Spinning on her five-inch heels, Stephanie lifted her hand up and waved me off. It was like my mother all over again. “Nonsense. It will be wonderful PR for Emmit. NASCAR’s most-eligible bachelor off the market . . . I can see the headlines now.”
Her happiness seemed sincere, but there was something about Stephanie that had me on guard.
“Um, so listen, we should probably talk about you just walking into the house.”
Stephanie put the last of the food in the refrigerator and said, “Right. Of course. I realize now that you are back in the picture, I’ll need to be more mindful of Emmit’s privacy.”
Back in the picture? Why did the way she said that bother me so much?
“Were you not before?” I asked before I could stop myself.
Stephanie’s head popped back in surprise. “Of course I was. But I mean, Emmit was a single guy living in this giant house. He would often call me to come over and keep him company.”
A tinge of jealousy ripped through me as I looked Stephanie up and down. “I bet it did get lonely.”
Stephanie shrugged as she said, “Yeah. I used to feel really bad for him but we had a lot of fun together so it was okay. My husband used to play Texas Hold ‘em a lot with Emmit.”
The mention of her husband seemed to put the water on my jealousy. I instantly relaxed.
“Well, maybe a phone call first before you pop over,” I said as I tried not to seem like I was being a bitch.
Stephanie grabbed her purse and smiled. “Of course. Do me a favor, when you see Emmit let him know I have that date and time set up with the family from Dallas. I sent it over in an email. He also has an interview tomorrow morning, I’ll get with him later about that.”
I pushed off the counter and followed Stephanie to the door. Emmit walked in and almost ran into Stephanie.
“Hey, Steph. What are you doing here?” Emmit asked as he walked by her and straight into the kitchen.
“Afternoon, Emmit. I just dropped off some things for you. I wasn’t aware Ms. Morgan was here. I need to run, but I’ll call you later about your interview tomorrow.”
Emmit stopped and turned to Stephanie. He looked confused for a second before he said, “Cancel the interview.”
Stephanie stopped walking and slowly turned around. “Excuse me?”
The bags of groceries were set down on the counter as Emmit looked back at Stephanie. “Cancel it. Or if they want to do a Skype interview, we can do that.”
I’d never seen someone wear such a deer in the headlight look before like Stephanie was. “May I ask why you’re changing it, Emmit?”
Emmit glanced over to me and gave me a wink. “I’m flying to Texas tomorrow with my fiancé. I’m sure they’ll understand.”
“Texas?” Stephanie and I both said at the same time.
“Yep. Texas. Oh, and if you need anything else for the rest of the day, just text, Steph. I don’t want any calls unless it’s an emergency.”
The look that passed over Stephanie’s face was one of pure shock. I’m guessing she was used to twenty-four-seven access to Emmit, and this no calling rule put her off.
“Emmit, I mean, we need to talk about a few things.”
Walking toward Stephanie, he took her elbow and guided her toward the front door. “We can talk tomorrow. Today I want my own time. Also, I think it’s best if you give me your key to the house. With Addie moving in and all, I think it’s for the best.”
Stephanie’s mouth dropped open as she searched for her voice. “W-what? You want your key back? Are you sure, Emmit, what if there’s an emergency or something?”
I wanted so badly not to be feeling so gleeful, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted to jump and do a fist pump. “My mom’s got a key,” Emmit said in a chipper voice.
Stephanie stood a little taller as she flashed a smile and said, “Of course.” Taking Emmit’s house key off her ring, she handed it to him and looked between us. “You two enjoy your day. Oh, my gosh, I didn’t even congratulate you, Emmit.”
Stephanie gave Emmit an awkward hug as she took a step back. “Okay, well I’ll let the two of you be.”
Emmit opened the front door as Stephanie walked outside. “Bye, Steph.”