It was a joyful time when Teddy and his family arrived for a visit. After being stuck on the farm, the teens enjoyed discovering everything the big city had to offer, while Teddy and his wife seemed grateful and happy just to be together.Just as Byron had expected, Teddy did want to see Sylvia while he was in town, and he tried to arrange it in a way that would be acceptable for all concerned. Emily liked his idea of having a lot of people over so that everyone could mingle and Sylvia would not get too snippy."How about we invite Carter?" Emily said.She was sitting at the kitchen table opposite Byron as they made up a list of guests to invite for their house party. Byron's expression told her, not surprisingly, that he was not too pleased with the idea."You know he thinks of you as more than a friend?" he asked."Yeah, but he'll get over it eventually. And he invited me to go wall-climbing with him a few days ago. Maybe it would be more 'proper' for me to ask him to come to
Emily could not believe what was happening. Now she knew how Byron felt when he witnessed his mother chatting up Carter Jacks. Katie and Carter were getting along like a house on fire. They were talking, laughing, sharing stories. It would have been really cute if it was anyone but Carter. Emily knew exactly how well he did when it came to committed relationships, and she didn't want Katie to get involved with someone so unreliable."I have to stop this," Emily said. "It's getting out of hand.""Young people don't want to be told who they can and can't date, so there's probably little you can do about it," Byron reasoned, "Unless…""Unless?""We could introduce her to my star employee Brandon Clarkson. That young man is going places, and if Katie is as ambitious as you say, she might prefer him to your layabout buddy.""Other than calling Carter a 'layabout', I think that's a great idea," Emily said. "Okay, I'll distract Carter," Byron offered, "while you introduce Katie to B
Soon all the guests dispersed, and Teddy, Aitana, and their kids went off to their own rooms. Byron and Emily were left alone, and they too headed for their bedroom."What am I going to do?" Emily lamented. "Katie is like my own child. I can't let her date Carter.""Carter's not so bad," Byron said, to her surprise."Oh, now he's not so bad because you beat him at weightlifting.""You have to admit, he was a graceful loser.""But he would make a terrible boyfriend.""It's going to be okay," Byron assured her, gathering her into his arms in a comforting hug. "We've had much worse parties than this.""Parties…" Emily though she might have an idea. "Are you going to invite that Brandon guy to your next company event?""Of course, he's my rising star. Oh, I see what you're thinking. If we invited Katie along, she might have a chance to get to know Brandon, see him in his own element.""Exactly!""The only problem is, it might be kind of obvious that we're setting them up.""That
"You wouldn't keep bananas in the fridge for a whole month and expect them to be fresh," said a man in dark-framed glasses who sat beside Emily, "so why would you keep coffee beans in the fridge?"Emily loved coffee, but she didn't need to know that much about how to prepare it 'the perfect way'. The man just kept talking and talking. Just as she had expected, this business event was making her eyes glaze over with boredom.Katie seemed to be loving the event. She wore a matching skirt and blazer combo, looking very professional, and excited by whatever she and Brandon were conversing about.Emily's neighbor to the left was a woman in her thirties or so, who seemed to have no sense of humor. The man in the glasses, whose name was either Morty or Monty and looked to be in his fifties or sixties, kept lecturing everyone on the proper way to make coffee. Then his wife, a skinny woman with a blond pixie cut, made the conversation even more boring by talking about credit card insurance.
Emily couldn't get out of the hotel fast enough as the event wrapped up. She didn't get to talk much to Katie after giving her the 'mentor speech', and Byron was constantly swarmed by people."Are you going to be sad if I never go to one of these again?" she asked Byron over drinks in the limo on the way home."Please, I'm not a delicate flower," Byron said, pouring a liqueur into glasses for them."Are you sure you won't mind?""Yeah." His posture was more stiff than usual, and he didn't put his arm around her like he often did."I can tell you're mad," she muttered. Her liqueur tasted bitter, and she felt a sinking feeling as the bright lights and restaurant signs sped by outside the window."I'm not mad. I just wish you would come to my dinners more often. And I suppose I do find it offensive when you say they're boring.""Oh… sorry," Emily said. "Maybe it's better if I just don't go then."Byron put down his glass with a sigh. "I know they might not be as witty or colorful
Emily was in the middle of brainstorming a new line for next spring when Katie strolled into the design studio, humming a jaunty tune."Well, if it isn't the lady about town!" Emily greeted her. "Are things going well?""Excellent," Katie reported. "I've gone on a date with each candidate, and I'm still undecided… but the dates were fun.""That's the spirit!" Emily said. She stuck to her resolve not to try to influence Katie's decision, trusting her protégé to figure out the best path forward on her own."Carter took me for a motorcycle ride—don't tell my parents! It was so awesome. I do think Carter is lacking in the career department, though."Just like Emily expected, it had not taken Katie long to realize that Carter was not the sharpest pencil in the box. "Carter is a free spirit. He values his freedom over career obligations.""I have an idea to help him move up in the world," Katie said brightly."Now this I'd love to hear." Emily folded her arms as she leaned back agains
"I will need your signature here, please," Katie said.They were ordering a lot of new fabric for the new men's line, and Emily signed off on it, trusting that Katie knew what she was doing. Since the whole thing was Katie's idea, Emily let her take leadership of the project. Carter was being brought up to speed by one of the city's top modelling coaches, while Emily and her team of designers brainstormed some ideas for the new clothing line. She decided to call it Freerange Rider to reflect Carter's independent spirit. The studio was buzzing with energy, and everyone was excited to be expanding into this new line."How is the battle for supremacy?" Emily asked. "Who's winning? Is it Carter the rebellious biker with the lackluster career, or Brandon the brilliant businessman with the… does he have any weaknesses?""Doesn't seem like it," Katie said, twirling a pen in her hand. "Maybe I just haven't found them yet. I'm still undecided as to who's winning, but it's fun working with
"It's about time you started preparing for your wedding," Sylvia said when they arrived at her house for the fitting of the Beethoven jacket. "It seems far away, but summer will be here before you know it.""Thanks for that information, mom," Byron said, "Have you ever thought about becoming a fortune teller?""Very funny." Sylvia started to unwrap the jacket, which was inside a protective layer of plastic, and another one of linen.Sylvia's cat emerged from the hallway and made its rounds of the room, rubbing its body against everyone's calves.Well-preserved and majestic, the jacket had plenty of personality. It was black, with large metallic buttons, and a velvet collar. It was much better than Emily imagined. She had forgotten that 19th century jackets were much longer than modern ones, so it might not matter that it was made for someone of shorter stature.But when Byron put it on, it had a kind of scraggly look because it was clearly too small for him. Byron covered his ey