What an idiot she was.
This had to be karma for all the times she had referred to others idiots, she thought as she returned to her hotel room and sat on the bed.
How could she not know she was in love with Emma?
It all seemed to make sense to her now. Things hadn't just changed into friendship with Emma – at least not from Regina's standpoint. She had begun to smile when she got texts from Emma, even though many times they were silly things that she would scold Emma for by telling her that she was sheriff and should get back to work and not waste time sending her jokes. Yet every time her phone would beep and she saw it was a text from Emma she would smile.
And she enjoyed the nights Emma came over. She liked cooking for her and Henry. She would pour through recipes to try and make just so she could try them. The times when Emma would say she couldn't eat more because she was stuffed brought her joy.
There was one night when she had come home late and found Emma asleep on her couch. She didn't have the heart to wake her so she would go home so she merely covered her up with a blanket and turned off the lights. The next morning she woke to pancakes – misshapen ones but pancakes nonetheless – cooked by Emma.
Henry loved having Emma around and up until she read that essay she thought it was just Emma that he liked to see, but she realized now that he liked seeing his mothers together. He must have picked up on feelings that Regina didn't even know she had for the blonde.
But now it was too late. She had told Frank as much.
"Nonsense. There is no such thing as too late for love," he said.
"She's with someone else."
"And you are sure of that?"
"She spent the night there. She once told me she wasn't a spend the night kind of girl unless she saw the relationship going somewhere."
"How do you know she is only with this other girl because she doesn't see you as an option because you didn't see yourself as an option?"
"I guess I don't."
"There you go. Do you want a piece of an advice from an old geezer?"
"Sure," she smiled.
"Go home Regina. Go home and talk with this Emma. At least then you will know once and for all. It has to be better than sitting here with an old man in some random town because you are afraid of the outcome."
"Thank you Frank."
"No problem. I like talking with pretty woman. I may be 77 but I am not dead."
She laughed with him on this.
"One other thing before you leave to go get your girl. My granddaughter Becky she got married not that long ago. She let me walk her down the aisle – a slower walk than she would have liked I am sure, but I was happy to do it. You see her parents didn't agree with who she was marrying. It hurt her bad. But I remember the day she told me was getting married and asked me if I would do her the honor of escorting her. I didn't look at her. I looked at Theresa and said 'if I am giving my granddaughter up to you then the name Frank better at least be a consideration for my great grandson.' My point is, you say you have a past with this Emma's parents. You can't let folks who don't understand your love keep you from it."
She had surprised herself by giving Frank a hug and a kiss on the cheek before leaving him to go back to her hotel.
She wanted to follow Frank's advice. She did. But the more she thought, the more she couldn't believe how badly she had messed things up. She had caused this rift between her and Emma. And now Emma was with Ruby, and Regina had no idea if that was because Emma had feelings for the waitress or if she truly didn't see Regina as an option because of what had happened.
The question that plagued her mind was did Emma have feelings for her?
There was only one way to find out she knew.
She stood to begin packing her things. She would go home.
No sooner had she pulled out her suitcase than there was a knock at the door. She went over and opened it.
"Hi," Emma said. "Can I come in?"