Love Like You've Never Been Hurt (33 page)

“Maniac!” laughed Chase. “I guess you get the
crazies out here too.”

“We certainly do.” She tried to calm the butterflies
in her stomach, wondering if he was headed to Gramps’, and
hoping he wasn’t. At least she was out of the way, for now.

Jack stopped the truck in a cloud of dust when he saw Ben. He
jumped out.

“Ben!”

What was that look on his face? Jack couldn’t read it.
“Certainly not happy to see me,” he thought as he strode
towards Ben, determined not to lose his cool while he figured out
what was going on. Ben looked decidedly uncomfortable as he
approached.

“Where’s Emma?”

“She’s not here right now, Jack.”

“Where the hell has she been?” He resisted asking what
he really wanted to know.

“She stayed at mine last night, she was in a bit of a
state.” Jack glowered at him. “Jack, what the hell is
going on?’

“I was about to ask you the same thing!”

“Me? I’m picking up the pieces after your girlfriend
saw you getting friendly with some woman on the beach last night!”

“Friendly, yes. Nothing else. Dammit, Ben! She’s my
cousin!”

“Ah,” Ben smiled. “I told her it couldn’t
be what she thought.”

“You did?”

“Of course I did. I’ve seen you with her, man. I know
the score.”

“So you weren’t… You didn’t...”
Jack really didn’t want to say what he’d suspected.

Ben understood though. “God no!” He shook his head as
if the thought freaked him out. “I’ll admit I love Em,
but love her like a sister.” He smiled at Jack. “Not love
her like you love her. You do, don’t you?”

Jack nodded. Ben’s words had knocked all the fire out of
him. “I do. Listen, I’m sorry, man. I got a little crazy
there.”

Ben put a hand on his back. “Say no more. I understand.
Besides, it’s not me you need to be talking to, is it?”

“No, but do you think she’ll even listen to me, let me
explain? “

Ben’s face didn’t offer him much hope. “I’d
like to offer you words of encouragement, but she’s shut down.
Says no matter what really happened, she doesn’t want to know.
She’s done.”

Much as he’d been expecting that, Jack really didn’t
want to hear it. “Where is she?”

“She’s gone into town, but before she left she was
saying she’s not going to deal with it today. Today’s
about the old guys. She’s turned her phone off and won’t
talk to anyone.”

“Oh, man. What about Gramps, does he know?”

“No, he was worried about her, but she passed it off as a
whiskey hangover, which isn’t a lie.”

Jack raised an eyebrow, “Whiskey?”

“It’s what we’ve always done when one of us is
down.” He smiled, “She’s a very endearing drunk,
you know.”

“I only hope I get the chance to see it someday. Listen, I’m
going to talk to Gramps before she gets back.” Seeing a look of
concern cross Ben’s face, he said, “Don’t worry I
won’t upset him. He and I had some plans of our own for today
so I have to let him know what’s going on.”

Ben still didn’t like it. “All she’s been saying
is that today is about him having a good time and she doesn’t
want him upset. That’s why she didn’t come here last
night.” That made more sense, but if only she had, Gramps
could have set her straight!

“Honestly, I know what I’m doing, Ben. Don’t
sweat it."

Jack found Gramps down on the dock, hiding out.

“Morning, son,” he beamed. “You ready for our
big day”

“Not quite. We’ve got a bit of a problem.” He
hated to see the old man’s smile fade.

“Uh-oh. I thought she wasn’t right. What’s
happening?”

Jack told him everything that had happened and how Ben had told
him about Emma deciding she just wasn’t going to face it.

“Aw, son. Do you think you can get past this one? It might
be too much for her.”

Jack hated to see the old man look so sad. He’d been as
excited as Jack himself about today. “I have to Gramps. I have
to, but I might need your help.”

“Anything at all, you name it. What have you got in mind?”

Jack explained the plan he was cobbling together, hoping he knew
Emma well enough for it to work.

“If anything will work, that will. You really got her
figured, don’t you son?”

“I hope so Gramps.”

Gramps went back up to the house and Jack stayed down on the dock,
wanting to stay out of the way. He didn’t feel nearly as
confident as he’d led Gramps to believe. Where was Pete anyway?
He should be here by now. He was going to need his help, and Holly’s
for that matter. He dug his phone from his pocket and called Pete.

“How’d it go?”

“It hasn’t yet. I haven’t seen her. I thought
you’d be here by now.”

“We stopped for breakfast. We’ll be there soon.”

“Well hurry up, will you? I need you and Holly in my
corner... Oh, shit!”

“What?”

Jack watched as Emma climbed out of a truck, the driver coming
around to help her with some bags. He put a hand on her back and she
smiled at him. Jack gripped his phone tighter.

“She’s arrived and she’s with some guy. It’s
the singer from the band. He’s all over her!” Jack
couldn’t believe his eyes. The guy was flirting with her and
she was going right along with it.

“I gotta go!”

“Take it easy, Jack! Don’t do anything stupid. I’ll
be there as soon as I can.”

“Emma!” He covered the ground between them in no time.

“Hello, Jack. How are you?”

Whatever reaction he’d been expecting, this certainly wasn’t
it. No scared little mouse, no tears, no anger, no nothing. Just
greeting him as she would any of her friends on an ordinary day.

“Em, I need to talk to you.” He eyed the singer,
hoping he’d get the idea and leave them alone.

“I’m busy right now. Chase and I have been shopping.”
She held up the bags as if that explained everything.

“Em, we need to talk. Now.”

“She said she’s busy.” Chase stepped forward.

Jack glowered at him. “This is none of your business. Give
us a minute.”

Chase looked at Emma, infuriating Jack. So help him, if the guy
didn’t get away from her in the next minute! He gritted his
teeth. Calm down

“It’s OK Chase, thanks.”

The guy walked away, throwing a look back at Jack, as if to make
sure Emma was really going to be OK. How the hell did he think he was
the one looking out for her? That was Jack’s job!

“What are you doing with him?” That wasn’t the
first thing he’d meant to say, but he couldn’t help it.

The look she gave him slayed him. In a matter of seconds he saw
pain, anger and sadness in those green eyes before they shuttered him
out.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business, not
after last night. If I still cared, I could ask you the same
question, what were you doing with her?”

“Em,” he reached out to take her hand, but she pulled
away from him. “I wish you had asked me that question, instead
of assuming the worst. If you had I could have told you, she’s
my cousin. She came up with Dan.”

He watched the shock register on her face, but she didn’t
soften.

“I’m glad you have your family out to visit. Now if
you don’t mind, I’ve still got a lot to do.”

“Baby, I know it must have been awful for you and I’m
so sorry. I should have told you she was coming, but I have a
surprise for you and she was helping me with it. Please, Em, now you
know the truth, let’s get past this.” He held her eyes,
hoping he could break down the walls she’d put back up. His
heart leaped as her eyes softened.

“I’m glad it wasn’t what it looked like, But,”
why was there always a but? “Jack, it’s made me realize,
I’m not brave enough. I can’t risk that kind of hurt and
you don’t need this kind of drama. I’m sorry, but we’re
done.”

It was only what he’d expected, but the pain of those last
two words struck through to his soul.

“But, Emma. I love you.” He reached for her hand again
and this time she let him.

Her eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry, Jack. I can’t
do this.”

“Then tell me you don’t love me.”

She met his eyes as the tears spilled down her cheeks. His heart
stopped and he held his breath, praying that she wouldn’t be
able to say it. She shook her head and turned and ran. Damn! The only
hope he had left was that she hadn’t been able to make herself
say she didn’t love him.

Emma wiped at her face before entering the house then ran up the
stairs and into her childhood bedroom. Her heart was racing. She was
his cousin! Not some stick insect he’d picked up. Like Ben
said, they hadn’t done anything she and Pete wouldn’t do.
He hadn’t betrayed her at all! She shook her head sadly. But
the whole thing had shown her how much pain she was risking if she
allowed herself to love him. Ha! Allowed herself? She had no choice
in the matter. She saw his face, his big brown eyes full of love and
pain of his own. “Tell me you don’t love me.” And
she hadn’t been able to say it. She couldn’t lie to him
because she did love him. But that didn’t mean she had to live
it. She could bury it, get on with her life alone, like she had been
doing until the day she’d knocked him down in Pete’s
office. She didn’t have to expose herself to more pain. She
took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. She needed to get back
downstairs; there was still a lot to do. This was Gramps’ day.
The bedroom door opened and Gramps stuck his head round.

“Can I come in, Sunshine?”

“Of course.” She tried to pull herself together.

“Are you going to be a brave little mouse?”

She looked at him questioningly.

“I know all about it, Em.”

“He told you?” Emma couldn’t believe it. How
could Jack upset Gramps today of all days? “I’m sorry,
Gramps. He shouldn’t have said anything to you.” She was
surprised by the stern look on his face.

“Don’t you go blaming him. It’s you that’s
upset me.”

She was horrified by that. “How?”

“Because you didn’t come to your old Grampy and let me
talk some sense into you!” His eyes twinkled. “If you’d
come to me instead of Ben we could’ve had all this straightened
out last night.”

“You knew?”

“Sure did!”

“Oh.”

“I was in on it from the start.”

“In on what?”

“You’ll have to talk to Jack if you want to know that.
Let’s just say I was in on what he had planned till you went
and spoiled it all.”

Tears pricked her eyes for what felt like the millionth time that
day. “I spoiled everything?” She was stunned.

“Yes, you did, Em. By being too scared to actually live.”

“No, Gramps. Jack spoiled it all by...”

“By what, Sunshine?” His voice was gentler now. “By
having his cousin over? Yeah that was unforgivable. By wanting to set
up a surprise for you? How terrible of him. Think about it, Sunshine.
You’re the one that created a problem by being too scared to
talk to him. And you’re the one who is making it worse by
choosing to hold on to your fear instead of holding on to your man.”

She stared at him. Gramps hadn’t told her off for years, yet
here he was telling her this was all her fault.

“I’m sorry, Gramps.”

“Sure you are. But sorry doesn’t change anything does
it, Em? You know that better than anyone. It’s what you do with
sorry that makes the difference. You think on that one, Sunshine.
Now, I’ve got a party to get on with. You’d better pull
yourself together and come see your friends.”

Once he’d gone downstairs, Emma sat on her old bed, thinking
about what he’d said. He was right. She had created the
problem. What if she’d been brave enough to just walk down to
the beach last night? But she hadn’t. Would she ever get that
far past her fears? Be that brave? She looked at herself in the
mirror then closed her eyes. Give up the fear, or give up Jack; it
was that simple.

When she went back outside she saw that Holly and Pete had
arrived. They were sitting at one of the tables with Ben and Jack.
Holly was laughing at something Jack had said. She couldn’t not
greet them. She tried to catch Holly’s eye, but couldn’t.
Gathering her strength she went to join them.

“Hey, you made it.”

Holly hugged her, then Pete stood up and wrapped her in his bear
hug.

“Hey, Mousey. Everything OK?”

“Fine thanks Pete. I’ve still got a lot to do though.
Holly, would you mind giving me a hand?”

“Anything I can do?” asked Jack.

Oh, how she wished he would make this easy and go away. “I
don’t think so, thank you.”

Pete laughed. “Oh, come on Em. Give it up, will you? He’s
done nothing wrong.”

“Yeah, didn’t I tell you?” Ben smiled at her.

She stared at the three of them, lost for words, then turned on
her heel and walked away.

Holly came after her. “Are you OK, Sweetie?”

“Not really, no.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“Come and help me fill some balloons. I wanted to get you
away from him really.”

“Emma, he’s gorgeous. You’ve got yourself one
delicious man there. And he’s such a sweetheart.”

“Holly! You know what happened.”

Holly stared at her. “Yeah. You saw him with his cousin and
got the wrong idea. No biggie, right?”

“No biggie!? I thought he was...” She couldn’t
even bring herself to say it.

“Yes, but he wasn’t was he? It was a thought and it
was wrong. Now you know, you can let it go, right?”

Emma grappled with this. Could it really be as easy as that?

“You’re not making this a big deal, are you?”

“Well, it is a big deal to me,” she stammered.

“Are you determined not to be happy or something? Look at
him!”

She looked to find Jack watching her. He gave her a little smile
and her heart did its customary skitter in response.

“Are you saying you would rather run scared than have that
man in your life? Because if you are, you’re not just dealing
with past emotional baggage, you are most definitely certifiable!”