In that moment, Emily felt every bit the 17-year old she was; gone was the adventurous yet pensively inquisitive woman-child she was with Sonny; in its place stood a shocked and somewhat guilty teenager frightened beyond belief.
“Uh, yeah,” she finally managed as she ushered the man inside.
Mustering up a confidence she desperately hoped she was projecting, with a trembling hand, Emily reached for the birth control pill dispenser.
“I was on my way out and stopped in the foyer to take a call; I noticed it on the floor, behind the hall table.” His response to the question reflected in her eyes was direct, yet emotionless. “And no,” she was reassured, “I don't believe anyone else saw it.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Emily exclaimed.
Momentarily pushing aside the hesitancy the man's intense stare invoked, with the emotional impulsiveness she'd come to be known for exhibiting towards family, she engulfed him in a heartfelt embrace.
“You're welcome,” he half-laughed.
With an amazingly effortless ease, Justus Ward simultaneously returned the embrace and smoothly managed to maintain his footing as he recovered from Emily's exuberant outburst. Slowly disengaging himself from Emily's embrace, Justus fixed his serious gaze upon his cousin.
“But your thanks may be pre-mature.”