Emma's Deliverance by Susan Vance Read Free Book Online Page A

almost losing it again. “He’s gorgeous, too. He’s about six feet tall, maybe six-one. I’m telling you Jody, I felt the strangest feeling the first time I met him. He came in the shop last month and bought some flowers for his mom. She was in the hospital. I’m so glad she broke her leg.”
    “ Emma!”
    “ You know what I mean. If she hadn’t broken her leg Jason wouldn’t have come in to my shop and I would have never met him.”
    “ So, he’s a fireman? Cool. I’ll bet he has a mustache, right? All firemen have mustaches,” Jody said waiting to hear more.
    “ Actually, he doesn’t.”
    “Where’s he taking you?”
    “He wanted to cook for me at his house, but I suggested we go to a restaurant.”
    “ Good idea. I’m happy you’re going out, but the first date really should be in public, don’t you think?”
    Emma smiled. Jody was always looking out for her like a sister should. When they were small and Emma would have her terrifying nightmares it was always Jody that would comfort her until Marilyn came in. Sometimes Jody would crawl into bed with Emma and sleep with her for the rest of the night. Emma’s nightmares would wake up the whole house as she would be screaming and crying, sometimes for hours on end. Emma never spoke about the nightmares to anyone outside the family. While in therapy, she would refuse to acknowledge this terror even existed. Eventually the torment subsided, surfacing only occasionally.
    “ I think you’re right. When Jason said he wanted to cook dinner for me even his mother raised an eyebrow. It was rather sudden, but really, I feel comfortable with him. Anyway, this has been a great day. I had fun. Let’s do it again before the weather turns too cold, okay?” She reached for her nephew, squeezed him tight while giving him a kiss, then she said good-bye to Ryan.
    “Have a great time tonight, Jody said. “I want details tomorrow.”
    Emma turned back and put her finger to her lips. She had hoped Jody wouldn’t call their mom with the news yet. Emma didn’t know where or even if this was going anywhere, but she was would prefer to go on at least one date before letting everyone know about Jason.

Chapter Seven
     
    It was a few minutes before six o’clock. Emma took one last look in the mirror checking her hair and make-up. At six-fifteen she wondered why Jason was late. By six fifty-five she was devastated. She kicked off her shoes and sank down in the sofa. She felt as if she would cry. Her emotions went everywhere. Where is he? Why would Jason stand me up like this? Emma was upset. She felt confused. She truly thought he was someone special. Was she wrong? She thought she was a fairly good judge of character, but maybe she had been wrong about him. Would he ask her for a date right in front of his mother and then stand her up? Was he just a tease without regard for her feelings? This just didn’t feel right to her. She wondered if perhaps he’d had an accident. How would she know? She didn’t have a number to reach him. She stood up and looked in the mirror again. Seeing herself all made up to go out made her cry. She looked down at Sam then picked him up. He squirmed and tried to get away. This made Emma cry even harder. This was torture, pure torture. Should she put her sweats on and fix something to eat or sit there in a stupor, crying? She blew her nose and tried to stop crying. Why did I have to tell Jody? She probably already called Mom, now I’ll have to tell them he stood me up. “Oh, Sam, come here, please,” she begged him to no avail. It wasn’t long after that the phone rang. Emma blew hard into her tissue then ran to the phone hoping to hear Jason’s voice.
    “ Emma, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. There was an emergency and I was called in this afternoon. Your phone number was in my car and by the time we got back to the station it was after six-thirty. I just now was able to go out to my car to get your card. I’m sorry. I’m really