"Thank you so much. I'll review all the contract details this evening, and as long as everything is there, I'll pay the deposit before you get into the office tomorrow morning."
"Thank you, Miss Swan. Is there anything else we can help you with?" the woman on the other end of the line asked.
Emma flicked a look down to the mass of paper on the kitchen island, and the small notepad lying open on top of it all. "Uh – you don't happen to know anyone in LA that would put on a private firework display, do you?" she chuckled, as her eyes lingered on the item at the very top of her to-do list.
The line was quiet for a painfully long moment, and Emma was just about to laugh off her request when the woman on the other end suddenly spoke up again. "One of my managers is telling me that we might have some contacts that would be able to fulfill that service for you, Miss Swan. I'll speak with them as soon as we disconnect the call, then put all the information into the contract email for you."
"That would be absolutely wonderful, Lucy. Thank you so much for all of your help today."
"Of course, Miss Swan. Enjoy the rest of your day."
"You too," Emma returned, before finally disconnecting the line.
She took a moment just to check her phone for any messages before locking the device and setting it down in what little space she had left in front of her. Emma reached for a pen and crossed the word PAVILION off her list before adding a small asterisk to the word FIREWORKS.
With the start of September only days away, she'd thrown herself into party planning mode between contractual negotiations with the studio and shoots for her current project. Emma knew that the longer she left it, the harder it would become to throw her friends and family the kind of New Year party they deserved. However, it had been so long since she'd last planned any sort of event that she was struggling to find reliable contractors to pull everything together. Thankfully, Belle had been quick to step in and offer her help. Given her husband's choice of profession, she'd been able to put together a shortlist of event companies Will had partnered with in the state. Together, the two women had already begun the process of slowly crossing off items from Emma's to-do list.
Pushing back from the island, Emma hopped down from the stool she'd been perched on all afternoon and walked a quick lap around the kitchen to stretch her legs. She had just decided to make herself a mug of tea when the sound of the garage door opening met her ears. Emma's gaze shifted quickly over to the clock on the oven, and she cursed loudly when she realized that most of her day had passed with very little to show for it.
A few moments later, Killian made his way into the kitchen, carelessly tossing his keys into the bowl by the garage door before he made his way around the island to greet her.
"Hi, beautiful. How was your day?" he asked, brushing aside her hair to press a kiss to her bare shoulder.
Emma's eyes briefly flicked over to the mess of paper still littering the kitchen island and then back to her mug of tea. "It, uh… it flew by," she answered honestly, leaning back into his embrace.
For a moment, the two stood in silence, soaking up the comfort of each other's arms as Killian swayed them gently to a tune only he could hear. Emma was just considering stepping out of his embrace to grab the milk from the fridge when Killian suddenly asked, "Do you have any plans for this weekend?"
Emma turned her head to offer her best friend a puzzled look as she said, "It's Labor Day weekend. You should know by now that nothing happens in this town over a long weekend."
"I do," he chuckled. "But I also know how busy you've been recently." His eyes made a show of slowly moving over the paper strewn across the kitchen island before coming back to settle on her face. "Do you have any deadlines you need to meet or anything that needs to be finished over the weekend?"
"Nothing of any great importance," Emma assured him. She had dates to review with her lawyer and the studio, so they could begin the process of putting her script into production - but Emma knew better than anyone that both the studio and her lawyer wouldn't be working over the weekend.
"Good, because I might have done a thing."
Emma pulled back just far enough to twist in Killian's embrace so she could face him properly. "What did you do?" she asked, eyeing him curiously.
"I just thought you could use a bit of a break," he explained, reaching out to tuck her hair behind her ear. "And I know you well enough to understand that just spending the long weekend here wouldn't give you that. You'd be too distracted by everything that needed doing. So, I thought, maybe we could spend the long weekend somewhere else."
Emma took a moment to consider Killian's words. She had planned to spend the holiday weekend reviewing the list of potential directors and producers that had shown an interest in her movie. She had also made plans for lunch with Belle to go over their thoughts for catering for the party – but none of that was urgent, and Emma was certain Belle wouldn't mind a last-minute change to their plans.
"Where are we going?" she asked, sliding her hands up Killian's strong arms to link them behind his neck.
"A guy in the lighting department has a cabin up at Lake Arrowhead. He's not planning to use it this weekend, so he offered to let us use it instead."
Emma had been to Lake Arrowhead only once before. It had been years ago, long before she'd met Killian, and when acting had been only a dream for her. She couldn't remember much of her time spent there with her college friends, but whenever she reflected on that weekend, her memories were always colored with fondness.
"That sounds heavenly," she told her best friend. "Thank you, Killian."
Killian leaned down to brush his lips over her own, lingering a little longer than he'd planned because no matter how often they did this, it was never often enough.
"Ugh. I need a shower," he eventually groaned, pulling back to rest his forehead against her own. "They've had me running around LA all day in a full suit, and I'm pretty sure I stink."
"You smell fine," Emma chuckled, rubbing her nose along the stubbled line of his jaw. "But… if you don't mind ordering in tonight, I'd gladly join you for a freshen-up." She let the tip of her tongue flick out to lightly brush against the skin her nose had been tracing and smiled wickedly when she felt him swallow hard.
"I, uh – I think that's a sacrifice I'd be willing to make."
Emma's giggles lingered in the kitchen long after Killian had thrown her over his shoulder to carry her from the room.
"Hey!"
"Hi, Belle. Thanks for coming."
Emma pulled the door open a little wider as she ushered her friend inside, then shut it gently behind them.
Belle took a moment just to cast her gaze around the entryway as she shrugged off the light jacket she was wearing. "Wow. This place is stunning," she praised, absentmindedly handing her jacket to her friend.
"Yeah, it is," Emma chuckled. "I'm a little surprised Killian picked it because it's nothing like any of the other places he's ever owned. But, now I'm thinking about it, maybe that was the appeal? Something that wouldn't remind him of Milah every day."
"It's what I would do," Belle mused, and Emma gave a soft hum of agreement as she showed her friend through the house and onto the small deck outside near the swimming pool.
Emma excused herself for a moment to grab the iced tea she'd prepared that morning, along with a small platter of sandwiches and cakes that had been delivered from her favorite local bakery. When she headed back outside, she found Belle reclining in her lounger, happily soaking up the sun.
"Comfortable?" Emma chuckled, setting the tray of refreshments down between them.
"Absolutely," Belle replied dreamily. "This is so much better than going out for lunch. Why don't we do this more often?"
"Because work keeps us both crazy busy."
"Ugh. Work," Belle scoffed, and Emma giggled at her friend's sentiment.
For a long moment, the two women sat in companionable silence, just enjoying each other's presence and the beautiful summer afternoon. Emma was the first to break that silence when she asked, "So, did you know about the trip to Lake Arrowhead?"
"Kind of," Belle replied.
Her head was still tilted back against the lounger, and her eyes were still shut. If she hadn't been speaking, Emma would have assumed she was sleeping.
"He told me he wanted to do something special with you for the holiday weekend, but he wasn't entirely sure what to do. I believe it was Brad who offered him the cabin. I suggested maybe going to a show."
Emma poured herself a drink and took a small sip as she made herself comfortable on her lounger. "Well, for what it's worth, I would have appreciated the idea of dinner and a show just as much as a long weekend getaway."
Belle peeled one eye open to check her friend's expression before she said, "thank you. I'll remind him of that the next time he's looking for romance plans."
Emma giggled as she recalled the number of times Killian had asked her for the same help when he'd been married. Clearly, his divorce hadn't changed him that much.
After another long moment of comfortable silence had passed, Belle hauled herself back to a sitting position and reached for her drink. She took a long swallow of the tea and then carefully set the glass down before she asked, "so, how are we doing on the party planning front?"
"Uh… well?"
Belle snorted out a laugh at her friend's tone, and Emma reached for the notepad that she'd left open on the small glass-topped table.
"I've booked an Air BNB for mine and Killian's family. As much as I love them, I don't think there's enough space here for everyone, and if we're all under each other's feet, it's just gonna make the holidays more stressful."
"Good point," Belle agreed. She indicated towards a small sandwich on the platter and asked, "Do you mind?"
Emma nodded for her to help herself and then turned her attention back to her list.
"I've booked flights for everyone, arranged airport transportation, and reserved a couple of rental cars too. That way, everyone can get around on their own time. I think that's everything on the family side taken care of."
"Apart from shopping for gifts," Belle pointed out, and Emma sighed a little as she scribbled that down at the bottom of her list. She hated gift shopping. It was always so difficult to find a material object that conveyed just how much a person meant to you – every single year!
"Killian can help with that," she dismissed, while her friend chuckled around a mouthful of smoked salmon. "I've also booked a pavilion and the team to set it up. They'll provide a dance floor, tables, and chairs too. And they also recommended a guy who is apparently well-known and highly skilled when it comes to fireworks displays. I've sent him an inquiry. I'm just waiting for a response."
Emma helped herself to one of the small sandwiches, then sank back into her seat. She thought she'd already organized plenty for the upcoming holiday celebrations, but now she'd spoken everything aloud, she was starting to feel woefully under-prepared again.
Thankfully, Belle was not!
"Will has spoken with the company he works for. They've agreed to cover the catering and the drinks for the event. I've already paid the deposit to secure the contract – you can buy me some pretty shoes for Christmas to make up for it."
Emma barked out another laugh as she scribbled the words PRETTY SHOES FOR BELLE on her to-do list.
"I figured we could take care of the decorations ourselves. They'd be much cheaper that way and more unique too. Which really only leaves one thing to take care of – the entertainment."
"You know, for two people who work in the entertainment industry, we probably should have covered that first," Emma mused, scratching off a few more items on her list.
"We should probably have plenty of contacts for it too, but I don't know any musicians," Belle argued.
Emma took a moment just to skim through every person she could remember meeting in her professional life and deflated a little when she realized she didn't know any either.
"Maybe Killian will know someone," Belle suggested.
Emma snorted out a chuckle. "Yeah, I doubt that," she said, but as she sobered up, a thought suddenly occurred to her. "But maybe some of the guys in the sound departments we work with will?"
"Can't hurt to ask," Bella agreed, pulling out her phone to make herself a note.
Emma scribbled a similar message for herself at the bottom of her notepad and then flicked it shut.
"So, do you wanna talk color schemes now or… do you wanna discuss what bathing suits and lingerie you should take to the lake with you to blow Killian's mind on your weekend getaway?" Belle asked, sitting up a little straighter in her seat like she already knew the answer.
"Uh… the bathing suits and lingerie," Emma deadpanned, while her friend giggled into her glass of iced tea.
Sorry for the delay in posting ANYTHING these days. Life took an unexpected turn and I now have very little free time to do the things I enjoy. I'm hoping it will calm down again soon, but at the moment, I can't promise anything, I'm afraid.
Thanks for reading and reviewing.