Rescue (Emily and Mason) (15 page)

That afternoon at lunch, Emily tells me about the five-star
restaurant her adopted folks will be taking her to. I almost choke on my half a
meatball sub and wonder how far my part of the bill will set me back with my
house project. Then I see my girlfriend’s bright smile, and the money is
forgotten about. It doesn’t matter, as long as I’m there to celebrate one of
the most important days of her life.

Emily

It’s been two hours since I received the diploma. Walking
down an aisle with people I never meant face to face was a little strange, but
overall it was a great experience. I still can’t stop touching that piece of
paper, and wondering if it’s real. Of course there was an ache in my chest as I
accepted my diploma, but it wasn’t anything more than that. I can’t say that
I’ve moved past my mother’s death, but I’ve learned to focus on what is going
on around me that is positive rather than the negative.

I didn’t go to prom, so this kind of feels like I’m getting
ready for a similar event. Laura sits me down in a chair from the kitchen and
starts curling my hair gently. There is a lot of primping involved and a few
tears as Laura talks about how far I’ve come since they took me in. When she
starts to say how proud they are of me, I even feel tears starting to develop in
my own eyes.

The doorbell rings just as I’m slipping into the little
black dress that Laura helped me pick out yesterday, and I hear Jim answer it.
There’s only one person that could be, so I slip on my shoes as fast as I can
and hobble down the hallway. Making it down the steps is another ball game
entirely, and I almost twist my ankle a few times as I try to catch a glimpse
of Mason before he sees me.

He’s wearing an actual suit and tie with his hair up in the
usual messy spikes. I’m glad he didn’t compromise on the hair because I really
like it that way. As usual, Mason’s green eyes make my stomach do flip flops
when he actually looks over at me. I see the appreciation dawn on his face
immediately, but he tries to school it so that he’s not provoking Jim. When my
adopted father actually turns around to look at me, I see a different
appreciation in his eyes. It’s at that moment I realize that Jim and Laura see
me as their daughter, and not just some stray they picked up at the orphanage.

“You look beautiful.” Jim keeps me at arm’s length as he
looks me up and down, smiling the entire time. Laura is pulling on her heel as
she comes down the stairs. I see the same appreciation that Mason had in his
eyes in Jim’s eyes when he sees his wife. And that’s when I make my escape to
Mason’s side.

“Congratulations,” Mason tells me quietly as he hands over a
little gift box. “You should open that later.” I furrow my brows and slip the
little box into the tiny purse hanging off my shoulder, and we all agree that Mason
and I will ride in the back of the Lexus.

Dinner is a joyous affair with a five course meal and coffee
at the end to top it all off. It’s well past eleven at night when we’re finally
on our way home. I insisted that Jim and Laura not get me anything for
graduation or my birthday since they’ve doubled my college fund. But there’s still
a gift card stuffed inside an actual card clutched in my hands.

Mason waits on the porch as my foster parents head inside
the house, and then he puts his arm around my waist like always and leans down
to give me a kiss. This one lasts much longer than any of the others, and by
the time we’re finished I’m more than breathless. I’m actually dizzy.

“Goodnight,” he tells me.

“Goodnight.” I whisper back to him, and then I slip inside.
I always thought that the girl leaning against the door after a guy kisses her
goodnight was a cliché. And yet here I am with my back against the door as he
walks down to the sidewalk to his Camaro and leaves.

I can hear Jim and Laura getting ready for bed upstairs, and
the homely sounds comfort me as I pull off my shoes. The steps don’t creak as I
walk up them, and I peel off my dress before I collapse into bed. I’ll worry
about everything in the morning. Such as the fact that I haven’t applied to any
colleges yet, and I’m not sure that I want to go to a brick and mortar college.

If I spend my money wisely and go to an online college, then
I can help Mason out more with his rescue. I idly wonder what he’s going to
call it as I drift off to sleep. Maybe he’ll call it Barn Rescue or something
cute like that, or maybe he’ll call it Mason’s Animal Rescue. I’ll have to ask
him tomorrow when he comes to pick me…

The sound of my alarm clock wakes me, except the air in my
room is freezing cold, and I can see my breath. I wonder if the heater broke
last night and we’ve gotten a freak cold front when I pull the covers off me.
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve dreamt about her, but here she is standing in
the center of my room.

It’s not a pretty scene. My mother is standing with blood
dripping down her front and off her fingertips onto the carpeting in my
bedrooms. Tears are streaking down her face as she stares at me with her
lifeless eyes, and I suddenly feel like I’m going to be sick.

“Why weren’t you there?” I rage at her. My dead mother takes
a step towards me with her hand slowly rising up as if she’s reaching out to
me. I watch the blood drip down and feel my throat begin to convulse while I
try to swallow. Why did I provoke her?

“Emily,” she whispers my name, and it bounces off the walls
of my room. It’s like every surface the word hits pings the sound to my ears a
hundred times louder until it’s nothing but her saying my name over and over
again. Just as she’s about to touch me, I wake up with a cold sweat all over my
body and my bedroom window open.

A cool breeze wafts over me as I look around my room. I’m
standing instead of lying in my bed, and there are tears streaking down my
face. I wipe at them and stare at the blackness of them. I forgot to take off
my makeup last night. Swallowing the agonizing fear, I make my way to the
bathroom in just my underwear and immediately turn on a hot shower.

My body shivers and quakes as I get under the water with my
underwear still on. I lean my forehead against the tiles and try to keep the
sobs from erupting. Managing to keep it quiet enough that Jim and Laura do not
hear me, I peel off my wet clothes and finish up my shower. By the time I get
out, I feel a little better about the nightmare.

But it’s really not the nightmare that’s killing me. It’s
the fact that I woke up in a standing position, and I do not remember my
bedroom window being open last night. How could I ever think that I might be
able to have a future with Mason if I can’t even stay in bed at night? I pull a
towel around myself and slip back into my room. Then I turn off the alarm clock
that never had a chance to go off and grudgingly pull on a pair of jeans and a
t-shirt.

I won’t go back on my deal with Mason, but it’s going to be
awhile before I’m ready to move any further with him personally. Part of my
mind worries that he might not wait for me, but who am I to get upset about
that? Mason
shouldn’t
have to spend an undefinable amount of time
waiting for me to get my head together.

The coffee this morning tastes bland, and my toast tastes
like cardboard. I can barely get a passable smile on my face for Laura as she
heads out the front door for work. Thankfully, Mason arrives before Jim can
come downstairs to see the fake smile plastered on my face. As I slide into the
passenger seat, Mason immediately reaches across the console and takes my hand
in his.

“Emily, what’s wrong?” Those three words make swallowing very
difficult for me.

“Just drive.” I tell him, and he obliges. But he keeps the
music down low to encourage conversation and only takes his hand away from mine
to shift. Halfway through the drive, he pulls over onto the side of the highway
and turns to me in his seat.

“Tell me what happened.” I’m about to tell him to drive when
he puts his fingers on my chin and tilts my head to the side and up so that I’m
looking into his green eyes. “Tell me,” he whispers to me, stroking the side of
my face with his thumb. It’s not until I try to speak that I realize I’m bawling.

Mason

Listening to her tell me about the dream she had this
morning about her mother’s dead body haunting her me makes my insides twist. I
was only two when my mother passed, so I don’t really remember the nightmares I
must have had. It was harder for me to come to terms that my life was different
from my friends’ growing up, but at least I didn’t have night terrors.

I reach across the console and unbuckle Emily’s seat belt.
She’s like a rag doll in my hands as I drag her across the center of the
vehicle and shove my seat back so that I can cradle her in my lap. It’s as if
all of her walls are down now, and she’s telling me all of her deepest fears as
we sit alongside the highway. I hold her until all of the tears are finally
dried on her face, and when she shifts to look at me I give her a hesitant
smile.

“Don’t tell me that you’re sorry.” I tell her as I let her
wiggle over to her own side of the car. After putting the key in the ignition,
I root around the glove compartment for a small pack of tissues and hand them
to her.

“Thanks.” I’m not sure if she’s thanking me for just the
tissues or for holding her, but I’m happy to provide both for her again if it
means that her soul wounds will heal a little more each time.

We spend six hours working on the living room, and then we
spend another hour playing with Baby outside. The sun is setting by the time we
get to the diner to have our usual evening meal, and then I prepare to drive
Emily home. But before I can start heading back for the car, Emily puts a hand
on my forearm and stops me. She pulls me close to her under the tree that our
usual bench rests under, and gently puts her ear to my chest.

I’ve had moments before where I thought that this was it,
I’d die for her. My arms encircle her on their own accord, and I rest my chin
on the top of her head as I look out into the field behind the diner. It’s one
of those moments I don’t ever want to end, but eventually it has to. Because I
have to take her home, no matter what I’m feeling right now.

Emily lets me take her hand in mine as I lead her back to my
car, reluctantly. I kiss her before I open up the door for her, and we don’t
speak about this morning as I drive her home. My reasons mostly consist of the
fact that I don’t want her thinking about it before she goes to bed tonight.
That might bring on another nightmare, so I plan on leaving her with a
goodnight kiss that will make her forget all about the emotional turmoil of
this morning.

Unfortunately, as I pull up to the curb of her home, I see
that Laura is sitting outside on the porch with a book in her hands. She looks
up knowingly as I get out of the car with Emily and walk her up to her front
door. I won’t let her foster mother scare me off that easily. Laura puts down
her book as we walk up and I tell Emily goodnight. It’s pretty obvious that the
woman wants to speak with me, so I pull Emily in for a quick goodnight kiss
that’s still enough to leave her cheeks flushed.

“Would you give us a minute, Emily?” Someone could convince
me that Laura is able to shoot laser beams out of her eyes right now. Emily
hesitates, but I shrug one shoulder as if this doesn’t bother me, which it
does, and she goes inside. As soon as she’s through the door I turn my full
attention on Laura.

“You’re worried.” I state the obvious before she even has a
chance to get a word out. I take advantage of her silence as her mouth gapes a
little. “Emily and I haven’t done what you’re thinking, and I know exactly why
you’re worried. You’re worried that she’s in over her head with me and that I’m
going to break her heart. You think it will be the last straw for her if I
leave now that I’ve become a constant in her life. But Laura, I just want you
to know that I don’t plan on going
anywhere
without Emily.” I draw in a
breath, and she cuts me off with a look.

“You’re right. I’m worried about her mental health now that
you’ve stepped in. I don’t want her to rely on you for her happiness, Mason.
You’ve swept that girl off her feet, and I’ve dealt with plenty of men like you
in my own long, ancient history. I just hope that I’m wrong about your good
looks and your suave.” I almost laugh at the word suave. She thinks that I’m suave-like?

“I assure you that my intentions for Emily are honorable,
and that’s the only reason I haven’t pursued things further with her.” Maybe I
shouldn’t have put it that way, but I could have put it in a much more graphic
way. So I think I’ve done pretty well, but apparently to Laura it’s not
convincing enough.

“I don’t trust you Mason. I
like
you, but I have no
reason to trust you with my Emily. Jim seems to think that your intentions are good
but good intentions-”

“Are what pave the road to Hell.” I finish for her with a
smile. I sit down on the porch next to Emily’s foster mother and look at her as
if she is Emily’s biological mother. Even though they’re not blood related, I
think Laura considers herself Emily’s true mother. I definitely see her that
way. “Emily is special. Some would say that she’s caring to a fault, but I
would say that she’s one of the rare gems of the world. Mrs. Furlong, I’m in
love with Emily. And I’m not going to let anything get between me and that
woman.”

Shockingly Laura actually chuckles at me and puts her hand
on my forearm as she looks at me. Then she pulls me into a light hug, and I try
not to stiffen with shock. I pat her on the back gently, and when she pulls
away I see tears glistening in her eyes. I have a feeling that someday Laura
Furlong will tell me exactly why they went to an orphanage to adopt someone,
but today is not the day.

“You should get home before it’s too late. Oh, and we’re
having a small party for Emily on Wednesday afternoon for her birthday. Perhaps
you’d like to come?” I roll my eyes and put an arm around her shoulder.

“I just professed my love of your daughter to you, and
you’re asking me if I’ll come to her birthday party? Of course I’ll be there.
Do I have to wear a suit again?” Laura pats me on the shoulder and shakes her
head at me.