Emily's Choice (14 page)

“Are you
kidding me?” Emily shrieked, staring at her father. She darted furious eyes in
Jason’s direction. “How long have you been standing there?” She jumped to her
feet, and even though it killed her, she walked over to Jason and gave Sadie a
hug. “I’m sorry for yelling, Sadie. Mama needs a time-out. Go have a fun lunch
with Daddy, and I’ll see you when you get back. I love you,” she said, kissing
Sadie’s cheek.

With one
last furious glare for her father and Jason, she fled the room. Her heart and
soul had been ripped open and Jason had been there to witness it. He had to
know he’d hurt her that night, but damn if she’d wanted him to know just how
deep it went. Why had her father brought all this up? All her life he’d been
content to let her mother or Mama G do the serious talking. Now, all of a
sudden, he had sage advice and wanted to butt into her personal life.

Mortified,
she fled the floor and burst out of the lobby doors, breathing deeply of the
fresh air. She felt as if she were suffocating, the pain and agony of that
night sucking the life out of her again. Would she never get over it? Would the
images that tortured her dreams never fade?

She had to
pull herself together. She had to go back in there and do so with her head held
high. She could still pretend he didn’t
matter,
could
still pretend she wasn’t scarred for life. She would deal with him as she
always had, at arm’s length and with latex gloves. She could chalk the outburst
up to exhaustion and worry about Mama G. He didn’t have to know that all those
emotions were purely because of him.

She really
had to get herself under control. She had to leave soon to pick up Hope, who
was sure to be a basket case. Hope never dealt well with emergencies of any
kind.

Shaking her
head, she couldn’t force herself to reenter the building. She sat on the bench
just outside the doors and covered her face with her hands.

She had to
take some time for herself. She needed to find her happy place and visit it for
a while. If she went back into the hospital now, she’d really lose her cool and
that wouldn’t be a good thing. She had to remind herself why she was here. She
was here to support her father, sister, and brother. She was here to help Sadie
say her good-byes. She was here to bury Mama G when the time came. And then
they would leave. They hadn’t even been here for twenty-four hours and already
she could see what it would be like if they lived here. Jason would show up at
the most inconvenient times, and she’d never be able to get away from him.

No, Boston
was where she should be. It was good for them there. Sadie had many friends,
loved her daycare, and was happy there. Emily missed
Mosquero
,
missed her best friends, but with technology today, you were never that far
from friends and family anymore. And besides, her happiness didn’t matter as
much as Sadie’s. Boston was the only life Sadie had known. And Emily didn’t
think it would occur to Sadie to want or wish it any different.

*****

“Should I be
worried?” Jason asked.

“No.” Clint
chuckled. “She’s stubborn, and she thinks she has everything figured out. But
she’s wrong and someone needs to make her see that. Hope hasn’t. Gina and
Phoebe haven’t. You haven’t. Grace hasn’t. It’s time someone got in her face and
made her see it with her own eyes.”

“She won’t.
I think I understand that now. She’s hell-bent on believing what she saw and
she’s not going to let that go.”

“She will
eventually. I’m not saying you didn’t make a mistake. You did. But you can’t be
wholly to blame for it. You were drunk, Lila was hiding in your room and naked.
And you were expecting Emily.”

Jason’s face
turned bright red. “Uh, about that.”

Clint put
his hand up. “I don’t want what you’re selling. You think I don’t know what
goes on behind closed doors? Obviously you’d already done the deed since she
was pregnant then. That’s not the point anyway. The point is, she assumed and
she’s made an ass of herself. The sooner she owns up to it, the sooner she sees
how wrong she is, the sooner you all can be one big happy family.”

“But is this
the right time to force her to see all that? She’s got to be in high distress
over Grace. Hell, she hasn’t even been back here since she left. I’m just not
sure if forcing her to see all this now is a good idea. What if she loses it?”

“When would
be the right time? And what else do we have but time. There’s fifty minutes of
every hour where we’re just sitting around here with our thumbs up our asses.
Grace has wanted this fixed since it happened. And if that’s how we’re spending
our time in between visits, I know Grace wouldn’t complain.”

“I guess you’d
know for sure.”

“Bet your
ass I would.” Clint sighed and took a seat. “Listen, even when she does see the
light, you’re going to have some hard work to do. But you’ve been fighting for
a long time, and I know how much you love her. Any fool can see she still loves
you; it’s written all over her face every time she looks at you. All we have to
do is knock that wall down she’s got erected around her heart and you should be
good to go.” Clint paused and pointed his finger in Jason’s face. “So long as
you don’t screw it up again!”

“No, sir.”

“I’d suggest
you make yourself a permanent fixture around here the next few days. Get in her
face as much as possible.”

“Yep, got
someone hired on for the next few weeks to take care of the ranch. Soon as I
got back from seeing Grace the other night, I made arrangements. I plan to be
here as much as possible.”

“I knew you
were a smart man.” Clint laughed.

“Figured it
was my best shot at getting her to see me. To talk to me. To let me explain.
She’s not going anywhere, not with Grace laid up here,” Jason said, face
reddening. “Shit, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

“I know you
didn’t. But it’s the truth.”

Jason sat
down hard on a chair. “I didn’t realize you knew so much of what happened. I
guess I should have figured Grace would have discussed it with you. And here I’ve
been avoiding you for fear you were disgusted with me. Or planned to finish
what you started that morning,” he said, referring to the morning of the
wedding and Clint’s powerful right hook.

“I was at
first, no denying it. But once you found out the truth, I couldn’t hold you
fully accountable. Lila played a mean and dirty trick, and I’m sure she’ll play
some more before it’s all said and done. Especially once she finds out
Em
is back in town.”

“I stay away
from Lila as much as I can in a town this small. But she knows my habits, knows
my haunts. You’d think a victim of stalking would know when she’s doing it herself.”

“Yeah, well,
she’s a little touched in the head. Probably wouldn’t hurt her any to spend
some time in the mental hospital. Some of those meds could help, I’m thinking.”

Jason
laughed. “Do you know where they’re staying? Figured I’d get myself a room here
so I’m not wasting time driving back and forth.”

“Some kind
of suites place. I’m not sure, but I can find out from Hope when she gets here.”

“Thanks.” He
looked over at Sadie. “Are you hungry, Buttercup?”

“Yep.”

“Let’s go.”
Jason stood and held out his hand. “I guess Emily isn’t coming back anytime
soon. So, we’ll go get lunch, and then I have no idea what we’ll do. But we’ll
be back here around five. Maybe we can all get dinner together or order pizza
and eat in here.”

“Sounds like
a good plan. See you then.”

Clint
watched them leave, a smile on his face. “I feel good about this Grace. I feel
like this will be solved soon and they’ll be coming home.” Clint nodded his
head, and when the alarm on his phone went off, his steps were a little lighter
on his way to visit with his wife.

“He just
appeared?” Hope asked, eyes wide with incredulity.

“Yeah, out
of the blue. He’s all ‘Hi, Emily. Long time no see. Let’s pretend the past didn’t
happen.’ It was ridiculous.”

“What are
you going to do?”

“Ignore him
as much as possible. Then go home.”

“Sounds like
he wants you back.”

“Surprise!
Of course he does. He’s been spending all this time trying to get me back. Now
I’m here, in his territory, so of course he’s going to try even harder. But it’s
not going to work.”

“What if he’s
sincere?”

Emily
snorted. “Please.”

Hope rolled
her eyes and changed the subject. “So, how’s Dad?”

“Hanging in
there, honestly. He’s being a good sport about sharing the visiting times with
us. I haven’t seen Tyler yet, but I imagine he’ll be arriving shortly. He said
he had a lot of chores to get done today.”

“I’m sure
between Mom and Sophie, he’s got to be boiling over with stress.”

“True.
Sophie is planning to come here on Saturday with the boys.”

“How’s she
feeling?”

“I don’t
know. Haven’t seen or talked to her. Just been busy since we got here.” Emily
glanced over her shoulder, and seeing nothing in her way, she changed lanes.
Their exit was coming up, and she needed to get over to the far right lane. The
traffic wasn’t cooperating though, as the big SUV next to her wouldn’t move. “Have
you heard from Derek?” she asked after speeding up enough to squeeze between
the two SUVs, earning a loud horn blast for her efforts from the SUV that was
next to her.

“Yes, he was
able to get everything mostly rescheduled. He said he’d have to do a few
conference calls, but he’s on his way.”

“When does
he arrive?”

“I’m not
sure. He’s flying standby, so it’s anyone’s guess.” She played with the
engagement ring on her finger. “He said he’d get his own rental since he’s not
sure when he’ll arrive. He doesn’t want to inconvenience anyone.”

“It can’t
hurt, though,” Emily said, maneuvering the car onto the exit ramp. “The more
cars we have the better flexibility we have to get where we need to.” She took
a right at the end of the ramp and quickly got into the left lane for the
hospital.

“So he’ll
meet us at the hospital?”

“Yeah.” She
sighed, glancing up at the massive brick structure that was the hospital. “Guess
I better reserve him a room, he could get in in the middle of the night.”

“Oh,” Emily
said, smiling slightly. “I already took care of that.” 

“What do you
mean?”

“I got you
two a room, in case he was able to make it. Figured you’d rather
share a room with him than with us.”

Hope nodded.
“Yeah.” She grinned. “Thank you. Hey, so what happened with the hotel,
anyway?”

“Beats me.
The clerk said it was canceled. But she got us a room at the Embassy Suites,
and it’s still a Hilton property,” Emily said positively. “More geared toward
families but still Hilton. And their breakfast is phenomenal.”

“Doesn’t
matter to me, though I do appreciate you taking care of me and my
silly idiosyncrasies. I’m just glad to be here and to be here before
anything more tragic happens.”

“I know what
you mean.”

“I was so
scared,
Em
. So scared I’d be too late,” Hope said
softly, gazing out the window and wiping a tear from her eye.

“You’re here
now, put it away. We need positive thinking.”

“I know, you’re
right. Damn.” Hope blew out a deep, cleansing breath. “I’m here, and it’s all
going to be okay.”

“They won’t
take her down for the tests until after your visit. Being her daughter, you
might get a reaction out of her, too.”

“I hope
so. Anything would be nice. I hate that they think she has no brain
activity. Doesn’t that mean life support and then major decisions about taking
her off?”

“She is on
life support, Hope. She has machines and wires and all that. As far as taking
her off, I have no idea how that works. But I doubt Dad would let that happen.”

“Me either.
Not if there’s a chance.”

Emily nodded
and took the exit for the hospital. “Are you hungry?”

“No. I
couldn’t eat right now, anyway.”

“There’s a
reasonable cafeteria in the hospital. Food isn’t terrible, surprisingly.”

“Where’s
Sadie?”

“With Jason.
He took her to lunch.”

“That’s
nice. The hospital has to be boring for her.”

“Yeah, there’s
only so much we can bring in to keep her occupied. Unfortunately, she has the
attention span of a fruit fly.”

“I bet she
was excited to see him.” Hope smiled.

“Yeah.”
Emily nodded. “It was good to see. And I have to admit, he makes a pretty good
father. He was very concerned about how she was doing and feeling.” Then she
snorted. “Dad went all Mother Theresa on me while Jason was visiting with Mama
G.”

“What do you
mean?”

“Well, you
know how he keeps his opinions to himself usually and lets Mama G do the hard
talks?”

“Yeah . . .”

“Well, he
wasn’t holding anything back today.” Emily went into the conversation, doing
her best to be as accurate as possible in the retelling.

“Well, that’s
nothing you haven’t heard before from Mom, me, or Gina.”

“I know, but
I guess I didn’t know he knew. And since when does he have an opinion on it?”

“I guess
since now. But seriously, what are you going to do?”

“I told you.
Ignore him as much as possible and then go home.”

“Doesn’t
sound like Dad or Jason are going to let you go without a fight.”

“Nope, but I
can handle it.”
I hope
, she added silently to herself.

“So, is the
general consensus that Lila staged the whole thing, and since Jason was drunk,
no one really blames him?”

“Pretty
much. They think I should give him a pass.”

“You have to
admit, it sounds plausible.”

“If it were
anyone else, yes, I suppose it would. But it’s not, and I’m not, and here we
are.” Emily banged her hand on the steering wheel. “I just wasn’t expecting it
from Dad. And the worst part?”

“What?”

“The worst
part was Jason showed up right after my angry outburst. After I’d just poured
out how shattered I was. Like I wanted or needed him to hear that? Or Sadie,
who was quietly watching television? I forgot she was even there. I can’t
believe I lost control like that!”

“Oh shit,”
Hope breathed. “What did you do?”

“I shrieked,
apologized to Sadie, and then stormed out. Went outside for about a half hour
and tried to find my happy place. Jason and Sadie left while I was outside.”

“Did you
find your happy place?”

“No,” Emily
admitted. “I imagine I won’t find it again until we get home to Boston.”

“That could
be a while.”

Emily
nodded. They drifted into silence until they reached the hospital. Clint was
waiting for them in the waiting room, and Hope went straight to his arms. “Aw,
Daddy,” she sighed against his chest.

“I’m glad
you’re here. When you’re ready, you can go in to see her.”

“I thought I
was ready, but it turns out I’m just a big chicken.”

Emily walked
over and placed her hand on Hope’s back. “You’re not. This isn’t a moment you
ever thought you’d have to face. Take some breaths, and when you’re ready, go
in. They’ll wait until you visit. I’ll make sure of it.”

Hope nodded
and continued to hold on to Clint. “I feel like I’ll crumble into pieces if I
let go right now,” she whispered.

Emily could
feel the tears brimming in her own eyes, and she wrapped her arms around
everyone. “Group hug,” she choked out.

She
recognized her brother’s cologne a second before she felt his arms come around
them. “Family hug,” he corrected.

They stood
together, wrapped in each other’s arms. After a few minutes, Hope broke free. “I
guess I better get in there. Do you want to come with me, Ty?”

“I’ve seen
her and been in with her. You haven’t yet. Go.” He motioned toward the door. “Have
your time with her. I’ll visit after the tests are over.”

Hope nodded
and walked out of the waiting room.

Emily
launched herself into her brother’s arms, giving him a tight squeeze. “You’re
here!” Emily said happily through her tears.

“Finally.
Got up early to get the important chores done.”

“How’s Sophie?”
Clint asked.

“She says
she’s feeling good, but I know she’s exhausted.”

“Does she
need anything?” Emily asked.

“Just for
the baby to arrive,” Tyler said, grinning. “She just wants her body back,
sleeping with a watermelon in your stomach doesn’t lend itself to a lot of
rest. Or so I’m repeatedly told throughout the day when I suggest she rest.”

“She’s
right, but your heart is in the right place.” Emily laughed.

They sat
around chatting while Hope had her ten minutes with Grace. When she poked her
head into the waiting room, the three of them jumped to their feet and followed
her into the hallway. “They’re ready for her.” Hope motioned to Grace’s room.

They stood
in the doorway of Grace’s room while the nurses prepared Grace to be moved.

“We’ll come tell
you when she’s back,” one of the nurses told them. “She should be done in a
couple hours.”

As she was
wheeled down the hall and into the elevator, the four of them followed Grace
with their eyes, praying the tests revealed what their hearts yearned for most.
That she would come home with them soon.