Page 116 of Things I Overshared

“I didn’t want to waste room in my luggage.” Emerson defends himself quietly. This causes another fit of giggles between Layla and me as I tell her the wonders of his one small bag for an almost six-week trip.

Emerson does seem to relax a bit throughout dinner. I have an absolute ball getting to know his siblings better, plus getting to hear so many fun stories from their childhood. They’re not surprising, mostly repeated tales of how the twins got into mischief and Emerson got them out, but it’s endearing all the same.

Byron and Layla share their story of meeting at a charity gala. I feel like this might mean Layla is in fact close friends with Chelsea, but I can tell she really likes me too. By the end of the night, the five of us feel like fast friends.

“Tell you what, I haven’t seen Abby hitch on to someone so fast, ever.” Layla cocks an eyebrow at Emerson as the night winds down. “Asking for Sam to read her nap-nap story? I couldn’t believe it.”

“That’s true. Do you like kids, Samantha?” Ben asks.

“I love them. I thought I’d be a pediatrician when I was younger, then maybe a schoolteacher, but you know how it is, family business.”

“That we do.” Ben’s voice sounds defeated.

“Shame, I could see you as a pediatrician. You’re gifted with kids, I think.” Layla takes another sip of her drink.

“Really? What about you, do you guys think you want more?”

“Hopefully,” Layla says, looking knowingly over at Byron.

“Shit! Sorry! That was intrusive.” I wince, kicking myself.

“It’s all right. Everyone’s family here. It wasn’t the easiest for us with Abigail, but we’re hopeful this round.”

I smile and nod, unsure of what to say.

“Wow, didn’t know you were trying again. That’s wonderful news!” Ben smiles.

“It is,” Emerson adds softly.

“Well, I don’t know what you two have planned, but I’ll tell you what, Evelyn sure was watching you and Sam and Abby together like a hawk, eh?” She pokes Emerson. “Your girl’s a natural.”

“Right-o, I think you have a winner here, big brother,” Byron says.

I blush, and Emerson nods, twirling his almost empty beer in his hands, but he says nothing. No “I know!” or “Isn’t she?” or jack diddly squat. And even after a lovely dinner where I’ve clearly just won over his brothers and sister-in-law.

Soooo, that got awkward fast!

“Well, I need to head to the little girls room, excuse me,” I say, giving the table a break. Emerson stands to let me out of the booth but doesn’t touch me at all when I pass him to leave, which feels odd. I take my time in case the siblings want to talk without me, or maybeaboutme.

When I come back to the table, the four of them are standing. Their expressions quickly tell me something is wrong.

“What?”

Emerson answers without looking my way. “Paparazzi.”

“Here?”

“Yep.” Ben pops the word out. “They never come to Flip’s, but that bartender was eyeing us. Must’ve called them.”

“Back door?” I look behind me, all too familiar with this circus.

“The car can’t get to the alley. We’ll just have to make a mad dash for it, I’m afraid.” Byron shrugs.

We hug each other goodbye, and they apologize to me about the cameras. They are the children of one of the richest billionaires in the UK, so it happens. I hadn’t even considered that. People have eyed Emerson sheepishly around London, but I assumed it was because he looks like a movie star.

“Sorry about this,” he says to me as we get close to the door. I smile and shrug. I brace myself for a barrage of questions for the Clarks, especially for Emerson, since he’s the prodigal returned home. But when we get through the door, in all the yelling, I just hearSamanthaandCantonandCanton InternationalandEmersonandSamantha, over and over. I don’t know if they said Clark even once. They weren’t lined up to get shots of the Clark children, and they were staged outside to capture Emerson and me. This is my fault.

Emerson’s face is as hard as stone as he leads me through the chaos. His hand grips my fingers to the point of pain, and he actually shoves a few photographers out of the way. He shields me as I climb first into Charlie’s car, then falls in next to me and slams the door.