Chapter 32

Emma was curled up on the couch, a ceramic coffee mug in her hands. It was designed to look like a Starbucks cup, complete with a thin rubber lid. She had found it in her car Tuesday morning. Dante ¨C Tommy ¨C must have forgotten it after their trip to the park.

At first, she thought she would just shove it into the glove box and take it back to him on Thursday. But then-she couldn't resist putting her lips where she knew his had been. In an odd sort of way, it made her feel close to him.

It hadn't occurred to her to give him her cellphone number, or to ask for his. She wished she had. It was funny how being apart made all these little insecurities suddenly rear their ugly heads. She kept thinking that he might cancel on her, that she would drive up and he wouldn't be there. Or he would ask her to leave.

Or there would be another woman there.

Emma sipped from his cup and tried to push that last thought away.

She heard a little noise across the room. She looked up just as Steve tur