Healed (5 page)

“Thanks, Ben.”

I turned to Emily’s younger sister. Although she had Emily’s chocolate brown hair and facial features, instead of the ice blue of Emily’s eyes, Jamie’s were the lightest green I’d ever seen. “Hey, Jamie, how’s it going? Are you enjoying the last bit of your senior year?”

“It’s good, Andrew. I’m absolutely loving it.” She took a step closer to me and wrapped her arms around me. “I’m so thrilled for you guys. Em’s never been happier.”

Hugging her back, I smiled. “Well that’s good to know. Hopefully I can make her happy for the next fifty years.”

Ben started to laugh and clasped me on the shoulder. “Son, you have no idea how to do that, but between your dad and I, we can get you settled. Trust me—these are lessons we had to learn the hard way. Don’t worry, we won’t do that to you.”

There was no way my confusion wasn’t clear across my face.

“Dad, stop, you’re scaring Andrew.”

Ben started laughing and squeezed my shoulder again. “Come on, let’s go find your parents.”

“They’re probably already inside. Mom’s always late so Dad makes her leave at least fifteen minutes early, if not more.”

He laughed again. “You might want to try that. I think this is a first for Emily. She’s never on time.”

“Don’t I know it.” I laughed, shaking my head. “We barely made it on time this morning.”

“That wasn’t my fault,” Emily’s voice floated up from behind me.

“Oh really?”

“Nope,” she said, with a smile. Ben shook his head at her, still laughing.

“All right, baby, whatever you say.”

She smiled and slipped her hand down my arm, linking our fingers. The feel of her hand in mine was perfect.

“You’re learning already,” Ben called back to us.

Inside the restaurant was simple, yet elegant. I scanned the lobby for my parents and just like I’d assumed, they were already there, seated at the table. The minute her eyes landed on mine, my mom jumped up and ran over to us—and I literally mean
ran
. She wrapped us both in a giant hug.

“Congratulations, you two, I’m so happy for you both.”

“Hey, Mom.” I bent down and kissed her on the cheek. Both my parents were tall, but my mom still had nothing on me and my dad.

“Oh, honey, I’m so proud of you,” she said, placing a kiss on my cheek.

Emily smiled up at her. “I hope you haven’t been waiting long.”

“Oh no, sweetie. I’m used to waiting, since Mike always makes me leave the house way before we have to.”

“That’s because if we didn’t, they’d still be waiting for us,” my dad said, coming up to stand behind my mom.

He reached his hand out to me and when I took it, he pulled me into a hug. “I’m so proud of you, son. You’ve picked a wonderful woman,” he said, looking at Emily over my shoulder. “I know you will have many happy years together.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

It was weird. I couldn’t stop smiling. Everything seemed perfect as we all took our seats and looking around the table, I realized I had nearly my whole family here. The only person who could have made the day any better was my younger sister, Jessica.

I looked over at my parents while everyone else studied the menu. “Have you guys heard from Jess lately?”

“She sent me a text last night. She really wanted to come today and say congratulations, but she’s a bit overwhelmed with her physics class at the moment and wanted to stay on campus to study.”

“Why didn’t she call me? I would have helped her.”

“She knew you had a lot on your mind,” Mom said, giving a pointed look at Emily.

I smiled down at the beautiful woman seated next to me. “True, but I still would’ve helped her. It’s not like I haven’t already taken that class, and ones even harder.”

As an engineering major, I was quite familiar with all of the sciences. However, knowing my sister as well as I did, I knew she’d want to do it on her own. She was always Miss Independent, even when she knew I could easily help her. I’d have to have a chat with her later about her ridiculous excuses.

“I know, Andrew, but you know how she is.”

“I do.”

Once the waiter had taken our order, Emily’s dad opened the champagne her mother had ordered and proceeded to fill all of our glasses. Well, all except Jamie’s.

“Dad, that’s not fair,” she whined.

“Oh, it’s fair all right. You’re the only one under twenty-one.”

Everyone laughed at that, and Emily’s dad raised his glass. “A toast to our beautiful daughter and the wonderful man she has chosen to marry. Emily and Andrew, may you have many years of happiness to come.”

Clinking glasses were combined with a round of, “Cheers,” before our mothers started with the questions.

“Have you guys set a date yet?” my mom piped up.

I laughed. “You do realize that I only asked her a few days ago, right?”

Her brows drew in as her head tilted to the side. “I know, but you’ve had time to pick one since then.”

Emily’s hand covered mine on the table. It wasn’t like we hadn’t talked about dates, but that was because we knew this question was going to come up. I knew it shouldn’t frustrate me because I wanted to marry her more than anything, yet it was almost like we couldn’t even stop to enjoy our engagement and what it meant to our relationship, before they were pushing us down the aisle.

“Yes, we’ve picked a date. The first weekend in April, the year after we graduate.” Emily smiled. And just like that, my annoyance disappeared.

She’d said the other day that I had a huge impact on her personality—in a good way. Well, she had that same influence on mine.

“Oh, that’s lots of wedding planning time,” her mother said excitedly. “Do you have all of your bridesmaids set?”

“Okay, Mom, really?” Emily answered. “Now you’re asking a bit much, aren’t you?”

“You’re right. I’m just so excited about this,” her mom said, practically bouncing up and down in her seat.

“We’re so glad that you’re so excited, but remember I also need to be able to help Angie with whatever she needs for her wedding too. She doesn’t have anyone and their wedding will be before ours.”

“I know, honey,” her mom said with a smile. “We’ll be there to help with anything she needs as well.”

Not long after they’d become friends, Emily’s parents had taken Angie under their wing after her father had been arrested for hitting her about a year ago.

“Okay then,” Emily said, picking up her glass to take another sip.

The conversation continued all around us while we waited for our breakfast to show up. A lot of it about wedding plans, some of it about school. It wasn’t long before the food was brought out, surprising considering the size of our party, but who was I to complain. As the waiter set the plates down, I looked to see what Emily had ordered. I hadn’t been listening when she placed it because my mom and I were talking about my sister.

It was a huge stack of pancakes, covered in what looked like cinnamon and sugar, with a large dollop of whipped cream. Yum. She knew exactly what to pick. Any time we went out to eat, Emily never finished what was brought out on her plate, but that just meant more for me in the end, so it was always good when she picked something different to mine, especially when it looked and smelled so delicious.

“I see you eying up my plate and you can forget about it—I’m not sharing.”

Leaning over, I nibbled along the edge of her ear, forgetting that we had company at the table. “You’re right, you never share, but that doesn’t include what you can’t finish on your own.”

“So very true, Mr. Bentley.”

“Now who’s being the funny one?” She fake-pouted at me. “Would it help if I gave you a bite of my omelet first?”

From the smile on her lips, to the sparkle in her eye, her whole face lit up. “Damn, I didn’t know a little offer of an omelet would get you that excited.”

“It has nothing to do with the omelet. It’s about the fact that you’re willing to offer it to keep me happy.”

“And that, my dear, is my ultimate goal in life, but I better warn you, you’re turning kind of sappy again.”

A small fist slammed into my arm. It didn’t hurt exactly, but it didn’t feel very comfortable either. “Next time, I’m gonna knock you out, you asshole.”

“There’s my girl.”

Rubbing my arm I looked down to her. Cupping her face in my hands, I pulled her into a kiss, letting her sweetness surround and envelop me. It was a feeling like no other when her mouth touched mine. There were
ohhs
and
ahhs
, but with Emily it was so easy to get lost in the kiss, easy to not pay attention to our surroundings.

Then there was a loud clearing of a throat, forcing me to pull away from her. I felt the heat rise in my cheeks and looking down at Emily, I was satisfied to see the same thing on her face. Her scent pulled me in and I rested my head against hers.

“Love you, Em.”

“I love you too.”

After another round of
ohhs
and
ahhs
, everyone went back to eating their breakfast. We talked some more, even after everyone had finished their meal, and true to my prediction, Emily shared the rest of her pancakes.

All too soon, it was time to leave. Just like everyone else, we needed to get on the road because we both had class tomorrow and needed to get some homework and studying done. Hugs and congratulations were passed around again, as well as promises of calling more often and offers of help in planning the wedding. Emily and I hopped back in the truck, ready for the drive home.

“That was nice,” Emily said as I pulled out of the parking lot, heading back to the highway that would take us back to school.

“It was. I’m glad our parents get along so well. Not everyone is that lucky.”

“I know. I did miss your sister today, but your mom said something about her coming to visit soon.”

“That sounds like fun. We can make sure to take her to the frat house. I’d be willing to bet her campus has no idea how to party like we do.”

“Oh, like you’re a big party animal these days.” I caught her rolling her eyes when I glanced over quickly.

It was true. Ever since Emily and I’d gotten really serious, that environment wasn’t where I wanted to be. It was more important to me to spend time with Emily, doing things together. Standing around drinking, trying to look for a girl to take home for the night couldn’t compare.

“True, but that’s only because I prefer spending time with you.”

“You’d better,” she said with mock censure.

I took another peek over at her. Emily’s shoulders were slumped forward as she continued to yawn every few seconds. While she’d tried to put on a face for everyone else, I knew she was exhausted. Over the last week, she’d spent a lot of time helping Josh out with Lauren. Lauren got into a fight with her ex-boyfriend last weekend while we were out for Nick’s birthday—an altercation that resulted in her hurting her shoulder. Unfortunately, her injury had required surgery, forcing her to stop playing softball for the season. Josh had been taking care of her at his apartment so she could stay at school and not miss any classes.

Between her own classes, and helping Lauren keep up, Emily was exhausted. Even when she would get to bed at a decent hour, she had trouble staying asleep. There had been enough nights where I’d watched her toss and turn in her sleep, only to startle herself awake and then try to fall asleep again. It was as if her mind turned on and she couldn’t find a way to turn it off. I was doing everything I possibly could to pitch in and help as much as possible.

Taking my hand off the gearshift, I rested it on Emily’s shoulder.

“Why don’t you take a nap, sweetheart? I know you need it.”

“I’m fine. I’ll keep you company while you drive.”

“The radio can keep me company. Put the seat back and take a nap.”

“Are you telling me what to do?” Her eyes narrowed as she tried to stare me down.

“I am. Please take a nap. It’s not that long a drive. I’ll be fine, but I don’t want to keep worrying about you. It will make me feel better if you’d get some sleep.”

What I was hoping for was that she would fall into a good sleep and that she’d stay asleep when we got back to my place. It’s not that I wanted to give up my time with Emily, but she needed the rest. Keeping my eyes on the road, I gave her the best puppy dog face I could.

“Fine. I’ll lie back . . . but I’m not taking a nap.”

That’s what she thinks.
I knew the minute she lay back and closed her eyes she’d fall asleep. Hopefully, the happy conversations about wedding plans would take over her mind and she’d dream about that instead of all the other things she worried about.

Emily

IT WAS QUIET. TOO QUIET.
I didn’t want to open my eyes because, somewhere in the back of my mind, I realized that we weren’t in the car anymore. Instead I was on something soft and comfortable. Turning to my side, the spicy smell of Andrew drifted across my nose.

His pillow.

We’d gotten back and somehow I’d made it into his room, although I had no recollection of walking up here. The creak of the door had me opening my eyes. Andrew walked into the room and over to the bed.

“Hey,” I murmured, my voice rough with sleep.