Emily Calls It (The Emily Series)

Published by Laura Albright

Copyright 2012 Laura Albright

Cover design by Karen Duvall

Author photo by Amy Shuman

Interior layout by
www.formatting4
U.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author at
[email protected]
. This book is a work of fiction. The characters, events, and places portrayed in this book are products of the author’s imagination and are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

For more information on the author and her works, please see
http://www.Laura-Albright.com

ISBN: 978-0-9857005-1-5

This book is also available in print from some online retailers.

For

My sister, Bree-Eva

Also By Laura Albright

Call Me Emily

Emily’s Calling

Meet Emily

CONTENTS

  1   The Return

  2  
The Distraction

  3  
On The Mend

  4  
Back to LA

  5  
The First Day

  6  
Something New

  7  
Backsliding…Just a Tad

  8  
The Benefit

  9  
The Third Wheel

10  
The Contenders

11  
Sometimes I’m So O
ff-Base

12  
Semester Begins with a Bang

13  
Back to School

14  
And Back to Work

15  
Dinner with Graham

16  
Dinner with Colin

17  
Such Men Dilemmas

18  
An Impromptu Date

19  
The Call One Dreads

20  
The Funeral

21  
Home Sweet School

22  
Changes Begin

23  
Study Partners Gone Bad

24  
Avoidance and Preparations

25  
The Ball

26  
Of All the Stupid Things

27  
Friend-land

     
An Excerpt from Emily’s Calling

  1  
A New Da
y

About The Author

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It was right after Christmas 2009 when I’d realized writing was more than a hobby. I’d just finished
Call Me Emily
, and with one book complete, I knew writing was a huge part of my life. And now as I publish
Emily Calls It
and the remaining books in the Emily series, I have to give my love and heartfelt thanks to my husband Randy and son Lane. Thank you for the many times you ate dinner late, went swimming, snow skiing, mountain biking without me, and repeated what you just said because I was writing and only half-listening to you. You two are and have always been the best and most important part of my life.

There is one person I thought of the entire time I was writing
Emily Calls It
: my sister, Bree. A teenager
at the time, she was faced with so many decisions – love, friendship, family. Each one harder than the next. As a big sister I often offered her advice and rooted for Bree to make the right decisions. That vein of support stayed with me while I wrote
Emily Calls It
. So I want to thank Bree for inspiring me, and to
let her know I’ll always stand beside her during her walk through life.

ONE

The Return

It was warm that morning. Familiar yet not. It was strange to be here without him.

Early June was a beautiful time in Two Rivers. The rain quenched the fields, orchards, and vineyards, leaving them lush and green. I pushed my way through tall grass trying to find the familiar trail that led to the water.

It had been a year since I sat beside this particular
stretch of river, and though I’d been
through immeasurable change my first year of college, Two Rivers had not. The trail was exactly where I remembered it, almost as if I’d
made it
myself. I followed it, recognizing all the narrow dips and turns until the landscape opened up to reveal the river. I stopped in my tracks. I couldn’t believe I had forgotten how beautiful it was.

I grew up here
.
In this small northern
California
valley, where the livestock and grapevine counts exceeded the population by thousands. And this spot. This used to be where I would come to think. There was a large, old, oak tree that had fallen years ago during a rough winter storm. Over time it had turned hard and grey, finding its final resting
place
on the riverbank. Surely dead, but still part of the landscape. I never told anyone, but I always called it my “thinking tree.” I balanced on a protr
uding root and boosted myself
on
to
the trunk. I sat on the edge letting my legs hang over the side
.
From there the view of the river was amazing. It was widest at this spot and flat for a few miles. I could see everything.

Swinging my legs and letting them graze the tree trunk, I did a quick mental recap of the last few months. There was Christian. I met him here, actually. In this place. A couple of months with him changed me forever. When he was no longer in my life, there was a void that never seemed to fill. That didn’t stop me from trying
,
though. My attempt worked temporarily…and ultimately failed
.
I met a guy I thought was perfect. We shared an intense several months before he went back to his ex-girlfriend, leaving my heart in a million pieces. So, I guess that
was
a quick recap. It was amazing to sum it up like that, considering the turmoil my life had been. I had a week, one week, before I needed to go back to southern
California
to start my summer internship
.
This trip home was impromptu but seriously needed. Before I started college last year, I seemed to have it all figured out. I was confident and happy and ready to take on the world. Where had
that
Emily gone? Because this Emily was sad, defeated and overall, beaten up. But if I was going to find that girl again, it was here, at home.

Sitting there, alone, I had an idea; a possible solution to the search for me. It was simple, of course. I needed to be alone. (I cringed at the thought, but pushed it further.) I always made my best decisions and was most productive when I wasn’t “with” someone. And I knew there was a way to be alone and happy
,
too. I had done it before. I r
an my fingers through my hair.
It was possible I might find my old self before I had to leave. It
was
possible.

Rejuvenated, I grabbed a handful of rocks, jumped off the tree trunk and waded into the shallow
river. The stones
were smooth and hot in my palm. I remembered coming here with my brothers and counting as we skipped them across the surface of the water. There was a science to the shape, size and angle of the throw. I wasn’t the best by far, but I counted four skips after the rock left my hand. Kneeli
ng and grabbing another handful,
I heard some rustling in the bushes along the trail. Someone was coming. I stood up and froze for a second waiting to see who it was.

“Hey! Your mom said you went for a drive. I had a feeling you’d be here.”

“Jessica.” I opened my arms and wrapped them around my best friend as she joined me. She pulled back, resting her hands on my shoulders.

“How long have you been in town? I didn’t know you were coming home.”

I hugged her again, dropping the rocks and wiping my hands on my shorts. “I didn’t know either. I had to get out of there for a little while. I hopped in my car yesterday and was here by evening.” Jessica waited for me to go on. “I was planning to call but…”

“I know, I know. How are you doing?” She tilted her head. I could hear the concern in her voice.

“Let’s see, I unexpectedly left LA and drove almost nine hours for no apparent reason. I’m terrific!” Heavy sarcasm on my part.

“Oh, you have good reason. I don’t know how you stand that place.” Jessica never hid her distaste for city living. The phrase “born on a farm” was true for her, and although she didn’t like the city
,
she fit into any situation seamlessly and handled herself with the grace and poise of someone with far more experience. She was perfectly capable of living in the city but chose not to
.
It was great to be with her. We sat on the riverbank with our legs drawn in staring out and watching the water pass by.

“So tell me about it.” She knew what happened with Graham but now she wanted to know about my attempt at heali
ng. My reason for coming home.
Part of me didn’t want to talk about it, but I knew what I needed, and that was my friend.

“I just feel lost. I’m trying to move on. I know it’s important, but everything in my body aches for him. I hate it.” I rested my head again
st my knees, angry, too angry
even
to
cry. Jessica lifted my hair
,
dropping it to the other side of my neck so she could see my face.

“I know. You’ll get past this. It’s just going to take some time. He’s not worth it Emily, you know that. What he did to you was wrong and you know you deserve better. ” Graham had destroyed what we had and pieces of me right along with it. I knew it was possible to come back from this, I just didn’t know how. I paused for a second. One thing Jessica said was true and I knew it: I did deserve better and it wasn’t Graham who made me realize it. It was Christian. Right here a year ago. Christian, my first love, the one who taught me so much about myself. The problem wasn’t that I didn’t know what I deserved. My problem was that I’d forgotten.

“What you need is a distraction,” Jessica said
,
with a whole new enthusiasm. “We should go into town tonight.” She paused. “How long can you stay?”

“I have to be back on Monday to start my internship.” I dropped some hot sand across my toes. A memory flashed. The hot sand, this place…Christian. Just when I was sure those feelings were long gone they tried to resurface. I let my mind wander to his face. His hand on my cheek. Our kiss.

“OK, let’s make some plans. Emily? You in there?” She leaned down to make eye contact with me.

“Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking.”