Hope Unbroken (Unveiled Series Book 3)

by Walton, Crystal

  I woke up before Jaycee—courtesy of my internal alarm clock, which was forever set for seven a.m. After a quick shower, I crept down the hall. Aside from the soft hum of the pre-programmed coffeemaker, the house was soundless. I stopped at the edge of the living room.

  Trevor had fallen asleep in one of the recliners with a game controller still in his hand and one too many drained energy drinks left on the coffee table. A. J. must’ve headed back to school last night.

  Not wanting to wake anyone, I set my bag in the entryway, lugged Trevor’s leather jacket over my arms, and slipped through the front door to greet the morning. A couple of steps onto the cold concrete stoop sent me jumping back to the welcome mat.

  A. J.’s Acura lined the curb. He was still here? Had I missed him inside?

  A gust of damp air rolled up the street. I tucked one side of the oversized jacket into the other and faced the sunlight cresting over the house across the street.

  Standing there, I couldn’t help daydreaming about the future—picturing what Riley and my house would look like, what it’d be like to wake up together every day.

  I called his cell without another thought. It didn’t occur to me until after the fourth ring that he might’ve still been asleep.

  “Did I wake you?” I said as soon as he answered.

  “No, I’ve been up for a while.”

  Something wasn’t right. His tone was off, unsteady.

  “Em, we need to talk. Listen, I—”

  A sharp, grating voice filtered through the line. I knew that sound. Knew that voice. But it didn’t make sense.

  “Who’s that in the background?” I gripped the railing.

  He exhaled. “I’m taking care of it.”

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  Not that it mattered. His deliberate pause said enough.

  “What is she doing here, Riley?”

  Another tense exhale. “Nick sent her.”

  I shed my jacket, all of a sudden burning up. “I’ll be right there.”

  “Wait,” he said. “We’re not at my place.”

  “What?” Where else would they’ve been?

  His pause stretched long enough to give my abs an entire workout.

  “We’re outside your apartment,” he said. “She didn’t come to see me, Em. She came to see you.”

  chapter twenty-seven

  Surrender

  “I’ll be right there,” I repeated, weaker this time. I hung up. But instead of turning to go inside, I folded onto the porch steps with my arms wrapped around my legs and a marginal grasp on my phone.

  What was Jess doing here? Did Nick have some new ultimatum up his sleeve?

  “I didn’t expect to see you up this early,” A. J. said from the end of the driveway.

  I lifted my eyes toward the sound but stayed still.

  He jogged up, still sweating from what must’ve been a lengthy run. He stopped short in front of the porch, looked behind him and back, and studied my face. “Everything all right?”

  His emotional barometer was almost as attuned as Jaycee’s.

  I drew myself up by the railing. “I need to get back to campus.”

  “O-kay,” he said in two drawn-out syllables. “I’ll give you a ride. Let me grab my stuff real quick.”

  I followed him inside the house. He veered into the bathroom at the same time Jaycee emerged from her bedroom. Led by her nose, which appeared to be the only part of her awake, she stumbled straight for the coffeemaker.

  “I was wondering where you were.” She stared at me for a second before shuffling over to her mug on the counter. “What’s wrong?”

  Wow. I wasn’t a completely open book or anything, was I? At least she’d understand.

  “Jess is on campus.”

  Jaycee froze with her cup halfway to her mouth.

  “She must’ve flown overnight. She came to see me, Jae. Not Riley. Me.” I paced across the linoleum with my heart rate skittering. No caffeine needed.

  I twisted the bottom of my shirt into a coil. “I gotta go. There’s no telling what kind of manipulation tactics this girl’s gonna try.”

  Jaycee swirled another dash of creamer in her coffee. “I thought you wanted him to pursue his career.”

  I dropped my arms to my sides. “I did. I mean, I do. It’s just . . . I have to get there.” The fight in my voice was fading by the second. “I can’t explain why.”

  She withdrew a traveler’s mug from the cabinet. “All right. Give me a sec.”

  I didn’t care who drove me home as long as we didn’t waste any more time.

  A. J. came down the hall, his hair rinsed and clothes changed. “Ready?”

  “Jaycee’s taking me.”

  He looked between the two of us, confusion morphing into concern. “Someone want to tell me what’s going on?”

  A. J. was the last person I wanted to explain it to. I grabbed my bag and flew out the door.

  “Long story,” Jaycee said as she whirled past him.

  He stopped in the doorway and watched us pull away.

  Jaycee didn’t say much on the drive. Probably still half-asleep. A single cup of coffee was barely a drop in the bucket for her. I didn’t mind avoiding one of her psychoanalysis sessions, but the silence might’ve been even worse. My mind didn’t need any more wide-open opportunities to run away with worry.

  I managed to keep the deluge of what if questions at bay until we rolled up to the curb, and Jess came into view. I dug my fingers into the edge of the seat. She was lucky I didn’t have nails. “Who steps off a redeye flight looking like one of Charlie’s angels?”

  Jaycee threw a hand over her mouth to block her laugh and tried to force a straight face. “Sorry.”

  If it were any other circumstance, I would’ve laughed with her.

  I stole a quick minute to level out my shoulders. A deep breath helped me out of the car.

  A. J. approached from one side while Riley hustled from the other, both faces creased with concern. Figured A. J. had come. And of course, he’d beaten us. Why was I not surprised?

  Riley closed in and looked from A. J. to Jaycee to me.

  Jess sidestepped around him. “Emma, just the girl I’ve been waiting for.” Her grating voice didn’t hold a note of cordiality. She was here on business. Plain and simple.

  I stared past her toward Riley.

  She peered behind her shoulder. “Relax. I’m not here to steal your boyfriend.”

  Becky and Ashlea strolled up from the bottom of the hill with stacks of library books in their hands. It only took a second for Ashlea to latch on to the sight of a gorgeous woman standing less than a few feet away from A. J. Without even knowing what was going on, her eyes pinched with noticeable jealousy. After all this time of not hanging out with us anymore, she obviously hadn’t let go of her feelings for him.

  Jess fanned her straight blonde hair over her shoulder and stared at us as if we were a group of immature college students wasting her precious time. “I’m a businesswoman, Emma. I’m here because we need to sell records. And the only way we’re going to sell records is if your boyfriend goes on tour.”

  She took another pointed stride toward me, her heels stabbing the innocent concrete. “So, I need you to tell him you’ll be just fine here without him.”

  Her patronizing, baby-talk tone was two seconds away from getting her slapped.

  I looked at Riley again. One frustration bled into another. “I’m trying,” I whispered.

  She angled forward. “Try harder.”

  A. J. butted in and glared at Jess with quickly obtained animosity. “Why don’t you back off?”

  Riley stepped up. “I can handle this.” His voice turned low but assertive.

  A devilish grin followed Jess’s back-and-forth glance between A. J. and Riley. “Well, well,” she practically sang. “I’ve underestimated you, Emma. You’re good.”

  Riley wedged himself between us. “That’s enough.”

  He stood tal
l and unmoving in front of her. Nobody else said a word. Jaycee grabbed A. J.’s forearm to keep him in place. Ashlea and Becky both cradled their books to their chests. And the tension kept me locked in the middle of it all.

  The electric silence soared past ridiculous. Something inside me snapped and sent laughter leaking out. If we had a few cameras, we could’ve been filming a reality TV show. I could hear Austin’s narration now. He’d be mumbling something about drama and my being at the center.

  I cracked. I couldn’t help it. There were at least a dozen excuses I could’ve blamed it on, stress being top of the list. I laughed so hard I almost cried.

  Bent over, I tried to wave it off. “I’m sorry.” They probably thought I’d seriously lost it. Maybe I had. I struggled for composure as I trucked down the sidewalk.

  Riley ran after me. “Em, hang on. Wait up a sec.”

  I tossed my hands in the air. “I’m done, Riley. I surrender.”

  He stopped, worry stretching into panic.

  I burrowed my fingers into my hair. “I’m done wishing I had control over time. Done trying to figure this out and trying to force things to happen.” My hands dragged down to my sides. My delirium drained away until the helplessness underneath had nothing left to hide behind.

  “I can’t convince you it’s better to go back to Nashville any more than you can convince me it’s better for you to stay. I’ll support whatever choice you make, whether it delays our future together or not.”

  Sunlight clipped over the building behind Riley and caught a slow smile leading him toward me.

  I held my ground. “I promised I was ready to spend my life with you—all of it. That doesn’t mean after we get married. That means right now. Through everything. Even if it includes being apart for a while.”

  Riley drew me close. “That’s exactly why I’m staying.” He kissed me slowly, obviously not giving a second thought to who was watching.

  “I will take care of this, Emma.”

  Drawing a breath, I nodded with complete acceptance. “I know. I trust you.”

  Trust. All this time, I’d been desperate for him to trust me. But I hadn’t trusted him in return.

  Sometimes, I swore I was the slowest learner in the history of mankind. I didn’t know what he was going to say to Jess or to Nick, but I finally realized it didn’t matter. I trusted Riley. More importantly, I trusted us.

  I squeezed his hand. “I’m gonna walk for a little bit. Clear my head.”

  Understanding touched his eyes. He kissed my fingers. “I’ll meet up with you in a while.” He jogged back to where we left Jess and the others, and I headed in the opposite direction.

  Walking had always been therapeutic for me. Especially around the campus. Its familiar paths and secluded nooks were an inseparable part of my college experience—one I’d never forget and would always miss. Faithful as usual, the solitude welcomed me one more time.

  The longer I walked, the deeper reassurance sank its roots. Life might never follow the road I had planned. But maybe freedom was less about actually reaching my destination and more about simply living the moments leading to it.

  Regardless which route life took us on or how long it’d take us to get there, Riley and I would walk together. Always. Through the delays and roadblocks. Through commencement, sorting out his record deal, and confronting Mr. Preston’s decision about our wedding. Even through the one event I still had no idea how I’d survive.

  chapter twenty-eight

  Last Dance

  With my final paper turned in and exams completed, I should’ve been riding the freedom wave. Two weeks of rushing through the start of May had quarantined Jess’s failed mission to some cobwebby corner of my mind. Still, a grip of unrest wouldn’t let me go. It’d been mounting all semester. And the minute I walked into the center for my last day of work, it almost demolished me from the inside out.

  I never dreamed I’d reach a day of wishing for more paperwork to do, but staying busy was the only thing keeping me together. The center had sown as much into me as I’d sown into it. Maybe more. It probably didn’t make sense to be so attached after only a year. But it honestly didn’t matter what logic said. My heart had a mind of its own.

  Spending all morning trying not to cry in front of the kids had depleted just about every ounce of energy I had. I’d chugged a bottle of iced tea after lunch and honed all my attention on to my office duties for the rest of the day. I jotted down every detail I could think of, leaving instructions for whoever’d be taking my place.

  Aside from a few open-ended comments, Trey’d left me to my OCD behavior until Ms. Mendierez entered the office. He hovered beside my desk with a feigned look of surprise at her stopping by. At least he hadn’t thrown me a going away party or something. Individual goodbyes had been hard enough.

  Ms. Mendierez inched her purse strap up her slender shoulder. “I can’t stay long, but I wanted to be sure I told you.” She looked down at her waitress uniform. “This is my last week at the café. I got a new job.”

  I’d watched life return to her eyes over the last few months, but today they seemed more alive than ever. “That’s awesome. Congratulations.”

  She tucked her hands inside her apron’s front pocket and arched her shoulders. “I finally figured out what I want to do with my life, thanks to you. And when I heard there was going to be a vacant spot here, I just knew it was right.”

  My glance ricocheted from her to Trey and back. Here? The pieces came together more slowly than they should’ve.

  She lifted her chin with a gained sense of dignity. “I may have lost my baby, but that doesn’t mean I have to stop being a mama.” She peered out the back door to the basketball court. “Those boys need someone in their lives to love on them, encourage their dreams.” She faced me again. “I have big shoes to fill, Emma, but I’m willing to try.”

  It was the perfect fit for her. Nothing could’ve made me happier. The tears I’d been stifling all day just about won the war.

  “And I’m not the only one you inspired. Mrs. Jackson did it,” she said. “She opened her Mama’s Café.”

  I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t blink. Positive if I moved at all, that’d be it. The avalanche would be relentless.

  Trey lifted off the side of the desk and showered us with an intuitive smile. “It’s amazing how many dreams are simply waiting for us to take that first step of faith.”

  Perspective. He’d never lost it. Not once. And of course, he’d been right all along.

  “Well, then.” Ms. Mendierez cleared her throat and dabbed the skin under her eye. “You take care of yourself, Emma.” She held out a hand.

  Without hesitation, I threw my arms around her instead and held on for longer than she was probably comfortable with. “You be strong and courageous.”

  With a slight quiver across her shoulders, she held me tighter. “For Dee,” she whispered.

  “For Dee.”

  She squeezed both my hands, smiled with her eyes, and strode for the door. I stayed at my desk and, once again, stared at another reminder of the legacy Dee’s life had left behind.

  A hint of the sunset streamed through the door as it slowly shut behind her.

  I choked back the rise of emotion. If I’d made it this far without crying, I could finish strong.

  I dove into my work for another couple of hours and steeled myself a little more with each hug goodbye. By the time eight o’clock rolled around, my desk was officially spotless. There wasn’t a single paper left to file or a voicemail to record.

  Aside from Trey, everyone else had already left for the day. I strolled through the quiet building, brushing my fingers across furniture as I passed. Each desk. Each corner. I memorized every scene for fear they’d deteriorate with time.

  I saved the basketball court for last. Even newly renovated, it still held too many memories to count. On the bench, I locked one arm under the other and leaned into the bricks.

  It wasn’t goodbye forever. I p
romised I’d see the kids every time I came in town to visit Jaycee and Trevor. It’d be okay. Wouldn’t it?

  “Thought you weren’t supposed to be here alone,” A. J. said from the fence.

  I hooked a thumb toward the door. “Trey’s inside. What are you doing here?”

  He sauntered across the court with a lopsided grin. “Kids aren’t the best at keeping secrets. They told me it was your last day.”

  Of course they did.

  He dropped onto the bench beside me. Chuckling, he reached for the paperclip pinning my bangs out of my face. “Rough day?”

  “You could say that.”

  “I kind of figured it would be. Thought I’d swing by to make sure you were all right.”

  Head lowered, I tugged the zipper on my jacket up and down. “That’s sweet. I’m fine, though. Really.”

  “Fine?” He made a face. “Mm hmm.”

  How many times had he heard me say that one? “Okay, a tad emotional.”

  He laughed. “Still trying to win those understatement of the year awards, huh?”

  I shoved his shoulder, but he pressed his arm right back into mine. We sat there, side by side. No words. Just friendship. Memories.

  “I can’t believe we’re finally here,” he said. “Graduation, I mean.”

  “Tell me about it. Seems surreal, doesn’t it?”

  He stretched out his legs and crossed one ankle over the other. “Guess we can’t suspend time, after all.”

  I tried not to snort. “Story of my life.” I looked out toward the top of the court. How could four years have passed so quickly? “It drives us forward whether we’re ready or not.”

  “Oh, I think we’re ready.” As usual, his voice rang full of confidence.

  “You’re that sure, huh?”

  He lifted off the wall and angled toward me. “Sometimes you just know when it’s the right time to move on.”

  Maybe. But letting go was the hard part. I gripped the edge of the bench. “So, what are you going to do after graduation?”