Chapter Twenty
Emma
Emma forced herself to focus on replenishing cupcakes and desserts instead of the thousand questions buzzing in her head.
Karine arrived and glanced around the ballroom. “Well?”
“Well what?”
“Did Vince come?”
Emma clucked her tongue. “Yes. I put the desserts out already. I think we're in good shape now.”
Karine planted her hands on her hips. “What happened with him?”
“Nothing.” Emma glanced at the celebration. Was Vince still out there? No, why would he be? He was likely halfway back to Newport by now. She motioned at the tables. “We have enough going on tonight.”
Karine raised a brow. “Let me worry about that. You didn’t talk to him?”
Emma pinned her gaze on Karine. “A little. Thanks for the heads up, by the way. Talk about blindsiding me.”
Karine shooed that with a wave. “Blindsided, how? The poor man wanted to talk to you. What’s wrong with that?”
Emma sighed. “You know exactly what’s going on.”
Karine’s expression turned nonchalant. “So, maybe you two can get a room here tonight and—talk.”
Emma groaned. “Not happening. I asked him to leave.”
“You what?” Karine’s eyes widened.
“It’s not that simple, Karine, and you know it.” Emma bit her lip. “We have too many complications to make anything work.”
“Oh, you can’t fool me with that excuse.” Karine waved again. “That’s just you trying to protect yourself. But I’ve seen how happy you were with him. And tonight, I saw a guy who is so crazy about you, that he came to see me and brought desserts up here to Providence just to have the chance to talk to you.” She raised her index finger. “If you can’t see that, then we need to take you to an optometrist right away.”
After Karine called her out, Emma threw her hands up. “What does it matter? He’s leaving soon. Leaving. I know how the military works and dealing with separations is tough. We’re better off going our own ways. That way nobody gets hurt.”
“And nobody feels anything. They merely exist.” Karine’s words hung in the air like a rain cloud, adding to Emma’s sense that she might have made a mistake.
All she wanted to do was wrap herself in a bubble, that way no one got hurt. “You don’t know what it’s like, Karine. John adores you. He’d never hurt you.”
“Life is full of pain, Emma. Love sometimes more. But with the right person, it’s all worth it.”
Emma shuffled her feet. Was there any truth to that?
“If you can’t take a chance on chasing happiness, you’ll never find it.” Karine clapped her hands. “And on that note, I’m back to work. You’re a grown woman and you can make your own decisions.”
After she walked away, Emma’s doubts rose to the bright, sparkling chandeliers. Had she made a mistake by pushing Vince away tonight?
She stared at the clock. The minutes counted down to that significant midnight hour—to a new year she might start with regret.
Vince
Vince paced through the hotel lobby. A pop made him duck. Shit, it was only one of those mini champagne poppers. Not a treat for anyone who dealt with explosives for a living. He attempted to slow his breathing.
Angelo and Catherine arrived less than fifteen minutes later.
Angelo noted, “We lucked out with a Lyft.”
“Thanks for coming.” Vince greeted them both. He turned to Catherine. “I’m sorry I dragged you out too.”
Catherine waved her hand. “We’re family now, Vince.” She grinned. “I’m glad we came. Otherwise, we’d be settling into the role of old married couple far too quickly.”
Angelo scanned the lobby. People milled about drifting from the ballroom. “Come on, let’s find someplace to go besides this stuffy hotel.”
Twenty minutes later, Vince, Angelo and Catherine squeezed into a sports bar around the corner from the hotel.
Once they had their drinks and a spot at a high-top, Vince raised his glass. “Happy New Year.” His tone lacked any enthusiasm.
Angelo noted, “It could be worse, right?”
Vince grunted. “True. I’ve had some rough ones.”
Catherine asked, “Do you want to talk about what happened?”
“Nope.” Vince took a big sip of his beer and stared at the glass. “I’m guessing my big brother told you.”
“He gave me the gist of it.” Her voice was gentle.
Vince shook his head. “How did I fuck this up so badly?”
“You didn’t.” Angelo patted him on the back. “You gave it a shot and that’s all you can do. She made her decision for whatever reasons she had. It sucks, but you move on.”
“She thinks of me no better than her father and her ex-husband, both who were in the military and cheated on their wives. She thinks I’ll do the same.”
Catherine nodded with an understanding look. “Trust takes a long time to build after it’s been shattered. She might come around.”
Vince took a chug and recalled her rejecting him. “I wouldn’t count on it.”
Angelo and Catherine exchange a glance. Angelo tapped the bar. “A new year is starting in an hour. The perfect time for new beginnings.”
Vince had to drag himself up from brooding. He wasn’t going to ruin their New Year’s celebration by wallowing. “What do you two have planned for the year ahead?”
“Are you about to sound like Ma and ask if we’ll be giving her any grandchildren soon?” Angelo drank his beer.
Catherine replied before Vince could respond. “Not yet. We’re still in the newlywed period. Moving in together, adjusting to married life, and Angelo starting a new career outside of the Navy are big enough life challenges right now.”
“Sounds like it,” Vince replied. “I’m happy for you both.” Vince pointed at their near empty glasses. “Are you ready for another round?”
The sound of sirens outside grabbed his attention. Seconds later the bright flashing lights of police cars streaked by the front windows of the bar. Soon after, two more cars passed.
Vince straightened, his senses naturally homed in to determine the threat level. With the number of them passing, something big must have been going on nearby.
“I’ll be right back.” Vince headed over to the front window, but with too many people squeezed into the bar, the view was blocked.
When he squeezed over to the front door, Angelo appeared beside him.
“It sounds like it’s nearby. I’m going to see what’s going on.”
“I’m coming with you. Let me get Catherine.”
“I’m right here.” She stepped beside Angelo. “You two jumped to see what happened so quickly, like guard dogs respond when someone rings the doorbell.”
“Sorry, babe. Can’t turn it off, you know?” Angelo said.
Did that heightened level of awareness ever turn off?
“I understand,” Catherine replied.
Vince squeezed out the front door and breathed in the cool night air, so refreshing after the heated congestion in the bar. Angelo was right behind him. Another police car drove by. Vince rushed in that direction, following the flashing lights around the corner. Half a dozen responders were parked in front of the hotel he’d just left—the hotel where he’d left Emma.
His heart stuttered. What the fuck was going on?
He ran to the hotel. He had to get to her and make sure she was safe.
Chapter Twenty-One
Emma
When she heard the order to evacuate, Emma thought it had to be a prank.
As she and Karine passed some first responders moving deeper into the hotel, the seriousness of the situation set in. Murmurs of voices grew louder as the crowd funneled out of the lobby that was as congested as salmon swimming upstream.
Concerned voices. Questions. Fear.
Once she finally exited the hotel, she gulped at the fresh air. So many flashing
lights from police cars made her blink. A cool breeze hit her face.
“I’m glad you grabbed our coats.” She took the coat Karine offered. A December night in Rhode Island wasn’t exactly warm and cozy.
An officer directed them away from the hotel. As they followed the crowd, speculation grew louder—a bomb threat.
What?
The figure of a man rushing toward the hotel rather than away from it made her mouth fall open. It was Vince.
She raised her hand and called out. “Vince! Vince!”
He didn’t hear her. In the next second, he was swallowed by the shadows.
“Vince?” Karine repeated.
Emma’s breathing grew more rapid. “He just ran toward the hotel.” She pushed her way through the crowd, heading in that direction. “I need to get to him.”
“You can’t go back there.” Karine grabbed her arm. “They won’t let you in.”
“But—but—” Her thoughts darted. “Why would he run into a hotel under evacuation?”
She answered her own question. He was an EOD tech. If it was a bomb threat, that was what he was trained to do.
“They probably won’t let him in.” Karine put her hand on Emma’s shoulder. “We need to follow directions and get out of the way.”
Emma nodded absently and wrapped her arms around her chest as Karine directed her away from the hotel. Her gaze traveled up the height of the hotel tower, which loomed over some smaller buildings nearby.
Please just let it be another hoax.
What if it was an actual bomb? Her pulse rocketed. He was in this situation because of her. He’d come here to reach out to her and how had she reacted—she’d asked him to leave. Her stomach churned.
“It’s my fault he’s here, Karine.”
“No. Don’t think that. You’re not responsible for what’s going on in there.”
“He came here to talk to me, but I was too stubborn and scared. I could have at least said that we could talk about it tomorrow, and then he’d be headed back there, back to where he’d be safe.” She raised a trembling hand to motion to the hotel. “Not there.”
“Stop that, Emma.” Karine used her let’s-get-to-work voice. “If we’re going to go down that road, then I’m just as much to blame because I told him where to find you. But we’re not going to go down that path. Do you hear me? Because that’s not going to help the situation.”
Emma swallowed and nodded. “Okay, you’re right. I don’t know what to do. What should I do? How can I help him?”
“Exactly what you’re doing. We need to get out of the way and let them do their jobs. This is what they are trained to handle.”
Emma stood and rocked on the balls of her feet while her thoughts collided in her brain, ready to explode. Vince was right. He was nothing like Peter, nothing like her father. Vince dedicated his life to dealing with situations like this so he could help strangers, not expecting any thanks or accolades. He was incredibly brave and kind. Noble and honorable.
“He was right—and you’re right,” Emma said to Karine.
“About what?”
“I’m letting my past destroy my future.”
“It’s not too late to change that,” Karine encouraged.
Right. What rose through the chaos in Emma’s brain was that she had to ignore the fear of being hurt again and be brave like Vince. If he could rush headlong toward a hotel with a bomb threat, she could take one small step closer to him to see if they could make a relationship work.
She could do that.
Emma picked up the phone, but it went right to voice mail. Would he even hear his phone ring in this chaos?
She left a message.
“Vince, they told us to evacuate. I’m outside with Karine and saw you headed to the hotel. Please come meet me or let me know where I can find you.” She glanced at their surroundings and noted the street they were heading down and some landmarks. Before she ended the call, she added, “Be careful.”
Vince
Vince ran toward the flashing of the police lights, heading for the main entrance. He had to get Emma.
People were rushing out of the lobby, and the police had already cordoned off the area with yellow tape.
He approached an officer. “I have to get inside. My girl—someone I care about is in there.”
“I can’t let you in,” the young woman replied. “Everyone is being evacuated. You have to find her out here.”
Fuuuckkk!
He walked away from the officer, trying to assess what he could from a distance. Where was Emma? He searched the crowd to look for a woman at her height with brown hair pulled up into a twist.
Damn it! If he hadn’t tried to slow things down that night when he’d freaked out over the photos of O’Brien’s family, they might have been having a different night together. If he’d manned up and asked her to go out on New Year’s Eve, a symbolic night starting off a fresh new year together, she might not have been at this hotel tonight and in danger.
He’d let fear guide him and he had fucked it all up.
He glanced over to where he’d last seen his brother running toward an ambulance to offer his assistance as a paramedic. He spotted Angelo and jogged over to him.
“You okay?” Vince asked.
Angelo’s nodded, but his expression was grim. He whispered, “Bomb threat.”
Those two words made Vince’s skin tingle as if a thousand microscopic bugs had buried into his flesh.
“Fuck.” His stomach hollowed. The threat here in the States affecting someone he cared about hit him like he’d been run over by a tank. “I’m going over.”
Angelo rubbed his beard. “I need to make sure Cate gets home safe and then I’ll be back.”
Vince nodded and ran in search of a senior ranked member on the police force. Police dogs and their handlers entered the hotel, reminding him of his younger brother, Matty, a K-9 handler overseas with his SEAL team.
Near a police cruiser with lights flashing, Vince found a lieutenant who just ended a call.
Vince said, “I’m an EOD tech in the Marines. I heard it’s a bomb threat and I can help.”
The lieutenant nodded. “Thanks, but we have it covered.”
Vince grimaced. Of course they did. This was their jurisdiction and they had their own SWAT teams and bomb units. These responders were likely well-trained and equipped to deal with the situation, so Vince couldn’t interfere despite the raging drive to do so.
As Vince watched the scene unfolding before him, all his concerns about being in a relationship unraveled as easily as if it had been constructed by fragile threads. He’d been so convinced that he’d be the one whose life could be threatened during his time in the military, and that he could leave someone a widow, like O’Brien’s wife. But shit could happen to anyone, anywhere. Robberies, active shooters, bomb threats…
Was he fooling himself hiding behind this fragile shell that shielded him from getting close to anyone?
O’Brien might have had it right. He’d lived his life to the fullest in the short time he had. He’d made others happy and had found happiness himself. It was time for Vince to man up and take a risk and live instead of watching life from a distance.
Another officer approached. “Sir, you need to leave the area.”
Vince nodded in acknowledgment and backed away. No, he wasn’t useless in this situation. He could do something. For someone.
Even if Emma didn’t want him in her life, he could at least try to find her and get her to a safe place.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Emma
Blocks down the road away from the hotel, Emma paced and touched her shamrock necklace.
“Can we pause for a second?” Emma asked Karine. “I want to text him.”
“Sure.” Karine pointed to a bench. “We’ve got to be close to half a mile from the hotel.”
Far enough from a blast zone. But what about Vince?
Emma and Karine found a bench in front of a close
d clothing store and waited. Late-night revelers passed them wearing New Year’s crowns and talking loudly, oblivious to the situation at the hotel. Emma envied their ignorant bliss since anxiety gnawed on her every nerve.
She texted Vince with their location and added. Please let me know where you are. Are you okay?
Karine squeezed her shoulder. “There’s nothing worse than wondering.”
“It sucks,” Emma agreed.
A small group of twenty-somethings nearby started the countdown. “10-9-8…”
Another group down the sidewalk joined in. Ah shit, she was caught in the cross-hairs of celebrations when she’d never felt less in the mood in her entire life.
“7-6-5-4-3-2-1.”
“Happy New Year,” Karine said.
Emma groaned. “Happy New Year,” she mumbled. If there was a prize for the most lackadaisical declaration, she’d have won it. “Sorry, I don’t feel like celebrating.”
“I know. Just trying to distract you.”
People kissed and embraced. More “Happy New Year” sentiments followed. Emma stared at a crack in the sidewalk, hoping the moment would soon pass and people would move on.
It took several more ice ages before that happened.
A man strode with purpose through a group of meandering teens. Her heart revved and kickstarted like she was in a Motley Crue video. She touched her necklace and stood. Was this a dream?
“Oh my God, he’s okay.”
Karine rose. “Where is he?”
Emma pointed. “Right there.” She ran over to Vince.
As she approached, their eyes locked, and she froze. She took in a sharp breath and it lodged somewhere in her throat.
He took a step towards her. “Emma, you’re okay.”
“Of course.” She smiled. “You’re the one who went running into danger.”
“I had to make sure you were okay.”
Her hands trembled as she covered her heart. “Vince…”
“I got your message and rushed here as fast as I could.”
Vince: One Night with a Marine: A Second Chance Military Romance (Anchor Me Book 2) Page 17
