Chapter Four #2
Em stared at him, a huge grin on her face.
She was a lot like her mom. Her jaw was the same shape and they had the same nose.
Em’s hair was a little darker, still blonde, but not the light blonde of Alex’s.
Her eyes were a different shape, too. A little wider set, a little more upturned at the outer corners.
They were a warm hazel, the opposite of Alex’s cool grey.
Alex had her face buried in the menu, although from what Em had said on their way over, they came here at least once a week. She probably knew the menu inside and out.
He picked up his own laminated menu. Yup, he was right. Everything looked delicious, especially after such an intense workout, but not all that health conscious.
His stomach gave a small rumble. He glanced up, but neither Em nor Alex seemed to hear it. Em was staring at him, her chin propped in her hand. Alex still hadn’t looked up from the menu. Apparently, it was really engrossing.
He looked back down at the choices. What he really wanted was a plate of fried dill pickles, followed by a cheeseburger and onion rings with a chocolate and peanut butter milkshake. His mouth actually watered.
But he was used to not getting what he wanted, so he skimmed the salad selection instead.
Most of the salads were probably dripping with dressing.
Maybe he could get the dressing on the side.
The pasta selection was limited, although they did have a chicken carbonara that would probably do the trick.
“Hey, ladies.”
He put his menu down and looked up. A waitress, wearing a god-awful brown uniform, stopped at the end of their table. “Who’s your friend?”
Alex looked up, but Em was quicker.
“This is Nick Sadler. He plays hockey for the Providence Pirates.”
The waitress smiled, although he could tell she had no idea who either he or the team was.
And that was okay. It just proved even more that this was not a hockey crazed city.
At least not yet. The league had recently expanded here, but all the focus and hype was on the local team, not the rest of the league. He’d take the anonymity.
“Nice to meet you—” he glanced at her nametag, “—Angie.”
“You too,” she said, and her smile softened into a genuine one, and not the fake customer service one she’d probably perfected over the years. She turned back to Em and Alex. “The usual, or are we changing it up today?”
Em tapped her bottom lip with the tip of her finger, giving the question some serious thought. He couldn’t help the way the side of his mouth quirked up. What an awesome kid.
Alex lowered the menu and looked up at Angie. “I’ll have a spinach salad today and a diet soda. Em?” She turned to her daughter.
“I’ll have the fish and chip with a strawberry milkshake, please.”
All eyes turned to him. For some reason, he felt self-conscious. Which wasn’t helped when his stomach gave a super loud growl.
Em laughed and Angie smiled. Alex ducked her head, but he could see the corner of her mouth was tilted up.
He chuckled. “I’ll have a side salad with ranch dressing on the side, a side of whatever steamed vegetables you have, and the chicken carbonara.”
“Anything to drink?”
“Just water, thank you.”
Angie nodded and then hurried over to get their order in. The place was quite busy, which wasn’t surprising, given it was lunchtime.
He turned to Em. “How did you break your wrist? Rogue slap shot? Bench clearing brawl?”
Her cheeks turned bright red, along with the tips of her ears. He was never going to get used to that, from either of them. She glanced over at her mom, who just sat there with her forearms resting on the table, her expression blank. Oh, that couldn’t be good.
Em sighed and pursed her lips, her shoulders bending in slightly. “No, nothing like that.”
He waited for her to continue, but she just sat there looking miserable. A little prick of guilt jabbed him right between the ribs. “Never mind,” he said. “Forget I asked.” If she didn’t want to share, he wasn’t going to push.
Alex, apparently, wasn’t quite so forgiving. She nudged Em with her elbow. Em looked over at her, and Alex raised an eyebrow. It was a very motherly look.
Yeah, this was weird, now that he remembered her as a teenager.
He could barely keep himself alive on most days, he couldn’t imagine trying to keep another, mostly helpless little person alive, as well.
And she’d been young. Math wasn’t his strong suit, but she had to have still been a teenager herself when Em was born. Man, what an amazing woman.
Em gave another sigh, this one more annoyed than anything, and semi-rolled her eyes. It was almost like she started, but at the last second, caught the glare Alex tossed her way, and changed her mind. He swallowed down a chuckle because he was pretty sure neither of them would appreciate it.
Em rubbed the back of her neck with her good hand and lifted her gaze to his. “I was… umm… there were these girls in my grade who thought it would be fun to… umm… who decided to… well, they wanted to break into the school and have a sleepover. They asked me if I wanted to do it too…”
“Let me guess,” he said, trying to keep his voice level. “The most popular girls?”
Em nodded and chewed on her bottom lip. “They needed someone to climb through the high windows in the gym, so they could unlock the doors from the inside. I volunteered, but when I was near the top, I slipped and fell and landed on my arm.” She held up her casted wrist.
He sucked in a breath between his teeth. That had to hurt. It wouldn’t be a surprise to learn the gym windows were ten to fifteen feet off the ground.
“What happened next?”
Alex crossed her arms over her chest and pressed her lips together so hard, they turned white around the edges. Oh, this was definitely bad.
Em cleared her throat, rubbed the tip of her nose with her finger. “Most of the girls freaked out and took off.”
“They left you there? Injured and alone?” Anger bubbled up inside him. What the actual fuck?
“Welllll…” Em stretched out the word, no longer quite meeting his gaze.
“Yes, they did.” Barely leashed fury coated Alex’s words.
Em gave Alex a quick, angry look that held a hint of guilt underneath. “Not all of them.”
“Yes, Hannah was kind enough to wait there with you until the police showed up.”
Oh, shit. “The police?”
Alex finally looked at him, and man was it hot when she was fired up.
Her cheeks were flushed, but it was a slightly different pattern across her skin then when she was embarrassed.
Anger sparked in her eyes, giving them a frosty undertone.
“Turns out the school had a silent alarm system that the girls tripped while trying to break in.”
“We weren’t breaking in, Mother.” Em’s voice was all defensiveness. She slipped her hair over her shoulder. He was waiting for her to stick her nose in the air and give a sniff, but she didn’t. Which was probably a good thing, because Alex looked like she was currently teetering on the edge.
“Don’t take that tone with me, Emily Jane Dumont, or I swear to high heaven, being grounded will be the least of your worries.”
Em had the good sense to lower her gaze and tuck her chin into her chest. “I’m sorry.” The words were awfully mumbled, and he barely heard them, but Alex obviously had, because some of the tension in her shoulders eased.
The whole exchange fascinated him. He didn’t know if it was because it was between mother and daughter—he only had a brother, so had never seen this mother/daughter dynamic play out before—or because it was so different than any of his interactions with his parents.
“Anyway,” Alex turned back to him. “I get this call at about nine o’clock from the police, telling me that Em, who was supposed to be at a sleepover, had been taken to the hospital.”
She was playing it cool, but the sliver of terror in her gaze told him all he needed to know. That night was still a very painful, fear-soaked memory. He couldn’t imagine all of the terrible things that had probably raced through her mind. He had no idea how he would react to a call like that.
Em slumped in the booth, her arms crossed over her chest. She kept her gaze locked out the diner window. “It’s not that big a deal.”
Alex sucked in a deep breath. He wasn’t sure what she was going to do or say.
This was obviously still a very touchy subject between the two of them.
And he really shouldn’t be so interested in the story, or fascinated by their relationship.
His relationship with his dad had been all about hockey and winning and pushing Nick to be the best. His relationship with his mother was non-existent.
And then, Alex visibly let it all go. Her shoulders relaxed, her jaw unclenched and she blew out a quiet breath. She lifted her gaze to his and scrunched up one side of her mouth in a bit of an apologetic look. “Sorry about that.”
He was saved from having to say anything by Angie returning with their drinks.
She placed his water in front of him, the ice cubes clinking against the glass, and slid Em’s milkshake along the table toward her.
For some stupid reason, he couldn’t tear his gaze away from the fancy glass.
When was the last time he’d had a milkshake? Jesus, he couldn’t even remember.
And why was he losing his shit over a milkshake?
Shaking his head, he took a big gulp of water. The icy cold burned his throat.
“Food will be out in a minute.” Angie flashed them a smile and hurried off.
An awkward silence wrapped around them, making him feel jumpy and unsettled. Em sipped her milkshake, staring out the window. Alex twirled her straw in her diet soda, watching it like it was the most fascinating thing in the world. He couldn’t take it any longer.
“So, what’s fun to do around here?” He took another sip of water, glancing between the two of them. “I’ve been here for a while and have pretty much seen nothing but the inside of my hotel room.”