by Jan Thompson
Emmeline began to laugh.
“Made you laugh.” He was staring at her. “Skye, give us a moment, will you?”
“We don’t need a moment,” Emmeline protested.
“Yes, we do.”
“For what?” From the corner of her eyes, Emmeline saw that Skye was gone.
“For this.” Sebastian lowered his lips toward hers.
Emmeline stepped back. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t want Talia back, Em. I want you.”
“Have you prayed about this?”
“No.”
“Go talk to God and then come back to talk to me.” Emmeline folded her arms.
“Okay. I will. I guess I’ll go now. How about if I pick you and Skye up in the morning for church?”
Church. “This is so wrong, Seb. We can’t go to the house of the Lord in pretense.”
“I’m not sure if I want pretend anymore either.” Sebastian straightened his tie. “I’m done with Talia. I want to move on. I want us to move on together.”
“Then what happens when Talia returns?”
“She won’t.”
“You can’t promise me that.”
“I guess I can’t.”
“Skye was right. This entire thing is a mistake. You may never get Talia back and I may never see Claude again.”
“I don’t want Talia back.”
“The deal is that you’re helping me with Claude and I’m helping you get Talia back. If you cancel the deal, what about Claude?”
“I don’t care. I’ll still help you with Claude.”
“For nothing?”
“I want you.”
“See? Think about what you just said.” Emmeline blinked away her tears. “We can’t continue this ruse. It’s going too far. I’m not for sale.”
Sebastian looked hurt. “For sale? What are you talking about?”
“You can’t love two people at the same time.”
“I don’t—have you been talking to Matt Garnett?”
“Nope. Anyone with common sense can see that. This is not a polygamist society.”
Sebastian laughed. “I promise you I’m serious.”
“Don’t promise what you don’t understand.”
“Look, Em. I’m trying to say that I’m done with Talia.”
“You weren’t last week,” Emmeline reminded him. “What’s going to happen next week? What will go through your mind next week?”
“I don’t want to be alone.”
Emmeline nodded. “I think that’s the root of your entire problem, Sebastian.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
After a rehearsed exchanged of soul-piercing words, Darcy escorted Elizabeth off the makeshift outdoor stage. The play ended at Neptune Park under a full moon and balmy June breeze coming off the St. Simon’s Sound as the whole Theater by the Sea cast going back on stage for an encore. Principal cast members were named, and Emmeline had the brightest smile that Sebastian had seen all week.
Could it be because Helen was on the hunt for Emmeline’s missing brother?
Could it be that she really liked being on stage in this theater?
Could it be none of the above? Something like, maybe she’d seen him from the stage, how he’d paid attention to every scene she had been in throughout the one-hour play?
Sebastian waited patiently in his folding camp chair by the picnic blanket under the living oak. On said picnic blanket, Jared and Talia had been groping each other all evening, a sight that left Sebastian feeling absolutely nothing.
Does this mean I’m free?
Still, he hadn’t moved from his chair because this was the spot he’d told Emmeline he’d be, and he didn’t want her to think he skipped the play, though Jane Austen wasn’t exactly his cup of tea. It had been now that he’d gone out with Emmeline, but his fare had always been more action-adventure stuff.
A clink made him look. Jared was dumping bottles into the recycling bins and trash into the right cans. Talia wasn’t doing anything, not even packing the picnic basket they’d brought.
Jared had insisted that they’d all come to the play together to support the theatrical group he was now underwriting, and Talia had no choice but to come, though Sebastian wondered how much of the play she had paid any attention to.
Sebastian hadn’t spent his entire evening watching the play either. He had checked his emails here and there whenever Emmeline wasn’t on stage. Now that the play was over, he folded his camp chair and stuffed into its carrying bag. He tossed soda cans and sandwich wrappers into the trash.
“You were great, Emmeline!”
Jared’s voice scratched Sebastian’s eardrums like a cat’s claws.
Sebastian turned his attention to Emmeline who had arrived at their little picnic spot.
“Flubbed a few lines. Ad-libbed a couple more.” She stood closer to Sebastian than to Jared. “Not Alliance Theater material, I’m afraid.”
Sebastian slung the strap of his camp chair carrier over his shoulder and reached for Emmeline.
Emmeline glanced in Talia’s direction. Sebastian followed her gaze.
Talia was standing behind Jared, her face shriveled. If she kept at it, only Botox could straighten out all those wrinkles.
“Jared, help me with this blanket.” Talia bent over, assets showing out of her low-cut summer blouse, as she tugged at a corner of the picnic blanket.
Once upon a time, such disregard for modesty had turned on Sebastian, but no longer. Tonight was proof of it. Here he was, with his ex, and he had felt nothing for her.
Have I let Talia go?
His new problem was Emmeline.
She didn’t believe he was genuinely interested in her.
Sebastian leaned down toward her ear. She smelled like summer, the cool of night, the bright of day, time off and respite from work.
He knew he would henceforth associate summers with Emmeline. Forever.
“You were great,” he whispered softly. He didn’t touch her, didn’t put his hand on her shoulder, didn’t weave his fingers into hers.
When he looked up, Jared was staring at Emmeline.
“Let’s go, Jared.” Talia was already walking away.
“See you next week, right?” Jared waved. “Rehearsal at my house.”
Neither Sebastian nor Emmeline responded. When they were far enough away, Sebastian stole a kiss off Emmeline’s cheek.
“Was that scripted?” Emmeline asked.
“Backstage pass?”
“There’s no backstage pass, Seb.”
Sebastian looked hurt. “I wanted to.”
“What are we doing?” Emmeline asked. “Talia’s gone with Jared. You said you longer want her. Are we still staging a play for her? Whatever for?”
“I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“Exactly. We had a plan to win her back for you. Now you’ve changed your mind about your goal. I still need my brother found. You’re paying a lot of money for nothing.”
“Not for nothing.”
“For charity then?”
“I don’t want you to pay me back.”
“You’re confusing not only yourself, but me, Seb. You asked for a backstage pass a minute ago.”
“Well…”
“Something is totally off with us here.”
In the distance, Jared looked back. Waved.
Neither Emmeline not Sebastian returned his wave.
“Let’s get you home,” Sebastian said to Emmeline.
“Home? I don’t have my own. You mean to Skye’s house?”
“Yeah.” Somewhere in Sebastian’s heart he wanted to give Emmeline a home.
A house.
A home.
Anything she wanted.
Chapter Thirty-Six
The call came just after midnight on Sunday and all Emmeline could do was scream.
Part of her was upset that she hadn’t worked fast enough and made it happen soon enough for Mom and Dad, and part of her was upset that G
od hadn’t held back the deadline. What if Dad died tonight?
Skye came running down the hallway and banging on her bedroom door.
Emmeline wiped the tears off her cheeks and climbed out of bed, her phone still in one hand. She could barely unlock the door.
“Em! What’s going on?” Skye pushed her way in.
“Dad had another heart attack. He’s at the ER.” Emmeline was in the walk-in closet now, hauling out her suitcase. She barely made it out of the closet when she pushed it over and unzipped it. “I have to go home, Skye.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“No need. It’s a five-hour drive.”
“Let’s see if we can get two plane tickets. I have miles.”
“No.” Emmeline dumped a few clothes into her suitcase. Then she was in the bathroom squeezing toothpaste on her toothbrush.
“Oh, I forgot. You can’t fly,” Skye was right behind her.
Emmeline shook her head as she vigorously brushed her teeth. All her life she had had a fear of flying. How she was going to tour the world playing harp was anybody’s guess.
Last summer, when Ivan had regaled her with old stories of his crossover concerts across Europe and Asia, they had all sounded exotic and vacation-like, but truth be told, it would be a nightmare for her to get on the plane.
Such a confining space. No grass beneath her feet. No fresh air. He had said sometimes they’d flown fourteen to eighteen hours non-stop.
Never mind. She was going to tour only in North, Central, and South America.
It’d be fine.
Now Dad may never see me play on the world stage.
Emmeline couldn’t hold it in.
She shook the water off her toothbrush, careful not to hit the beautifully painted washbowl that Skye had said she’d bought from Sandpiper Galleries at the pier.
“Don’t leave without me.” Skye’s face was in the mirror. “I’ll drive.”
“No need, Skye. You’ve done enough for me.”
“I’m your friend. Don’t shut me out. I can help. I’ll drive you.”
Emmeline relented. “All right. I guess two sets of eyes on the road in the middle of the night are better than one. Maybe we can take turns to drive.”
“Give me five minutes and I’ll be ready to go.”
“I need ten. I’m going to take a shower. I want us to go straight to the hospital.”
“Okay. I guess I will too.” Skye was almost out of the bathroom when she turned around. “Don’t you think we should pray first?”
“Why didn’t God stop this?”
Skye hugged her. “Em, let’s not question God.”
“Why didn’t God stop this? It’s my dad’s third heart attack in two years.”
“This world is messed up, Em. Let’s get you to Atlanta and then we’ll talk. Want me to pray for safety?”
Emmeline nodded. Skye’s prayer was swift and sure, things that Emmeline should have been able to pray about, but at this moment, she was so emotionally saturated that she was glad Skye could pick up the slack.
“You’re a keeper,” Emmeline said after Sky finished asking God to heal Kipp O’Hanlon.
“What are friends for?”
“I have very few friends like you.” She thought for a femtosecond. “In fact, none, but you.”
“Well, I’ll ask for favors later.” Skye sailed out of the bathroom. “Don’t leave without me!”
Emmeline drove up Interstate 75-85 just as the Atlanta dawn broke in the sky over Stone Mountain to the east.
Skye was asleep in the passenger seat. She had driven the first half of the way while Emmeline had tried—tried!—to sleep. She finally dozed off one hour into Macon.
Emmeline’s adrenaline was going, and her anxious heart kept her awake, like little doses of coffee percolating through her system. It did help that there was a full moon tonight, and in the cloudless sky, everything looked gray and defined all the way from Macon, up Interstate 75 to where it merged with Interstate 85.
In the bleak night, somewhere between Grady Hospital which she’d passed to her left, and Midtown, she found the humility to pray and seek God’s forgiveness for getting upset at everything.
But this is Dad.
“I don’t want him to die, Lord.” Emmeline barely whispered.
Her knuckles were getting less tense.
It was silly not to use the cruise control, but whatever.
“Don’t let Dad die, Lord. Make him well so he can enjoy Claude when we find him. Find Claude, Lord. You know where he is. Show Helen pronto, and bring him home.”
“Amen.” Skye barely opened her eyes. Her head rolled to one side. She looked rather cute asleep.
Emmeline wondered if Sebastian looked that cute asleep…
Banish the thought!
Emmeline hit the gas pedal, went over the speed limit by at least five miles, and then slowed down again. The last thing he needed now was to get a speeding ticket. She had to get to Emory Hospital fast.
She turned on the GPS to find the Emory parking lot she had to pull into shortly. Emory was not only a teaching hospital but also a university and medical school. There were many buildings. Mom had told her where she had to go.
She had turned off the GPS earlier. Not needed. She knew how to get to Atlanta. She’d grown up in Atlanta all her life even though Dad had been from Dublin—Ireland, not the Dublin in Georgia—and Mom had been born in Baltimore.
“Breakfast.” Skye stretched. “Feed me.”
“What?” Emmeline realized that Skye was now truly awake. “I’m sure they have a cafeteria.”
“Okay. Are we there yet?”
“Almost.” Emmeline’s voice cracked.
She remembered all those childhood days when Mom and Dad would take the two kids on road trips. Claude and Emmeline would take turns to ask, “Are we there yet?” just to hear Dad put on his Irish accent and scold them.
Please, Lord. Heal my dad. I love him so much.
As the GPS directed Emmeline to the right street turns, the passage that Dad had read to her as a child flooded into her mind.
Psalm 103:1-5.
Little did she know it would come in handy today. A reminder that God is the Great Physician. The Healer of all healers.
Bless the Lord, O my soul:
and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all His benefits:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;
who healeth all thy diseases;
Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;
who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things;
so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Sebastian took it upon himself to be the deliverer of bad news in Sunday School, but it had come with a price. The entire class had believed that he was Emmeline’s boyfriend, for real. While it hadn’t begun that way, the last two weeks of choreographed dates had caused him to develop strong feelings for Emmeline, something he hadn’t felt for Talia. Not ever.
He wanted something more meaningful with Emmeline.
He didn’t want to pretend anymore.
“So they’re there now?” Benicio Ketteridge asked.
As per usual, he asked for prayer requests before he taught. In some other Sunday School classes, they had someone else do it, but this class was small enough that Ben seemed to be able to do it all.
The only thing the former Navy chaplain didn’t do was…
Sebastian couldn’t think of a thing.
“Yes, they drove through the night,” Sebastian explained. “They’re waiting for Em’s dad to come out of quadruple bypass surgery.”
Sebastian wished he could be with Emmeline now to hold her hand.
Silly me.
She can take care of herself.
“We’ll keep praying,” Ben said.
&nbs
p; Everyone concurred.
Ben asked for more prayer requests, and then picked a few people to pray for all the requests this morning. Brinley Brooks-McMillan prayed for Emmeline and Skye. She still looked jet-lagged as did Ivan. They’d flown home Friday, the same day that Sebastian and Matt had prayed for their traveling safety.
God had answered their prayers. He had brought the couple home safely.
“God’s mercy should never be underestimated.” Ben opened his Bible. “He protects us even when we don’t realize it.”
Are you protecting me, Lord, by sending Em away?
Sebastian wasn’t sure how that popped into his head.
Or are you protecting me from Talia by giving me Em?
He caught himself.
Beautiful Em is not mine.
She might never be.
Sebastian straightened his sagging shoulders. How could it be this hard? He had gone through a grueling six months in a chef school in Paris. He thought that had been hard.
This is harder.
“Have you all memorized Psalm 37:4?” Ben looked around the room and his eyes seemed to stop at Sebastian. “You know Pastor Gonzalez has encouraged everyone to think of God more. I know your men’s and women’s Bible study groups are studying this verse all month. Be sure to make some personal applications.”
Personal applications?
Sebastian was sure Matt Garnett had kept his secret. Well, if he had broken up with Emmeline and started over, there would be no stage play, no charade, no ruse, no pretense.
Right?
I don’t want to let her go, Lord.
Across the room, Matt was flipping through his old Bible. Sebastian remembered their conversation on Thursday.
Seb, you can’t love two people at the same time. You’ll always love one more than the other, and it’ll be unfair to the other one.
“Delight in the Lord!” Ben’s voice boomed. “Delighting in the Lord comes first before getting the desires of your heart.”
What is the desire of my heart?
“What? She’s not coming back to St. Simon’s? Why?” Standing inside Seaside Chapel, by a bay of windows, Sebastian stared into his iPhone.
