He brushed a kiss on her forehead and pulled her in for a hug, resting his chin on the top of her head. She breathed in the scent. Emmie felt herself relax. All too soon he let go of her and took a step back saying hello to Gabe and Ava.
They shared pleasantries. Ava asked about his family and if they had settled in. Silas and Patrick had taken a train earlier in the week to Louisville to meet their family first. Emmie was going to be meeting them all tonight right before the Halloween party and her stomach was in knots. He’d asked her to come up early and meet his family but Emmie decided to wait until this evening. She didn’t know why she was so nervous. Other than Trick, he rarely talked about his family.
If Emmie thought her train car had been elaborately decorated, it didn’t hold a candle to the lobby of the hotel. From the outside, it looked like any other nice hotel they had driven past. But the inside was so unique; it was what set it apart. The windows were huge with pointy gothic arches. The chairs were deep hues of green, blue, and red. An elaborate staircase with a dark wooden banister cascaded down from the second floor. White marble floors echoed her footsteps. It was relatively empty and though it was elaborate, the feel was like a cavernous medieval castle.
“You like it?” Silas asked.
“It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She’d never in her life set foot in a place like this. She forgot how to walk in its beauty, so she stood and gawked at her surroundings while Ava, Gabe and Silas made plans for when to meet up that evening.
“Well, if it isn’t Miss Emmie Shimmy,” Vince’s voice boomed. She’d missed his arrival. He was just releasing his sister and coming for Emmie.
“You better not.” She laughed coming out of her stupor. There was no pool around but there was nothing Vince loved better than to find a way to razz her. She took a step backward to no avail. He was there in no time. He gripped her in a bear hug and whispered in her ear. “You’ve done good, Emmie.”
She pulled back and looked at him surprised. I’ve done good? She didn’t ask the question aloud but it showed in her eyes. He gave her a quirk of a smile that answered her question. She could see it in his face. Somehow, he’d been filled-in on everything that had happened in his absence and he was proud of her. That was odd. As quickly as he appeared, he slapped Silas on the shoulder and led the way to the stairs, heading off to his room.
Silas and Gabe walked the girls to their room and then headed to theirs. Emmie was meeting Silas early to get the family introductions out of the way before the party started. Although that was still hours away, her heart was already in her throat. When you live in a tiny town you rarely meet new people, much less new people who you hope will be your family someday. The thought caught in her stomach and swam around for a while making her feel more nauseous.
The hotel room was absolutely stunning. It was more of an apartment than a room and decorated in the same European-castle feel. The lush fabrics of the sitting area were so inviting. Ava squealed and clapped her hands, taking her costume from her luggage. She hung the dress in the closet and carefully smoothed out the nonexistent wrinkles.
“Can you believe it is actually here? Oh, Emmie I love my costume, thank you so much,” she cooed.
Emmie smiled. “You’ll be stunning.”
Emmie found her suitcase was already in the bedroom. She pulled out her own lovely black lace dress. Ava was right, it didn’t really look like a costume. Still though, she knew she’d made the sensible decision—black silk and lace should be worn more than one night. She smoothed out the dress mocking Ava’s motions. She headed back to the living area and the small hallway closet. She hung her dress next to Ava’s. She turned around and Ava was pouring something from a little silver flask. She poured a tiny amount in a cup and handed it to Emmie and then did the same for herself.
“What is this?” Emmie asked.
“Oh, just a special autumn drink to kick off the celebration.” She grinned and held her hand out to clink glasses.
Emmie followed her motion and the girls tipped back the cup at the same time. She smiled before she even got the drink all the way down.
“How did you get it?” she wondered aloud.
“Silas. He left it hidden in the closet for us. They told me to check the closet for surprises while you were in your daze downstairs. I still cannot believe you made this,” Ava said, touching her lips.
Emmie could still feel the warmth of the apple pie in her throat. He knew her well, she did need a shot of courage but more than that, she needed a shot of something that reminded her of home. She felt uncomfortable in her surroundings and that one sip of apple pie grounded her. How could he know that?
But, they’d come to know quite a bit about one another over the last few weeks. Just a couple of days before he left, he had taken her to the barn to search for the mysterious box of photographs that Ronnie’s note had alluded to. Silas climbed into the rafters while she watched with bated breath. He’d found it relatively quickly. But then, she already knew he was a good snooper, didn’t she?
She had waited until they got back to his car to open the box. They sat in his front seat and dug through the secrets it held. At first, she thought Ronnie had led her to a bunch of nothing. The top had a few photographs of her as a very young child. But as she dug deeper into the white tattered box, its contents got more confusing. There was a ticket to some dance at a local cave that doubled as a nightclub, a program from an event at St. Joseph, and a couple more letters from her real father. They were always signed with his initials M.V.D. One of the notes was full of beautiful words, flowers, promises. It was dated a full year before Emmie was born. The second was dated on Emmie’s first birthday. It was short and to the point, pretty much saying here is the money and how to contact me if you need more. Her heart broke for her mother. She dug deeper into the box. That’s when she saw it. A photograph dated the year before she was born. Her mother’s young face was smiling back at her. She was seated at a table leaned back against a young man. He was handsome. Emmie was sure that she had his hair and maybe even his eyes. Their almond shape was reflected in her appearance.
Emmie walked over and picked up her purse off the coffee table, unzipped the side pocket and handed the photograph to Ava.
“What’s this?” Ava asked, taking it from her friend. When she got a good look at it her eyes widened and she put her hand on her heart. But for once the move was authentic rather than dramatic.
“Your mom. Oh Emmie, you look just like her.” Her eyes gazed down at Emmie and she gave a sad smile.
“Thanks.” That really did make Emmie smile.
Ava looked back at the photograph. Her brow creased as she took a closer look. “This man is so handsome. He looks familiar.”
“That’s because I think he is my dad. See the hair… and the shape of his eyes? It’s like me, isn’t it?” Emmie asked.
Ava held the photo closer to her eyes, bit her lower lip and nodded. “That’s true. You do favor him.”
“Yeah, and if you flip it over the date was 1902. It’s the year before I was born. So, the time makes sense,” Emmie said. She was surprised how strong her voice was.
Ava put the photograph on the coffee table and walked over to hug her friend. She cradled her head and spoke softly. “We’ve got his picture and we know he lives in Chicago. We will find him.” She pulled back and held her friend at arm’s-length.
“Here.” She pulled out the flask again and poured another generous shot. “Sip that and…” she trailed off and moved back to the closet and returned with an enormous black box with an orange ribbon.
“What on earth is this? Don’t tell me you’ve already sent someone out shopping for you.” Emmie laughed.
“Not me. You’ve already had someone shopping. See?” Ava showed Emmie the tag with her name on it.
Emmie carefully pulled the ribbon and lifted the lid to the box. “Oh, my.” She covered her mouth with both hands.
Emmie had already tuned her out. She was lost in the beauty of the costume. She pulled it all the way out of the box and held it up to her body. The bodice was similar to the one she had made for Ava. But it was a beautiful royal blue. The black underskirt wasn’t as full as Ava’s orange pumpkin but the soft peacock feathers that draped down from her waist made her costume just as showy. In the bottom of the box was a beautiful headband adorned with a few blue-green peacock feathers and a big silver gem where they crossed. It was the most beautiful costume she had ever seen.
“You think Silas did this?” Emmie asked, finally registering Ava’s ramblings.
“Look for yourself,” Ava said, pulling out a card from under the tissue paper.
Dear Emmie,
The blue made me think of your eyes. Ava mentioned (a few dozen times) that you didn’t have time to make a real costume for yourself. Hope this one is okay.
Love,
Silas
***********
The knock on the door came just as she put down her lipstick. She dropped the makeup in her clutch and headed to the door. She cautiously pulled it open. There he was. She was the one in the fancy headband, wearing a dress with feathers but he was the one that looked stunning. He was in a black three-piece suit with a hat pushed low on his forehead. She smiled up at him and her heart faltered when he didn’t immediately smile back. His eyes were wide and unblinking and his mouth was set in a straight line. She opened her mouth to suggest maybe she should change into the other dress but she didn’t get the chance.
In one quick motion he pulled her in for a kiss. His mouth was on hers before she could take a breath. She tasted tobacco on his mouth; his hands slid down her bare arms and he quickly pushed himself away. The kiss was over before she was even fully aware it had started. He liked the dress.
He held a hand up and stepped away from her. “Sorry,” he shook his head and leaned down to grab her clutch. She hadn’t even realized she had dropped it. “You are beautiful.”
Emmie smiled. “It’s lovely. Thank you.” She was surprised how quiet her voice had gotten.
“You’re lovely,” he said, passing her clutch back to her. “We better go. Ma and Pop are already on their way down.”
Her heart beat up and she could feel her emotions warming her neck and chest. She grabbed her black wrap off the chair and yelled bye to Ava who was still working on her makeup.
“See you at the party,” Ava sang from the bathroom.
As Silas and Emmie were walking out, Gabe came to the door. “She still getting ready?” he asked.
Emmie nodded and waved goodbye as Silas put his hand on her back to lead her down the hall.
“Surprise, surprise,” Gabe said with a laugh as he entered the room.
“Oh, hush,” Ava said, “I’m almost finished. Here.” She rolled the flask down the hall. “Have a drink.”
Gabe decided to forgo the glass and took his swig right from the flask. He sat down on the lush navy sofa and settled in for the wait. Ava’s almost finished usually equaled to another half an hour. He didn’t mind though. Gabe leaned forward and picked up an old photo lying on the coffee table. At first glance he thought it was a picture of Emmie with another man.
“She better keep that away from Silas,” Gabe said with a laugh tossing the picture back onto the table.
“Keep what away?” Ava asked.
“That picture of her with another guy. Sort of weird that she’s brought it with her,” he mused.
“Oh, that’s not Emmie. They look alike though don’t they?” Ava shouted.
Gabe grabbed the photo again and looked at it a little more closely. Ava was right, it wasn’t Emmie. “Who is it?” he called.
“It’s her mom and some mystery lover,” she said. “Emmie thinks that is her father but we don’t know for sure. The date on the back seems right though.”
For the first time Gabe turned his attention to the guy in the picture. He squinted and jerked the photo closer to his eyes. Ava walked out of the room just in time to see him turn the photo, look at the date on the back, and then drop the photo on the table like it was on fire. He stood and ran his hands over his face. Then he put the flask up to his lips and took another long swig with his eyes closed. He replaced the cap and put it in his pocket.
“What’s wrong?” Ava asked as he paced the floor.
“Just getting ready for tonight.” He tapped the flask he’d just put in his pocket. “You look beautiful, doll,” Gabe said then pulled her in for a long slow kiss. She seemed to buy the act. He was glad that she couldn’t tell what he was feeling right now. Anger, hurt, confusion. He didn’t want her to feel any of this tonight. He didn’t want her to question him about that photograph, so he kissed her until he was sure the word photograph wasn’t even in her vocabulary. This was going to be her night. He refused to let some old photograph ruin what he’d worked months to plan.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Allison Jewell lives in southern Kentucky with her husband, two sons, and dog. When she isn’t hard at work on her next novel, she can be found doing one of her favorite things: watching her oldest son chase the puck at the local hockey rink, secretly eating her mother’s homemade brownies, hanging out at home listening to records with her husband, or making up silly songs with her youngest son. Shine On is her debut novel. She is currently editing the second book in this series, Rise and Shine.
Facebook: Allison Jewell
Twitter: @AuthorAJewell
Shine On Page 26
