Free Drops of Blue by Alice Bright Page B

into the house, excited about a night of video games and pizza.
     
    “Have fun,” Allie winked at Emily. “Seriously, Sweetie,” she hugged her friend. “You deserve it.”
     
    Emily smiled softly and turned to leave, but Allie grabbed her arm. “And Emily? You look beautiful tonight.”
     
    Feeling better than she had in months, Emily headed back down the walkway and climbed into her car. She headed back to the house to wait for Henry to pick her up. She had no idea what he had planned for them, but she was ready for anything. It had been so long since she had felt anything but sad that Emily was hesitant to allow herself to feel excited.
     
    Despite her worries, she felt herself growing more and more anxious to get to spend time with her mysterious friend on her own. Though she had known Henry only a short while, she already felt comfortable with him. She felt safe. She felt like she had wings and that she was falling and flying at the same time.
     
    She reminded herself to breathe.
     
    Just when she didn’t think she could take waiting any longer, the doorbell rang.
     
    He smiled when she opened the door and looked her up and down.
     
    “You’re always beautiful,” Henry said, “but tonight you look just radiant.”
     
    He leaned in to give Emily a gentle hug. As he pulled away, his lips grazed her cheek softly. A shiver of excitement shot down her spine. For a brief second, she felt more womanly than she had in a very long time. She felt alive. She felt ready.
     
    “I’m excited about tonight,” she told him.
     
    “I am, too.”
     
    He offered Emily his arm and led her to the car, stopping to open the door for her. She shouldn’t have been surprised that Henry was such a gentleman. Of course he would be. He had never been anything but kind at the diner, so why change now?
     
    It wasn’t that Emily had been in bad relationships.
     
    It was that Emily had been in so many bad relationships that she had lost herself along the way. She had somehow, over time, forgotten what a good man looked like.
     
    Now one was standing right in front of her.
     
    And she was ready for anything he wanted to throw her way.

Chapter Four
     
    They went to the park after dinner: the one with the walking path around its lake.
     
    The cool evening air chilled Emily, and Henry offered her his jacket.
     
    “A true gentleman, I see,” she remarked, snuggling into the warmth of his coat.
     
    “I do what I can,” he told her, reaching out and grabbing her hand.
     
    They walked quietly around the pond, watching gentle ripples of the water. She leaned in close to him, feeling ripples in her own heart. It had been so long since she’d been out on her own. It had been so long since she’d just been Emily and not Dillon’s mom or waitress or grieving daughter.
     
    “I love this,” she murmured, resting her head on his shoulder. Without hesitation, Henry lifted her chin with his finger, bringing her soft lips to meet his.
     
    A tingle of excitement shot down her spine as she soaked up every second of the kiss.
     
    “You’re amazing, Emily,” he told her, kissing her again and again.
     
    “Okay, slow down there, Cowboy,” she said with a sheepish grin. “You’re going to get me all excited.”
     
    “So what?” He kissed her again. “Maybe I want you to be all excited for me.”
     
    Emily gazed at him with longing and kissed him again. She wanted him just as much as he wanted her. She’d known it from the first time he walked into the diner. Now she had him all to herself, but she didn’t know if she had the nerve.
     
    “I am excited,” she whispered. “But it’s just-“
     
    “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” he interjected, gently parting her lips with his tongue. If nothing else, Henry knew his way around a woman’s lips. Emily guessed he knew his way around the rest of a woman, too. His hands rested on her lower back, bringing her closer into him.
     
    She