She smacked him in the arm. “Ingrate.”
Far from banning them from the premises, Jessie treated them like visiting royalty. She sat them at the best table by the window and brought out a plate of her most special desserts, including mini chocolate cakes, fruit tarts, bite-sized cheesecakes, and scrumptious mousse cups. Zach wolfed down half the plate like a human vacuum cleaner. He hadn’t been kidding about the state of eating in his house.
Emily watched him inhale another mini-cake in utter fascination. “Not to sound like a boring adult, but maybe you should leave room for something with at least some nutritional value.”
“I’ll be hungry by then,” Zach said, licking chocolate icing off his fingers.
“Oh, to have a teenaged boy’s metabolism.”
Having assuaged his voracious appetite for the moment, Zach sat back in his chair with a contented sigh.
Jessie stopped by the table and touched Zach’s shoulder. “How are you holdin’ up, kid?”
“I’m all right.”
“He tellin’ the truth?” she asked, looking at Emily.
“I wouldn’t know,” Emily said. “I’m not exactly on the best of terms with the Cooper brothers right now.”
“Right. Heard about the confrontation at the grave site with the long lost Dale.” Jessie darted a careful glance at Zach. “He’s been in here a couple times.”
“My dad is still here?” Zach asked, sitting up straight.
“He’s been making job inquiries in town,” Jessie said. “Seems like he’s of a mind to stay awhile.”
“Anyone hired him yet?” Emily asked.
A grimace twisted Jessie’s lips, and she shook her head. “Old resentments are hard to get over sometimes.”
“Don’t I know it,” Emily muttered.
Jessie patted Zach on the head and ambled away. The boy clammed up then, so Emily herded him back to the car. He didn’t speak again until after she’d started the engine.
“I want to see him.”
Emily was looking over her shoulder for oncoming traffic, so she didn’t register his words. “See who?”
“My dad.”
Breaks squealed. “What?”
“You know where he is, right?”
The chocolate mousse Emily had just eaten settled like a stone in her gut. “Oh, Zach… no.”
He twisted in his seat. “Please.”
“This can’t be happening to me again,” she muttered. “I can’t take you out there.”
“Why not?”
“I can think of six-feet-two inches of why not. Your brother—”
“Doesn’t get to make every decision for me,” Zach retorted
“Technically and legally, he does.”
“Then we won’t tell him.”
“What is it with you Coopers?” she said, banging her head against the steering wheel. “Are you determined to ensure I never have a chance with Nate? It’s like a conspiracy. First Dale wanting to see your mother, then Rachel with her dying request.”
“You had my dad show up at the funeral because it was what my mom wanted?” Zach said.
“Yes, she hoped I would be able to help heal the rift. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have picked the funeral to start the proceedings. Way too much emotional upheaval already.”
“Please, Emily.”
She studied him. “Why do you want to see him?”
“I need to know what happened. Why he left.”
“For the sake of curiosity? Why aren’t you angry at him?”
“I am,” Zach said. “I’m furious that he left us, but I don’t even know who he is. Nate has memories.”
The explanation made sense in a weird way. “They have a history. You don’t.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s a bad idea,” Emily said, still trying to dissuade him.
Zach lowered his head, jutting out his bottom lip. “I thought you wanted to bring us together as a family. How can you make Mom’s last request come true if I never meet him?”
“You are so like your father,” she said on a muttered oath, knowing she’d already lost the argument.
“I am?” he asked, looking intrigued by the prospect of sharing anything with a virtual stranger.
“You’re a pretty good mixture of both your parents. Your mom’s thoughtfulness and your dad’s impossible demands.”
“He wanted to tell her the truth before she died. That’s why he came back, right?”
“Yes.”
“And you agreed with him?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“Even though you knew Nate would hit the roof?”
“Yep.”
“Don’t I deserve the truth, too?”
She jabbed a finger at him. “You’re way too young to be so logical.”
Emily backed out of the spot and headed out of town.
Zach flashed a grin so similar to the one Rachel must have found so captivating in her husband. “I’m just mature for my age,” he said. “I’ve had to grow up fast, you know.”
Emily gasped in mock outrage. “You’re already using your mother’s memory to manipulate? She’d be shocked.”
“I hope she’d be proud.” His voice shook and he swiped away a tear.
“She would be delirious with pride,” Emily said, ruffling his hair. “She’s probably showing God pictures right now and bragging about you guys until He tells her to put them away.”
“I wish Nate would forgive you. Everything would be more bearable if you were around.”
“I’m already driving you out to see your dad,” Emily said in a wry tone. “You don’t have to butter me up.”
“It’s true. Nate would be more bearable, at least.”
“I screwed up big time, Zach. I went behind your brother’s back. I’m not sure I’d forgive him if the situation were reversed. And I’m about to do it again.”
Zach grew quiet again. Perhaps nervous. Perhaps thinking of something to say. What did one say to a father you’d never met before? The teenager recoiled a little when he saw the flea-trap motel said father now called his temporary home.
“He’s staying here?” Zach asked, looking askance at the pockmarked parking lot, dirt-covered windows, and doors so dingy it was hard to say what color they’d once been.
“Exiles can’t be choosy about their accommodations,” Emily said as she pulled to a stop next to her favorite black, unmarked car. The stupid surveillance vehicle had already gotten her into so much trouble.
Zach swallowed. “What should I do?”
“You can try knocking on the door.”
He continued to stare straight ahead.
“Or… we can sit here all day,” Emily said in her most reasonable voice. “He’s bound to come out at some point. I’ve still got the bottle in the back.”
Zach shot her a dirty look and climbed out of the car.
Emily said a little prayer as he waited for Dale to open the door. “Lord, help them both. I think You’re the only one who can heal this rift.”
Dale’s eyes widened when he saw Zach. Then his expression shifted and filled with hope, like a man who’d gotten a reprieve from a death sentence. He held out his hand, and Zach took it. Tentatively, but it was enough to bring tears to Emily’s eyes.
Dale switched his gaze toward Emily, and she wiggled her fingers. Dale said something to Zach, and then the two headed across the parking lot to the coffee shop.
“Well, that went well,” she prayed again. “Maybe You’ve got more power than I give You credit for.”
When the two emerged forty minutes later, they were walking shoulder-to-shoulder. Looking at them, no one would ever guess they’d just met. Zach slipped back into the car, while Dale approached Emily’s side.
“Thank you,” he said.
A few years had been erased from the elder Cooper’s face in the last few minutes. “It was his idea,” Emily said.
“You brought him, even though it won’t make things easier between you and Nate,�
� Dale said. “I’m sorry about the other day. I should have known better than to show up at the funeral.”
“Me, too.”
His eyes gentled. “He’ll forgive you.”
“I’m not so sure.”
****
Nate stepped out of his truck at the same time Emily’s now familiar sports car turned into his driveway. For a second his pulse kicked into overdrive, and he started to smile.
Then he remembered.
Punching his father. He still couldn’t believe he’d laid the old man out flat. Emily’s face, as she’d admitted to sneaking the lying scum in to see his mother. Her shuttered expression. His own shattered heart. He swore there were jagged edges around the organ now. It still pumped, but he didn’t feel alive. Every breath he took jabbed at his insides like a bed of nails.
The sensation returned as her car came to a stop. Their eyes met through the windshield. He couldn’t be sure, but he thought she winced. He shifted to look at the passenger seat. Zach.
His brother emerged first. Emily wasn’t far behind, and then the three of them stood in the driveway staring at each other.
“Where’ve you two been?” Nate asked.
“Nowhere,” Emily said.
“Town,” Zach said at the same time.
Nate leveled a penetrating gaze on them as he regarded one then the other. Suspicion started to rise. “You guys should have gotten your stories straight.”
Zach tried on his arrogant, teenager, what-do-you-know expression. “We went to Jessie’s, okay? I’m allowed go into town, aren’t I?”
Defensive on top of the guilt-ridden eyes. What had they been up to?
Nate crossed his arms, zeroed in on Emily, and waited.
“It was my idea…” they chorused together.
“What… did… you… do?”
Emily squared her shoulders. “Zach met his father.”
Nate’s anger spiked again, consuming him. Just like it had the other day when Aurora’s stupid dog cornered him on the ladder. Any softness he’d felt on seeing Emily disappeared.
“Zach, go in the house,” he said.
“I have a right to see my own father,” Zach cried. “It was my idea, okay. I wanted to go. I made her take me.”
“I’m sure. Get in the house.”
The kid refused to back down. “She’s only trying to help.”
Nate leveled a dark gaze at his kid brother. “Zach… so help me…”
Something in his expression must have cowered Zach’s show of bravery, because his eyes widened and he sidled past, disappearing inside the house.
Nate’s blood pumped like a bass drum as he studied her. With Emily’s backup gone, she seemed to deflate. Her shoulders hung so low it was a wonder her hands didn’t brush the ground. Her foot twisted, and he’d be surprised if she didn’t end up biting a chunk off her lip. A few days ago, Nate would have held out his arms and tried to comfort her. Now, all he could see was a hazy layer of red.
“You don’t know when to quit, do you?” he asked, surprised his voice came out calm when every cell in his body threatened to explode in a fit of rage.
“Zach needed to—”
“Zach is my responsibility, and I don’t want him anywhere near Dale Cooper. Do you understand?”
“Nate, if you could have seen them—”
“Emily!”
She blinked at the harshness of his tone, and her mouth went slack. Nate hated himself for the glimpse of fear he saw in her eyes, but he couldn’t stop.
“You’re not hearing me,” he said. “Or maybe you don’t get it. So, let me put it in words you’ll understand. If you ever interfere with my family again, I’ll make one of your eight-legged creatures look like a lap dog. From now on, you stay away from my brother, and you stay away from me.”
“I had a good reason for my interference, as you call it.”
“I don’t care about your reasons.”
“But Nate—”
“Stop, Emily. Just stop. Stop everything. Stop butting in. Stop trying to explain. Stop thinking there’s a way past what you did. It’s over.”
“You can’t mean that.”
“It never should have started. I knew from the start you were a disaster waiting to happen.
Emily stumbled back as if he’d shot her. “Nate…”
“You need to leave. I’m about a minute away from turning into something you don’t want to see. Now go!”
He couldn’t look her in the eyes. Couldn’t watch Emily leave. Or call her back.
Once inside, Nate shut the door and sank back against the hard surface, exhaustion draining every drop of energy from his body. He hated who he’d become. Hated the helpless anger. Hated the hurtful, venom-filled words coming out of his mouth. Nate didn’t even recognize himself anymore and knew he had to do something before he lost control completely.
His eyes opened, and he strode over to the phone.
“Seth… I need to talk to someone.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
There comes a time when a person has to realize banging one’s head against the wall only results in a giant headache. Emily had the throbbing head and queasy stomach to prove it.
So, she’d decided to take Nate’s advice and stop. Stop begging forgiveness. Stop hoping. Stop humiliating herself. She needed to get out while she still had a tiny piece of her heart left, not to mention her self-respect. Emily had allowed one man to steal part of her soul. Never again.
Besides, she’d been bursting into tears over the most inconsequential things, like babies in strollers and squirrels digging for food. Before she knew it, she’d be locking herself in a dark room watching old Hallmark commercials and sobbing into her pillow so no one would hear and have her carted away.
Never had she imagined leaving would be so hard, though. Julia was right. Covington Falls had a kind of magical quality that seeped into your blood and wouldn’t let go. Who would have ever thought the impulsive move to take a bakery job would wind up changing her life?
Emily started the process by telling Grace her garage apartment would soon be vacant to shelter her next sad sack guest.
Grace stared at the key. “You’re leaving?”
Emily battled down a heavy dose of guilt at the disappointment in Grace’s eyes. “It’s time for me to move on,” she said, fixing her gaze on the older woman’s shoulder in order to avoid direct eye contact. “I already gave my notice to the library, which was good timing, as the regular driver is ready to resume her duties.”
“Are you leaving because of what happened with Nate?” Grace asked.
“It’s because of a lot of things. There’s no real reason to stay, is there? I’ve always known I don’t belong here. I hoped… well… it doesn’t matter what I hoped. As numerous people have told me, I’ve been living in a fantasy world, and it’s time to get back to reality. My imagination is starting to resurface. I have a life to recapture and stories to write.”
Emily made the mistake of looking. Compassion. Gentleness. Understanding. And yes a little touch of disappointment.
“But you love Nate,” Grace said. “I can hear it in your voice when you talk about him.”
“My voice will have to get over it. So will the rest of me.”
“I know he hurt you. You’ve both been through a terrible tragedy. Maybe if you give it time—”
“I don’t think time will fix our problems,” Emily said, shaking her head. “He’s stuck in the web of betrayal spun by his father, and he can’t get out of it. I can’t get him out.”
“Have you prayed about it?”
“What good will praying do?” Emily said, exasperation giving an extra bite to her words. “I’m sorry. I know you believe in God and His power, but I’m still not sure. I don’t know how to trust anything right now.”
Grace reached out. “Then let me pray with you. I know He’ll give you the answers you seek, if you’re willing to listen.”
“A sign would be good.”
“Then I’ll pray for a sign. God has wonderful plans in store for you, Emily, and I don’t think you’ve even begun to see them come to fruition.”
****
Emily found the decision to leave was easier than telling everyone her plans. Each rendition tore a hole in her gut. She dropped by the bakery to say goodbye to Jessie, only to receive a lecture about how Jessie had thought better of her.
Then Aurora.
“You cannot go,” the elderly woman said as soon as the words left Emily’s lips. “I forbid it.”
“I just quit. You can’t forbid me to do anything.”
Aurora’s cane thwapped on the floor, louder than ever. “You’re running away. Didn’t we have this discussion already?”
Emily flinched. She sure wouldn’t miss the cane. “I tried Aurora, and I ended up making things worse. Nate won’t talk to me. Won’t see me. Won’t forgive me. I’m worn out, and I don’t have any fight left.”
“So, you’re going to let Nate chase you off? Let some man dictate your life?” Aurora asked with a derisive sniff. “I thought you modern girls were stronger than that.”
Emily had to laugh. “Manipulating me to the end, I see. My situation isn’t about women’s lib, Aurora. It’s about my happiness.”
“Ah!” Aurora pointed the cane like a sword, and Emily resisted the urge to cover her face. “But you’ve been happy here. Happier than you’ve ever been anywhere else, I dare say.”
Emily eyed the cane, wondering if Aurora was going to take the self-made weapon to her head. “I’m capable of being happy any place I happen to be.”
“You were nothing but a ghost when you arrived at my door. Pale and sickly.”
“Sickly,” Emily said in shock. “I’ve never been sickly a day in my life. I admit I was sad over certain circumstances, but I hope you’ll acquit me of falling into decline over them. In any case, I’m better now. I’m getting ideas for a new book.”
“What ideas?”
Emily opened her mouth, ready to burst out with a killer premise. She snapped it shut again, rather than tell a boldface lie. “Okay, I’m only getting snippets, but it’s more than I had before. I had one right outside your house the other day. Don’t be surprised if you see a bit of yourself in my next villain.”
Imagine That Page 27
