Sugar Lust

Chapter Twenty-One

Ginny was almost finished with her law degree; only a few more months left and she would be done. But instead of spending her reading week studying, she came down to spend it with Emmeline and Millie at her Aunt Pernella's house. Millie was thrilled that Auntie Ginny was coming and especially loved the presents that Ginny brought her.

"Now, Ginny, seriously! You're a starving student; you don't have to bring her presents all the time," Emmeline chastised.

"I know, but this way, I can confirm that I am her favorite aunt." Ginny's eyes Millie as she ran around the house, trying to bat the little ball attached by a string to the paddle.

"You're buying her love. You don't have to do that," Emmeline teased. Millie loved her no matter what; the hours she spent with her reading stories when she was around, or listening to her talk about random things over the phone, made Auntie Ginny, in Millie's eyes, one of the best people she knew. Emmeline was lucky to have Ginny and Callum as a constant source of support over the years.

"It's my pleasure. Besides, I just got everything from the Dollar Store. So, are you up for a major evening of gossip and maybe more than a few glasses of wine? We seriously have to catch up!" Ginny said.

"Yes! I've been waiting for weeks for this. I swear all I do these days is work."

"Me too. This semester has been horrible. The amount of homework is tantamount to cruel and unusual punishment!"

"I kind of envy you, at university, preparing yourself for greatness." Emmeline winked. "Meeting guys, going to parties..."

"The hangovers, the walk of shame home the next morning." Ginny laughed, rolling her eyes. "Who has time for that?"

"So, no one in particular?"

"Did you not hear me? All I ever do is go to class and do homework. This is the most fun I've had in weeks. How about you?"

Emmeline paused.

"Oooooh," Ginny teased, sensing something pretty juicy was coming her way.

"No, not like that. It's just I hadn't really thought about it for years, you know? Then a couple of weeks ago this guy came into the bakery. Ginny, I turned into an idiot and called him a tart! It's like I was overcome by some disease that took over my body to expressly make me look stupid."

"Foot in mouth disease again?"

"Major sufferer right here!" she said, pointing at herself.

"So, did you ask him out?"

"No!" She rubbed her forehead. "I could hardly talk to him. I was just so shocked that he had this effect on me. I'm not exactly sure what about him got to me. Maybe his smile, or his eyes... Anyway, he was tall, and well, he comes in regularly now. I can hardly bring myself to look at him when he does."

"Someone's got a crush," sang Ginny.

"Someone has a brush," Millie sang back.

"There's my girl," Ginny said.

"Are you finished brushing your teeth?" Emmeline asked.

"Yesss," Millie answered in an exaggerated way.

"Good girl, now off to bed."

After a few minutes of protest and an extra story from Auntie Ginny, Millie was in bed for the night, and they could properly catch up.

"So, when are you going to see him next?" Ginny asked, curling up with a glass of wine on the sofa.

"You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"Nope, too much fun. I haven't heard you talk about a guy in years."

"I don't know if it's good, but he always comes in now. I think he has a bit of a sweet tooth."

"So what are you waiting for? A guy with a sweet tooth, and you, the master baker. It sounds like you guys are a match made in heaven," Ginny teased.

"I am not waiting for anything. There's nothing to wait for."

"Blah, you are such a scaredy pants. Your life isn't over. Look at you. You're gorgeous. You have a curvy body that would make Marilyn Monroe jealous. Guys must be falling all over themselves to get to you."

"No, not even one," Emmeline said dryly.

"I feel you are just too blind to see it. Now give me more details about this sweet-toothed Sugar Boy."

"Sugar Boy?"

"Well, do you even have his name yet?"

"No," Emmeline answered shyly. "Do you think we can change the subject? How about you?" Just then, the phone on the coffee table started ringing.

"Hey," Emmeline answered, "can I call you back later? Ginny's here, and I just put Millie to bed. It's time for a little girl talk. You can come on over and join us if you like." She giggled. Ginny looked puzzled, unsure of who Emmeline was talking to. "Bye."

"Who was that?" asked Ginny.

"It was Callum."

"He still calls regularly, doesn't he?" Ginny said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, every few days or so, just to check in. He was here on the weekend for a few hours."

"Interesting..."

"Be quiet, you! Now, how did this get back to me? I thought we were going to be talking about you. You're the one with everything going on."

The spent the rest of the evening talking, laughing, and polishing off the bottle of wine before settling into an Indiana Jones marathon and a plate of freshly made cookies, Emmeline's own recipe.

They fell asleep on the couch, and Emmeline wriggled uneasily as her subconscious tormented her with a dream.

Water poured down. She turned around, her shoes lost. She frantically started looking for them in the middle of an abandoned town. The water rose, flooding the streets; then everything turned green. She was sitting in a robot, operating it awkwardly. The world turned upside down and the robot handed her a piece of paper as big as she was. She stared at it as though it made sense.

Nicholas was there, and then, in a flash, he was gone. All of a sudden, she was in a tropical paradise with someone—a man, she couldn't quite tell who. They were drinking coffee. She talked to him, and then hot coffee poured over them. They were about to kiss, and then everything turned white, and there was church music.

Emmeline woke up in a cold sweat. Sitting up straight in bed, she caught her breath. As she stared out into the darkness, her mind flashed back to the different scenes, the church music played in her ears. It was Nicholas' face that lingered in her mind. That's what he was now, just a dream. He was gone, but maybe this was him telling her it was time to move on. Time to rejoin that land of the living. Time to perhaps open herself up to love, just as Ginny kept telling her to, Pernella as well. Maybe she shouldn't hide forever.