Sherryl Woods - The Calamity Janes - Gina and Emma

“She’s here. She’s busy hiding out from Cole. Seems to me she has her own problems with steering clear of intoxicating kisses,” Lauren said. “And before you ask, Karen’s on the dance floor, and Emma’s out in the hallway on her cell phone. There’s some kind of emergency back in Denver. Hopefully she’s telling her boss or her client or whoever it is to take a hike. The woman is in serious need of a break. She’s stretched so tight I’m afraid she’s going to snap.”

“Emma can take care of herself,” Gina insisted. “She’s always been totally levelheaded and sane compared to the rest of us.”

“Take another look. I was out at the ranch with her and Caitlyn earlier. I think even that little girl senses that her mother’s at the breaking point. Caitlyn’s birthday is coming up, and she told me the only thing she wanted was for her mom to move here because in Denver she never, ever sees her. How pitiful is that?”

Gina glanced toward the door and spotted Emma striding toward them, her expression grim.

“What’s wrong?” Gina asked, regarding her with concern.

“One of my major clients in Denver has a problem. He wants me back there tonight.”

“Are you going?” Lauren asked.

“What choice do I have?”

“You could tell him that you’re taking the first break you’ve had in years and that he can just wait until Monday,” Lauren retorted heatedly. “Sweetie, if you don’t start looking out for yourself, who will? Certainly not those partners who are raking in big bucks from all those billable hours you put in each month, and certainly not the clients who see nothing wrong in tracking you down when you’re supposed to be on vacation. How did he get your cell phone number, anyway?”

“All my clients have my cell phone number,” Emma said defensively.

Lauren removed the offending item from Emma’s grasp. “Which is a really good reason for shutting it off and letting me hang on to it for the rest of the weekend. If you’d like, I can call this client of yours back and tell him that you’ve consulted your schedule and you are tied up in a very important negotiation and can’t see him until the middle of next week. If it’s a real emergency, he can speak to one of the other partners.”

Emma stared at her in amazement. “You sound so convincing.”

Gina chuckled. “She is an actress, Emma.”

Emma shook her head. “Of course, she is. I just can’t quite think of Lauren as anything other than the girl who used to spend the night at my house talking about boys until dawn.”

“I had to talk about them. I certainly never dated them,” Lauren said.

“Because you scared them to death. You were the smartest person in our class,” Gina said. “That was very daunting, even to the boys with a B average.”

“A fat lot of good that’s doing me these days,” Lauren grumbled. “Most of the people I deal with now don’t even realize I have a brain.”

“Which must mean that they underestimate you,” Emma guessed. “Surely you can use that to your advantage.”

“Maybe you two can trade services,” Gina suggested. “Lauren can fend off your pushy, inconsiderate clients, and Emma, you can negotiate Lauren’s deals. Nobody ever mistakes you for a pushover.”

“Not a bad idea,” Lauren said thoughtfully. “But we still haven’t resolved this current situation. Shall I make the call?”

Emma hesitated. “Let me think about it.”

Gina thought of what Lauren had said earlier about Emma’s little girl. “Emma, think about Caitlyn. She’s having the time of her life with her cousins and her grandparents. Do you want to spoil that by running home early?”

Emma blinked at the reminder, proof that she too seldom considered her daughter’s feelings when work was involved. Then she drew herself up. “You’re absolutely right. Lauren, make that call. Tell Mr. Henley that he can contact one of the senior partners if he doesn’t want to wait for me to get back.”

Lauren beamed at her. “Punch in that number,” she said, relinquishing the cell phone temporarily to Emma.

As soon as the call had gone through, she stepped away from Emma and Gina, speaking quietly but firmly to the offensive Mr. Henley. After she’d hung up, she came back smiling.

“He’ll wait. By the way, what was that big emergency, or can’t you say?”

Emma grinned. “I can’t say, but I can assure you that it wasn’t life or death. Nor were any of his millions at risk.” She reached for her cell phone, but Lauren shook her head.

“I think I’ll hang on to this, at least for the rest of the night,” she told Emma.

“But Caitlyn—”

“If Caitlyn calls, I know where to find you. Otherwise, your new secretary can handle anything that comes up.”

Gina chuckled. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you, Lauren?”

“It’s actually rather nice to do something so ordinary. Maybe I should chuck it all and become somebody’s secretary. I have terrific organizational skills.”

Both Emma and Gina stared at her.

“Have you lost it?” Gina asked.

“Okay, maybe not a secretary,” Lauren said. “Organizational skills aside, I’m a little too bossy to take orders well.”

“An understatement if ever I heard one,” Gina said.

Lauren sighed. “You know who I really envy? Karen. She has it all. A husband who adores her and a ranch.”

“Where she works too hard,” Gina pointed out.

“I guess nothing’s perfect, is it?” Lauren said. She glanced behind Gina. “For example, you have this absolutely gorgeous man staring at you as if you were more tempting than a banana split, and for reasons you refuse to explain, you’re avoiding the guy.”

All three of them turned to stare at Rafe, who was sipping on his drink, his gaze fixed on Gina.

“He’s not interested in me,” she protested. “Not the way you mean, anyway.”

“That kiss I heard about says otherwise,” Lauren said. “In fact, that kiss speaks volumes.”

Emma’s eyes widened. “Kiss, what kiss? That man kissed you? Did you want him to?”

“No,” Gina said. “Yes.”

A slow grin replaced the indignation on Emma’s face. “Not sure, are you?”

“Of course I’m sure. That kiss was totally inappropriate.”

“We can sue him for sexual harassment,” Emma suggested, looking a little too eager.

“Settle down,” Gina advised. “Nobody is suing anybody, and you are not taking on any cases in the middle of a dance, not after Lauren worked so hard to make sure you had the night off.”

“I suppose not,” Emma said, clearly disappointed. “But let me know if you change your mind.”

“Do you look at everything in life in terms of the legalities?” Lauren asked her.

“Pretty much,” Emma acknowledged.

“That has to stop,” Lauren said emphatically, then glanced at Gina. “And you and I have to see to it. Find this woman someone to dance with. Are there any eligible males in the room? Other than Gina’s guy, of course.”

“Rafe O’Donnell is not my guy,” Gina reminded her. “I’d be glad to turn him over to Emma.”

“Whatever.” Lauren surveyed the gym carefully. Finally her expression brightened triumphantly. “There,” she said. “He’ll do very nicely.” She snagged Emma’s hand. “Come on. Do you know him?”

“No,” Emma said, hanging back.

“Then I’ll introduce you,” Lauren said.

“Do you know him?” Emma asked.

“No, but that’s a technicality. Don’t be a spoilsport. It’s one dance, not the rest of your life.”

Emma cast a totally uncharacteristically helpless glance over her shoulder as Lauren dragged her away.

“I see your friend is matchmaking again,” Rafe said, coming up beside Gina and startling her so badly she almost dropped her drink. “Think she’ll have better luck with those two?”