Chapter Nineteen #2
“You’re moving?” Will asked. Bizarrely, he found himself wondering if this was a plot point that was going to happen regardless, or if he’d somehow triggered it by “dating” Emmy instead of Bright.
Was it the kiss that had finally rewired his mother’s brain enough to have her remember Emmy’s name?
He didn’t like thinking that. He didn’t like thinking of his mother as a robot.
“It’s time,” Bill said gruffly. “We love that old farm, but we’re getting on in years, and it’s a lot of land for two old folks like us.”
“We’re looking at some smaller houses… in Florida,” Joanna said quietly.
“You’re moving to Florida,” Will said slowly.
“Preferably before winter,” Bill confirmed.
Will didn’t know what to say. It was hard to pin down what he felt about this revelation. A part of him felt terrified and guilty because he wasn’t particularly sad or hurt. Shouldn’t he feel sad and hurt? His parents were moving several states away.
“I’d love to take a look at your yard,” Emmy said when he remained silent for a beat too long. “Do you have a budget in mind?”
“I hadn’t thought of it,” Joanna admitted. “Maybe you and I can discuss it. How does tomorrow morning sound? Is that too soon?”
“No, that’s fine.” Emmy’s eyes tracked Will’s movements as he topped off his wine and took a healthy swallow from his glass. “Will can drop me off. I don’t have a car yet. Do you have any pictures of the house so I can start to form some ideas?”
Will took another drink of wine and let her carry the conversation until dinner was officially over.
They ate the dessert his mother had brought—triple berry cobbler—with decaf coffee in the living room.
His mother commented on the lovely scent of the candle Emmy had bought.
Neither Emmy nor Will mentioned that Bright had sold it to them.
They’d clearly both reached the conclusion that it would be best not to bring her up in case it confused Will’s parents all over again.
“Well, it’s getting late. We should be getting on,” Bill said, pushing himself to his feet. “It was good seeing you, son. Thanks for having us.”
Will accepted a hug from his mother. She kissed him on the cheek and smiled up at him. “We’ll visit whenever we can,” she promised. Then she looked at Emmy. “Tomorrow morning?”
“Yes, I’ll come by early if that’s okay. I’m looking forward to it. For now, I’m just going to get the dishes started.”
Will almost told her not to leave him alone with his parents, but that was ridiculous. No matter the circumstances, they were the people who had raised him. He didn’t resent them for who they were; it was the situation that was making him bitter.
Bill reached out to shake his hand. “Great dinner, son.”
“Yeah, thanks for coming.” Will dropped his father’s hand and looked at his parents. He found he had to swallow against an unexpected ball of emotion that had lodged in his throat. “You guys know I love you, right?”
His dad looked at him with a kind of baffled amusement. His mother looked near tears. Shaking her head, Joanna stepped forward and hugged Will again.
“Of course we know that,” she said. “We love you, too.”
Will allowed himself to hang on for a moment longer than he usually would have. He very well might see his parents again, but something in his gut made him believe that this was one of life’s big goodbyes. He didn’t want to take it lightly.
They left, and he watched their car pull out the driveway before closing the door. When Emmy came back in a minute later, he was still standing there, looking a little lost.
“You okay?”
He shook off the mood as best as he could. “Yeah. We survived. That got intense there for a minute.”
Emmy blew out a long breath. “Seriously. I wasn’t expecting that. I think they just…” she trailed off.
“Malfunctioned?” Will offered.
“I didn’t want to say it,” she whispered guiltily. “Do you want to talk about it?”
He shook his head. “It is what it is. I’ll process later.” His thoughts were on the second bottle of wine they’d opened during dinner but hadn’t finished. Digging deep, he worked up a smile for Emmy. “My mom’s going to hire you. You’re going to fix up the farm.”
“Don’t say ‘I told you so.’ I didn’t say anything about your parents demanding we kiss.”
“Yeah, but you were thinking it.”
“True. I guess you’re permitted to think it, then.”
But he wasn’t thinking smug thoughts at all. He was thinking about that kiss, and the other before it, about how he wanted to do it again. Maybe there was something of his thoughts on his face, because color rose in Emmy’s cheeks.
“I’m going to finish cleaning up,” she said quickly.
Smooth move, idiot, Emmy thought as she retreated back into the kitchen.
She’d seen the look on his face. She had been so determined not to kiss him again.
It was vital that she maintain a certain distance, both physically and emotionally.
The quick peck during dinner shouldn’t have messed her up like this.
It had been perfunctory. It had been brief.
It had been… wonderful, she admitted to herself, as she scrubbed a saucepan.
The question was: Was kissing Will wonderful because of what they were together, or because he had some sort of romantic superpowers due to his origins?
She hated that she was questioning that.
She was basically calling him a robot just like she’d insinuated about his parents, and she knew very well he wasn’t.
“I think we should take a trip,” Will said, cutting into her thoughts.
“A trip?” Emmy repeated, turning to look at him over her shoulder. She couldn’t hold back the wince when she saw he was sipping from a fresh glass of wine.
Will scowled, having caught the look, and deliberately took a big gulp of his drink before continuing.
“I was thinking we should go somewhere. I’m curious if the world even exists outside Cobalt, you know?
Like… if this place is the setting for a book, will the people and places that aren’t relevant to the story even be there outside of town?
If we fly to Paris, is the plane even going to land or is the pilot going to announce we have to turn around due to engine failure?
” He drank again, instinctively. “I am officially jobless. Got all the time in the world. Let’s go somewhere. ”
“We can’t fly anywhere, remember?” Emmy told him. “Buying plane tickets requires ID, and I don’t have any.”
Will frowned into his wine. “Shit, I forgot about that. Okay, so we’ll drive somewhere. Jared suggested I buy a motorcycle. We could just pick a direction and go.”
Emmy had never been on a motorcycle in her life, and she didn’t like the way her stomach clutched at the thought of spending hours pressed against Will’s back, her arms wrapped around him. Women in romance novels never seemed to be able to maintain their self-control after a motorcycle ride.
“Motorcycles are dangerous.” In more ways than one, she added silently.
Will shrugged. “I probably can’t even die. It’s not part of the book or whatever.”
Emmy hung the dishtowel up and turned to face him fully.
“And you’re willing to test that? What if my being here changes that?
” Worse, what if her being there meant that Cobalt would cease to exist if she left?
It wasn’t a real city. If the rest of the United States was the same as her United States, would they be able to navigate back?
Even if the roads around Cobalt existed, there was nothing to say the turnoffs that led to the fake town would remain after her and Will’s departure.
Her presence was changing things left and right.
There was no way to know what effect she had on the geography around her.
“Alright, relax.” Will held up a hand for peace. “We’ll take my car. Do you want to try to drive to Minneapolis? I know it would take a few days, but we’ve got time. You wanted to try to find the sex psychic right? To see if she can help us find a way out?”
Emmy shook her head. “I think I’m going to trust Google on this one. No such person or sex shop exists in Minneapolis or anywhere else in the U.S. It isn’t worth driving for days just to confirm that she isn’t hiding out in Minneapolis in secret or something.”
“Alright, where should we go, then?”
Emmy looked into his eyes, noted his open and eager expression, then glanced down at his mostly empty wine glass.
How many more blows could he take? He may have guessed that Cobalt wasn’t a real place, but that was a big leap for him to find out definitively.
It wasn’t clear how he’d react. He might shrug it off, or it might make everything worse.
Her eyes drifted back to the glass in his hand.
Things had already tipped from bad into worse, if she was being honest with herself, and she dreaded what would happen if Will took another emotional hit.
“What?” Will asked when the silence had gone on too long. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. You just put me on the spot.” She took a moment.
Took a breath. He was looking at her with a light in his eyes that she hadn’t seen too often since she’d met him and thrown his world off its axis.
They were in a romance novel. All bets were off.
“Let’s just drive. No destination, no goals.
Just pick a direction and go. North. North sounds good, right? ”
The light intensified, making Emmy want to reach out and hold him. Just hold on tight. “North sounds great. We’ll hit the road and see what happens.”
“Sounds like a plan. Tomorrow? I’m meeting your mother in the morning, but we can leave from the farm when I’m done.”
“Sure, that works. Sunday is a good day for a drive with no destination. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Me, too.” She prayed Cobalt would still be there when they returned.
There was just one other thing she had to clear up.
It felt urgent and immediate; she couldn’t let it go, no matter how hard the conversation might be.
“Will.” Emmy reached out and took hold of his arm.
He looked down at her and she felt her heart give a little stutter as she realized how close they were.
She could feel the ridges of muscle in his forearm and the warmth of his body.
He was as real to her as her own sister, and his earlier words had made her desperately afraid that he didn’t share her belief in his existence.
“Promise me you won’t… test the limits of your mortality, okay?
Can we just agree that it’s possible for you to die and that you shouldn’t push your luck? Please?”
“Emmy, I’m not about to go driving off a cliff.”
“Just promise me.”
He smiled a little and reached out to run a finger lightly down her cheek. “Okay. I promise. No unnecessary risks. I’ll look both ways before crossing the street and everything.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks.”
It didn’t occur to her that she was still squeezing his arm until his gaze dropped to her mouth. The warmth in his eyes made her pulse ratchet up. Time stood still as they both waited to see what would happen next. When he leaned closer, she found herself holding her breath.
“Okay… maybe one quick risk,” he murmured, and lowered his mouth to hers.
His mouth was warm and gentle, but more insistent than it had been when they’d first kissed beneath the wind chime.
Emmy sighed, a little sound of pleasure and acceptance, as he coaxed her mouth open, gently so gently.
His arm came around her waist and he pulled her flush against him. Lips parted, they tasted each other.
And Emmy froze.
He tasted like wine.
Was he drunk? Was that the only reason he’d thrown caution to the wind? She didn’t want to believe that of him, but she couldn’t stop the frantic thoughts from forcing their way in and ruining the moment.
Sensing her retreat, Will stepped back. It was probably for the best that she’d held onto her self-control, because the first touch of his lips to hers had utterly undone him.
She’d been warm and soft in his arms. Her mouth had fit his perfectly.
She’d opened for him willingly, trustingly.
Her taste lingered on his tongue. Never in his memory had a kiss affected him so much.
He tried to gauge her reaction, to see if she was equally affected, but all he saw on her face was a guarded wariness.
“Sorry,” he said even though he wasn’t sorry at all.
She shook her head, made a visible effort to relax. “Don’t be. That was… great. Wonderful. But we need to slow down. If we keep going down this path, it could lead to… complications.”
“Right. Wouldn’t want any complications.”
She smiled apologetically, reached out as if to touch his arm again, then thought better of it and dropped her hand. “Tomorrow then?”
“Yeah. We’ll leave from my parents’. Text me when you’re ready to be picked up.”
“I’ll do that. Can’t wait.” Some of the tension was back as she said this. Now he saw no wariness. Instead, a kind of trepidation hovered on the edges of her expression. He decided not to push it—for now—and he would respect her wishes to back off on the kissing.
That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try his damnedest to change her mind.