Chapter Eighteen
T he absence of moonlight cloaked the room in murky darkness. There were no shadows. Emily could barely make out her white dresser or the blush-covered chair in the corner. She gazed toward her window. It looked even darker outside.
Must’ve stopped snowing .
It was coming down hard when Jake brought her home last night.
Drawing the covers up to her chin, Emily burrowed into the silky softness, and closing her eyes, she willed the dream to return.
But sleep evaded her.
She tried counting sheep and making a boring to-do list in her head, but neither worked. Her brain went into overdrive, and random thoughts crept in, sabotaging her efforts.
Christmas is just two weeks away. I still have to go shopping.
Finals start tomorrow. Did I study enough?
Have to plan a baby shower for Shiloh. Gah, and one for Arien, now, too.
“And my wedding.” Rolling over, Emily sighed.
Okay, so what if she hadn’t tackled her Christmas list yet? As soon as as finals were over, she and Arien could go to Jackson and knock it out in a day. She didn’t have to worry about studying. The education she’d gotten in Brookside was so advanced, her college classes were a joke. Shiloh wasn’t due until March. In the middle of Thanksgiving dinner, Kellan announced Arien was going to have a baby in July.
Plenty of time .
Not really.
Classes would start up again in January, and her wedding was in May.
For as much as her mom and Carrie Gantry had accomplished in that regard, there was so much left for Emily to do. Her dress. The cake. And where were they going to live once they were married? Jake and Billy hadn’t so much as hinted, and guarding their secret well, neither had anyone else.
With all of that on her mind, it’s no wonder she couldn’t sleep.
And she needed to, dammit.
Because at night, in Emily’s dreams, the wait was over.
Jake and Billy were there with her.
Sometimes she dreamt the silliest things, like the three of them putting together furniture from Ikea, when there wasn’t a store anywhere in Wyoming. She recalled Arien talking about it that Sunday when she made Swedish meatballs for supper. Every time she and her mom went shopping there, they’d have them in the upstairs cafe.
That might explain it .
Another time, Emily had a dream they were planting a garden. Jake dug holes in the dirt while Billy handed her pots of white blooms. As if . She wouldn’t even dream of doing that, except she did. Wasn’t there a castle in England with beautiful white gardens they’d read about in school once?
Yup, Sissinghurst Castle.
But not all of her dreams were nonsense, some were actually quite delicious. The ones where Billy and Jake kissed her, lying on a blanket beneath the stars. Waking up between them in a big brass bed, their hard, muscled bodies pressed against hers.
Emily shivered, her hand sliding under her shirt to squeeze her breast.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
It sounded like someone banging on the front door, but who would be here at this ungodly hour? Surely, it was a loose shutter or something. The wind. She ignored it.
But it came again, loud and insistent.
“Fuck’s sake.” She threw off the covers. “Hold your damn horses. I’m comin’.”
Her mother got to the door right behind her.
Emily opened it, and the cold winter air, along with snow from the lintel, blasted her in the face. “Jesus.”
Barefoot, wearing only a camisole and panties, Arien cradled her baby brother to her chest.
“Fucking hell.” And she pushed the door all the way open. “Get in here before you both freeze to death.”
They walked her to the sofa, Kim grabbing a throw off the back of it. She wrapped it around Arien, and sitting her down, she gently took the bundled infant from her arms. “You all right, Benjie?”
He gazed up at his aunt with big blue eyes and a gummy grin, proudly displaying his two bottom teeth.
“Thank goodness,” she said, breathing a sigh of relief. “Arien, honey, what happened?”
But she sat just there, staring straight ahead, shaking, her teeth chattering so hard she couldn’t speak.
“I’m going to call Matty, start a fire, and make some tea to get something warm in her.” Her gaze never leaving Arien, Kim tapped on her phone. “You go get her some clothes.”
“He was supposed to fly out to Denver this mornin’, remember?”
“Shit, that’s right. I’ll call the boys then,” she said and started all over again. “And Victor.”
“Victor?” Glancing up at her mother, Emily cocked her head. “Why?”
“Arien and the baby need a good looking over, that’s why.”
Oh .
“La…la…” Her eyes wide, Arien pointed a shaky finger at the door. “Lock it.”
“What on earth? She’s terrified.” Kim moved over to the door and locked it. No one ever locked their doors here. “Everything’s gonna be okay, sweetheart. You’re safe.”
“Nooo.” She shook her head. “I think he wants to kill us.”
The fuck? Who?
The sky had just lightened from charcoal to a heavy purplish-gray when Jake and his father arrived. Emily had Arien dressed in an oversized sweatshirt and leggings, a pair of warm, fuzzy socks on her ice-cold feet. She fitfully dozed on the sofa, Benjamin asleep in a makeshift cot beside her. With a fire roaring in the hearth, Kim set out coffee for them all.
“I spoke to Kellan. He and Tanner should be here any minute,” her mom said, pouring a cup for Victor. “They’re stopping at the house to grab some diapers and bottles for the baby. At least she had the wherewithal to bundle him in a blanket. He seems to be all right. It’s Arien I’m worried about.”
“Has she said anything else?” he asked, glancing at Arien.
“No.”
And after what she’d already said, they were almost too afraid to press for more.
“We thought we should let her rest until y’all got here.” Emily traced the veins on the back of Jake’s hand that rested in her palm. “Then she’ll only have to tell the story once.”
“I don’t want her traumatized even more, especially in her condition. She was shaken up pretty badly.” Kim exhaled, her teeth raking over her bottom lip. “Those boys are gonna tear this town apart lookin’ for whoever did this.”
The notion that someone in Brookside had to be the culprit seemed preposterous. “It could be an outsider, couldn’t it?”
“Doubt it.” Exchanging a glance with his father, Jake gave her hand a squeeze.
Her mom sipped on her coffee, her gaze flicking between father and son. “What are you thinkin’, Vic?”
“Same thing you are.”
Huh? Someone wanna clue me in here?
The door flew open. Ready to barrel in, she’d never seen such a look on either of her cousin’s faces before, especially Tanner, her gentle bear. Hands clenched. Nostrils flaring. Emily could see the veins straining against his skin. It was rage, pure and simple.
Then his eyes locked on Arien, and letting out a huge breath, he muttered, “Thank fuck.”
“They’re okay?” Kellan dropped a bag at the door, and looking at Victor, made his way into the room.
“I believe so.”
“Kellan?” Upon hearing his voice, Arien raised her head.
“I’m right here, baby cakes.”
“Me, too, pretty girl.”
They went to her. Kellan took one side and Tanner the other. Arien palmed their cheeks as if the simple touch somehow soothed her. She relaxed against them; the tension disappearing from her body, calmer just being in their presence.
“Can you tell us what happened, sweetheart?” Leaning in, his elbows on his knees, Victor steepled his fingers under his chin. “Whatever you can remember?”
“I remember all of it.”
Tanner took her hand and kissed it. She looked up at him. “Dad brought Benjamin to me and said you’d be coming in soon, so I didn’t think much of anything at first.”
Emily glanced at Jake and laced her fingers with his. Uncle Matty was still on an airplane. He didn’t know about any of this yet. She could only imagine his reaction when he found out.
“But the noises I heard didn’t sound right.”
“What do you mean?” Kellan asked.
“The dogs always come in with you.” She smiled up at him, her fingers rubbing at the whiskers on his face. “I can hear you shush them to be quiet, but you end up making more noise than they do.”
Sharing a glance, her cousins chuckled.
“My gut told me it wasn’t either one of you.” Arien reached for their hands and wet her lips. “So, I got up to look.”
“And?” Tanner prompted.
“It wasn’t you,” she said, her voice trembling.
Victor crouched down in front of her. “Did you see who it was?”
“No, it was dark, and he wore a hood. I never saw his face.”
Tanner’s brows drew together, then his eyes widened and his jaw went slack. He looked over at his brother, but Kellan didn’t appear to notice.
“I was hiding in a doorway at the end of the hall. He came up the stairs and went right for Benjie’s room.” And with the dam now broken, Arien sobbed. “I didn’t think. I just picked up the baby, snuck out the back, and ran.”
“Sh, sh, sh.” Kellan wiped the tears from her face. “Seems to me you were thinkin’ just fine. You’re both okay, and that’s what matters.”
“That’s it.” Tanner slammed his fist into his thigh. “We’re gettin’ you a car.”
“I told you, I don’t need one.”
“What if I hadn’t left my keys on the dresser, or if none of the trucks were there at the house?” He grabbed her by the shoulders, making her see reason. “With Benjie and a baby comin’, you do need one.”
“Oh, God, what if Daddy had brought me the baby monitor instead of Benjamin?” Arien squeezed her eyes closed, clapping a hand across her mouth.
The man would’ve found him in his crib and he’d probably be…
Wait. Baby monitor?
Emily’s gaze shot up to Jake, and as if he’d read her mind, he looked over at his father.
Victor glanced at her mom, then with a nod he turned back to Jake and said, “We need to check the house.”