Always the Baker, Finally the Bride (19 page)

“Emma.” Dr. Mathis tightened her grip on Emma’s shoulders and smiled. “The bottom line is this: Our stress hormones were designed to help us deal with short-term stressful situations. But when things start to cave in around us, we freeze a little. We can’t fight, and there’s no flight. What we naturally do is stew in our own juices, which can cause chronic issues that affect our health and wellness. In a diabetic, those effects can be catastrophic, and we don’t want that. I need you to promise me you’re going to slow down and take care of yourself.”

“I promise.”

“I’d like you to take these for a while,” she said as she released Emma and turned back to the counter to retrieve her prescription pad. “It’s a low dose of blood pressure medicine so we can get that back in check. Do you need something to help you sleep?”

Emma cringed a bit and shook her head. “No. I don’t want to.”

“Okay. If you change your mind, and you’re not getting the rest your body needs to carry you through, I want you to call me.”

“I will.”

The smile melted from Dr. Mathis’s pretty face, and she turned serious again. “No joke, Emma. The time to get this situation in check is
now
. Are we clear?”

“Yes. Very.”

“And I want to see you again in two weeks to discuss your lab results and see how you’re doing. Make the appointment today, and keep it, Emma. I can’t help you unless you let me.”

“I know. I’ll do it. I promise.”

She tried to hide the tentative tone in her voice as she made that promise because, in light of the reality that had become her life, Emma knew how difficult it might be to keep it.

Jackson unfolded the turkey wraps from the wax paper and set them on plates, holding his tongue until Emma finished telling him everything that had transpired with Dr. Mathis. She poured tea over ice and brought the glasses to the table.

“What’s in the containers?” she asked as she set the glasses down.

“One is pasta salad,” he told her, retrieving napkins from the buffet drawer. “The big one is hummus with celery sticks and baby carrots.”

“And turkey wraps with sprouts and veggies?” she said on a chuckle.

“I know. I may have gone overboard with the healthy dinner thing,” he admitted. “But I’m worried about you, Emma, and, as it turns out, with good reason.”

She stepped up behind his chair and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing the top of his head.

“This just confirms to me that I’m doing the right thing by selling the hotel,” he said, and she circled him and sat down in the adjacent chair. “You and I have been on a fast track ever
since the day we met, before the hotel even opened, Emma. After the sale, we can take a whole year and live out the dream we’ve been talking about for months.”

“Move to Paris?”

“Yes. I can write, and you can take those classes you want to take. On the off days, we can sleep in late and go for walks, really settle in to marriage. How many newly married couples have the opportunity to live like that?” She shrugged in response. “And while we do, you’ll work on lowering your blood pressure and taking care of yourself for a change.”

“You mean live like that, while you take care of me.” Her distaste for surrendering to this rang unmistakably in Jackson’s ears.

“That, too,” he said with a smile. “There’s nothing I’d rather do with my time.”

“Oh, Jackson.”

Her deep sigh drew his full attention, and he wondered what might come next. When she didn’t elaborate, he jiggled her hand playfully. “Oh, Jackson, what?” he asked her.

“I don’t know. When I think of walking away from The Tanglewood, it tears me up a little inside. The place is our home. Those people are our family.”

“And they’ll still be our family, whether we own the place or just look in on it every now and then.”

“But how will we look in on it from Paris?” she asked, and a mist of emotion sharpened the brown of her eyes.

“It’s not like we’ll be gone forever, Emma. We’ll be back. Atlanta is home to both of us. But The Tanglewood isn’t part of a package deal. It’s not all or nothing.”

She sighed again, and Jackson felt the weight of it just behind his heart.

“You feel this strongly about it?” he asked her. “You don’t want me to sell?”

Emma closed her eyes and massaged her temples. “That’s not for me to say. I know that, Jackson. I just can’t wrap my brain around . . . leaving it all behind.”

“I spoke to the attorneys at length today, Emma.”

“I know. The deal is already under way. I get that,” she told him. “I do. It was your decision to make, and you made it with our future in mind. It’s just—”

“You don’t want to go to Paris,” he completed for her.

“No! I do want to go. You and me, and all the time in the world to get lost in one another, in a beautiful city. Of course I want that! How crazy would I have to be
not
to want it?”

“Pretty crazy.”

“I know. But The Tanglewood . . .”

“What I was going to say before is that I spoke to the attorneys. I’ve made it clear that every member of the executive staff stays in place. That includes Sherilyn and Fee. Morelli’s is still in place. Nothing changes, except that you and I won’t be in the business mix anymore. Fee will step up and take ownership of the tearoom. They’re all going to be fine, Emma. I wouldn’t do this if I wasn’t sure of that.”

“I know you wouldn’t,” and she reached across the table, taking his hands between both of hers.

“And there’s a new bottom line now that we didn’t have before,” he added. “You are under the gun from morning to night, and your health depends on us taking these measures because . . . when the phones are ringing and the brides are crying and Sherilyn is flitting in and out with all of her own challenges, you know you won’t amp down. It’s not in you. I know it’s not.”

He saw it in her eyes. She knew it, too.

“The best thing that’s ever happened to me is finding you, Emma. We have an opportunity of a lifetime here, and now your life also depends on us taking it. It’s as if God handed us
this gift of an open door at just the right time. Are we going to refuse it?”

There it was again; one of those heavy, anxiety-riddled sighs of hers. He could hardly bear their massive bulk on his heart.

“They will all be here when we come home,” he promised. “But we’ll be stronger and happier and refreshed, ready for the chance to find new doors to walk through.”

She smiled at him, and Jackson took his turn at sighing. His, in relief.

“If you tell me that you don’t want me to sell, Emma, I won’t sell.”

Her eyes brightened with surprise, and she stared hard at him. “Do you mean that?”

“Of course I mean it. I just want to make sure you’re not asking me to change directions because of other people. If you want me to cancel the deal, it has to be because you choose The Tanglewood over Paris. And that’s fine with me. But what isn’t fine with me,” he said, leaning toward her for emphasis, “is your failure to step back from some of the craziness. Because that’s not an option, Emma. You
have to
take care of yourself.”

“I know,” she breathed, rubbing her forehead. “I know you’re right.”

After a long moment, Jackson touched her cheek, and Emma looked back at him and smiled.

“It’s in your hands right now, Emma. I haven’t signed anything yet. It’s not too late to pull out of the deal. But on Friday, I
do
sign the papers, and it
will
be too late. We have a few days. Whatever you want, we’ll make it work. What do you really want?”

“You want to sell and go to Paris for a year,” she stated.

“Sure. But in the long run, I don’t care where I’m your husband, as long as I am, and as long as you’re taking care of yourself so you’ll be around for the lifetime I plan on spending
with you. I’ve lost one love in my life, Emma. I’m not equipped to lose another.”

After a few seconds thick with hesitation and angst, Emma fell back against the chair and groaned.

“I’ve made a decision!” she suddenly exclaimed. “I have decided that we are going to eat this pleasant and healthy dinner you’ve brought along, and we are not going to think about The Tanglewood, or anyone or anything associated with it, for the rest of the night. Just one evening, un
Tanglewooded
. What do you say?”

“I think it’s a brilliant choice. Now please pass the hummus.”

“You’ve got it!” she declared, plopping the container down in front of him.

“And after dinner, I challenge you to a Scrabble match.”

“I accept,” she replied. “Special rule: No hotel-related words allowed.”

“I’m in,” Jackson replied with a grin.

“Is
spa vacation
one word, or two?”

“Oh, Daddy, I’m so conflicted.”

“I can see that, Emmy. What can I do to help?”

“You’re doing it,” she said with a weak smile. “Just listening, not judging.” With a broadened grin, she added, “And I know that can’t be easy for you.”

Gavin’s brow furrowed, and he asked, “Am I really that judgmental? That’s how you see me?”

“No!” she reassured him as she rubbed his arm. “Not judgmental. Large and in charge.”

“Well, that I am,” he conceded.

“Where’s Mother, anyway?” she asked, pouring a second cup of tea.

“Your aunt isn’t doing very well. Avery’s taken her over to the hospital for some tests.”

“Daddy, why didn’t you tell me that when I first got here? What’s wrong with Aunt Sophie?”

“She’s been very lucid this last month or so.” He took a long draw from his cup of coffee before he continued. “But this week has been very different. She’s drifted substantially, and your mother is concerned.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, she stayed the night here at the house over the weekend, and in the morning we found her sleeping outside on the veranda.”

“Oh.” That didn’t sound so awful.

“Wearing my old combat fatigues.”

“Oh! From the attic?”

He nodded. “She’d gone up there and rummaged around in the boxes.”

“That could have been dangerous.”

“You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen your aunt Sophie in full fatigues and combat boots.”

Emma tried not to snicker, but the visual crept up on her.

“Mother must have been beside herself.”

“Well, actually, she took it all in stride when she found her like that, even when Sophie insisted on lobster and grits for breakfast. There was quite the fallout when Avery tried to dissuade her, but your mother remained pretty calm.”

“Really?” Emma exclaimed with a grin. “That surprises me, for some reason.”

“Yeah, she did very well until yesterday.”

“Do I want to know what happened yesterday?”

“The assisted living nurse phoned to say that Sophie had taken a fall.”

“What?”

“She’s fine,” he reassured her. “Nothing broken, nothing bleeding. But your mother is worried.”

“Now I’m worried, too.”

A dozen scenarios wound their way around in Emma’s mind until they tangled into a knot and she groaned loudly in the effort to escape.

“Just take it easy, Emmy. There’s no need to panic. She should be home within the hour, and I’m sure she’ll tell us that everything is just dandy.”

“Daddy, how can Jackson and I pick up and move to Paris for a year with everything that’s going on? Sherilyn’s just had her baby, and she wants me to get to know her. Fee might not even want the added responsibility of taking on my job. And if they bring in someone new, how can I be sure that they’ll appreciate her for everything that she is? I mean, she’s very easy to misread on first impression.”

Her father quirked a smile without comment.

“And now Aunt Sophie is having trouble. If I went to Paris and something happened to her—”

“Jackson is right about one thing,” he interrupted, and he tapped the top of Emma’s hand. “You can’t make a decision based on anyone or anything else. You and he need to consider what’s best for your future together and make a solid decision based on that alone.”

“But what if being with our family and friends
is
what’s best for our future?” she said with a sigh. “I mean, what are we, really, without the people we love?”

“You’re going to be married. Whatever else there is, that trumps everything else.”