pretended to be something they weren’t—unlike the guys she seemed to attract like bees to pollen.
“Arnold will have to take a rain check,” Emma said, then decided, “If you’re not going to go to the hospital, then I’m canceling my trip, too. I can’t leave you alone like this.”
That was exactly what Alexis didn’t want Emma to do. “No,” Alexis said emphatically. “You are not canceling your trip over this. It’s no big deal. It’s not as if my foot is going to fall off or something. I just need to baby it a little.”
Emma pointed. “Your foot looks like it was beaten with a bat. If it’s not broken, I’m willing to guess it’s badly sprained.”
There was no denying her foot looked terrible. So much for her idea of getting a pedicure. “Please don’t cancel on my behalf.”
“I can’t leave you like this,” Emma said, appalled that Alexis would even suggest it.
“Seriously, I’ll just putter around the house and watch a movie marathon all day. There’s no need for you to cancel your plans because of this, and I would feel ten times worse if you did.”
But Emma knew her too well and called her out. “No you won’t. You’ll try to hang lights and bake and decorate the Christmas tree because you can’t stand to sit still. You have the attention span of a gnat and an inability to sit still for any length of time. I’d have to tie you to a chair if I wanted you to stay off that foot.”
“That’s a little extreme.” Alexis pretended to appear offended. “For your information, I recently took up crocheting and that takes a lot of patience.”
“You tried it once and then got frustrated and haven’t touched it since.”
“Okay, fine. Crocheting isn’t my thing. But neither is yoga and you’re the one who told me to find something to help me relax.”
“Yes, and you’re still looking because you have a hard time being still. So, forgive me if I don’t believe you when you say that you’ll take it easy.”
Alexis knew Emma was right, but it killed her to think that Emma would cancel over something so dumb. Miserable for ruining her friend’s weekend, she rose on unsteady legs with the intent of hobbling her pathetic self to the kitchen for some coffee, but Emma was already slipping her arm beneath her to help. “I’m sorry,” Alexis said, feeling like doggie poo. “I didn’t mean to ruin our weekend.”
“It’s okay.”
But it wasn’t okay. Alexis could hear the sharp disappointment in Emma’s voice even as she tried to hide it with a cheerful smile. That was Emma in a nutshell, always thinking of others before herself and it broke Alexis’s heart that she was the cause of Emma’s disappointment.
Erik and Layton were in the kitchen getting coffee when Emma and Alexis made their way in.
Erik frowned. “Lex? Is that ankle still bothering you?” he asked.
“It hasn’t gotten any better,” she answered glumly as her butt found a dining room chair. Her mood was rapidly plummeting as quickly as the temperature outside. Another storm was coming. “It actually seems to have gotten worse during the night.”
Layton came forward. “Let me take a look.”
“It’s fine.”
But Erik chimed in, saying, “Let Layton take a look, Lex. He’s got paramedic training.”
Hard to argue with that, seeing as she didn’t want to rush to the hospital. “Fine,” she grumbled, allowing Layton to gently examine her foot. He slowly manipulated her ankle, carefully gauging her reaction. She winced a few times and then yelped when he pressed her foot. Layton nodded and released her foot with care. “Well, I don’t think it’s broken, but you’ve probably got one helluva sprain. If you go to the ER they’ll order an X-ray, which won’t show soft-tissue damage, but it’ll definitively show whether or not you have a fracture.”
“But you don’t think it’s broken, right?” Alexis said.
“I don’t, but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t have a hairline fracture. Best to check it out.”
“See?” Emma said, lightly tapping Alexis’s head for being difficult. “I’ll drive you to the hospital.”
“No, I’m not going to the hospital,” she said stubbornly. “And you’re not missing out on your parents’ bash. Erik, please tell Emma that I’m a big girl and I can handle myself, even slightly injured.”
“Lex, it’s fine, really. I don’t really want to drive alone anyway, so we’ll just do that movie marathon you mentioned. It’ll be fun.”
“Erik can go with you,” Alexis volunteered, shocking Emma. She didn’t know why she’d offered her brother’s services, but it seemed to make sense. Erik was a total gentleman.
“Oh! That’s not necessary. I’m sure he has plans,” Emma said, darting a look at Erik. “It’s fine, really. I don’t mind canceling. Lex really shouldn’t be alone with her foot the way it is.”
Alexis sent an imploring look Erik’s way, C’mon, bro, don’t let me down!
But it was Layton who spoke up first. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but... I could stay behind and help you out so your friend doesn’t feel like you’re being left behind all alone. It’s kind of my fault you’re all banged up anyway.”
All eyes turned to Layton. Did Layton just volunteer to babysit her?
Erik said, “That’s okay, man. You don’t have to do that. It’s not your fault. It was a misunderstanding all the way around.”
“I know, but hell, I’ve got nothing to do today that didn’t include drinking a few beers and being a slug. Besides, I’ve got the training. If her ankle gets worse, I’ll bundle her up and force her to go to the ER.”
“He has a point,” Erik slowly agreed, nodding. Then he looked to Emma. “How do you feel about that?”
Alexis hesitated then looked to Erik and Emma, saying, “Well, if Erik agreed to go with Emma... I guess that would solve both problems. Are you okay with that, Em?” As soon as the words left her mouth, Emma started shaking her head, but Alexis wasn’t going to budge on this one. “Em, it’s dangerous on the roads. You know it’s stupid to drive alone and I refuse to let you cancel your plans. Erik will be the perfect gentleman, I can promise. He’s one of the good guys.”
Emma’s cheeks flared as her gaze darted. “I know Erik is a good guy. I just don’t want him to have to do something he doesn’t want to do.”
Erik chimed in. “I don’t mind,” he said. “And I agree with Lex. You shouldn’t drive alone in these conditions.”
“The storm doesn’t seem to be letting up as I’d hoped,” Emma said, biting her lip with indecision. “Are you sure you don’t mind the drive?”
“Not at all. We can catch up. Tell me what’s new in your life since you were just my bratty little sister’s friend.”
“Bratty?”
