Emily was hundreds of miles away from the Graysons and yet, she couldn't help but keep help but scan the restaurant every few minutes for any possible moles. Emily had told her fiancé Daniel that she needed a weekend to clear her head. She told him she would be visiting friends in Providence.
"Friends, ha", Emily thought to herself. "He doesn't know me at all. Like I have friends."
Emily narrowed her eyes as she watched over the two men who were exiting the Bed & Breakfast across the street, though "men" was a generous word to use to describe them. Although one had prominent silver hair and was dressed in a J Crew outfit carefully chosen to show off his expensive watch, the second had a youthful exuberance that implied he had probably only recently gotten his driver's license. Although the men were keeping to themselves, Emily almost couldn't believe the older man's brazenness- she knew what he was doing. Only a certain type of man could launch a political campaign based on declining family values and then book a trip to Providence with his campaign manager's college-aged son. Although, nothing this man did should surprise Emily. He had proven his questionable ethics when he as judge he had influenced Emily's father's trial on the payroll of La Famiglia Grayson.
Emily drained her cup of tea and rose to leave. Taking one more sweeping look around the bar area, she turned quickly to step out the door but instead stepped headlong into the arms of a man. Recognizing his comforting smell and the way his hands naturally fell to her hips, even before she heard his voice of surprise, she braced herself for the questions that were surely coming.
"Wha- Emily?", Jack sputtered, his breath taken from him by the impact.
Emily stilled a moment, privately enjoying the feeling of his embrace. Mentally shaking herself and taking a step back from Jack and into her character, she responded.
"Jack, hello! What a welcome surprise. I didn't know you had planned on visiting Providence as well!"
"Ah, well. I was kind of down about Amanda leaving, and Nolan recommended this place. Told me it was the perfect place to get my mind off of women." Jack couldn't help but light up at the flush of Emily's face. Despite his relationship with Amanda, it seemed old feelings die hard.
Emily glanced across the street where the former judge and his boytoy were exiting the local coffee grind and heading back towards the B&B. She had lost this opportunity, but there would be more. She tuned back into Jack's ramblings.
"and since we're both here, if you're not busy with your friends, perhaps we could have din-"
"love to!" Emily jumped forward before she even knew what she was doing. "I hear the café in that B&B across the street is fabulous."
"Really?" Jack said, somewhat skeptically, "Nolan said there's this great seafood place down by the water. It's supposed to have dark wood paneling, cozy booths, candlelight…"
"I just had my heart set on those sandwiches next door." Emily said, hating that she was ruining the romantic idea Jack had proposed. But she had to. She couldn't deal with her feelings for him right now. She came here on a mission and couldn't afford to do anything but succeed. Eating with Jack at the B&B would give her the just the chance she needed.
"Okay, well, do you want to take a walk down to the water now then? Unless you had plans or something. Wedding gifts to register for…"
Emily's heart broke as she realized how hurt Jack must have been by her engagement. What he didn't know, what he couldn't know, was just how much she wanted the ring on her finger to be Jack's mom's ring. Long ago, young Emily- then Amanda- had borrowed that ring and pretended she was marrying Jack. If Em was being honest with herself, she would know she sent Amanda away for reasons other than her own plans for revenge. She didn't want her to be with Jack. She couldn't stand the sight of him looking at her with the same expression as he'd had playing "wedding" with Em all that warm summer years ago.
"Sure, let's go." Emily finally spoke. With a glance back at the couple disappearing into the B&B, she took a breath to steady her nerves and she and Jack began the walk towards the waterfront area. Emily had always found herself unintentionally mute when around Jack. While she knew she couldn't be truthful, she could never bring herself to lie to him, either. Today though, as they slowly walked along the boardwalk, Emily found herself filling in details she had never told anyone before. Yes, they all knew she had been in a detention center, but she hadn't told anyone those shredding, intimate details that were actually truths. The feelings of loneliness and how it forced her to be self-sufficient. How that made her who she was today.
The warm and open young woman everyone saw was just an act, a character she played named Emily. Inside, Amanda was still that 6 year old girl left alone to cry herself dry.
As they walked along and the sun moved toward the horizon, Emily found herself reaching out to him physically as well as emotionally. Little touches here or there, and whenever Jack reciprocated- her heart soared. She knew she should step away, but Emily didn't have the strength to distance herself. When she was with Jack, she wanted to take his hand and run to another country. Her plans for revenge which had driven her back to the place of her youth didn't seem as important as his love for her. She knew, that by finishing what she started, she would lose him.
Even as the pair stood watching the sunset, his arm around her waist, Emily knew her plan for the night would hurt him more than any silly engagement between her and Daniel. She would give in to her feelings tonight, but in the morning would slip silently away and never acknowledge the time she and Jack shared in Providence. She had made the decision a long time ago that her revenge would be her priority.