparently, from that look in his eyes, she was the problem he had to fix.
Chapter Five
Josh stood in Em’s bedroom. There was something going on with her. Not because she’d locked herself in her en suite bathroom twenty minutes earlier; that had been his mom’s doing. She’d suggested Em take a bubble bath after he’d mentioned that Em was done in. He’d figured she’d have better luck convincing Em to rest than he would.
He was a little surprised when Em agreed to a bubble bath but imagined that escaping from the steady flow of well-wishers had won her over.
He threw parties at least once a month, the bigger the better, and even he’d been ready for everyone to leave. And while Em telling him she loved him in the ambulance had freaked him out, it wasn’t the reason he thought something was going on with her. Her confession was easily explained away. It happened a lot to first responders. It had probably even happened to Em. People confused their gratitude for love.
No, the reason he believed something was going on with Em was happening behind that closed bathroom door. He’d heard her talking when he’d come to check on her. It sounded like a two-way conversation but there was no one in the bathroom with her. Gus was asleep on Em’s bed, and her cell phone was sitting on the coffee table. He’d just come back from checking.
He pressed his ear to the door.
“Josh?”
He winced and backed away, wondering how she knew he was there. He opened his mouth to explain himself, but she continued talking.
“I should date Josh? Why would I do that? Why would you even want me to?”
Josh didn’t know whether to be offended or relieved. Relieved, definitely relieved, he decided. Except Em was having an actual conversation with herself, and part of her apparently wanted to date him while the other part of her was arguing vehemently against it.
He scrubbed his hands up and down his face, wondering if he should mention this to Cal. And while the last thing he wanted to bring up with Em was her dropping the I love you bomb on him the night before, he didn’t see any way around it. They had to deal with this head-on. He had to let her down gently, at least the part of her that thought dating him was a good idea.
He was about to knock when he heard the front door opening. He was glad for the interruption but he was debating how to break the news to Em that they couldn’t date and doubted he’d be very good company.
“It’s just me,” his mother called out.
“Mom?” He walked out of Em’s bedroom. “What’s up? I thought you and dad were going to bingo.” Tonight was the last night for drive-in bingo at the fairgrounds.
“We are, but when I went to put out pajamas for Em to wear after her bubble bath, I noticed she only had those silky ones. You know the kind, I mean?”
“No, Mom, I don’t.” And he really didn’t want to talk about Em’s silky pjs. Not after what he’d just overheard. Plus he’d seen enough of her underwear and bras when he’d been stuffing her laundry into the garbage bag. Lacy and sexy, they were very un-Em-like, and very distracting. Which was probably why Em cleaned up her part of the house faster than he had and won bragging rights.