Timing is Everything

EMMA

Emma loved seeing all the lush green trees and perfect blue water as they drove. She never got tired of seeing them, and leaned back in the very plush leather seats, watching the views go by.

“Carol has your room ready. The moving company brought your stuff yesterday, so you can set up your studio when you are ready. I might have changed your room around a little…”

“What do you mean you ‘might have changed it a little,’ Pops?”

He cleared his throat. “Well, I um… I turned your room into a suite and you have your own balcony…”

“POPS!! Why did you do that?”

“Because you are a thirty-eight-year-old woman and will want to date and I don’t want to ‘cramp your style,’ as Sylvia told me. I just want you to be happy!”

“I know Pops, and thank you for that… I love you.”

They sat in silence for a few more minutes.

“Pops, I think there is something wrong with me. I have been divorced for five years and I haven’t found someone to love me or that I love…”

“Angel, please don’t say that. There is someone out there that does love you for being you and everything about you. You are a smart, beautiful, talented, caring, and funny woman.

“Someone out there loves you and will cherish you for the rest of your life. And that man will love Trevor as his own and be there for him, unlike his bastard father.

“You will have the love that you deserve and crave.”

She wiped the few tears that had fallen as she listened to his speech, and he squeezed her knee, mumbling something under his breath that she didn’t quite catch.

Pops changed the subject and made Emma laugh as he told a story about the idiot who’d moved in across the waterway from him; he had already crashed his boat into the dock three times.

They pulled into the circle drive and Pops parked under the large awning that covered the front door and part of the driveway. She got out to help with the luggage as Carol came out of the front door.

“Emma baby! Welcome home!” The sweet lady came rushing out of the front door and wrapped Emma in a big hug.

Carol Redman had been Pops’s housekeeper for the last thirty years. She was incredibly special to Emma. She started working for them when Emma was eight.

Carol was married to Jerry, a sweet man who owned a fishing charter boat in Jupiter Beach. They could never have children of their own, so they doted on Emma.

They were in their twenties when Carol started. They came to Emma’s swim meets, schools plays, and all the other events that came up in Emma’s life.

They adored Trevor and Trevor loved them. They came with Pops for his birth and birthdays, the big events, and finally for his high school graduation just a few weeks ago.

Despite losing so much early in her life, Emma was never without love.

Carol took Emma’s carry-on bag as Pops pulled the two large bags inside and put them by the stairs.

Emma came in and looked around, taking in the beautiful living room, the glass wall looking out to the backyard, the pool, and the boat dock.

Yes, she had been back at least once a year to visit, but walking in knowing that she was living here again was another story. She was home!!

She sighed as she flopped on the couch in total contentment.

“Angel, we will leave at about seven for dinner. Carol and Jerry will meet us there. Okay?”

“Sounds good, Pops. Are we still going to go out and go car shopping tomorrow? I need a vehicle. I know what I want; I just want you to come with me.”

“Of course, angel.” Smiling at her, he turned around.

Emma looked at him lovingly as she went to the kitchen for a glass of tea. She went outside to take it all in. The normalcy of this routine was a perfect way to come home.

Emma sat for a few more minutes, waved to Carol when she left, drank her tea, then took her bags up the stairs and went to her door. She gasped as she stepped into the room.

Pops had outdone himself. She stood with her mouth hanging open as she looked around.

He had taken out the guest room next to hers and created a little living room, put in bigger windows, and added the balcony over on the other side.

It was amazing; the colors and the furniture were exactly what she would have bought for herself. The light and had a very South-Florida-beach vibe to it.

The movers had put the boxes of collectibles and clothes off to the side, ready for her to put away when she had the time.

“Oh, Pops, you are one hell of a man!” she said to herself.

Emma took her time and started unpacking her luggage first. She put everything into the massive walk-in closet that was next to her bathroom.

Pops had redone both of those spaces and Emma was stunned. The bathroom had a huge jetted tub, a separate all-glass shower, and a large dual-sink vanity.

Over to the side was a beautiful sitting area for her to put on makeup and jewelry. She could tell that this was Lydia’s work; it was written all over it.

The woman was a gifted designer and Emma was going to have to harass her best friend for keeping it a secret. The entire area was done in all Emma’s favorite materials, colors, and textures.

Right down to the purple and pink hibiscus flowers that adorned the balcony. She loved hibiscus and had convinced Pops to plant about twenty bushes in the backyard when she was twelve.

They were a perfect addition to that part of the yard.

Emma sighed and continued her work of unpacking, soon finishing both suitcases and starting on the boxes. She stopped a few hours later and noticed how the time had ticked away on her.

It was already four and she wanted a swim before dinner. She grabbed her favorite tankini, her goggles, and swim cap, and headed down.

After tucking her hair in the cap, she waved to Pops, who was on the phone, as she dove in and started on her routine. She loved swimming, and had since she could walk.

She remembered learning to swim with her dad when she was four years old in this very pool. He was an avid swimmer. Living in Florida, he wanted to make sure that his baby girl was good at it.

Emma wasn’t just good, she was great! She was on teams her whole life and swam all through high school, winning a lot of awards.

She had only missed qualifying for the Olympic team by .09 seconds when she was eighteen. She even swam at the University of Florida until she got pregnant.

She continued her freestyle warm-up for one last lap and then switched to a rotation of butterfly, back, and breaststroke, finishing with a freestyle cool-down.

She hadn’t swum in a few days while trying to get packed and ready to go, and her muscles were reminding her of that. She just kept plugging along, despite some protests from her leg muscles.

She finished about forty minutes later and stood in the water, taking off the cap and goggles. She dipped into the water to wet her hair down and noticed Pops watching her as she wiped the water from her eyes.

“What’s wrong, Pops?”

“Nothing is wrong; you are just such a beautiful swimmer. Your breaststroke is still near perfection.”

“Thanks Pops!”

“Do you ever regret not training for that second Olympics?”

Emma thought for a moment and tilted her head to the side in her signature move. “I don’t think regret in the right word…

“That would have taken a lot of time away from Trevor after he was born, and I wouldn’t have missed that for the world. Would I have loved to train for that and see what would have happened, absolutely!

“But life had other plans. So I focused on my art, my son, and my marriage. Two out of the three are amazing!”

“The marriage ending part was not your fault and you know it! So don’t have regrets about that. EVER!

“I still thought Ben had the right idea: Lukas flying on up to Maryland and teaching that son of a bitch a thing or two about how to treat my angel.

“Sylvia and Carol talked us down, but I still would have sent them. That bastard didn’t deserve you or Trevor!”

Emma got out of the pool in one fluid, graceful movement and grabbed a towel from the wicker cabinet on the porch. “My heroes. That wasn’t necessary, though.

“Adam knew he had messed up and I let him know he couldn’t do that to me or my son.”

Pops raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. “What do you mean, Emma?”

“Well, after I caught him in the hotel restaurant with that woman, he came running after me to try and explain it away as a business meeting.

“I had my suspicions before this, so I wasn’t hearing it. I told him very few business meetings were conducted with one party having their hands on the crotch of the other.

“Then I said that as my grandfather was a very successful businessman, I knew for a fact that meetings didn’t go that way. I tried to continue to leave, but he followed and grabbed my arm.

“He made a huge mistake and tried to speak badly of you and that pissed me off, so I told him to let go or he would regret it.

“He didn’t, so I punched him in the face, just like you, Luke, and John taught us girls to do. I broke his nose so bad that he had to have surgery to fix it!”

Pops roared with laughter. “Angel, I love you! I wish I could have seen that! Wait, is that how you broke your hand?”

“Yes, that was how I broke it.”

“You said you fell!”

“I know, I just didn’t want to make it worse. It was bad enough that you flew up the day after I called you with that lawyer friend of yours, but I didn’t need you to castrate him, too.”

“You take all the fun out of things, Em!”

She bent down and kissed his cheek, smiling. “I know, Pops, I know. Gonna grab a shower and get ready!”

He watched as she walked away. “That boy better get a move on!” he grumbled to himself.