Never Say Never Rachael Sommers (story read aloud txt) 📖

they recovered a bit, it was time for games. Emily teamed up with Sarah against Cassie and Maia, who crushed them at Taboo, and Emily thought how nice it would be to have someone there, a partner, someone she could share her crazy family with.

Her heart ached because she wanted it desperately, even though she didn’t know what it would be like, because she had never brought a partner home, never spent holidays with anyone other than friends and family, so it wasn’t like she knew what she was missing—but she couldn’t help imagining what it would be like if Camila and Jaime were there with her.

It felt like eons since Emily had first extended the offer for Camila and Jaime to join them for Thanksgiving, but they hadn’t talked about it again, hadn’t needed to, because it was clear from the way things had evolved that Camila wouldn’t have come.

The apartment was filled with love and warmth and laughter, and it broke her heart a little to think of Camila spending the holiday with only Jaime, wondering what she would do after he had gone to bed, if she’d be lonely, if she’d find herself again at the bottom of a bottle.

Cassie caught her eye. “Are you okay?” she mouthed from across the room, and Emily realized from Cassie’s frown that her thoughts were written across her face.

She smiled weakly and nodded, forcing the thoughts of Camila away so she could focus on the here and now, on having all the people she loved in the same room.

Maybe next year she’d have someone to hold.

Chapter 16

“Emily!” Jaime thudded into Emily’s legs when she arrived at Camila’s apartment on Monday morning. It was the longest she had gone without seeing him since starting the job. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, buddy.” She mussed up his hair as he beamed up at her. “Did you have a good Thanksgiving?”

“It was okay.” Jaime shrugged, then went back to playing with his toys. Emily leaned up against the edge of the couch to watch him.

“He liked the parade.”

Emily jumped at the sound of Camila’s voice and whirled around to find her standing a few feet away, her hand on her hip.

She wore a blue blouse with the top two buttons undone, her black skirt clung to her hips, and honestly, it should be illegal for anyone to turn up at work looking like that. How did any of her employees get anything done when Camila looked like a goddess?

She realized she was staring and, clearing her throat, tore her gaze away, mortified at the flush that must be appearing on her cheeks.

“I liked it too. Did you, um, did you have a good weekend?” The last time she was here, Camila had been very drunk, and before that they barely interacted. Emily was no longer sure what was allowed, and she watched Camila warily.

“Yes, thank you. Did you?”

“Yeah, it was nice to see my foster mom.”

Camila’s eyes searched Emily’s face, and she waited to hear an explanation.

“Thank you for staying late the other night,” Camila said finally. Her voice was soft, and Emily wondered if Camila was extending an olive branch. “I’m sure I wasn’t easy to deal with.”

“You don’t remember?”

“Bits and pieces, but not anything specific.” That explained Camila’s careful observation of her—she didn’t know what she had said the other night and was trying to deduce what happened from Emily’s reaction to her.

So it wasn’t an olive branch. Camila was trying to save her own skin. A spark of anger ignited in Emily’s chest.

Let her wonder—Emily wasn’t about to tell Camila what happened or what she said. Let her go crazy thinking about the possibilities, just like Emily had as she desperately tried to figure out how Camila might have ended that damn sentence.

“Well, you didn’t embarrass yourself too badly,” Emily said, keeping her voice light, and when Camila’s lips pursed, she felt vindicated.

Camila hesitated, as if she wanted to press further, but said instead, “I’ve been meaning to ask you about the London trip next month. Are you still available?”

Camila wasn’t really asking about Emily’s availability—what she wanted to know was if Emily still wanted to come, but that would mean acknowledging the night at the bar.

“Of course. I would have told you if I wasn’t.” Although the thought of spending several hours on a plane with Camila and visiting a city she had never been to didn’t thrill her as much as it had when Camila first asked her to go, she wasn’t going to back out now, not when she knew that both Camila and Jaime needed her.

“I’ll have Jessica confirm everything today and pass along the details.” With that, Camila kissed Jaime goodbye and left the two of them alone.

Emily watched Jaime as he played. He was unusually quiet, didn’t say much when she tried to talk to him, and the corners of his mouth were turned down. Clearly something was on his mind. Emily didn’t press—if he wanted to talk, he would in his own time.

Eventually he spoke up. “Did you and my mom have a fight?” He kept his eyes fixed on the Batman action figure in his hands, and she sucked in her breath at the question, surprised he had picked up on the animosity between them.

“What makes you think that?”

“Dunno.” He shrugged, then squinted up at Emily, his bottom lip between his teeth. “You don’t stay long. Or talk. It’s like what happened before Daddy left. Are you getting divorced?”

“You have to be married to get divorced, Jaime.” Emily smiled in spite of herself. She leaned back against the couch, and when Jaime crawled into her lap, she wrapped her arms around him. “And your mom and I aren’t married.”

“Why not?” She had heard him having this exact conversation with Camila, and she was surprised it had taken him so long to bring it up with her.

“You have to be in love to get married,” she told him, tweaking his