Free Becoming Forever (Waking Forever Series) by Heather McVea

herself. She reached out and took Emma’s hand. It was the first time in three years she could recall touching the woman, and was immediately reminded of the doctor’s smooth and unusually cold hands. Ash feigned interest in the ring, but was taking the opportunity to admire the woman’s beautiful, long, tapered fingers.
    Ash looked up at Emma , who was staring intently at her. “Beautiful.” Ash realized how inappropriate she was being, acting like a horny teenage boy. Emma may be too polite to say anything, but Ash didn’t have the right to ogle her.
    Releasing Emma’s hand, Ash leaned back. “The ring is beautiful.” Shifting nervously in her seat, Ash cleared her throat. “ So, are y’all just hanging out here tonight, or are you heading out for dinner later?”
    Emma leaned back, and picked at an imagined piece of lint on her skirt. “We - ah, we’re just staying here.” Emma looked around the bustling bar. “This is the best bar in the city.” She held up her glass that now only contained four perfectly formed ice cubes. “You can see the owner has an eye for detail.”
    Ash looked closely at the glass, grateful for the shift in tone, but wondering what she was missing. “It’s one of my favorites too.”
    Without looking at Ash, Emma continued. “Cubed ice is imperative to maintaining a balanced alcohol to water ratio.” Emma swirled the glass, and the ice cubes clinked.
    “The even surface area of the cube ensures a delay in the ice reaching the melting point, which as I’m sure you know, is when the Gibbs free energy of the ice is zero, but the enthalpy and entropy of the ice are increasing due to external pressure from the liquid around it.”
    Emma put the glass down, and seeing the utterly confused expression on Ash’s face, cleared her throat. “It takes longer for the drink to get watered down.”
    Ash tilted her head back and smiled. “Thank heaven for Mr. Gibbs and his penchant for enthalpy, otherwise we would all be relegated to taking shots.”
    Emma grinned, and parted her lips as if she wanted to say something more, but was interrupted when Alan returned with drinks in hand. “Coleen had to take a call, but rest assured I have returned.” He slid a glass of scotch over to Emma. “I know you said you were all full up, but Coleen insisted.”
    Emma nodded. “She usually does. Thank you.”
    Ash reached across the table, and pulled Emma’s scotch toward her. Lifting the glass, she considered the ice cubes for several seconds. “The thermodynamics look sound on this one.”
    Putting the glass back on the wooden table, she grinned as she slid it back toward Emma, who had an amused expression on her face.
    Alan looked back and forth between the two women. “What’d I miss?”
    ***
    Sitting in the Mission Park North chapel and watching the friends, family and co-workers of Paul Garrett file in, Ash remembered her mother’s funeral , and how exhausting the mourning process had been. People always meant well, but the constant and repetitive outpouring of emotion had left Ash feeling hollow and shaken.
    By the end of the day, between the service, the graveside and the gathering at her parent’s house after, Ash had witnessed what little energy her father had slowly drain away. By that evening, as the last of the mourners were leaving, James Haines had excused himself and disappeared to his bedroom upstairs.
    “Should we check on him?” Jason had asked as he loaded the dishwasher with the third load of dirty plates, glasses and utensils.
    Ash wiped down the granite countertops and shook her head. “No. He needs his space.”
    Michael walked into the kitchen with a nearly full bag of trash. “As long as he doesn’t lay down roots up there.”
    Jason nodded. “I’ll come by and check on him tomorrow, and Katy will come by on her lunch break.”
    Michael gathered several empty plastic cups into the trash bag and pulled it close d. “Amy said she will bring the kids over in the