Chapter Four
Emma - Late September
With my bag slung over my shoulder and a cafe mocha in my hand, I boarded the plane that was heading to Vancouver.
The last three weeks had been hell. While I’d been working on getting things ready for this case, Mark had been planning his exit.
It was right after the dinner with the Chilton’s, and my announcement that I’d be leaving for a minimum of three months for work, that he announced that he’d met someone.
A week later, he’d moved himself along with all his things in with Bianca, his administrative assistant.
While at first I’d been upset, it was Chantal who quickly reminded me how unhappy I was.
I’d just gotten everything arranged at my seat and had sat down when I felt my phone vibrate. I grabbed it and looked down to see a message from Chantal.
Chantal: Good luck with everything. ;)
Emma: What’s the wink for?
Chantal: As if you don’t know?
Emma: I haven’t a clue.
Chantal: It’s a reminder to go after what you really want.
Emma: Well, what I really want is another cafe mocha to get me through this flight but I’m already on the plane and they are getting ready to taxi out, so I don’t think a wink is going to do it.
Chantal: Stop, you know what I’m talking about.
Emma: You are crazy if you think there is ever going to be anything between me and Colton.
Chantal: My dear, my mother always said, never say never.
Emma: I’m not even going to dignify that with an answer. Talk soon.
Chantal: Safe flight. Go get him.
Emma: :S
Emma - Seventeen years ago
“Ow! Let go of my hair!” I screamed as searing pain ripped through my scalp.
Evil laughter filled my ears as Heidi Pendalton, the school’s only feared female bully, wrapped my tangled hair around her fist.
“What are you going to do if I don’t?” she sneered, giving another hard tug before finally letting go of the handful of hair she had.
I backed up and smoothed out my still-tangled hair, swallowing hard.
“Where did you get that dress, Emma?”
I looked down at the dress I was wearing.
Momma had bought the sunflower material and had made me the dress as a surprise for my fourteenth birthday a week ago.
Sunflowers were my favorite flower, and I’d always wanted a sunflower dress.
Momma and I had little, especially after Dad left us, and I knew this material had cost her a pretty penny.
I also knew she’d stayed up late many nights working on it after I’d gone to bed.
When I opened it, tears had filled my eyes, and I immediately knew I had to wear it for the first week of tenth grade.
I stared at her as she backed me into a corner in the hallway, her evil smile one I would have loved to smack off her face if I wasn’t so afraid of the repercussions. Mom had always told me that violence solved nothing, that you got further by talking.
The moment my back was up against the wall, Heidi grabbed hold of my dress and pulled, and that was when I heard the material rip.
“There, now you’ll have to go get something other than this ugly piece of crap.” She laughed.
I looked down to see that she’d ripped the dress in a place I knew Mom could never fix, and that was when the tears rolled down my cheeks. I feared what Momma would say when she saw the tear in the material.
“Are you really going to stand there and cry about it?” she said, mocking a fake cry and wiping her eyes before she started laughing.
As I looked up at Heidi, at her evil smiling face, trying to figure out how not to cry but get away from her, shock lined her face. Suddenly, she was ripped away from where we stood, and I heard a deep male voice confront her.
“Heidi! How many more times do I need to tell you to stay the fuck away from girls who are new to the school?”
“Ohhh, look, it’s the big hockey player.” Heidi laughed.
It was then I watched his almost six-foot-tall frame get between her and me. He was intimidating at his full height, his shoulders already broadening as he ambled toward her.
“I told you once. I won’t tell you again. Leave the newbies alone, or you’re going to have to deal with me. I’m bigger, I’m stronger and, unlike her, I’m not afraid to hurt you.”
In a moment, Heidi had picked up her bag, laughing as she made her way down the hall, and ran out the door.
It was then he turned those glass-blue eyes on me. “Are you okay?”
“I…I think so,” I said, straightening myself up and fixing my hair.
“She ripped your dress,” he said, his eyes meeting mine.
It was at that moment that tears began streaming down my face. My mother had worked so hard on that dress. Without another word, he grabbed me and pulled me into him, hugging me tight.
That was how I met Colton Fox.
We dated throughout high school, and by the start of his senior year, my friend Chantal came to me to tell me we’d be crowned King and Queen at Spring Prom.
As Spring Prom crept up, so did the pressure of taking our relationship to the next step. So, ten weeks prior to the prom, I’d gone out and got my first tattoo, a present for him and something to remind me of Colton Fox forever.
I lay in bed about eight weeks later, my fingers lightly tracing over my left hip bone.
I lay there, agonizing as I tried to figure out how and when to tell Colton about the tattoo.
Then, as if I were channeling my mother’s better-late-than-never motto, I’d decided I’d tell him tomorrow.
I wanted him to know about it prior to prom night, where we’d planned on going back to his house after the party since his parents would be out of town.
I placed my hands behind my head and stared up at my dark ceiling, wondering how I’d even bring up the subject, what I’d say. Maybe I’d just show him the tattoo. My stomach tingled with nerves as my mind ran through all the scenarios when I heard a tap, tap on my window.
I sat up, hearing it again. I slipped out of the bed and cracked my blinds. Colton stood below and gave a wave when he saw me.
I held my finger up and then tiptoed to my door, cracking it open.
The house was dark. Mom’s bedroom door was cracked open, but her light was off, and I could hear her gently snoring.
I slipped from my room and down the stairs, avoiding each creaking step, and made my way to the front door, quietly opening it.
The minute I stepped out onto the front porch, Colton was there.
“Hey.” I smiled. “Everything okay?”
It wasn’t odd that he was here. He’d come over many nights, late, and we’d sit up on the roof of the porch and talk, or we’d sneak into my room and mess around.
Tonight was different. Tonight, the look in his eyes was one I’d never seen before. It appeared he’d been crying.
“Hey, I had to come. I hope I didn’t wake your mom,” he whispered.
“No, she worked a double shift, so she’s sound asleep. What’s up?”
“Emma, I don’t know how to tell you this,” he murmured.
“Just say it, silly.” I smiled, placing my hand on his chest.
He looked at me, a serious look in his eyes. “I’m going out of town.”
I looked over his shoulder, a smirk coming to my face when I saw his bicycle lying on the front lawn. “Where are you planning to go on your bike?”
He smiled down at me, not with the same smile he normally had when he looked at me. “No, not on my bike. My parents dropped a bomb on me tonight when I came home from practice. They have decided they are going their separate ways.”
“What? Colton, I’m so sorry.” I sniffed.
I knew all too well how this felt. Dad had left us when I was seven, and even though I understood little of it then, I understood it all too well now.
“Yeah, so I’m going away for a while.”
“Why?”
“My mom will have to leave the house and move into a small apartment, and on her salary, those expenses will be enough. She won’t be able to afford to put me through hockey, and you know I have my heart set on trying out for a professional team.”
“I know, but surely you could get a job to help with things,” I suggested.
“I could, but there’d still be no more hockey. There is no way a part-time job at minimum wage would pay for that.”
“So, what are you saying?”
“My dad has announced he is moving to Boston. They have a Junior A team there, and he promised me that he’d make things work.”
“I don’t understand why he can’t make things work here.” I sniffled.
“Baby girl, we don’t have a Junior A team here. So, I’d be moving eventually, probably within the next year or two.”
Tears sprang to my eyes and panic set in at the thought of Colton leaving, but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything. My throat was so tight it hurt to swallow, and the tightness I felt in my chest at the thought of not seeing him every day was almost enough to kill me.
He pulled me into him, wrapping his arms around me. I wrapped my arms around him, wishing I never had to let go, because I knew that letting go meant I’d never see him again.
“When will you be leaving?” I questioned, sniffling.
“Tomorrow.”
Alarm filled me. “Tomorrow? Before the Spring Prom?”
“I’m afraid so. What am I going to do without you?”
It was then I felt him pull away, place his finger under my chin, and lift my head. He bent down, bringing his lips to mine.
“What do you mean, without me? I’m not breaking up with you.”
“It sure feels that way.” I sniffed, stepping into him and placing my head on his chest.
“Well, I’m not. We aren’t breaking up. We are just going to do the long-distance thing for a bit.”
“When will I see you again?”
He placed his hands on my cheeks and looked deep into my eyes. “I’ll be back to visit my mom after we get settled. We will make it through this, I promise.” He brought his lips to mine again, kissing me hard. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” I sniffled.
“I have to go,” he whispered.
He pulled away and took off down the front steps. He stopped and picked up his bike and then glanced over his shoulder at me.