Free Crumbling Walls (Jack and Emily #1) by Laura Strandt

and Emily over, “Hey, me and Sarah were gonna go over and get something to eat at Fred’s. Do you two and maybe Dex want to come?” Smiling in Emily’s direction, “I owe you ice cream if I recall.”
     
    She nodded, “Sure, I’m always in for free ice cream.”
     
    Jack nodded as well and ran back over to his dad, then to Dex, who was about to leave. Returning a minute later, “All set.”
     
    Having managed to stay on the opposite side of the crowd from Jack’s dad the entire night and, now, knowing that she wouldn’t have to be in a car with him as well just made the upcoming ice cream all the more appealing to Emily.
     
    ▪▪▪
     
     
    Settled in a back booth of the extremely busy diner, Sarah and Emily eyed each other shyly, never really having had a conversation before and neither really knowing where to begin. Luckily, the minute both groaned in unison when Tim ordered strawberry, chocolate and caramel topping for his sundae, they grinned at each other and from there, the conversation flowed easily.
     
    ▪▪▪
     
     
    On the other side of town, Elizabeth got the older boys into their pajamas while Will hauled the sleeping Sam straight from the car to his bed.
     
    Settling down on the couch next to his wife after everyone was quiet, “She doesn’t like me.”
     
    “Who?”
     
    “Emily.”
     
    “Why do you think that?”
     
    “Every time I catch her eye, which is extremely seldom by the way, there’s this fear there and I can feel the panic rolling off of her.”
     
    Knowing she should tell her husband that he was wrong, that Emily just didn’t know him, she couldn’t lie to him either, “I’ve seen it, too.” As she rested her head on his shoulder, “There’s so much there, I don’t even know how to begin to figure her out.”
     
    “Have you ever met her mother?”
     
    “No. She seems to be working all the time. Emily's mentioned she has a really crazy schedule that changes constantly. It's why she couldn't make it tonight.”
     
    Will chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment, “Does she ever talk about her life or anything?”
     
    “She’s 16, honey. What 16-year-old do you know that sits down and discusses her family with her boyfriend’s mother?”
     
    With a sudden glimmer in his eye, “Speaking of which, are they going out or not? I can’t tell and it’s really beginning to bug me.”
     
    She laughed at her husband, “At this point, I don’t know if they even know what’s going on, but I like her, so I hope she stays around for awhile. Both for Jack’s sake and for Tim’s.”
     
    “Tim?”
     
    “Yeah. Did you take a good look at his things tonight? They’ve gotten much better since he started school here. It’s either the teacher or Emily who’s pushing him, maybe both, but if he keeps this up, he could possibly use it to get into college.”
     
    Will sat back, putting his feet up on the coffee table, “How did this happen? In Chicago, Tim was dating three different girls, breaking curfew and God knows what else that I don't want to think about and now he's got Sarah, who's aiming for valedictorian, and he's getting decent grades again.” Now settling his head against the back of the couch, “Then Jack finds Emily and the musical prodigy and he seems happier than he's been in a long time.” Knocking his knuckles into his wife's knee lightly, “Which reminds me, I found him talking to Claire the other day.”
     
    This raised a surprised set of eyebrows, “Really? She finally apologized?”
     
    “I don't know about that, but they were on the phone for a good half-hour and he came away smiling.”
     
    Elizabeth grinned, “Good. I'm glad they finally worked it out. I was talking to Jenny yesterday, she didn't say anything about Claire and Jack, but she did tell me that there's talk at Bob's work about a promotion or possibly relocating.”
     
    “Where to?”
     
    “Either York or Pittsburgh.”
     
    Will grinned, “I'm going to