Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Emma scoured the house. Mason was not in her brother’s old room.
He wasn’t in the kitchen. And he wasn’t in the garage, which, to her surprise, her brother had apparently turned into a home gym.
What shouldn’t have been a surprise was that he’d disappeared again, but somehow, deep inside, she’d thought this time would be different.
That they’d grown as people. That he saw her as more than a kid.
That he could envision her as something more than his best friend’s little sister.
Snow blanketed the driveway except for a Hyundai-shaped patch of pavement where his car should have been.
Emma did not check social media. That had ended poorly last time. And Emma would lose her mind if she found him on someone else’s account this morning, his arm wrapped around another woman when he should be cradling her.
After deciding she’d been childish the first time by ignoring him, she picked up her phone and searched for Mason.
The old text stream materialized, and her eyes watered.
He’d said they needed to talk. She’d not addressed her hurt then and buried it like a dead body under a mound of dirt, not wanting to perform an autopsy to discover what had happened.
She was done playing the uncaring coroner. She did care.
She typed out, “I’m ready to talk,” and pressed the arrow.
Minutes went by.
No reply.
Hours went by.
No reply.
Time became a jumbled mess of slowing and speeding up and not moving at all.
Emma had to get her mind on something else, so she retrieved her book and settled in on the sofa to be swept away, but even her favorite author couldn’t keep the pain at bay.
Riley jumped onto the sofa and meowed before claiming a spot on Emma’s lap. “Where did he go, Riley?”
He answered with a hearty murrrrrr, murrrr, murrrrr.
She checked her phone.
No reply.
She texted, where are you?
No reply.
Once she had turned on the TV, she restarted the movie.
But instead of getting lost in the story, it reminded her of what she and Mason had just done.
Again. As the movie played out, she closed her eyes and counted her breaths—anything to calm the anxiety that had taken root and grown like morning glory, a beautiful weed climbing onto the framework of the life she’d hoped to rebuild.
She woke to yells and gunshots on the TV.
But she was no longer sitting on the sofa. She was lying down, and her head was cradled in Mason’s lap. He watched the movie, but his fingers threaded her hair and messaged her scalp.
He glanced down and gave her that smile. She melted.
For a moment, she leaned into his touch, welcoming the comfort of his attentions.
But then she remembered the pain of rejection as it seeped into the surreal scene.
The pent-up frustration and fear had fomented and forged with the hurt feelings of the past. Her heart metastasized and morphed into a blob of anger.
“Where were you?” she asked.
“I wanted to let you sleep.” His voice was smooth and soothing, innocent and enticing.
“Oh,” was all she could say as she let the years of regrets coalesce into a cool facade. She sat up, then jumped to her feet. She needed distance between them to think.
Mason continued, “It’s almost the end of the semester, and I have essays to grade. When I opened my bag, they weren’t there, so I ran to my office to get them.”
“But you were gone for hours.” Emma crossed her arms, hugging herself.
“I know. Old Reliable died, and I had to walk to a shop to get them to tow it.”
“But you could have called.” Her calm demeanor had broken, and even she could hear the hurt in her voice.
“I would have, but I left my phone on your nightstand, and I didn’t have your number memorized.” Mason stood and stepped toward her as if he wanted to ease the worry lines she imagined were streaking across her forehead.
“You didn’t go to your ex’s?”
“Why would I do that?” He blinked and appeared taken aback.
“That’s what you did last time.” The bitter words flew from her lips like a predator swooping to collect a helpless baby bunny in a wide-open field. The accusation cut to her heart and dredged up the old pain.
His brow crinkled, and his irises sharpened as if he were reaching back for unclaimed memories. The confusion marring his lovely features couldn’t be faked. Mason had no idea what she was talking about. And somehow… that made it hurt more.
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
“Kaylee.”
Mason’s puzzled look deepened, and he held his palms up as if to say, “What’s the big deal?”
Emma continued, “Our night meant so much to you that you ran out to party with her as soon as we’d—” She couldn’t finish. Her chin scrunched, and she sniffed. Her shoulders collapsed in as she fought back tears. She would not cry in front of him.
“That’s not what happened,” he protested.
“She shared it. You had your arm wrapped around her, and she called you her hero.”
“I don’t understand. You ghosted me.” Now Mason’s tone amplified.
“What was I supposed to do? You said you were sorry about what happened, and you ran off to Kaylee.”
“Kaylee and I weren’t together,” he insisted.
Emma pulled out her phone and scrolled to Kaylee’s account, swiping past years of baby, marriage, and engagement pictures until she reached the image that had destroyed her heart. She held it up for Mason to see. He squinted.
“Kaylee and I were friends.”
“That’s not what it looked like. We were together, and then you left me to answer her text.”
“It was John who texted. Kaylee’s car had run off the road, and he was worried she was hurt.”
“John Wall?”
“Yes, that’s who she was dating. They were already engaged.”
Emma’s face burned. Had she made a mistake?
“When I got there, she was fine, but I had to go home. We needed Dad’s truck with the hitch to pull her car out of the ditch.”
“Why didn’t you come back and tell me?” Emma asked as she sank back onto the sofa.
“It was daylight by the time I got home, and I was covered in mud. I took a shower and fell asleep trying to figure out how to justify my actions to you and to Andrew.”
“What do you mean?”
Mason sat next to her and shook his head. He inhaled, then met her gaze, pinning her with his sincerity.
“I’d betrayed my friend and slept with his sister on his sofa while he snoozed in the other room.”
The silence boomed as his rationalization rammed her with the reality of that night.
“I was sorry I’d not told you what you meant to me. I was sorry I’d not taken better care of you. I was sorry I’d been disloyal to my friend, but the one thing I wasn’t sorry about was the way I felt for you.”
A tear slid down her cheek. Queasiness oozed in her belly. He’d texted that they needed to talk, and she’d run away like a frightened child. She’d been so afraid she’d been relegated back to a friend that she’d not even given him the chance to explain.
“And I left town.” Emma’s stomach twisted with a sudden stab of shame.
“I’d known for years that you were the person I wanted to be with, but you were my best friend’s sister and still in high school. Then you were off in Ohio, and you were grieving for your mom.”
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
“I had wanted to tell you what you meant to me and make our first time perfect, but instead, I lost control and was embarrassed. When you didn’t return my texts and calls, I thought you didn’t want me.”
She took Mason’s hand and stared straight into his brown eyes. “I’ve always wanted you.”
He gave her that smile and twined his fingers with hers.
“How do you feel now?” she asked.
“Like I want to start over. Like you and I deserve a shot. Like we should do things right.”
Emma nodded. The tight knot of rope that had constricted around her chest loosened, and a dizzying, thrilling lightness lifted her up to the skies.
Mason continued, “One night, after a few shots of whisky, I came clean to Andrew. I told him everything—how you’d broken my heart and how sorry I was for not telling him how I felt about you. He said he’d always known, but he was going to let us handle it without his interference.”
“Maybe this is the one time he should have interfered.” A giggle escaped from the back of her throat.
“Or maybe we should have both spoken up sooner.” Mason dipped his head to rest it on hers.
“Agreed. We will have to work on our communication,” she said, then she tilted her chin up and claimed his lips with hers.
The connection between them sizzled and popped, sending sparks sliding down her spine and out in every direction. Satisfaction seeped into her soul on the very sofa where she’d found salvation and sorrow and now, sweet serenity and faith in a man she’d assumed long lost.
After the kiss, Emma relaxed, nestling near Mason. He draped his arm around her shoulder and drew her close. Hope for a future together blossomed in her heart. It was tentative and new but at least they had the chance to see what might grow between them.
She took his hand in hers and they talked about the past, the present, and precious memories yet to come.
At a pause in their conversation, she examined her emotions.
Shock and awe and elation zipped through her veins.
Emma was back in the town she adored, ready to start a promising job, and getting a new chance with the man she’d spent most of her life pining for.
Okay… so the apartment hunting and roommate question was still up in the air, but she was happy right here for now.
It seemed too good to be true. Then, she remembered she hadn’t asked him one very important question.
“Are you dating anyone now?” she asked.
“Yes. Yes, I am,” he said, drawing her hand to his chest and resting it above his heart.
“You, Em. It’s always been you.”