Rise and Shine (Shine On Series, Book 2) (3 page)

“Thank you,” she said.

He nodded, kissed her on the forehead, and put his hand on the small of her back, leading her to the group of guys again. This time when they arrived he never moved his hand from around her waist. The Irishman looked at her with surprise. The conversation silenced as they entered the circle again. Silas introduced her to the group. Their names mixed together in her mind almost as soon as she heard them: James, Willem, Peter…

Emmie smiled and nodded her head, “Nice to meet you.”

“N-ice to meet you too,” one of the guys said in a horrible mock of her accent. The rest of the circle erupted in laughter. Emmie smiled at their joke, doing her best not to let it deflate her.

“Ha, ha,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“So Silas, you found a nice girl from the hills?” the guy asked.

“Shut up,” Trick said quickly to the guy.

Emmie looked at Silas to find him glaring. He clenched his jaw before speaking, “Peter, you will speak to her with respect.”

Peter’s face fell and he looked at Silas in shock. “Yeah, I was just joking, Silas.”

“You’ll apologize, now,” Silas said, never looking away.

“Yeah, I’m sorry ‘eh? I was just playing around. It’s nice to meet you Emmie.” The guy shrugged and stepped back from Silas. “Didn’t mean no disrespect.”

Silas dismissed the guy by turning away from him. He pulled his arm away from her briefly to pull a cigarette out of his vest. He lit it, staring down at her the whole time, trying to determine if she was okay. Silas took a long, slow draw from the small white stick before he spoke, “Ignore him.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “He was just teasing.”

His free hand went down the length of her arm and grasped her hand. “We’ve had this conversation before. I don’t like you teased.”

Her mind went back to that discussion. They had been at Ava’s, just after their first kiss. Her heart sped up at the memory. His hand with the cigarette came up and brushed her temple. He exhaled the smoke away from her, then leaned down to brush a kiss on the spot he’d just touched.

“Well, if it isn’t Emmie Shimmy dressed up like a pretty peacock.” Vince came up behind Silas. Ava’s older brother was standing next to a small blonde she assumed was Kate, his fiancée. Kate was dressed as a valentine. Her red dress was adorned with hundreds of hearts and a small cupid was fastened to her right shoulder.

“Emmie, I’ve heard a lot about you.” Kate put out her hand.

Emmie smiled and reciprocated the polite greeting. Ava walked up behind Kate. She looked lovely in her pumpkin dress. The bodice fit like a glove and her ballerina-styled jack-o-lantern skirt bounced as she skipped toward Emmie with outstretched arms.

“Oh, you look beautiful,” Ava said, embracing her friend. “I see you’ve met the goons.”

“That’s a good way to describe them. You look fantastic. The dress fits you like a glove,” Emmie said. Silas positioned himself just at her side but turned to talk to Vincent.

“That’s all thanks to you,” Ava said. The three girls fell into an easy conversation. Kate questioned Emmie on how she had created this or that on Ava’s dress. She seemed kind, which was good—Vince deserved to be with a nice girl.

When Gabe arrived a few minutes later, he handed Ava a glass of punch. Then he turned to Emmie and gave her a strange expression like he had no idea what to say to her.

“You look lovely,” he said, leaning in to give Emmie a hug. His arms wrapped around her back and squeezed her tight. When he pulled away slowly, his mouth was set in a grim line. After a short pause he greeted the others. She frowned at him as he turned around. Emmie wondered what was with warm embrace?

Ava shook her head at Emmie and smiled. “He has been so emotional all night.”

Chapter Three

T
he music came to an abrupt stop. Gabe walked up to the stage. Emmie glanced curiously at Ava but her face was marked with the same confusion as Emmie’s. Gabe’s eyes scanned the room for a moment before he spoke into the microphone. After a deep breath of courage he grinned, found Ava, and begin to speak.

A dawning of realization descended on Emmie. Her mouth dropped open. This was it. Right now… Now. She could hardly hear his words as her eyes searched for Ava. Emmie had never in her entire life seen Ava more genuinely surprised. Her mouth was frozen open in a little “o”. Her eyes were huge. Her fingers were fidgeting with some of the orange tulle of her skirt. Ava never fidgeted. Gabe’s speech ended and he reached down and pulled Ava up, onto the stage. She nodded. Hugging. Laughter. Applause. He did it. And she said yes. Ava was engaged.

Emmie tried to get close to Ava but the room was crowded with people pushing their way closer and closer to her. Apparently everyone here was related to her or friends with her from Chicago or Louisville. And they felt entitled to speak with her at that moment. Ava was glowing. Gabe had set it up perfectly. Ava would want the show. The production. The planning. The location. The family. The friends. He’d done it perfectly. Emmie smiled and released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

Ten Minutes. Twenty Minutes. Half an hour. Time passed and Emmie sat at a table and watched the room move around her. Her nice waiter friend she’d met earlier dropped off a cup of punch as he passed by. Emmie scanned the room for Silas but he had stepped out with a friend just after the proposal. James was it? Maybe Willem, Emmie couldn’t remember. The feathers of the beautiful peacock dress were starting to dig into her stockings, like little pins poking her skin. This was clearly not supposed to be a dress to sit around in. Emmie stood and stretched her legs, scanning the room for someone to talk to. Ava was now standing with a group of girls about their age. Each costume was more adorned than the next. There was a queen, a deck of cards, and an angel. Ava caught Emmie’s eye and waved her over.

She greeted her friend with a squeal of excitement and a little hop. Ava spread her fingers wide to show off the diamond on her left hand. The ring was beautiful. Emmie had almost forgotten what it looked like. A large sparkly diamond encased by rows of smaller diamonds, spiraling out from the center. It went almost up to her knuckle. The deck-of-cards lady shrieked so loud Emmie actually jumped a little. The queen watched with jealous grin.

“Congratulations, Ava. It’s lovely,” Emmie said, wrapping her friend in a hug.

The queen laughed. “You mean best wishes. It’s bad luck to say congratulations to a bride, dear.”

Ava rolled her eyes at the queen. “Thanks. Did you know he was going to do this? I know you love your secrets but if you’ve been keeping this from me I will tar and feather you…”

Emmie laughed. “Nope, I had no idea.”

Well, that was a half-truth. She had approved the ring choice. But Emmie wasn’t sure Gabe wanted her to know that. It was probably better that this moment just be about the two of them.

The angel’s eyes widened and she spoke, “Oh, so you are Emmie? I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Emmie smiled unsure what to say. She really hadn’t heard about them. Ava rarely ever talked about her friends from Chicago. Fashion, shopping, parties, boats, and boys yes. Friends, almost never.

The deck of cards smiled and looked at the queen. It was the queen who spoke first. “Oh, Emma. You are the seamstress. You make the loveliest clothes. We love her costume.”

“Yes, it is lovely. I actually need something new for a Christmas party at Pete’s firm. Do you work for hire?” the deck of cards asked.

Emmie frowned for a moment. Their words were kind but something about their tone was off. It felt mocking. Was she for hire? She was recently without a job. She could easily make dresses for these girls but something about her pride made her pause before she answered.

Ava put her arm on Emmie’s shoulder and smiled. “No, she is not for hire. She made these for me as my friend, not my seamstress. Emmie is just getting ready to enroll in college. Isn’t that right?”

She jutted out her chin and grinned as she spoke. That answered Emmie’s earlier question. The queen and deck of cards were being condescending earlier.

“That’s right. I’m enrolling when I return. Just finished up the paperwork on the train ride here,” Emmie said without reservation. Okay, that was an outright lie. She actually wouldn’t be permitted to enroll until the next year in the fall semester. That was if she could convince them she wasn’t too old. Most girls started right out of high school. But, these girls would never know that. After tonight she would probably never see them again.

Ava introduced the girls: the queen, Liza; the deck of cards, Hannah; the angel, Jemma. Emmie noticed the angel seemed younger than the others. Maybe not yet twenty.

She nodded and extended her hand after the introduction. “Nice to meet you, Emmie.”

“Likewise,” Emmie said.

“I’d love to hear more about your college. I’m trying to convince my family that’s my path after high school. I’ve already started the preparatory classes. Maybe you could help me with my argument,” Jemma said.

“Sure, I’d be glad to,” Emmie shrugged, that little white lie nagging at her conscience. Not only was the paperwork not filled out, but she was also unsure if they would even let her in or if she had enough tuition money. She made a silent resolution to check on those things as soon as she got back home.

There was something about Jemma that Emmie liked. She was different from the other two women. Ava opened her mouth to say something but paused as she looked around Emmie. Emmie’s eyes followed her friend’s gaze and saw that Silas was walking to their table. As he got closer his face split into a wide grin, one of his rare smiles. His eyes lit up. Emmie felt her heart leap as he walked toward her.

Past her, he walked past her, picked up the angel and spun her in a circle, laughing out loud. The angel squeaked, “Si.”

Emmie tried to smile but it came out as a frown.
Si?… Si?
Okay, so she didn’t like this girl. The angel had given him a nickname? She stared up at him as he kissed the girl on each cheek before he put her down. She felt a fire of jealousy and hurt, burning in her gut.

“Silas. I have missed you so much. I wasn’t sure you would be able to make it. Trick said you’d been so busy down there.” The damn angel hugged him again. Like he had just returned from some war. This was too much, the final straw.

Emmie stood and pushed in her chair with more force than necessary. Ava walked over and squeezed her arm but she pulled away. Emmie wondered what the hell she was doing here. She didn’t belong in this room full of… of…

“Emmie, wait. Where are ya going?” Silas asked. His arm still draped around the mousy angel.

She opened her mouth but found no words. No words she could say in public anyway.

Chapter Four

“S
ilas,” Ava said through gritted teeth. “Don’t you think you should introduce your
sister
to Emmie?”

Sister. Sister. Sister. Sister.

The angel was his sister. Emmie was a fool. Or she felt like one anyway. This is where that term lovesick fool came from wasn’t it? Because when you care for someone you lose all your ability to not overact. Your ability to not act like an idiot.

Emmie closed her eyes and took in a breath, still frozen. She was pulled from her thoughts when Ava rubbed her arm. She bit her lower lip and looked up at her friend. Ava was fighting back a smile.

“It’s okay. No big deal,” Ava mouthed without sound, her back to the others.

Emmie turned around to face the others hesitantly. Maybe they didn’t notice she was planning to leave with her feathers in a ruffle…
literally.
But one look at Silas stopped that. She hadn’t seen him so amused since… well… maybe never. She had actually never seen him look so smug.

Silas pulled his arm away from the angel. “Emmie, I’d like you to meet my baby sister, Jem.” He turned to his sister, “Jem this is Emmie.”

Jem extended her white-gloved hand and smiled down at Emmie. “Emmie, nice to meet you, again. Do you know Silas?” She looked confused.

Emmie nodded. She opened her mouth to speak but words failed her…

Yeah, I know him.