e m m a

As the other admitted that he didn't want her money to put it on hold, Emma let herself smile. "Oh, well if you're sure." she nodded, eyes shifting towards the other and then back at his work. She listened as he said he'd only had the stand up there for a few weeks now, so she hadn't missed much, which made her smile even wider. "That's amazing. Have you made a lot of sells?" she questioned. Not because she were being nosey but because she truly thought his work was beautiful enough that he should've sold out of his stock and made more by now. "People won't get things this pretty for this cheap anywhere else, so if they think they would they're mistaken." @milesxvaughn

The woman's statement caused Connor to pause a moment for reflection. A faint smile, touched with amusement grew against his lips. "No, that is not the case. For either." Admittedly, sure, he had been dating someone. Yet, it was not something he could have been too open about. He didn't know which people knew of Fatma and Altan's open marriage and who didn't. "I've just been focusing on raising my daughter since she came to live with me full-time." It had been quite a few years now, but it was the easiest excuse to give. "I haven't had much time to date." Connor's smile softened, "Though I can say the same about you. Your beauty and kindness have always radiated in a way that I would have presumed you were taken by someone." @emmajlin

Emma nodded as the other admitted that he had been spending all of his free time raising his daughter. Something that she understood. "I can imagine being a full time parent takes a lot of time. I don't even have any kids of my own but all the time that I spend planning things for all the kids at the library is enough for me to know any single parent has their work cut out for them. She wasn't sure any particular age was easier than another when you were doing it all alone. Though when he said he could've said the same about her she felt her cheeks flush. "Well I'm flattered, but no." she shook her head. "I haven't really been in a dating mood since I got back from Washington." she stated. Her dating life there had ended in turmoil and she wasn't sure she was ready to let that part of herself open up again. "Figured I'd see what this is all about, though, I'm not sure I love the speed part of speed dating." she laughed. @connorxbowen

The surprise in her tone wasn't one that he didn't expect. In fact, growing up, it had surprised him too. After some time, though, he got used to the fact that people often boarded their horses for a variety of reasons. One of those more common reasons was because they did not necessarily want to do the dirty work of having to take care of the horse on a daily basis and had the money to avoid doing so. With her question, Abraham pursed his lips, mulling it over for only a beat. "I think that would be helpful." His smile was warm as he looked over at her for. "I find it to be therapeutic myself." He always had, honestly. "They can read people better than most people realize." @emmajlin

As he answered, Emma let herself nod, looking over at him as he said it would be helpful. "I'll see what I can do." she spoke, looking over at him. "If it will be helpful to everyone, whether it's you, the horses, myself. I'd love to come out regularly and get some of these horses ridden that otherwise may not get to see much human interaction." she stated, eyes focusing on the other, and then the horse, petting the side of Lightening McQueen's head. "I forget how therapeutic this can be; and this view." she paused. "I could get used to seeing this every day too." @abrahamxwhitney

As the other settled in the chair across from her, Emma felt her smile widen. There was a comfort in the other sitting across from her, even if they'd merely met on the beach a few weeks ago in the middle of a rainstorm. Hadn't been her finest moment, yet she still found herself happy to be in his company. "Oh gosh I did say that out loud didn't I?" she questioned, laughing. "You promise you won't judge?" she exhaled, pressing her face in her hands, leaving her mouth uncovered so that the other could hear her before she spoke. “If this were a book, this would be the part where two people decide if the conversation is worth continuing. So… what would make you turn the page?” @daehyunxkwon

Connor's smile came easily as the woman's grin appeared on her lips. Her honesty was refreshing and his shoulders relaxed him a little further into the chair. "Yeah, it's not bad." He gave a small laugh, briefly glancing around the room. "I had a feeling that it was going to feel like a job interview." His attention returned to her then, amusement settling into his expression. "Yeah," he nodded his head as she recognized him. "I am and you," he paused a moment, "work at the library right? I bring my daughter in there often." His mouth curved into a soft smile at the recognition. @emmajlin

When the other admitted that he recognized her, it made Emma feel less annoying. She was a people watcher, which in turn made her recognize people a lot quicker than they often recognized her, however, it was nice for someone else to be recognizing her for a change. "I do work at the library." she smiled. "And I also agree that I thought it was going to feel like a job interview but it's actually been nice." she spoke. "Though, I have to say.." she paused. "Maybe this is too blunt but I always thought you were dating someone." she admitted, cheeks flushing. "I mean you're handsome enough I figured you'd have a line of women out the door waiting to date you." @emmajlin

"Oh gosh." she emphasized, turning from the other towards the objects he was selling. "I really like that pastel birdhouse over in that corner." she nodded, looking at the birdhouse and then down at the turtles she'd been looking at. "And this little turtle." she pointed, picking it up and handing it over to him. "I have -" she paused, holding up a finger and lifting her wallet from her purse. "about twenty bucks that I can give you as a deposit so you know for sure I'll come back for these." she smiled. "Not that I'm taking them but -" she shrugged. "I'm so excited I found this." @milesxvaughn

"Wow it's been awhile." Emma smiled a little wider, despite the fact that the mention of the restaurant made her heart sink a little. "I'd remember those eyes anywhere." she laughed; a bit of a flirtatious banter, sure, yet she'd remembered vividly all the times she'd told him that same thing growing up. It had often been how she'd known it was him before she fully saw his face growing up. "How are you, Andrew Cowan?" she asked, using his full name to register that she knew exactly who he was. "You and that brother of yours still causing chaos? I imagine without the mudpies these days." @drewxcowan

"I'll never complain about that." Chloe smiled warmly in Emma's direction as she picked up the contents of the craft to begin working while she spoke with Emma. "The library sounds like it's going to have some fun events this summer." She had seen a few advertisements go up around Kismet Harbor. "Lainey is great. We just celebrated her first birthday not that long ago, actually." It had popped up, seemingly out of nowhere. The first year of everything had been going by so quickly, she was having a hard time keeping up with it all. "She's on the move more than ever now. I forgot what it's like to chase a kid around. I was much younger the first time around." @emmajlin

"I'm working on trying to build up enough stuff to have fun things all year round, but, of course during the summer is when the majority of our clientele comes in." she began, knowing that mentioning the older kids being out of school wasn't necessary. "But we do have a lot. There's actually an entire water themed week middle of July I think and I'm hoping we can maybe rent a space in town to put up a few bounce houses and water slides and get some actors or something for some different types of things; all with water themed stories, crafts and snacks." she stated. "I'm trying anyways, I need to clarify the final plans with the mayor, but -" she exhaled, realizing at this point she were just rambling. It was only when the other admitted to Lainey already being a year old that Emma let her gaze shift from the project to the other. "How is she already a year old?" Emma questioned, a slight shake of her head. "I feel like she was a tiny little thing whenever I met her for the first time, which feels like yesterday." she stated. "I can imagine it came just as naturally to you though." @chloexgallo

Letting Emma take the lead, Abraham led his horse out until they were on the trails. They were quiet for a moment, but it wasn't one that needed to be filled immediately. For that, he could be grateful. He found that too many people spoke just to hear themselves talk, but he could tell that Emma was far more intentional. "These views are stunning." He couldn't help but agree. Despite living on the property, he was often in awe of them, taking brief pauses to take in all of the beauty. "I do, yeah. It's important for me to get out here and ride a couple times of week. For the horses too. Not everyone comes to visit their horses, so I try to rotate who gets out." @emmajlin

"Wait they don't?" Emma paused, gaze only shifting from the view in front of them to the other for a second, then her gaze landing on the horses they were riding. "I can't imagine having a horse and never coming out here." she exhaled. "It's like those people that have dogs and cats and never do anything with them." she exhaled, blinking. If she thought about it long enough she'd cry. A softy at heart. "Would it be helpful if you had someone that consistently came out to take those horses on rides?" she questioned. "I know with Lightening here it was a request of the family but would that be something you'd allow? I've been wanting to do a little more volunteering in areas that I'm not strong in like animals or things that don't require reading book." she shrugged. "And I think coming out here once a week, couple times a week, would be therapeutic." @abrahamxwhitney

An exhale as she nodded, lips pressed together in a thin line. "It was." she nodded, shrugging. "I'm glad that at that time I was working in publishing, but, the thing with kids that start reading young is that they usually never stop. The amount of Emma's I get in the library now that are so happy that we share a name is kind of adorable." she exhaled. Emma loved kids in general, and was happy that she worked in the library now where she was able to host things like story time, arts and crafts, a lot of things. Not to mention the kids loved it as well. She hadn't even realized she'd made the comment about the rain in Forks, Washington until the other commented, causing Emma's cheeks to flush. "I'm not, no. I'm from here, Kismet Harbor actually." she paused. "I'm just an avid reader, and went through a small Twilight phase; you know, the book series?" she paused. "Forks, Washington is where the story takes place if you're unfamiliar and it's known for rain. Anyways, sorry, didn't mean to go nerd on you." she exhaled, closing her eyes for a moment as if to give herself a moment to gain her composure back. "The state is really pretty though, I went for work once." she nodded, smiling softly back at him. As the other admitted that he needed to go, Emma nodded. "As did I." she nodded, preparing to leave the man with his umbrella and brave the rain to her car. Only as he held his hand out towards her, offering his umbrella, her own hand took it, smile widening. "Thank you, Daniel. I'll see you around; you'll get this back, I promise." @daehyunxkwon

"No need to thank me, these are beautiful." she smiled. "If anything I should be thanking you for giving me something this beautiful to look at." she smiled. Emma was partial to things that made someone's yard look even more colorful, and she loved it even more when they were homemade. Not that she was against factory made products but in most cases she'd found that handmade products were sturdier, or at the end of it if they did break they were willing to help find a solution to fix it and that wasn't the kind of customer service you got a lot. "I'm not worried about the price." she stated. "Well, I mean I am because I unfortunately don't have that much cash on me but if you can hold them until this afternoon I can come by in a few hours with the rest?" she paused. "They're so pretty, and I'm pretty sure I'll never forgive myself if I don't go home with those." @milesxvaughn

"Daniel." She repeated, smile widening. "Suits you well." she added, letting herself walk at the same pace as him. Not that she had to adjust much she was typically a rather slow walker, allowing herself as much opportunity as she could manage to sight see, look around, anything her heart truly desired. That's the kind of person she'd always been; take life slowly, passionately, never let a moment go for granted. And even on days when she was on a more tight schedule she tried to follow that logic as often as she could. Standing under the other's umbrella, leaning in just a little closer to get out of the rain. "It's both a blessing and a curse." she laughed in response to her name. "Easy enough to remember." she started. "But also the same name as half the small children in the world now." she admitted, a shrug. Not that she hated her name; she actually loved it. But it had definitely gotten a lot more common through the years. "No, this rain is not at all what I was expecting. A shower, maybe some heavy rain but this feels more like Forks, Washington type rain to me." @daehyunxkwon