What The Heart Wants

Chapter 3

Alison grabbed her scotch glass and stared at Emily hard. "I insist on paying you the going rate." She looked as grim and grouchy as ever, but at least she'd essentially accepted her offer.

"Alison, we're family. You don't have to-"

"Stop arguing." She narrowed her eyes. "It's only fair."

Was it? Didn't really matter. If she had to put her on salary in order to agree to accept her help, so be it. "Go ahead then. Pay me the big bucks." Emily challenged her.

"I will." Alison immediately answered and named a very generous figure.

"Done." Emily smiled, she wasn't about to negotiate. She was willing to do it for free just a second ago.

Alison then tapped her glass to Emily's in agreement. "Here's to you, Emily. Thank you." And then something very rare happened. Alison DiLaurentis almost smiled.

Well, it was more of a twitch on the left side of her mouth, really. That twitch caused a warm little tug in the center of her chest. That woman needed to learn how to smile again, she really did. Yes, she'd caused Camila pain and Emily resented her for it.

But Camila, diagnosed with lupus back in her teens, had craved the one thing that was most dangerous for her. She'd paid for her children with her life and left her wife on her own to raise the sweet babies she just had to have.

Life wasn't fair, Emily thought. At least there should be a smiles in it and lots of them. There should be joy wherever a person could find it. Jake and Ellie needed a Baba who could smile now and then.

"What are you looking at?" Alison demanded, all traces of that tiny twitch of a smile long gone.

Emily realized she'd been staring at Alison's mouth for way too long. She blinked and gave an embarrassed little cough into her hand. "Just, um, thinking that you ought to smile more often."

She made a growly sound, something midway between a scoff and a snort. "Don't start on me, Emily. You'll give me a bad feeling about this deal we just made." She said with an eye roll.

It was right on the tip of her tongue to come back with something snippy. Don't get into it with her, she reminder herself yet again. They would be living in the same house at least some of the time, and they needed to get along somehow. Instead of a sharp retort, she gave her a crisp nod. "Fair enough."

Claws clicking gently across the floor, Camila's sweet shetland sheepdog, Pepe, waddled in front of the family room. The dog stopped at Emily's feet and gazed up at her longingly through mournful brown eyes.

"Awww... How you doing', Pepe?" Emily knelt to give the dog a nice scratch under his jowly chin. "Where's my sugar?" She pursed her lips and Pepe swiped at her face with that long, pink tongue.

When Emily rose again, Alison was holding out a house key. "I'll give you a check tomorrow to cover the first week." She said sounding all business like.

"Thanks. I'll be here nice and early with my car full of clothes, equipment and art supplies."

"I can't wait," she said with zero inflection as she headed for the front door. "What time?"

"Eight," Emily said over her shoulder.

"I'll come over and help."

"No Need." Emily waved without turning. "I've got this."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next morning, as Emily was hauling her prized Bernina 1015 sewing machine out to her Subaru in the drizzling rain, Alison pulled up at the end of her front walk in her real estate's company supercrew long-bed pickup.

She emerged from behind the wheel, her dark golden hair in a pony tail and ready to work. In jeans and a t-shirt and looking rather relaxed in tennis shoes. It was a good look on her.

"I told you I can handle this," Emily reminded her as Alison took the sewing machine from her.

"You're welcome. Happy to help," Alison said with sarcasm and for a split second Emily imagined a spark of wry humor in those ice-blue eyes. Alison of course continued with moving the item.

Emily remembered her manners. "Thank you-and be careful with that," she warned. "Those aren't easy to find anymore, and they cost a fortune." She wiped at the mist of raindrops on her forehead, then stood with her hands on her hips watching Alison's every move as she set the machine carefully in the back seat of her truck. When she shut the door again, she asked, "So Hanna has the kids?"

"Yeah, they're with Hanna. Now hurry up, lets get the rest." She headed up the walk way, fast leaving her behind.

Emily hustle to catch up. "You want some coffee? I'll make some."

"I had two cups with breakfast. Let's just get this done."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Half an hour later, all her equipment, including her spare Bernina - a 1008 model - a raft of art and sketching supplies and the giant pegboard loaded with industrial-size spools of thread in just about every color known to man, was either in the rear seat of her crew cab or tucked in the long bed beneath the camper shell. He'd loaded up her two collapsible worktable, too, and the smaller table she liked to keep beside her easel. That left only her suitcase to go in the Subaru. She'd figured it would take three trips to get everything up to the DiLaurentis house. Thanks to Alison, they would get it done in one.

"See you back at the house." She climbed in her truck.

"Thank you. I mean that sincerely."

With a quick wave, Alison started the engine and drove off.

She locked up and followed her, leaving her lake house into the tall trees and then along the winding driveway that led to the beautiful old DiLaurentis house, with its deep front porch.

Emily stopped behind Alison's truck in the turn around in the front of the house. She grabbed her biggest suitcase and hauled it inside and up the curving staircase to the room she planned to use for sleeping whenever she stayed over.

Alison emerged from the other room to meet her as she headed back down. "I'm putting your sewing stuff in the white room." She shot a thumb back over her shoulder. "You're using it for work, right?"

"How'd you guess?"

"It has better light than the other one. You want me to get the bed and dresser out of there for you?"

"I can use the dresser for storage, if that's all right. Are they empty?"

"I think they got a bunch of old clothes nobody wants in them. Just clear out the drawers, and I'l take everything away."

"Thanks." Note to self: be nicer to Alison. She really was a handy lady to have around when a girl needed to get stuff done. "And as for the bed, yes, please. I would like it gone."

"I'll have it out of there before dinnertime." And off she went down the stairs to bring up the next load of Emily's stuff.

She peeked into the kid's bedroom and also the playroom before following her. Nobody was there. Hanna must have them downstairs somewhere.

Working together, they hauled everything up to her two rooms, bringing the big thread pegboard up last.

"You want this board mounted on the wall?" The blonde asked.

"That would be terrific." Emily smiled at the thoughtfulness. Alison dismissed her smile and continued on.

"I'll get to that tonight. Once we get the bed out, we can set things up pretty much like the room you were using at your place."

It was exactly what Emily hoped to do, and she got a minor case of the warm and fuzzies that Alison not only pitched in to help move her things, she'd also given real thought to make her as comfortable as possible in her house.

"Totally works for me. Thanks." Emily slight blushed.

XXXXXXX
Hi there Lovelies,

There ya go... Chapter 3. How do you like the shorter chapters? Or should I stick with longer ones. Longer chapters take longer to post. Shorter ones... well I can knock them out faster.

Laters,
~ Andrea