48. Emery
FORTY-EIGHT
EMERY
“How are they so cute together?” Raven gushed it from where she sat on the top step of the wooden porch that overlooked Kane’s backyard.
She, Charleigh, and I were watching Maci and Nolan run across the rambling expanse of grass that flowed into the woods that fenced in his property in the distance.
The area open.
Gorgeous and whispering of peace.
Though I felt little of it right then.
Peace.
I couldn’t shake the nerves that had rattled through me since the moment Kane had left.
Unable to sleep, I’d tossed in his big bed, hugging the covers as if it might provide the type of comfort he normally held me in each night.
Foreboding had seeped down into my being. A sense of uncertainty. Like I was at the edge of something profound but had no access to what it really meant, only knowing that it threatened the one who’d captured my heart.
What made it even worse was he wouldn’t give me those answers, his own dread so stark whenever he mentioned it. Like if he admitted it, I’d disappear.
Which only made me worry about how bad it could really be if he reacted like that.
And the spiral had gone on that way, compounding with each scenario that I’d conjured in my mind.
Just as Kane had promised, the rest of his family stood guard, River, Otto, and Cash taking shifts around the clock.
They had refused to come in the house.
Vigilant in their watch.
Charleigh, Nolan, and Raven had shown up at nine this morning with easy smiles on their faces as they’d come through the door carrying a bunch of reusable grocery bags.
Raven had lifted them high with a shimmy of her shoulders as she’d proclaimed, “We come bearing gifts. Prepare for us to make your day.”
She’d strode right into the kitchen and prepared a delicious brunch.
Mimosas included.
Now, we sipped them as we watched the children playing out back.
A peal of Maci’s laughter breezed through the warm, summer air.
“She loves it here,” I murmured.
Charleigh looked up at me from where she lounged on a lower step. “She’s acclimating well?”
My nod was soft. “Yeah.” I paused, then whispered, “Kane told her who he was to her yesterday. She knows she’s going to be living here permanently. Of course, I think she’s still confused about her mom, but I feel like that’s natural.”
Understanding washed over her pretty features. There was something so intuitively soft and genuine about Charleigh.
“Absolutely.” She issued it quietly. “She’s so young, and I’m sure she’s going to have a lot of questions as she grows older.” She reached out and gently squeezed my knee. “And it’s so good she has you to share all those memories of her mom with her. She’s going to need that.”
Raven peered over at me with her midnight eyes sparking. “And what about you, Em?”
I could tell what she was thinking by the gleam in her eye .
“What about me?” I deflected.
“Oh, come on, do you think we can’t tell that you’ve been absolutely loved up by that man? Kane Asher is written all over you. Tell me I’m wrong.”
Redness splashed my cheeks.
Raven giggled like mad. “In bold streaks and bright colors. Look at those cheeks.” She fanned herself. “That man must have really done you up right.”
I bit down on my bottom lip, but I found myself admitting it on a hushed whisper, “So right.”
Raven squealed and batted at Charleigh’s shoulder with the hand that wasn’t holding her mimosa. She still sloshed a little over the side. “I told you!”
A sweet smile played over Charleigh’s face.
“Um, I don’t think that was your psychic abilities kicking into action.
It was clear and blatant last weekend at my house.
I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a kickball game quite like that.
The chemistry coming off you two? Scorching.
I thought we were going to have to take the kids inside and give you and Kane some privacy. ”
More redness flashed, mostly due to the memories of what had happened after we’d gotten home that night.
When that chemistry had finally exploded.
“It wasn’t that obvious,” I defended, though there was a guilty laugh to the words.
Raven cackled. “Oh, girl, they had to call the fire department to put out the fire you two left. Their lawn is completely ruined,” she teased.
I shook my head at her, embarrassment and joy fighting for dominance. I wasn’t sure how these two had managed to take this place in my life.
“Well, he is hot, so…” I couldn’t help but play along.
“Like, seriously. You should have seen when I was in high school.” Raven took a sip of her mimosa. “The only place any of my friends wanted to hang out was at my house so they could get a good look at my brothers . ”
“I imagine you were very popular.” I jostled her in the shoulder.
She gestured at herself with her champagne flute. “Prom queen.”
I laughed. “Of course, you were.”
Though I doubted it had much to do with her family. I bet she had stolen hearts her whole life.
Maci’s laughter rolled across the lawn, and I looked out to where she and Nolan were doing somersaults halfway across the yard.
“Not any farther than that,” I hollered, reminding her of the boundaries we’d set. We didn’t want her getting anywhere near the stream or the woods.
“I know all the rules, Auntie Em,” she hollered back. “I gotta stay way away from the stream because I’m only four and I gotta get swimmin’ lessons, and I might get lost in the woods, so I gotta have you or my daddy come out and watch me when I want to come outside.”
She lifted one finger at a time as she checked off the rules until she was holding up three.
Amusement rippled through me, at odds with the nerves that I couldn’t shake.
“Smart girl!” Raven shouted with a grin.
“That’s right, Auntie Raven. My mommy told me I’m really extra smart, so you need to know it.”
Maci went right back to the tumbling instructions Nolan was giving her, the little boy far too excited that she was going to be joining him in class next week.
Affection rushed out of Raven, and she glanced at me. “She’s so special, Emery. I’m so thankful she’s a part of our lives. That you’re a part of our lives.”
I wavered in my uncertainty, so desperately wanting to be a part of it.
Concern rode into her expression. “You are staying?” she pressed.
Wariness wheezed from my nose. “I’m supposed to go back in two weeks.”
Questions marred both their brows, and I sighed as I continued, “Emmalee left me her clothing boutique back in Wisconsin. Her friend has been managing it for the last few months, but I’m scheduled to go back and take it over.”
Charleigh frowned. “Is that what you want to do?”
I couldn’t stop the bout of wistfulness from rushing out. “My sister and I, we always dreamed of owning a shop together…”
I hesitated, unsure how much to give them, but my heart told me I could trust them with most anything. “But, we had a traumatic experience when we were seventeen.”
Both Charleigh and Raven released heavy breaths. In an instant, their care and understanding weaved around me.
Emboldening.
Sustaining.
As if they absolutely understood everything I was feeling.
“I kind of…withdrew afterward. At first, I tried to act normal. To go to college and date and do all the things I thought someone my age was supposed to do. But it got worse with each year that passed. By the time we graduated and Emmalee was ready to open it, I had gotten to the point where I barely left my house. So, she ended up doing it alone. Without me.”
I gave them a sad glance. “I know it broke her heart a little bit.”
Needing a safe place to cast my attention, I turned it back to Maci and Nolan. I was silent for the longest time, swimming through the memories, through the support of my new friends.
Finally, I whispered, “After Maci was born, something changed inside me. I realized I didn’t want to be the aunt who couldn’t leave her house. I wanted to experience this life with my niece. I’ve been slowly coming out from behind the shell I built around myself. And now that Emmalee is gone…”
Thickness gathered in my throat, and I forced myself to continue, “I want to live. I want to live the way my twin had tried to get me to do. But now, I’m starting to wonder if that life is supposed to begin here.”
I took in the scene. This house and the children’s laughter and the tugging on my spirit. The connection that pulled through time and space, begging for Kane’s return.
And I couldn’t imagine it—leaving this behind .
Any of them.
A shiver rolled through me at the thought, mixed with the anxiety that I couldn’t shake with Kane being gone. Goosebumps lifted, and I ran my hands up my arms.
Raven must have noticed it because she rubbed the same spot, her face twisting in sympathy.
“You’ll get used to it,” she whispered, so low, as if she could see straight into my mind.
I looked her in the eye, a plea pouring out. “What am I getting used to?”
Her expression dimmed. “Kane needs to tell you that, Emery. I can’t do it myself. But I will tell you that anything he does, he does it because he’s a good man.”
Was that enough?
I wanted it to be.
I wanted to let go.
To just fully give in.
I didn’t have time to contemplate it further before River came jogging around the side of the house.
Hard breaths panted from his lungs and the air churned around his being.
The dread I’d felt all night swelled and expanded.
A thousand-pound weight that pressed on my chest.
Charleigh shot to her feet. “What’s wrong?”
River scrubbed a tattooed hand over his face, looking at her for one second before his focus drifted to me. “There was…an incident.”
Ice slicked down my spine.
“What happened?” It left me on a scrape of horror.
Grim sympathy coated his features. “Kane was shot.”
I staggered to standing, and my hand shot to the railing as I swayed to the side. Raven jumped up and wrapped an arm around my waist to support me.
“Is...” I croaked it, unable to get a coherent question out.
“Where is he?” Charleigh demanded at the same time.
His voice was hushed as he began to explain. “We chartered a flight to get him back here to Dr. Reynolds. Someone Cash knows who is a vault. You know we couldn’t take him to the ER. He should arrive in twenty. You need to get down there.”
“He’ll be fine,” Raven whispered, her voice quiet but frantic at my ear. “He’ll be fine. I know it. Dr. Reynolds is the absolute best. Charleigh is the absolute best. He’ll be in the best hands.”
I couldn’t even process what she was saying.
All I could hear was he was shot.
He was shot.
“I’ll stay with the kids. Take Emery with you,” Raven asserted, squeezing Charleigh’s hand in encouragement. “Take care of him. Make sure he’s okay.”
Charleigh nodded. “I will.”
“We need to go,” River urged.
My nod was lumbering, and I stumbled out into the yard. One second later, I was on my knees in front of Maci. With a trembling hand, I brushed back her hair. “Auntie has to run an errand really quick, but Auntie Raven and Nolan are going to stay with you.”
Maci beamed her sweet smile. “Okay, Auntie! Hurry it back fast because you know I’m gonna miss you.”
“I will, sweetheart.”
And I just prayed when I did, I wouldn’t have to break her heart all over again.