Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
FORD
“I’m just going to wash up real quick, and then we can get down to it, okay?”
Emmy shoots me a hesitant smile as she slides the dishwasher door closed before ducking out of the living area through the arch that leads to her bedroom.
I quickly shoot Alex’s wife, Reyna, a text message.
ME
Thank you for dinner. Your abuelita’s tamales recipe is the best.
I don’t have to wait long for a reply.
REYNA
You’re welcome, Ford. There’s always more where they came from.
I can’t help but grin. During Reyna and Alex’s unusual courtship, I developed a love for Reyna’s traditional Costa Rican food, so she always preps enough to feed me on the off chance that I might drop by. I don’t typically get time, but she continues to do it anyway.
That’s how I’d known where to get good home-cooked comfort food on such short notice when it’d become apparent that Emmy is literally burning the candle at both ends, leaving no time to take care of her basic needs.
That’s gonna change.
I quickly place an order for a bouquet of Reyna’s favorite orchids to be delivered to her later this evening, chuckling to myself as I anticipate the text I’ll undoubtedly get from her husband, telling me to stop harassing his wife.
“Are you ready?”
Emmy’s sweet voice breaks through my musings, and I raise my head from my cell to find her dressed in casual lounge pants and a matching long-sleeved crop top that showcases a sliver of her smooth, tanned abdomen. With her face free of makeup and her long blonde tresses piled haphazardly atop her head, I can’t focus on anything aside from the fact that she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever witnessed.
She pads closer on bare feet, and I forcibly rip my eyes away, murmuring an affirmative, “Ready when you are.”
Then, she passes me a spare manuscript of Breaking Us , watching me almost expectantly before taking a seat on the opposite end of the long grey couch that dominates the living space.
“I’ve marked each scene and color-coded our lines. You’re the orange.” I nod as I open the script while Emmy murmurs, “Umm…you don’t need to act out your part, but I’m afraid I’ll need to give it some oomph , so I apologize in advance…”
She trails off as her cheeks pinken, and the words escape my lips before I’ve even thought them.
“Watching you perform is a privilege. Never apologize for your talent. It’s a thing of beauty.”
As I berate myself internally, Emmy watches me with wide eyes, clearly picking apart my statement until I look down at the manuscript in my hands and skim to the first marked scene.
“Why are these particular scenes being reshot, do you know?”
Thankfully, my question cuts through the underlying tension, and Emmy flicks open her own manuscript, seemingly content to move forward.
“These scenes were the first ones that Lawson shot, and despite voice lessons, his British accent is way too prominent. It became less so as the shoot progressed, so the studio executives made the call to have these redone to match the later footage.”
I nod in understanding as she tucks her left foot underneath her butt and angles around to face me. She taps her script with her index finger. “You can start there. Third line from the top.”
We manage to get through the first scene – a generic get-to-know-you scene between the male and female leads – without any drama, but as we begin the next one, I notice Emmy fidgeting.
“What’s wrong?”
She grimaces and rises to stand, extending her hand out to me. “This is the scene where the couple breaks up. I know it might be difficult considering… And the fact I demanded we don’t talk…umm…about it…uh…I can absolutely skip it if you prefer…”
As she trails off uncomfortably, I place my hand in hers, forcing myself to ignore the shock that travels up my arm to land inside my heart, setting it to pounding at top speed. I stand up, towering over her much smaller form, and give her a reassuring smile.
“I told you. I’m a quick study. These words are just a scene, and I promised to help you in Hayley’s place. Okay?”
She shoots me a grateful smile before dropping my hand and moving to the farthest side of the living area where she gives me her back.
I check the script, skimming the lines that scream of our history. My stomach lurches as I read several sections, but I push down all emotions, focusing on keeping my word.
“What do you mean you can’t do this, Finn?”
Having switched into acting mode, Emmy swings around, her blue eyes spitting angry flames. “I gave you everything. Everything ! And you can’t even give me simple honesty.”
Tears fill her eyes, cresting her dark lashes to stream unheeded down her cheeks while her voice rises to a cry that is so damn convincing it cleaves my chest in half.
“You promised me…you swore we were forever…” She hiccups on a sob, and I feel my brows knit together as she whispers brokenly, “What changed between us? At least give me that… Give me something …”
My eyes are riveted to the performance before me, so much so that I don’t realize it’s my turn until Emmy clears her throat and nods pointedly at the script in my hands. I scramble to find my starting point, stumbling over the words in my rush to get them out.
“I-I-I changed, Lainey. We both changed. And I?—”
She cuts me off when she strides into my space, her middle finger poking my chest as she stares up at me with accusing eyes. “If you don’t love me, then just fucking say it.” Then her breath hitches as her shoulders drop defeatedly. “Because I’m done fighting if I’ve already lost.”
I quickly skim to my section, my stomach dipping as I read the words that are scarily accurate to my own reasons for leaving this woman the way I did.
“I’m no good for you, Lainey. I could never deserve you, don’t you see that? Keeping you would be like trying to lasso the sun. The closer I get to roping you, the deeper the burn. If I stay, we’ll both go down in flames.”
Emmy’s gaze shoots back up, her nostrils flaring before she shutters the emotion on her face.
“You’re right.”
Her eyes flicker between mine, the blue of hers swirling and churning, darker than I’ve ever seen them.
“You don’t deserve me, Finn. But you’re wrong…I’m not the sun. I’m simply a woman whose heart is breaking right before your eyes, and you ?” She wrinkles her nose in disgust, those tumultuous eyes far too convincing as she spits, “You’re just a coward .”
It echoes silently between us.
Coward. Coward. Coward.
And maybe that’s what I was that day five years ago. Maybe I should have come clean and told her something, but the truth is, when it comes to Emerson Hart, I’m weak.
She’s my Achilles heel. All she’d have had to do was ask, and I’d have given her the whole entire truth, which would have done more harm than good.
Or maybe that’s what you told yourself, you coward.
I swallow past the ball of emotion that’s lodged in my windpipe, my voice deep and hoarse when I read the response.
“I’ll never stop loving?—”
Her palm flies out, connecting with my cheek as Emmy cries out, “You don’t get to say that to me, Finn. Not anymore.”
Chest heaving, she pushes past me, making as though to leave our make-believe set, shooting her parting shot over her shoulder. “ Never . Again .”
We both stand in silence for a beat until she pivots with a bright smile.
“That was wonderful. Thank you, Mr. Holloway.”
I grit my teeth at the formality between us, knowing I don’t even deserve that, and nod in acknowledgment.
We get through a handful more scenes without mishap, and as we wind down for the evening, Emmy is less guarded than in any of our interactions these past few days. The feeling is like a balm to my soul, soothing wounds I’ve never allowed to heal.
“Did you need me to run through anything else?”
I skip forward to another highlighted section of the script, but Emmy deftly slides it out of my hands.
“We’re all good! Thank you for your help today. In fact, thank you for everything, Mr. Hollo—” She stops, a small frown appearing on her face before her lips inch upward. “Thank you, Ford .”
The olive branch is tentative, but considering how little she must think of me and how I left her with more questions than answers, at this moment, it’s everything.
My smile reaches my eyes when our gazes meet and hold until Emmy drops her head, moving toward her bedroom with a soft, “Goodnight.”
She stops when I call out after her. “There’s fresh cherry juice in the refrigerator.”
But I’m surprised when she smiles over her shoulder. “Thank you…Though I don’t think I’ll need it tonight.”
Her admission makes my chest feel lighter. “Sleep tight, Emerson.”
“You too.”
I wait until I hear the soft click of her bedroom door, telling me that she’s settled in for the night before I grab a glass of water and amble toward my own room.
Once I’ve retreated behind the door, I quickly strip down to my Calvins and lie back against the headboard with my hands crossed over the ink on my chest.
I inhale deeply, filling my lungs to capacity before expelling the breath as a sense of calm descends over me, not unlike the one I experienced when I first moved to the city.
Back then, it was the same woman who soothed my demons, fears, anger, and self-doubt. Now, being in a place where I can somewhat repay that kindness makes me feel as though the universe truly does have a plan for us all, just like she told me.
My feet feel heavy as I climb the steps to Emerson’s brownstone, barely able to make the final distance. I feel weary down to my soul and a million times older than my twenty-three years when I ring the doorbell.
Blessedly, it’s Emerson who answers, though right now, I wouldn’t care if it were Easton and he found out about our secret relationship before we’ve decided how to tell him. All I know is that I need the solace only my Tink can provide.
And I’ll be forever grateful to Sutton North, the man who’d made my escape to Manhattan a possibility.
As the door opens, my legs weaken, and I drop to my knees just as Emmy’s eyes meet mine.
Her hand flies to her breastbone in shock. “ Ford ?”
My name escapes on a gasp before she propels herself closer, enfolding me within her hold. “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”
She pulls back enough to find my eyes, and it’s then I finally allow the tears to fall, knowing she’ll catch me. “It’s my dad. He’s been arrested. He ? —”
A passing car honks, cutting me off, and Emmy quickly stands, pulling me up alongside her to move us both inside the house.
Once she’s settled me on the couch, she grabs some iced tea and presses a glass into my hand before she sits beside me, watching me with worried eyes.
“Do you know if he’s innocent or ? —”
“He’s guilty as fucking sin, Em. Racketeering, fraud, bribery, conspiracy to murder – the list goes on. My family would be homeless right now if Whispering Willows hadn’t stayed in Momma’s name after Grandpa passed away, for fuck’s sake…”
Emmy slips the iced tea out of my grip, placing it on the side table to her right. Then she kneels beside me, gathering me close. I press my ear over her heart, taking comfort from the steady cadence that sounds like Marshal's soothing beat as we drive the herd out to pasture.
The reminder of all I’ve lost brings a lump to my throat as Emmy soothingly strokes my hair.
“I wanted to be just like him. Everything I did was to please him, and now…I feel so fucking lost. Like I don’t know who I’m supposed to be now.”
“You don’t need to know that right away, Ford. We can figure it out.” She kisses my forehead, and I feel the world slowly making sense again now that we’re together. “The universe has a plan for us all. Trust her. She knows what she’s doing…”
That was when I realized I hadn’t left my home in Texas.
I’d found my home in Emerson Hart.
She’d been home all along, and I’d simply been too blind to see it.