CHAPTER 26
Julia
WHEN EMMETT LEAVES, I creep in the opposite direction. I follow the perimeter of the building and decide my best next step.
I’m not required on set tonight since the bar requires no further prep. I delivered the paperwork to Richard, checked in with the manager, and made sure that everything to do with Romance Ranch was in order for filming. I can easily be
available by phone.
I’m just rubbernecking at this point.
It’s like I can’t look away. I don’t need to stay and spend hours watching women squabble over a guy that I’ve come to… I don’t even know.
Want? Because wanting him feels surprisingly good. Like fucked-up as this all is, craving someone is breathing life back into parts of me that I thought might be just… gone.
Is like the right word? It feels bland and childish for whatever is happening between us. Which is a problem.
I make a beeline for my car on the opposite side of the parking lot, deciding that getting the hell out of Dodge is the best answer to my problems. Strapped into the driver’s seat, I wrap my hands around the wheel to pull away.
But I come up short of starting the engine. I’m torn between wanting to walk back in there and help Emmett and the sinking sensation in my stomach that tells me I don’t want to see whatever is going on in there.
I trust my gut, start my car, and drive away from the set. Pulling out, I turn right. It’s not the way home or the way back to Stal Brandt. It’s just one random way to go. And I spend the next couple of hours driving around the valley, stopping at a few of my favorite spots, including my dad’s gravesite.
I never got to know him that well, and in some ways it’s hard to navigate how I feel about his passing. It’s difficult to miss what you never had. But if nothing else,
visiting my dad brings me solace.
I’ve heard wonderful stories about him, seen the impact that he had on my brother and on my mom—a woman who has entertained brief relationships but who I don’t think will ever truly move on.
So he seems as good a person as any to confess my confusion to.
I sit on the dry earth and talk to him. “Well, Dad. I got the dream first job. The one that steers me straight down the path to that big-time movie job you convinced me I could do if I set my mind to it. But I… I’m worried I’m going to fuck it all up.”
With a dark chuckle, I run my palms over the bristly grass in front of his headstone. Then I blurt it all out.
I tell him about the cruise ship and Emmett. I tell him about Emmett’s reputation and the tension between him and Theo. I tell him about the quiet hours spent chatting at the diner. I tell him about the kiss. I tell him about the bitter jealousy that swirls inside of me as I’m forced to watch Emmett navigate this show.
I tell my dad details that most daughters probably wouldn’t, but he’s dead, so what the fuck ever.
Hell, I get really comfortable and even tell him about the prickles in my ass and the boner episode that followed.
Getting it all off my chest leaves me more centered. Like I’ve gained some perspective. Like the pressure in my lungs that made me feel as though I was about to explode has finally dissipated a bit.
It’s also left me hungry. Which is why I trudge back to my car, hop in, and head straight to the diner. It’s never too late for an omelet.
I weave through the darkened streets of Emerald Lake until I pull up in front of Martha’s Diner. As I step out of my car, the neon sign on the roof hums, filling the air. One deep inhale of the dusty parking lot comforts me. It urges me forward. I yank the door open with a jingle, and Martha’s head snaps up from behind the cash register.
“Wasn’t sure you were coming in tonight, but that boy of yours is waiting already.”
“Boy of mine?” I ask, confused for a moment.
She winks at me. “Right over there, doll. Table in the corner. The one with the curly hair? He’s not dressed like a cowboy businessman tonight. And honestly?”
Her tone turns wistful as she glances in his direction. “If I had to switch teams…” she says with a raspy chuckle.
My gaze lands on Emmett sitting in the corner booth at the back of the restaurant. “Yeah.” I breathe the word.
Because I know exactly what she means. He has that effect on women. Or maybe it’s just that I’m thrown off Emmett’s here. At my place. Waiting for me.
“You all right, Julia?”
“I don’t know,” I confess to her, eyes still on Emmett. “I’m worried I might be in the process of making a very big mistake.”
“Good,” Martha startles me by saying. “You’re about due for some mistake- making. You know Danielle and I love having you here every night. But, baby, that’s not healthy. Two middle-aged women shouldn’t be your only friends in the world. And I for one am glad to see you’re not isolating yourself so much. You’re young. You’re smart. You’re beautiful. Life is messy, stop being a germophobe.”
A sad laugh pitches from the back of my throat. I have been isolating myself and I’m not even sure I noticed it happening. I got scared and I went into hiding.
Now the thought of emerging from the safety of my burrow feels… daunting.
“He’s already got two menus over there for you, doll. Go make that mistake. I bet that man could teach you a thing or two. Plus, look at those forlorn little puppy eyes. Go put him out of his misery.”
I peek over at him, and sure enough. Those emotive baby blues are latched on to me. Practically begging me to come closer. I give Martha a quick smile, and a side hug, murmuring, “Thank you for the pep talk,” before walking away.
Wishing things were as simple as the wise woman seems to think.
I weave through the long, narrow diner. Emmett’s face lifts to take me in as I
draw near.
“Hey,” I say cautiously.
He smiles, but it’s pinched and doesn’t reach his eyes. “I didn’t know if you were going to show up.”
“How long have you been waiting here?” I pause near the booth as he shrugs and looks out the window.
“I don’t know. An hour? Maybe two?”
Two hours.
I was sitting at my dad’s gravesite, chatting away, spilling my guts, and Emmett was sitting here waiting. Hoping that maybe—just maybe—I’d show up.
“Why didn’t you call me? Or text me? Or something?”
“Left my phone on the table at the bar after we finished recording for the night. Didn’t feel like going back in once I’d made my way out. I’ll get it tomorrow.” He waves a hand across the air in front of him dismissively. “You going to sit down or just stand there gawking at me like an awkward weirdo?”
I chuckle, because I am standing here like an awkward weirdo. Thrown off by his presence. Confused that he’d wait an hour for me, somewhere he wasn’t even sure I would be.
Honestly, I’m confused that he’s looking for me at all.
I slide into the seat across from him and reach for the menu. Ridiculous, since I know it by heart, but I need something to do with my hands so that I don’t fiddle with my fingers until they knot themselves together.
I’m nervous. Nervous because one kiss can be a mistake. A one-off. But I’ve never heard of a two-off. Which means this might be a bad habit we’re developing.
Martha shows up with a cup of piping hot coffee before I can get a word in edgewise. She refills Emmett’s, and he doesn’t stop her. Which is funny, considering mere weeks ago he thought drinking coffee at night was crazy.
“All right, two Julia omelets for two lovebirds,” she singsongs with a teasing giggle, forcing me to groan and tip my head back in embarrassment. Someone should let Martha know this is just a two-off.
But when I look back up, Emmett has a touch of a smile on his face. He doesn’t correct her. Instead, he just stares at me.
It’s unnerving, so I reach for the coffee, letting the warm liquid bolster my confidence as I prepare to tell Emmett that this cannot become a three-off.
But he beats me to the punch, masking his point with a teasing tone. “Julia, I don’t know how to tell you this, but you have to stop kissing me.”
I bark out a laugh and lean back against the red vinyl bench. “Oh, is that how it is? I have to stop kissing you.”
“Yes, it’s absolutely out of control. I understand—I do. You’re obsessed with me. And I can’t blame you.”
I run a hand over the back of my head, grinning like a fool. He has a way of putting me at ease that no one else can accomplish.
“It’s funny how two people can be present at the same event and remember it so differently.”
He shrugs, hitting me with a cocky smile. “All I remember is you shoving your tongue down my throat and riding my leg like I was your favorite pony.”
“Emmett!” I squeal, leaning forward, giving his hand an absolutely flirtatious smack.
I know I shouldn’t do it, but god, he makes it so easy.
He reaches for me, fingers sliding over the top of my outstretched hand. We both stare at the point of contact for several seconds before his fingers flex, drawing my attention back up to his face.
“All jokes aside, Jules, we have to be careful.”
I swipe my tongue over the front of my teeth, hating the taste of what he’s just said and knowing it’s true all at once.
“I’m pretty sure Richard’s producing us at this point, or at the very least blackmailing us. Before tonight, he pulled me aside and told me you were proving more difficult than he expected, but that he noticed how responsive you are to me. And so, he asked me to go out of my way to make sure I keep you on track.”
“What did you say to that?”
“I told him I would—”
“Is that what you were doing outside the bar? Keeping me on track? Because you waltzing around in that little denim dress with your hair all wild and free only makes me want to break the rules.”
A full-body flush sweeps over me. He’s so… direct.
But I don’t let him distract me. “Emmett, I’m serious. He’s on to us. It’s like he’s keeping tabs. And the fact that the crew and producers just happened to show up at The Sugar Saloon when we were there—it’s weird. I tried to throw him off by mentioning going on a date that Riley set up for me. He told me multiple times that he wants me to report back on how it goes. It was unnerving.”
“Like hell—”
“This is my first job out of school,” I cut him off, because we can’t start crossing those lines. Especially considering he still has several weeks of filming left to go. “This is important for my entire future. I’m barely qualified for this gig. I’ve broken the bank to get these degrees under my belt. I’ve worked long hours and won scholarships, all to make it out without crippling debt. If I leave this job with a black mark on my résumé, it could haunt me forever. And you? You need this. I know you do.”
He groans and flops back, but rather than dropping my hand, he stretches his arm, maintaining the contact.
“I know,” he groans, looking utterly tortured by the admission. “I know my oma and opa would never admit it, but they’re counting on that money now.
They didn’t ask me for it. I did this to myself. It’s what I signed up for, but now I —”
He cuts off, turning to look out the window, tongue popping into his cheek as he considers his next words. “I regret it,” he says, turning to stare at me.
I can see the desperation in his eyes and wonder if it’s reflected in mine too.
But I don’t give it voice. It won’t make this easier, and it won’t make us feel better. The best thing either of us can do is walk in the opposite direction—and we both know it.
“Well, in that case,” I start, “it’s for the best that we pretend nothing ever happened.”
His brow furrows, and he doesn’t respond.
“Right?” I urge, needing him to agree with me. Because while we both know he’s been the one to kiss me first… I haven’t been fending him off.
I am just as much the problem as he is.
“Emmett? Do you agree?”
He stares at me for several seconds before he speaks again. “I agree it’s too risky, but I’d be lying if I said I thought it was for the best.”
My chest goes hot, and I try not to fixate on his words. There’s a lot left unspoken between Emmett and me. Things that need to stay unspoken if we plan to make it through the remainder of this show unscathed.
I just nod, because anything I say would betray my real feelings and I’d rather gloss over the sentimental parts of this conversation. The alternative might hurt
too much.
“You need to keep Evelyn in,” I state bluntly, killing the moment.
His mouth draws back in a grimace of disgust. “Evilyn, you mean?”
I stifle a chuckle, because I feel the same. “Yes, Evilyn.”
“Why? That woman is fucking awful. Did you hear the shit she said to Cookie tonight?”
I arch a brow at him. “It’s not like Cookie had lots of nice things to say either.”
He scoffs. Everyone on set knows that Evelyn is not popular in the bunkhouse.
“Who did you eliminate anyway?”
He gives me a sheepish look. “Cookie. I knew better than to make it Evelyn, and you were right. No grown man can moan that name. But really, it could have been any of them.”
I snort and look away, not wanting to fixate on what he might mean by that.
“Just keep Richard happy. Keep him off your back. And just make it through.”
“So keep Evelyn?” he asks flatly. “Through to the final episode?”
“You don’t have to like her. You just need to pretend like…” I grimace and shift in my seat. For some reason, I can’t stomach finishing that sentence. “I don’t know. Keep Richard happy. That’s the name of the game. And Evelyn’s presence makes Richard happy, so…”
Emmett nods as his finger swipes over my hand.
Several seconds of silence pass before he hits me with a blunt statement of his
own.
“You should go on that date.”
Panic courses through me, my body snapping to attention. “What?”
“That Riley set up for you.” He nods, swallowing a couple of times before he speaks again. “I think that would be good. Safe. I don’t want you risking your future for… something that can’t happen.”
I regard him, recognizing he’s pushing me away. We both know this blind date isn’t what I want. But maybe it’s what I—we—need to do. To keep us both from
crashing out and blowing up our lives.
“I don’t want to—”
“Jules, just go. Even once this charade is all over… per my contract I can’t publicly date anyone for a year. Until every episode has aired. And you deserve
more than that. Better than that.”
I swallow. “But what if I—”
“We’re in the same shitty boat here, doll. You don’t have to do anything. You just have to try. Who knows? Maybe you’ll fall for how sweet he is.”
Emmett hits me with a smirk.
A sad smirk.
I only offer him a wooden nod. Hating this conversation, hating the way it feels, and kind of hating what it all means for us.
“Well, maybe when this is all over, I could try to kiss you again.”
Emmett just laughs. It’s a dry, brittle laugh. “Jules, that’s sweet of you, but I know how this goes. By the time I see this thing through, you’ll be over me. Hell, you might even hate me. For your sake, I hope you move on to someone better.”
His words are a punch to the gut. Not because they’re true. Not for me. But for him, they are. He believes there is someone better than him for me.
And that kills me.
We eat our omelets in uncomfortable silence. And when we depart from the front steps of the diner, he pulls me in, wrapping me in a tight hug. He drops a quick, polite kiss on the top of my head and leaves without a single backward glance.
It feels an awful lot like goodbye. Like closing the door on something that never got a chance to properly start.
I should be relieved, but I drive home with tears in my eyes, gutted over how a man as deeply good as Emmett could ever believe that moving on from this— from him—will be that easy to do.
OFFICIAL MEMO
To: Richard Wadsworth
From: Teri Baker Subject: Third Elimination Ceremony
This week we filmed at a local country bar. Cookie was eliminated after getting into a physical altercation with Evelyn.
The spin right now is that Evelyn is our bachelor’s favorite.
Tension in the bunkhouse is at an all-time high with every woman remaining disliking Evelyn and making no effort to hide it.
Loads of good footage, though very Evelyn-centric. Next week we will work on bringing some other women into the fray to have our bachelor appear more torn and confused on who he is connecting with.
Top choices right now for character variation: Akira, Catherine, Jada.
Please let me know if this strategy meets your vision for the show.
Sincerely,
Teri Baker Story Producer
OFFICIAL MEMO
To: Richard Wadsworth
From: Teri Baker Subject: Double Elimination Ceremony
We took the cast and bachelor out wine tasting in a party bus this week and caught a lot of good moments—especially once the alcohol started flowing.
The surprise double elimination made for a lot of drama (and a lot of tears). Callie and Adriana were sent home. Emmett is still playing the game and was very comforting to the women after delivering the news.
He is still resisting major physical contact. The only kiss we have on camera is from his hike with Evelyn, which may pose a problem for the show’s pacing. We could potentially move that date later in the show to make the development appear more organic. Thoughts?
We are now left with four daters, and they are exactly who I thought they would be: Evelyn, Jada, Catherine, and Akira.
The other outing was boating on the lake, where we captured great footage with only bathing suits on. Emmett was made for TV in that regard, and I think you’ll be happy with the clips and private conversations from that outing.
Emmett has been on his best behavior, and I can tell that he’s trying for the cameras this week. He seems focused and willing and like he’s putting his best foot forward.
Julia has been the picture of professionalism, and I think whatever boundary testing they were flirting with has lost steam.
According to studio accounting, halfway-point payments have now been made.
We have reached out to his biological father to make an appearance but have yet to hear back.
We are officially in the home stretch!
Sincerely,
Teri Baker Story Producer
