“Nothing. Just a headache. I was just going in to take something and lie down until it’s gone.”

“Uh-uh.” Eyes dark with concern, Emma took a long study. “I know that face. Not just a headache.You’re upset.”

“I’m upset I have a headache.”

Emma merely shifted until her arm looped around Laurel’s waist. “Then we’ll walk over to the house together, and I’ll badger you until you tell me what happened to give you a headache.”

“For God’s sake, Emma, everybody gets headaches. That’s why they make headache pills. Go fuss over your flowers instead of me. It’s irritating.”

“As if that’s going to work.” Ignoring Laurel’s bad-tempered shrug, Emma kept her arm in place and matched Laurel’s pace. “Did you have a fight with Del?”

“No. And my moods, aches, days, nights, my life doesn’t revolve exclusively around Delaney Brown.”

“Um-hmm, something or someone else then.You might as well tell me. You know I won’t leave you alone until you do. Don’t make me have to rough you up to get it out of you.”

Laurel nearly laughed, but sighed instead. When Emma thought a friend was hurting, she’d stick like glue. “I just had a run-in with Scary Linda, that’s all. She’d give anyone a headache.”

“She was here?” Emma stopped in her tracks, looked over toward Mac’s studio. “Mac and Carter are gone, right?”

“Yeah. When I spotted Linda it didn’t look like that was going to stop her from walking right in.”

“It wouldn’t. She actually had the nerve to come here after Parker told her, flat-out, not to? Did Parker—?”

“Parker’s at a meeting.”

“Oh. So just you. I wish I’d come out before, then she’d know the true wrath of Emmaline.”

Which, when roused, Laurel thought, was considerable—if only because it was rare. “I got rid of her.”

“Yeah, but it obviously upset you.You’re going to sit out on the terrace in the shade while I get you some aspirin and a cold drink. Then you’re going to tell me exactly what happened.”

She could argue, but not only would it be useless, it would make the entire business more important than it was. Or should be.

“I want the sun.”

“Fine, you’ll sit in the sun. Crap, is the crew still here?”

“No, they left a while ago.”

“Good, then it’ll be quiet. I didn’t appreciate enough how Mac and Carter dealt with the whole ‘life in a construction zone’ thing until they started work on my place, and your mudroom. Former mudroom. Here, sit down.”