8. Emerald
Emerald
I vo was cold. The distance was in his eyes, and that’s if he took the time to look at me.
Rossi barely uttered a hello, but Jordan was more than excited to see us.
She immediately poured herself a glass of white wine and led me outside onto the terrace.
I’d been to Ivo’s house when I was younger, and it was just as enormous and elegant as I remembered.
Cambrie nodded in greeting, but we didn’t engage in conversation.
I don’t know how I would explain to Jordan how we knew each other, so me, Cam, and Six decided to play it cool.
The last couple of days, we’d all been texting back and forth, and Six suggested we meet up for brunch once a week.
I was all for it, considering I only worked and sat around moping about Ivo.
I couldn’t believe he was ignoring me the way that he was.
It was very childish considering everything.
I’d been reaching out for days, only for him to ignore me and leave me on read.
Knowing I would see him today was the only thing giving me hope.
Sapphire had even been worried, and then there was Blaine.
The day Ivo caught us, I was just vulnerable and emotional as hell.
I had no idea that he was still there when I accepted Blaine’s comfort either.
I admit, I was caught up in the moment. Now I could see that Ivo probably felt some type of way considering everything he’d been doing for me and my brother.
To him, I probably looked like I was using him.
“Hey, what’s on your mind?” Jordan’s voice broke into my thoughts as we sat in lounge chairs facing the open estate.
It was so big and peaceful out here. From where we sat, we were able to view the other four houses on the property, including the mansion she lived in with Ivo. Everything was so perfect and well trimmed, right out of a Home and Garden magazine.
“Huh? I’m fine.” I swung my head in her direction. “Just thinking about some stuff.”
“What kind of stuff? Feel free to get whatever it is off your chest,” Jordan encouraged. “It’d be nice to have someone to talk to. My own husband is going around acting like I’m a stranger to him,” she mumbled before she brought her wine glass to her lips and sipped the Pinot Noir.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. He’s just been real distant and working all the time. We’ve barely spent any time together. He swears he’s just busy and preoccupied with the business, but it feels like something else. He doesn’t even want to talk about the baby. It’s like he just shut down.”
Hearing that he was just as miserable as me kind of made me feel good. At least he wasn’t going around like shit was rosy. I peered into my glass of iced tea and took a breath. I missed him and needed to get on good terms again, or it was going to drive me crazy.
“Maybe it’s just everything stressing him out. Have you tried to talk to him?”
“I have, and it’s pointless. He’s stubborn and not at all interested in working through whatever it is. I’m just hoping this baby makes everything better for us. I know it’s stupid to rely on that to fix my marriage, but I believe that it will bring us closer together.”
Sipping my tea, I swallowed slowly as the guilt ate me up from the inside out.
Eventually, we were summoned inside with the rest of the family for dinner.
I was more than ready to get this over with and get out of here.
I had a few job interviews lined up this next week, plus my shift at Tap Inn, and I wanted to be ready for any and everything.
Gathering around the table with Ivo and his family, it was obvious he was lit from his tight, glossy eyes.
Rossi’s face was what I expected, pristine and showing very little emotion.
A smaller table in the corner was set up for the kids, and Brick and Six came sailing into the dining room, arguing.
“Oh, so we gotta sit with the kids?” Brick looked around and saw that the adult table had been filled.
Rossi and Marcella were at the head. Ivo sat to his mother’s left with Jordan at his side, and Nadia, whom I had been introduced to as the mother of two of Staten’s children, sat beside her. I sat on the opposite side beside his grandmother with Cambrie and Staten to my right.
“You act like one,” Ivo grumbled, twirling his glass.
“You wanna go there tonight, bro?” Brick tested him.
“Brick, have a seat,” Rossi ordered, sighing.
Sucking his teeth, he marched over to the table with Six behind him and joined his nieces and nephews.
“Please remember that we have guests,” Rossi spoke up.
There was a moment to pray over the spread of lamb, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, and homemade rolls.
My mouth watered at the smell and sight of everything as dishes were passed around and everyone stacked their plates.
It was more than enough to feed everyone and have thirds if anyone wanted them.
Sapphire’s plate was so full you couldn’t even make out the China pattern anymore.
“So, Emerald, tell us what’s going on with you. Aside from preparing to carry Ivo and Jordan’s baby,” Mrs. Marek voiced.
“Not a whole lot to tell. I’m looking for a new job. Right now, I’m still waitressing.”
“I see. You graduated from high school and college, if I’m not mistaken?” Everything with her was like a checklist, and I felt like I was under an interrogation light.
“Yes, I did.” I took a bite of the succulent lamb, and it nearly melted in my mouth. “I have a degree in journalism. When we moved, I ended up with an editing job for a local paper, but then my father died, and everything else seemed to spiral right after that, so I resigned.”
“That’s an interesting way of putting it,” Ivo’s mother said before tipping her goblet of wine to her lips.
“I mean, from what I gather, you had some kind of mental breakdown, is that right? You were even committed for a few weeks and lost custody of your daughter in the process. Or is that not the case?” She frowned, as if she hadn’t confirmed all that info before dumping it at the table for everyone to hear about.
With misty eyes, I felt the many eyes on me from the table, and Jordan leaned toward me.
“Is that true?” she whispered.
“According to the investigator I hired, this is all a matter of public record,” Mrs. Marek divulged, a satisfied glint flickering behind her scornful gaze.
“Ma, the fuck you doing?” Ivo’s brows formed a bridge above his hooded eyes.
“I’m making sure that Emerald is aware of the responsibility that comes with carrying a Marek child.”
“This ain’t none of your fucking business!” Ivo belted.
“Ivo!” his grandmother, Marcella, hissed.
“Fuck that, Gran! I’m tired of her and all this superiority and the way she go around picking and choosing who she sees fit to be a part of this family. Emerald ain’t ask for this. She’s doing me and Jordan a favor that we won’t ever be able to fully pay her back for. Show some fucking respect.”
“My sister is a good person,” Sapphire spoke up, wiping his mouth with a napkin.
“She don’t deserve to be talked to like that, and Mrs. Marek, I don’t know what you on trying to put her on blast like that in front of everybody, but I’ve watched Emerald walk through the mud in the last year, and I can’t let you sit there and judge her for some shit you just heard about. ”
“Sap, it’s OK—” I reached for my brother’s hand and swiped a tear that slipped past my cheek.
“Nah, Em, it’s not.” He shook his head. “Nobody should talk to you like that, especially when they weren’t there.
Yeah, you slipped after you found Daddy, who wouldn’t?
I know I probably would have lost it too had it been me that walked in and seen that.
Nobody was there for you, and I didn’t know how to be. ”
“This isn’t on you. I never want to burden you with my shit.” I squeezed his hand.
“But even after all that, you got your head right, you came home, and we didn’t even have a home anymore.
You didn’t let that stop you. You sold everything you had so we could stay in a motel for a few weeks until some shit came together and we could come back here.
You lost your daughter and haven’t been able to see her in person in six months.
I can never repay you for looking out for me like you have when Ma left.
That’s who my sister is.” He spun his head toward Ivo’s mother.
The bitch looked like a cracked egg as she cleared her throat and swallowed her wine.
She set her glass on the table, and her gaze volleyed from me to my brother.
I wasn’t sure what she was thinking, but the entire table had gone radio silent.
My appetite was no longer present, and Sapphire had surprisingly nearly wiped his plate clean.
“Excuse me for a minute. I need to use the bathroom.” I jumped up from my chair.
“I’ll show you where it is.” Six perked up, excusing herself from the table with Brick and the kids.
I could barely see through the tears blinding me while escaping the room.
“Hey.” Six caught up to me in the hall. “Are you OK?” she checked, grabbing my arm and spinning me toward her.
“I’m fine,” I assured her with a quick nod.
“You know it’s OK if you’re not, right?” Her face filled with empathy. “I’m cool with Rossi…”
“Lucky you,” I muttered with sarcasm before sniffling and sucking in a deep breath.
“But that doesn’t make what she just did right, and I don’t agree with it. I can’t believe she could even be that mean.”
“When it comes to her sons, trust . . . that woman is nothing to play with. She hasn’t liked me since high school though.
I was so scared of my father and having his approval that I let it come between me and Ivo.
According to Rossi, I never really loved Ivo since I couldn’t stand up to him. Sometimes I wonder if she was right.”
“Well, one thing I know for sure, you can’t change the past,” Six pointed out. “And you can’t let it dictate the future either.”