Chapter 23 #2
“I’ve not talked to her. I really don’t know her. We didn’t meet until she and her friends showed up to take the charter she’d originally booked as a gift for her fiancé…well, ex-fiancé, no… dead fiancé,” Cap rambled.
“So, you like her,” Mom pushed.
Mom had been on him more frequently about companionship, marriage, and having a family.
She worried he’d shut his heart off when his ex left him.
She had expressed concern he’d grow old and lonely.
Her concern was genuine, but his heart…well, he wasn’t sure if his heart was capable of opening up and loving again.
The tightness in his chest reminded him he had opened his heart only to have it stomped on all over again.
“I do.”
Mom smiled softly. “Then call her.”
“In her letter, she said not to. She’s very confused right now, and I think she needs time to sort things out.”
“I guess I can understand that. But, did she really mean it?”
“It’s all I have to go on.”
Dad cleared his throat, and he turned his head to look at him.
“Son, women are mysterious creatures. Even after all this time I’ve been married to your mother, I still can’t figure her out at times. She still says and does things I don’t understand,” Dad said with a chuckle.
Mom laughed as she and Dad shared a knowing glance.
“If I were you, I’d call her. No, I’d go see her. In person, it’s harder to suppress feelings,” Mom said.
“But…”
“You’ve got nothing to lose,” Mom bit back, cutting off his excuse.
“I’d listen to your mother, but what do I know?” Dad said with a shrug.
“I’ll think about it.”
“Hunter went after Hannah, and look how that turned out. You don’t know unless you try,” Mom encouraged.
He wasn’t sure what else to say at the moment, but he knew his mother wouldn’t settle for no action on his part.
Mom leaned closer to him over the kitchen island. “Capricornus, I’ve never known you to be a quitter or give up on something you want.”
There she went with his full name again.
“Look, just think about it. If you really like her,” his dad said, then paused. He arched a brow. “Or, if you love her, why wouldn’t you reach out to her? Love doesn’t come often. You surely don’t want to blow it.”
Jeez, what had Hunter and Cici told their parents to make them feel so strongly about this? Especially Dad, who hardly spoke of any lovey-dovey stuff.
“I’ll give it some thought.”
Dad nodded and rose from his seat.
“I’m running to the grocery store, do you need anything?” he asked.
Cap rattled off a couple of things.
“Your mom already has those on the list.”
Of course she would. Moms know everything, whether you want them to or not.
Dad left, and Mom cleaned up the kitchen while he paced around the house a bit to loosen up his stiff muscles.
During his third lap, his cell phone buzzed. Hunter’s face flashed on the screen.
“Hello.”
“Hey, just got in from the morning charter. Had a bunch of pukers, so at their request we came in a bit early. We nailed the salmon, so overall, they are happy.”
“Great. I really appreciate you doing this for me.”
“No problem. It’s nice to be out of the office and working in the outdoors again.”
“Where are Mom and Dad?” Hunter asked.
“Dad went downtown, and Mom just went outside to spruce up the landscaping.”
“Are they driving you nuts yet, Capricornus?” his brother teased with the use of his full name.
“You could say that.”
They both laughed.
“I’m going to swing by in a little while. Do you need anything?”
What he needed was for his parents to forget the name Emma. His brother wouldn’t be able to help with that, even if he tried.
“I don’t need anything, but tell me what in the hell you and Cici told Mom and Dad about Emma. They are all over me about her.”
After a couple of beats of silence, his brother broke into full-blown laughter.
“What’s so funny? What did you say?” Cap asked.
A tinge of anger sifted through him at the thought that his brother would say anything about his relationships or women to their parents, since he knew how much Mom rode him about settling down.
“I didn’t have to say anything. You said enough while working your way out of the anesthesia.”
Fear gripped his spine. What had he divulged? And why the hell hadn’t Hunter informed him? Brothers were supposed to unite, protect and save each other, weren’t they?
Cap drew in a long breath and let it out, then he braced himself for what was to come.
“What did I say?”
“It wasn’t too bad, but enough to let everyone know how much you care for Emma.
You asked about her a few times and mumbled a lot about how worried you were.
When you got a little more coherent, you asked me to look after her if something happened to you.
For the record, I promised I would. I’m that kind of brother, you know,” Hunter said with a laugh.
“Dammit.”
His brother laughed again. “Then you know the conversation we all had when you fully woke. I’m pretty sure Mom started planning your wedding in her head.”
“Shit.”
“Cap, why is this so bad?”
“I take it none of you read the letter Emma left for me.”
“I can’t believe you’d even think we would.”
Like Dad had been, his brother was offended.
“She’s confused and needs time to sort things out. She specifically asked me to not come after her, and she blames herself for my getting hurt. Also, she apologized for dragging me right back into the dangerous, law enforcement life I left.”
He intentionally held back on the love part and had to work hard to keep emotion out of his tone.
“So, she’s worried about you?”
“I guess.”
“And nowhere in that letter did she mention anything about love?”
Cap swallowed audibly.
“So, she did,” his brother stated with a hint of enthusiasm.
His non-answer answered the question.
“Since you’re older than me, you’re supposed to be wiser, but you need to let me help you out here…go get her.”
“I’m not cleared for driving.”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“I’ll be ready.”