Finaly My Heart's Desire (Meant for Me Book 2) (9 page)

Chapter 12

My parents and Thomas went to church the next morning, but I stayed at the house. I hadn't been to church in a long time—probably over a year.

Today was different. Today I felt the desire to go and would have, had it not been for the ever-darkening bruise on my face.

Thoughts of Robin and my uncertain future kept creeping into my mind, and I just prayed that God would give me some sort of sign or help me find peace with closing that chapter of my life. I did some soul-searching and realized I'd seen it coming with Robin for quite some time. Looking back, it was apparent we'd been growing apart during the past year or so, but all the assumptions I had about our future life made me too blind to see it. I thought about it while they were gone and came to terms with the fact that I had fallen out of love with Robin a long time ago.

My mom asked me to keep an eye on the roast and put the casserole in the oven while they were at church. I knew my brother and Carly would be coming over for lunch, and my first instinct was to avoid them, but I knew it was pointless since they'd find out the truth anyway.

I was sitting on the couch when they got home. The television was on, but I had been staring past it in deep thought. I turned to watch my parents and Thomas approach the door. My mom walked from the truck with a determined stride and was the first one inside.

"Why didn't you pick up your phone?" she said, entering the house with a concerned expression that made me sit straight up.

"It's in my room," I said. "What's the matter?"

"Micah's gonna be here any second. They were right behind us."

"Okayyy…" I said, not seeing the big deal since I already told her I was okay with telling Micah everything.

"He's not coming alone," she said.

Right at that second, Thomas burst in the door wearing a huge grin. His arms were held high above his head excitedly. "Micah's friends are coming to Heaven with usssss!" he announced loudly. I shifted my attention to my mom for some sort of explanation, but before she could say anything, Thomas continued. "And they're coming to lunch with us tooooo!" he yelled, arms still raised high.

"What's he talking about?" I asked.

"Micah invited a couple of guys to church with him today."

"Yeah, and they accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviorrr." Thomas said.

My dad was entering the house just as all this was going on, which only added to my confusion. My mom stared out the window, as if worrying for my sake that they might pull up any minute. "Micah didn't know what your situation was, and he told them they could come over for lunch. I didn't have the heart to say no. I tried to call you to say you could hide out in your room until everybody leaves."

"Yeah, why didn't you pick up your phone," Dad interjected. "You had your mother worried."

I was too concerned with other things to answer his question. I looked at Mom. "How many people are coming over here?" I asked.

"Two brothers named Brock and Shane," Thomas said. "And they're coming to Heaven with us too because they trusted God at church this morning."

I sprang off the couch the second he said those names. "Who'd he say?" I asked, staring at my mom.

"Brock and Shane," Thomas said. "We saw them at Micah's wedding too."

"They're coming over here right now?" I asked Mom.

She could see the desperation in my eyes, and she looked out the window again to see if they were there. "I tried to call you," she said. "You can disappear to your room if you want. I'll pull Micah aside to give him a heads up about what's going on with you. He'll probably want to come upstairs and check on you."

"Why's Emily gonna disappear?" Thomas asked, looking confused.

"Because she might not be in the mood to interact with new people just yet since she's still got that mark on her face," Mom said. She gave him an impassive stare. "And you probably shouldn't mention that she's up there, either, because they'll think she's not being friendly when it has nothing to do with that."

"It has to do with Robin hurting her," Thomas said.

"You shouldn't mention that either," Dad said.

Thomas stared at me with utter confusion. I hated to see him so down after he was so elated about his announcement.

I smiled at him, trying to assure him that I was fine. "It's very exciting news about Micah's friends coming to Heaven and to lunch," I said. "But Mom's right. I'm not feeling up for entertaining right now and think it's best if I head up to—"

I was cut off midsentence by my mom saying, "Here they are," as she peered out of the window.

"Have fun, okay?" I said to Thomas. "I'll be right upstairs and I'll see you in a little bit."

I barely made it to the stairway in time. I was only halfway up when I heard the door open and Thomas beginning to yell out everyone's names. I had to run so quickly that I was breathless by the time I closed my door. I sat on my bed, catching my breath and feeling a bit like I was in some alternate universe.

As my breathing and heart rate slowed, I realized I could hear everyone talking downstairs. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but I could definitely hear voices.
Was it actually true that Shane Rollins was in my house? What were the chances?
I tried to make sense of the fact that he apparently accepted Christ on a day when I was fervently seeking God's guidance. I tried to tell myself it meant nothing, but somewhere deep inside I thought it might be the sign I'd been asking for.

I wanted to go downstairs and see for myself that he was there just to prove that I hadn't been hallucinating during the whole exchange with Thomas. I found that I wanted to see Shane, and part of me didn't care whether or not I was bruised, but the other, more rational part, knew it was better for me to remain where I was.

I was distracted and tempted by hearing their voices downstairs, so I grabbed my phone and plugged in a pair of earbuds in an effort to drown out the sound. I chose some music and stretched out on my bed to wait for some time to pass.

It was about fifteen minutes later when my door opened. I hadn't heard it, but I saw the change of light through my closed eyelids, and I squinted at the door to see who it was. Micah was standing there with a concerned expression that told me he knew what had happened. I sat up onto my elbow, pulling out my earbuds and offering him a smile.

"How you doing, sister?" he said softly as he came toward me.

I continued smiling as I sat up cross-legged.

Micah sat down next to me. He let out a long sigh has he took in the bruising on my face. It was obvious by his expression that he wanted to say a lot of things, but was holding them back. "Are you okay?" he asked, staring into my eyes sincerely.

I gave him a slight nod. "I'm okay."

"You know we won't let him hurt you again, right?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Was it the first time he did something like this?"

"First time it was this bad," I said.

He put a hand on my back, and I leaned over, resting my head on his shoulder. Just then, there came a gentle knocking on my door. It began to open just as gently and I saw my mom peeking in. She smiled at us as she came to stand at the foot of my bed. She took a deep breath as if worried about what she was going to say. "So the plan about Thomas keeping quiet didn't really happen," she explained.

"I didn't want to tell her that," Micah said looking at her wondering why she came up to make that announcement.

Mom leveled him with a stare. "Well, it seems now that everyone knows, you're not the only one who's worried about her," she said. She shifted her attention to me. "Carly wanted to come up and check on you too." I nodded, telling her I was okay with seeing Carly. Mom let out a little frustrated huff, so I looked at her with a questioning expression. "I don't understand it," she said, "but that other guy is insisting on seeing you too."

"Who?" Micah asked, sounding equally as frustrated and confused.

"Shane," Mom said. I could tell she was dumbfounded and a little weirded-out by a stranger wanting to see me in my current condition.

My heart nearly leapt out of my chest. To my own dismay, I smiled. I just couldn't stop it from spreading across my face. I glanced at my mother and brother, who were both confused as to why this news would illicit such a reaction.

"I'm okay saying hi to both of them," I said. "But send them up separately if you don't mind."

"Are you sure?" Mom asked, still extremely hesitant. "I don't mind sending Carly up, but are you sure about—"

I cut her off. "It's fine. I recognized him from a long time ago. We had a conversation about it. He probably just wanted to check on me."

"You recognized him?" Micah asked. "From where?"

I sighed and shook my head, trying to think about what I should say, but I was too confused to do anything but tell the truth. "I had a crush on him when I was a kid, and I recognized him at your wedding."

"He's not the one from the YMCA is he?" Mom asked.

I nodded, hoping she didn't remember how bad I had it.

"Are you sure you're up for having them come up here?" she asked. "Because I can tell them you need rest."

"I'm okay with it," I said.

Mom left, but Micah stayed in there for a few more minutes, asking all the questions a concerned brother would ask. He still had his hand on my back and he rubbed me gently before he left. "I love you, sister, and I'm so sorry about this. Please call me if you need anything."

I gave him a smile. "I love you too."

"Dad said you're planning on dropping off everything Robin gave you later today," he continued. "Let me know if you need or want me to be around for that."

"I think we'll be able to handle it, thank you though."

He rubbed my back again. "I'm gonna send the other two up when we're done eating," he said. "If you change your mind between now and then, just text me and I'll tell them they can see you some other time."

I nodded and before I knew it, Micah was headed for the door. I sat there, imagining what the scene must've been like when Thomas let the cat out of the bag and wondering what Shane said about wanting to come see me.

It was about thirty minutes later when Carly knocked on my door. I knew it was her knocking because she said, "Hey Em, it's me, Carly," while she knocked.

I told her to come in, and she did. She sat on the bed with me and reached out to give me a gentle hug that was filled with care and regret. She asked me how I was doing and had me tell her a little bit about my ordeal. She asked me all the same questions everyone else had about whether or not it was the first time he'd done something like this and if things were over between us. She told me that Micah had been uncertain about Robin for some time, but thought he would hurt me if he said anything. She said that's why she'd pushed for Shane when I told her who he was.

"You should have seen how adamant Shane was about coming up here," she said, after telling me all that.

"Really?" I asked. "What'd he say?"

"He wasn't about to take no for an answer once he heard what happened and that you were up here. He was the one who made your mom come up here to ask if we could see you."

"Micah seemed surprised when mom came up here to ask me that," I said. "I assume you didn't tell him anything I told you."

She shook her head. "I didn't, because I thought it wouldn't amount to anything. Neither of us knew things were so bad with you and Robin."

"Just because things are over with me and Robin doesn't mean it will amount to anything with Shane and me," I said.

"I know, but he seemed really concerned for you."

I had been staring at my lap, but I turned to face her. "Tell me the truth. Do you think it would be weird with Trish? I know you guys are good friends, and I wouldn't want to—"

I stopped talking because Carly was shaking her head. "No," she said. "Obviously, you don't know if anything will happen between you and Shane, but that shouldn't be a factor. Trish is the one who broke up with him. She's fine. She liked him, but there was something missing between them or she wouldn't have broken things off."

"Did you tell her he was my Shane?" I asked.

"No, of course not. If I told anybody, it'd be Micah, but like I said, I didn't even tell him. I might mention it to him now that things have changed between you and Robin, but I promise I won't mention it to Trish until you want me to."

"I already told Micah a little bit about it when he was up here a minute ago," I said. "I didn't tell him everything, but I had to explain a little since he and Mom thought it was weird that Shane wanted to come up here."

"Okay, that's good," she said. "Because I hate to keep stuff from him." She paused before adding, "Did you hear what happened at church this morning?"

I let out a little laugh. "Yeah, Thomas came in the house announcing it."

"Micah had been sharing with Brock since he started working with him. We had no idea Shane was even coming this morning, let alone that they would make a decision like that."