Chapter Seven

Emma Cartwright stared at the door, confused.

Why is Liv standing in the doorway to Dean’s bedroom? In her pyjamas and carrying a cup of coffee?

Emma sat up. “Ummm. Hi?”

“Hi.” Liv came in and perched on the edge of the bed. “How you feeling today?”

“OK.” Emma glanced at the clock. “Wow, I slept.”

“You were exhausted,” Liv said gently. “Dean said you came back here after the party last night and just passed out.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Emma took the coffee gratefully. “Thanks. Now… to the important question. What are you doing here? And why are you in your pj’s?”

Liv sighed. “I have something to tell you, Em, and you’re going to be a bit surprised.”

Emma studied her friend’s face. “Wait. Did you stay over with Dallas?”

Liv paused. “Uh, yeah.”

“Finally!” Emma said. “Jenny and Kat and I have been waiting for you two to get together!”

Liv blinked. “Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“OK, well, you’re still waiting. Nothing like that happened.”

“So… you stayed at Dallas’ place but didn’t sleep with him?”

“Yeah. No. Ummmm… the thing is, Em, I had a bit of a problem last night and I called Dallas for help.” Liv dropped her eyes. “I needed his… his skill set.”

Emma was wide awake now; she was well aware what Dallas’ skill set included. She sat straight up, her beautiful face worried. “What did you need Dallas’ help for?”

“OK, I’m going to tell you everything, I swear. Just promise me that you’ll let me finish, and you’ll freak out when I’m done. Deal?”

“Yeah. But I do not like the sound of this one bit.”

As Liv talked, Emma’s already-pale face got whiter. She gripped her cup of coffee tightly, and waited for her friend to finish talking. Then she sat quietly for a minute, just gathering her thoughts.

“Are you OK?” she asked at last.

Liv nodded. “I was shaken up last night, but I’m fine now.”

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Emma asked. “Why did you go through this all by yourself?”

“I was – I just…” Liv floundered, not wanting to make Emma feel badly for having been her focus. “I just had – other things on my mind. More important things.”

Their eyes met, and they understood each other.

Emma smiled. “Well. Those ‘other things’ are doing better now, right? They’re a bit more under control than they were even one month ago… so can we turn our attention to you? Just for a change?”

Liv’s eyes filled with tears as she nodded; she was surprised at what a relief it was to finally be honest with her friend about what had been going on. Until that exact moment, she hadn’t realized just how stressed and scared she’d been for months, or how alone she’d felt in holding her secret tight to herself.

Emma saw her tears and held out her arms. Liv moved into them, weeping. Emma stroked her hair, soothing her as Liv had done for her so many times over the past several months.

“It’s OK, Liv,” she said. “We’re all here for you, hon. You’re not alone, I promise. We’re with you.”

After a few minutes, Liv pulled back. “Thanks, Emma. I’m OK.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you before…”

“It’s OK. I’m just glad you told me now.” She gave Liv one final hug, then let her go. “So where’s Dallas? And Dean, actually?”

Liv grinned, and her confidence and spark were both back in full force. “They’ve gone to Blue Star Security, and Chris and Jim are meeting them there. They want to have a word with Greg Wallace.”

“Oh, boy,” Emma said, imagining the four of them sitting and glowering across an office reception area. “I think Greg’s about to have kind of a bad morning.”

“I’d say so,” Liv said. “I’d say he’s about to have one hell of a bad morning.”