Chapter Twenty-One
Twenty-One
When Emmy woke up the next morning, Will was gone. There was no note stuck to the fridge, no dishes in the sink to indicate he’d eaten breakfast, and no car in the driveway or garage.
She refused to let her brain go to the worst-case scenario, though she couldn’t help but remember her plea the other night.
She’d asked him not to take unnecessary risks, and he had agreed.
But that was then. It was impossible not to worry that certain new information had shaken him enough to break that promise.
To keep her mind busy, she made a list of practical steps she would take before jumping to the most extreme conclusions. She might not have a designated tomato drawer in her own home, but she was killer at making lists.
First, she sent him a quick text asking if he was okay. While she waited for a response, she went about making and eating breakfast. Through sheer force of will, she refused to look at her phone until after she’d put her dishes in the sink a good thirty minutes later.
No response.
Step two was to call him. It went straight to voicemail.
Step three was to contact Jared and see if he’d heard from Will, or if he knew where Will would go when he was caught in the throes of emotional turmoil.
Then she remembered that she did not have Jared’s number.
The only contacts in her phone besides Will were his mother and Bright.
She and Bright had exchanged numbers during their impromptu TV and snack session the other day, but Bright didn’t seem like a good choice for this particular problem.
She barely knew Will. Emmy saw that Joanna had texted her sometime last night, okaying the estimate for the landscaping.
Her visit to the farm now felt like it had occurred a lifetime ago.
But it was fortunate that Joanna had approached her at all, or Emmy would never have gotten her number.
Who would know Will better than his mother?
Joanna picked up on the second ring. “Emmy! I’m so glad you called! Did you get my text? Bill and I are so excited to see what you come up with.”
“Hi, Mrs. Ba—Joanna, I know you wanted to talk about the landscaping in your yard, but I have a quick question about Will.”
“Oh, sure. Is everything alright?”
“I think so, but he seemed upset about something last night, and I was wondering…” She didn’t know how to phrase the question.
Bright’s words had clearly been the trigger, but she couldn’t exactly ask the woman if her son had a tragic backstory.
“Did anything… bad happen to Will when he was younger? Something that might still be hurting him?”
There was silence for a moment. “If he hasn’t told you, honey, I don’t know that I should.”
“Normally, I would absolutely agree with that. I don’t want to invade Will’s privacy.
Please believe that. But yesterday I noticed something was bothering him, and today I can’t find him.
I’m worried about him, and I don’t think he should be alone right now.
If there’s anything you can tell me…” She let the thought hang unfinished.
“The cemetery,” Joanna said quietly. “Try looking in the cemetery.”
Emmy spent five minutes trying to come up with a way of getting to the cemetery.
She had no doubt there was only one in a town this small, except maybe the occasional little private one outside a church.
The problem was she had no car, and Cobalt, she’d learned, did not have much to offer in the ways of ridesharing services.
She did, however, have better walking shoes than last time she’d been stuck in the house without transportation.
The only other issue she could think of was that she was about to be outside alone without Will to run meet-cute-interference for her.
It was a risk she would have to take. Wearing her sturdy pair of sneakers, her hair tied back in a ponytail, she set out at a brisk walk.
It couldn’t have taken a full fifteen minutes before she heard a truck driving up behind her.
“Third time’s the charm. I’m going to have to say this is fate.”
Emmy barely spared a glance for Paul as he leaned out the window, his smile a little smug, with just a touch of “I can’t wait to be your white knight” thrown in.
“This is the only road into town. I think we can give fate a pass on this one.”
“I could give you a lift this time.”
“No, thank you.”
She didn’t make eye contact, didn’t slow her pace.
The fuck-off signals were in full effect.
But she still wished she had a backup plan in case he didn’t leave her alone.
It worried her that he’d already brought fate into the mix.
Why hadn’t she asked Will to buy her pepper spray?
She increased her pace, swung her arms in time with her strides to make it look like she was in the middle of a workout instead of wandering aimlessly.
Breathing slow and deep, she tried to calm her thoughts.
Just because the man wanted to flirt didn’t mean she should jump straight to self-defense protocol.
Not that she had any methods of self-defense.
All she had was the ability to be bitchy and dismissive. It would have to do.
“You sure?” Paul asked patiently. “You gotta know by now I’m not a murderer.”
“That’s too bad. I only accept rides from murderers.”
He laughed at that. She still didn’t look at him, but she could feel him watching her. Her skin prickled, her chest began to burn more from nerves than exertion.
“You sure aren’t like other girls. I like that about you.”
“My goal in life,” Emmy muttered, trying not to snap at him for pulling the “not like other girls” line.
“What was that?”
“I said…” Emmy tried to come up with a decent brush-off on the fly. Then she gave up. Looking at him directly for the first time since he drove up, she stated, “I’m still with Will. And I’m trying to exercise. Thank you for the offer of a ride, but I’m good.”
“Alright then.” His smile didn’t dim as he settled back inside the truck. “But I still say you should give fate some thought.” Emmy held the shudder in check, but just barely. She caught Paul’s quick wave out of the corner of her eye. “Until the next time we run into each other, Emmy.”
She tried and failed not to hear those words as a threat.
Then the gravel crunched under his tires as he increased his speed and passed her by.
She let out a long, relieved breath, but she didn’t allow herself to consider it a done deal until she caught sight of the town ahead of her.
Paul’s truck was nowhere in sight. A trickle of relief loosened her muscles and lifted some of the tension she’d held trapped somewhere between her lungs and her heart.
Emmy found herself yearning for the safety and comfort of Will’s presence as she entered the town proper.
The next meet-cute could be waiting around any corner, and she had never before realized how much energy it took to ward off even the kindest of advances.
It was time to start considering throat punches as an option.
Now she just had to find the damn cemetery.
Jared was clearly visiting Bright at her place of business during a day off or a break.
When Emmy walked into Bright Ideas, he had his tongue in Bright’s mouth.
They were involved enough in the kiss that they did not stir at the sound of the bell tinkling over the door.
Emmy took a moment, then opened the door again as violently as she could.
The little bells sent up an insistent chorus of chimes, and the entwined couple separated abruptly.
“Oh! Emmy, hi,” Bright said, her cheeks flushed with either embarrassment or arousal. Maybe both. “Did you come to do some shopping?”
“Not today, no. I’m sorry to interrupt. I know this is weird, but I was wondering if one of you could give me a lift to the cemetery?
I won’t need a ride back. I’m… meeting Will there.
” She didn’t entertain the possibility that he wouldn’t be there.
Her gut knew that she’d find him. The only hitch would be if he was okay enough to drive her home, but by now she felt comfortable taking the wheel anyway.
“You’re meeting Will at the cemetery?” Bright asked, concern shadowing her features. “Is he… did someone…”
“No, nothing like that,” Emmy said quickly. “He’s just… visiting. I told him I’d meet him there, but I forgot that I didn’t have a ride.”
They were too polite to question her further, and she was grateful for that because she was struggling to come up with a believable lie.
“I’ll give you a ride on my way to the hospital,” Jared told her. Fictional being or not, the look in his eyes showed genuine concern for his friend. “Is he alright? I thought he seemed off last night, but you had a long day. Figured he was tired.”
“He’s alright,” Emmy said, fervently hoping she wasn’t lying. “Just doing some deep thinking.”
“Okay, you let me know if you need me.”
He gave Bright a quick kiss goodbye and led Emmy out to his car.
*