Chapter 66
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
Emma
I try Case’s number again, but the call goes immediately to voicemail for the third time. I curse under my breath before I leave yet another message that’s exactly the same as the two I just left him.
“Please call me Case as soon as you can. It’s an emergency.”
“He’s still not answering?” Delaney is pacing the patch of grass in front of the bench. “Why do you think he’s not answering?”
A few hours ago, I would have thought it’s because he doesn’t love me, but I know that he does.
He said it when he was in Sweet Bluebells a week ago.
After he spoke to Delaney, guilt settled over him, and it drove him back to California.
“I messed this up so badly.” Delaney rakes a hand through her hair. “I should have told him about Mickey. I shouldn’t have yelled at him. I screamed at him, Emma.”
I stand to take her shaking hands in mine. “You have been holding this in for years. You were angry with him.”
“I was so pissed that he never bothered to call me back.” She looks up at the blue sky. “I didn’t want him to be happy if I couldn’t be.”
I want to tell her that she can be happy. She can open her heart back up to love.
She can move to California and teach her son how to surf because she has a built-in family there. She has Case and his grandfather.
I glance down at my phone’s screen. “I wish he’d call me back.”
Her finger flies in the air. “Text him. Maybe try and text him.”
It’s worth a shot, so I type out a quick message to him.
Emma: Case, please get in touch with me immediately. It’s very important!
I stare at the screen waiting for the delivered message notification, but it doesn’t come.
“What’s wrong?” Delaney cranes her neck to get a better look.
“It’s not delivering the message.”
“His phone is off.” Delaney shakes her head. “Maybe he’s in a meeting? Can you call someone else there to get a message to Rush…I mean Case?”
I smile. “I call him Rush too.”
Her gaze drops to her phone when it buzzes. “Mickey’s sitter is taking him for a walk. I’m going to tell them to swing by here to say hi to us. Is that okay with you?”
My hand darts to my mouth. “He’s Case’s nephew.”
Tears fill Delaney’s eyes. “I need Case to know that. I let my anger keep me from telling him, but I want Mickey to know his uncle and his future aunt.”
I laugh through my tears. “You’re not talking about me.”
“I am.” She swipes a hand over her cheek. “Case loves you, Emma. I saw it when he was talking about you at Sweet Bluebells. He’s crazy about you.”
“I feel that way too,” I confess. “I love him, Delaney.”
“We’re going to make a family out of the mess I made.” She looks to the left to see her son approaching with an older woman with red hair. “There’s Mickey. Let’s wait to tell him about his uncle until you talk to Case.”
“Agreed,” I nod curtly. “I’ll say hi to Mickey, and then I’ll try the Cabbott offices in San Francisco.”
I’ll find Case. I need to. He has a nephew that he has to meet.
Two hours later, I fall into my brother’s arms when he walks into Case’s apartment.
“Emma.” He runs a hand over my back the way he always has. It offers comfort. I need it more than I thought I did. “Damn, I’ve missed you.”
I step back when I see the woman standing in the foyer. She came in behind Drake, but I was too focused on my brother to notice.
“You must be Jane.” I move around Drake to greet her.
“I’ve only heard the best about you, Emma.” Her hands fist in front of her.
I won’t push for anything more than I think someone will offer, so I give her a smile instead of a hug. “It’s good to meet you, Jane.”
Drake surveys the interior of the apartment. “I hear that there’s an offer on this place.”
I try not to look shocked, even though I am.
“You’ve got sixty days to clear out, sis.” Drake laughs.
I don’t share the same amusement because we have things to talk about that are far more important than where I’m going to live.
“Where’s Case?”
Drake’s gaze volleys from my face to Jane’s. “Remember Case, babe?”
“Yes.” She nods. “I can’t say they’re all good memories.”
“Jane interned at Cabbott eons ago.” Drake keeps his eyes trained on his bride. “Case wasn’t exactly Mr. Friendly to her.”
This seems like a good time to start my confessions, so I jump right in. “I love him.”
A nervous laugh falls out of my brother. “You love who? Beauregard? Did you realize that you two belong together?”
“Case,” I correct him curtly. “I love Case.”
Anger flares over his expression. “What the fuck is going on? What did he do to you?”
I won’t go there. Instead, I toss the question back to him. “What did you do to him?”
“What are you talking about?” He brushes past me to drop his laptop bag on the couch. “Tell me what’s going on between you two.”
Ignoring Jane, I turn my back on her so I can face my brother. “A girl named Delaney asked you to give Case a message seven years ago. You never gave him the message, did you?”
He chuckles. “I don’t know what you’re doing right now, Em, but if you’re trying to cover up the fact that you slept with my best friend, you’re doing a shitty job.”
“I did sleep with him,” I confirm with a nod. “And we fell in love.”
He drops onto the couch. “I’m going to kill him.”
“Why?” I bark out a laugh. “He’s happy. I’m happy. You don’t get to dictate who either of us loves.”
He’s quiet. His face falls into his hands.
“What were you saying about someone named Delaney?” Jane steps into my view. “I remember meeting a girl named Delaney when I helped Drake move some boxes out of an apartment years ago. I hated every second of it. It wasn’t what I thought I was getting into when I took the intern position.”
Drake’s head pops up. “It’s fine, babe. This is between my sister and me.”
I shake my head. “What do you remember about her, Jane?”
“She was so sad.” Her hand drifts to her cheek. “She was tall and very thin. I remember she looked like she’d been crying for days. She asked Drake to give Case a message for her. I remember that.”
I twist back around to face my brother. “Did you give him the message?”
Drake darts to his feet. “Why the fuck would I do that? His brother had just died, Em. He couldn’t walk straight. Do you know how many times that girl called Apollo’s phone? I turned it off because it never stopped ringing.”
“You what?” I seethe. “You had Apollo’s phone after he died?”
“I had to handle all of it, including his cremation,” he stresses the last word. “I erased everything from the phone and tossed it.”
Anger barrels through me. “You had no right to do that. You should have given the phone to Case.”
“Case couldn’t think straight. He didn’t need any of that teenage drama in his life,” he spits the words out. “Why the hell are we even talking about this?”
This is Drake’s fault. It’s my brother’s fault that Case has never met his nephew. He’s the reason Delaney and Case haven’t connected to help each other through their shared grief.
“I have to find Case.”
“Call Cabbott in San Francisco.” Drake tosses that out with a flick of his wrist.
“I tried that.”
“Gavin Fuller would know.” Jane clears her throat. “I overheard Drake telling his assistant that Case is close to his cousin. Elias loves to gossip with your brother.”
“Give me Gavin’s number.” I point at my brother. “If you have it, give it to me now.”
His finger slides over the screen of his phone. He steps closer to me until he drops it in my hand. “I have no idea what the fuck is going on here, Emma, but I need you to know I love you and I love Case. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry if I screwed up.”
I take the phone from him and press the call icon next to Gavin’s number. I can only hope that he’ll help me get in touch with the man I love.