Best Dating Rules by Tamie Dearen (no david read aloud .TXT) 📕

it wouldn’t be true.” One corner of her mouth kicked up in a smile. “You know how nosey I am.”

“Hi, I’m Charlie. You must be Grace. Have you come to help me yell at my sister?”

“Absolutely.” Grace moved to stare down at Emily with her arms on her hips. “It’ll be so much more fun to do it together.”

Emily felt tears welling up. “I’m so sorry. You have every right to hate me. I know I do—I hate myself.”

“Oh, no,” said Grace. “You will not feel sorry for yourself. No one hates you, and you know it. If you’d seen my brother last night, you’d know he doesn’t hate you. Crying while he gave you CPR. Sitting by your bed for hours holding your hand. Quite the opposite—I think he’s in love with you.”

“He can’t be,” Emily declared. “He’s too good for me. Even if he does love me, I don’t deserve him—not anymore.”

“Last night, I was inclined to agree. But my opinion is subject to change. It all depends on what you do next.”

“But, it’s too late. I saw his face. I hurt him. He thinks... I mean, he knows he can’t trust me. He knows I lied to him. I don’t even think he likes me anymore, and I really can’t believe he loves me.”

“Oh, I think you’re partially right,” said Grace. “I don’t think he likes you right now. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you.” She paused while her words sunk in. “So the question is... What are you going to do about it?”*****

Spencer came home from work and ate dinner while watching a movie. Then he took two Benadryl and went to bed early. He congratulated himself on finishing his Friday without thinking about Emily. Well, not too much. Maybe he did wonder a bit about how she was doing, but he refused to call her. He wouldn’t lower himself. If she needed someone to check on her, she could get Asher Denning to do it.

His phone rang, and he felt a flash of disappointment when he saw Grace’s name rather than Emily’s on the caller ID. He pushed that emotion down, concentrating on his anger.

“Hey, Gracie. How are you? Did you get some sleep?”

“I did. I slept ‘til eleven o’clock. What about you?”

“Nah. I couldn’t sleep, so I went to work.”

“You haven’t slept at all?”

“No, but I’m going to bed now. So, I’ll make up for it.”

“Now? At seven o’clock?”

“Yeah. I’m already in bed.”

“So, uhmm... I went up to the hospital this afternoon.”

His heart sped up. How was she? Was she in pain? Was she sorry? Did she even remember what had happened? He spoke slowly, careful to keep the emotion out of his voice. “Oh. That’s good, I guess.”

“Uhmm... Do you want to ask me anything? Or would you rather not know?”

Of course he wanted to know, but he needed to make a clean break. He couldn’t bear being hurt any more. No, it was better if he didn’t know anything. The less he knew about Emily, the better.

“No. I don’t think I want to know. It’s... It’s too hard to think about her. I can’t handle it—not anymore.”

“Okay. I understand. But, Spencer—”

“Look. You can still be friends. I just can’t.”

“So, it’s impossible now? I mean, what would it take for you to give her a second chance?”

“I don’t know. I guess...” He laughed harshly, “I guess if she suspended all of her rules and did something dangerous to be with me, like she did for that Asher Denning guy. Maybe that would mean something.”

“Spencer. You don’t really want her to do something stupid again. You know she’s really sorry—”

“I don’t want to hear it, Gracie. Look. I love you, but I don’t want to talk about her right now. I’m going to sleep, and I’m going on a really long overnight hike tomorrow. When I come back on Sunday, I hope I’ll be okay enough to stand seeing her at work on Monday. That’s about as good as it’s going to get for me.”

“Okay. I understand. Will I see you for Sunday night dinner?”

“Sure. I’ll be there. I told Momma we’d cook hamburgers on the grill.”

“See you, Spencer.”

“Bye, Gracie.”*****

Emily couldn’t hear what Spencer was saying to Grace, but she got the gist of it. Grace hung up the phone and turned wary eyes to Emily.

“He doesn’t want anything to do with me, does he? I told you, Grace. I hurt him too badly.”

“Emily, I think he just needs time. He said he’s going to bed early, and he’s going on an overnight hike. He’s a physical guy. He needs to work out his anger. He’ll probably be better by Monday.”

“Oh right. Earlier, you were telling me I should call and talk to him or go see him. Now you’re telling me he might be better by Monday.”

“He was angrier than I thought. I think it’d be better if I talk to him at family dinner on Sunday night. I can feel him out and help you plan a strategy for Monday.”

“What did he say, Grace?” Charlie asked. “What did he say when you asked him what it’d take to give her a second chance?”

“He was only spouting off.”

“It was something impossible, wasn’t it?” asked Emily.

“He didn’t mean it. He’s just mad about Asher. He said something about you breaking rules and doing something dangerous to be with him. But it doesn’t make any sense, and he knows it.”

“I would do it,” declared Emily. “I would do something dangerous for him.”

“Maybe we could stage something dangerous. Like, you could jump out and push him out of the way of a bus or something,” Charlie said.

“No, I’ve got a better idea,” laughed Grace. “What if we string up a tight rope between two buildings, and you could walk across and bring him some life-saving medicine?”

“I’m glad you two can laugh.” Emily pouted.

“Cheer up,” said Charlie. “You’re alive to fight another day. The Sister I know would never give up.”

“We’ll figure something