Emilia pushed through little groups of young people talking to each other. There were both young men and young women, all interacting as if they’d known each other forever.
She wondered what it would be like to know everyone here, to have them all as her friends.
“Nice gathering, don’t you think?” A voice made her turn around. A young man was standing there. She had never seen him before, and she wondered who he was.
He stepped very close to her.
“I don’t believe we’ve met.” Emilia took a little step backward. The lack of space between them made her suddenly uncomfortable.
He took a small step forward, undoing any progress she might have made. “I don’t believe we have. I could never forget such a beautiful face as yours.” The faint smell of whiskey tickled Emilia’s nose and she felt revulsion at the scent.
He reached out as if to touch her face and she took another step back, avoiding his touch.
“Excuse me, I am actually looking for a friend.” Emilia’s eyes searched frantically for Lily. Even going with her friend uninvited would be better than being stuck with this man with no one to help her.
“Hang on. We can be friends.” The young man stepped forward and grabbed her arms tightly, pulling her into an unwanted embrace.
Emilia froze, she didn’t know what to do. At that moment, another figure stepped forward. “Get your hands off of her,” the other man said. The voice was deep and stern and held an authority that Emilia was fairly certain no one could compete with.
Emilia looked up and her eyes locked with Derek’s. For the first time, she actually felt happy to see him. For some reason, she had begun to feel safe around him. She didn’t know why. She knew she shouldn’t, and yet, she knew that he would help her.
“Who are you to tell me what—” Whatever the young man was trying to say was cut off when Derek reached out and detached the man’s hands from Emilia’s arms.
“Get out of here before you cause a scene you will regret.”
The man seemed to finally recognize how serious Derek was and turned and scurried off, joining a group of laughing men toward the entrance of the house.
“Are you all right?”
Emilia nodded, rubbing her arms. She’d hated the feeling of that man’s hands on her arms and was glad to be rid of it. “I’m okay, thanks to you. Thank you for that.”
“Nothing to thank me for. Where’s Lily? Didn’t she come to this thing?” Derek seemed almost angry. He looked around the place similarly to the way that Emilia had at first.
“I don’t know. She went with Sara to see something and I came over here, and then…”
“Do you want to go outside? You look pale. It’s a little too warm in here for my liking.”
Now that Emilia thought of it, it was quite toasty in the house. It was probably because there were so many people inside and no windows open.
“All right, yes. That sounds nice.” Emilia really did want some fresh air, now that he had mentioned it. She was starting to feel a bit light-headed.
“There’s a back entrance. We can go through there so we don’t have to navigate this crowd on our way out.”
Emilia felt a warm tingling where Derek placed his hand in the small of her back, pushing her toward the back of the house.
“Are you sure the people of the house won’t mind us going through the back?”
“Of course not. Why would they? Tell me, have you ever been to an event like this?”
Emilia shrugged. “I have been to a few, but they’ve always ended the same.”
“And how is that?” They were outside now, on a back porch. Some horses in the near distance were frolicking in a nearby pasture, like foals.
“With me going somewhere else and waiting for it to be over,” Emilia admitted sadly. She knew Derek was probably the type to enjoy these types of gatherings.
The scene that had played out at his parents' place back in Ohio filled her mind for a moment.
She hated that she had allowed herself to be swayed by him and his silly words. She wished she could ask him about it, ask him why he had been so cruel when here he was in Texas, doing multiple nice things for different people.
And yet the words just stuck in her throat and she looked away. “How long do you think the party will last?”
“I don’t know. Every year, Sara does this for her birthday. It’s only the second time I’ve come, but I’ve heard that it can go on for quite a while.”
“Oh, I wonder if Lily will stay the whole time.”
“She might, especially since George is here.”
“Oh.” Emilia was sure the negativity in her voice was palpable. She wasn’t interested in keeping her dislike of George a secret. She didn’t like that match for Lily, though she couldn’t name one thing in specific as far as why. She just hoped that he wouldn’t disappoint her.
“Don’t worry, I’m not sure I like it, either,” Derek reassured her.
“He’s your friend. Do you know if he’s serious? Does he have good intentions?”
Derek shrugged. “Sometimes I think so, and other times… George is a hard man to understand.”
“I don’t want her to get hurt.” Emilia couldn’t think of anything worse coming from George and Lily’s relationship than Lily walking away with a broken heart.
“I can ask him to stay away.”
Emilia shook her head, “No, it has to be her decision. Otherwise, it would do no good. She is a grown woman, after all.”
Derek nodded. “I’ve thought the same thing.”
“Emilia, come here! I want to show you something!” Lily’s face appeared at the doorway.
Emilia reluctantly said goodbye to Derek and let Lily pull her back into the house. It wasn’t so much that she wasn’t eager to leave Derek. It was that she wasn’t exactly excited about going back to the party. She had a feeling this was going to be a long day.
---*---
“Emilia, George offered to ride home with me,” Lily whispered to her cousin.
Emilia looked around uncertainly. It was getting late and dusk was falling. The party was nearly over, and she had been ready to go home hours ago.
“His sister is going to come, too, so maybe the two of you could ride together and kind of chaperone.”
“What about Derek?”
“I don’t know. Please, Emilia? I really want this.”
Emilia glanced around. She couldn’t imagine anything more uncomfortable. “Fine, I guess it’s fine. We should probably get going, though.”
“I’ll go tell them.” Lily disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Emilia watching and waiting once more.
She hoped that the ride home wasn’t going to be as awkward as it sounded. She didn’t know why George had to accompany them at all. They had been fine coming alone. But, then again, it was getting darker as time passed. Maybe it wasn’t so safe for them to ride alone.
Emilia shrugged; she would just have to see how it turned out, because she’d already promised her cousin.
She forced a smile and waited for Lily and George to come back. A young woman Emilia had never met was with them. She assumed it was George’s sister.
Despite Emilia’s attempts to say hello, the young woman was very cold and kept her distance. Emilia sighed. This was going to be worse than she’d thought.
Chapter 19
“How was your trip home with Lily?” Derek gave his friend a look. He hadn’t seen George in the two days since they had gone to the birthday party.
Derek didn’t really enjoy social events like that, but he had felt obligated to go since Sara had invited him personally.
He certainly hadn’t expected to be ditched by his friend when he’d decided to go take Lily home.
“It went quite nicely, actually.” George gave him a mischievous grin that made Derek feel uncomfortable.
“What about Emilia, did she ride with you?” Derek didn’t remember seeing them all leave. Once he had found out that Geor
ge would be accompanying them, he had gone home straight away.
“She rode with Rose behind us. Why do you care? Tell me, what sort of interest do you have in Emilia, anyway?”
Derek chuckled. “You know that I am not interested in finding someone or having a family. I am all right on my own.”
“You might think that now, but you may change your mind in time.”
“Are you changing your mind?” While Derek turned the attention back to George, his mind was still thinking about his friend’s words. Maybe he was attracted to Emilia, in some sort of romantic way.
Could that even be possible? She didn’t really seem to like him, and he certainly had no aspirations to be searching for a relationship.
“Come on, we can talk about this more after church.” George sped his horse up a bit and Derek urged his own to match the speed.
They had agreed with Mrs. Carson to meet the family at church. It wasn’t often that the reverend made his way through town to give a proper sermon and when he did, the majority of people tried to make it in to church to hear him speak.
He came once a month, or sometimes once every other month. Derek knew that he was responsible for five or six little churches in these parts and he tried to spread his time equally between them. Sometimes, special events like weddings or funerals held him up in one town or another.
The little church came into view. It was a quaint building that looked smaller on the outside than it really was. It actually held quite a few people—most of the town, in fact.
On the really hot stuffy days when they didn’t fit inside well, they would all go outside and sit in the shade and, sometimes, the reverend would even give his sermon out there.
The Carson family was pulling up in their wagon just as they arrived. Derek’s eyes met Emilia’s gaze for a moment, but she quickly looked away. Derek wondered what those curious eyes were thinking.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts and watched his friend walk up to Lily. He looked much too confident and she looked much too happy to see him. It seemed that something was blossoming there, whether he wanted it to or not. He wondered if their developing romance would change the friendship that he and George had enjoyed for so long.
Derek walked over and held his hand out to Mrs. Carson. “It’s good to see you this morning, ma’am. Can I help you with anything?”
“You’re such a dear, Derek. Don’t worry, I think I have everything under control. Let’s go in and find us a seat before the reverend starts his service.”
As they headed inside, Derek gave a curt nod in Emilia’s direction and said a quick hello to the twins and Lily. He considered all the Carsons as his own family, except for Emilia. He wasn’t sure what to think about her yet.
One moment, she seemed almost friendly toward him and the next, she was cold to him again. She always seemed to be wrestling with herself and her feelings.
He thought back to what she had said to him the first night they met. He needed to have a conversation with her and tell her the truth about what had happened in Desmond, Ohio. Now that his brother was in town, she might run into him and again blame Derek for his brother’s actions.
He slid into one of the hardwood pews beside George. The reverend walked into the church and to his place at the front. This was one of Derek’s favorite parts of this town.
He loved the moments he spent in church, along with others, learning and preparing for the challenges ahead of him. His gaze swept over Emilia, who looked like she was enjoying herself just as much as he was. He reminded himself he would need to talk to her as soon as he could after church. Maybe, when they went back to the Carsons’ house for lunch, he would get a chance.
---*---
Derek took his time approaching Emilia after the service. It seemed there were several people interested in meeting the Carsons’ niece. When he did finally walk over to the small huddle of people, his heart skipped a beat and his cheeks filled with red when he realized who they were talking to.
“There’s Derek!” Emilia’s voice carried over to him before he could say anything.
She looked happier than he’d seen her in a while and was standing with a woman that Derek recognized quite well.
“Derek, I want to introduce you to—”
“We know each other,” Derek cut her off. “Janie and I used to be engaged.” Derek wouldn’t have wanted to have Emilia find out that way. In fact, he never would have introduced Emilia to Janie in the first place, but it seemed that it had already been done for him.
“Oh, I, um… I met her on the train, I had no idea.”
Derek had never seen anyone look as uncomfortable as Emilia did in that moment.
Her hands twisted together, and she looked as if she wished something would swallow her up. Janie was smiling at him with an odd grin and everyone else had started pretending to talk to each other to avoid this awkward exchange.
“Derek, it’s nice to see you again.” Janie took a step toward him. It took everything in him not to take a step away.
“Why are you back in town?” Derek saw no need for pleasantries. When Janie had made her choice to leave him for another man, he had never expected to see her again—and that was how he preferred it.
“Things didn’t… work out in Dallas, so I came back here. I figured it would be better than staying somewhere where I didn’t really know anyone.”
Derek nodded and clenched his jaw. He could imagine how it hadn’t worked out. Maybe Janie had found that her new man had even less money than Derek and had changed her mind about what was her best bet.
Well, the joke was on her. He didn’t care if Janie was the last person on earth, he would never give her a chance, romantically, again. In fact, she had been responsible for destroying Derek’s belief in innocent relationships.
“I’ll wait for you all outside.” Derek turned and walked out the church without giving anyone a chance to reply.
He saw that Emilia looked very uncomfortable, similar to how he felt.
He couldn’t figure out why he felt so angry with himself that Emilia and Janie had met. It shouldn’t matter. Janie was a part of his history, even if she was a very unpleasant part. Besides that, he shouldn’t care what Emilia thought of Janie and their past. And, yet, he did.
He leaned up against the Carsons’ wagon, waiting for them to come out. Maybe he would have to explain Janie when he told Emilia about his twin.
---*---
The ride to the house had been a quiet one, just like lunch. No one really seemed to know how to address what had happened at the church. Emilia had been avoiding him since they arrived at the ranch, and Derek hadn’t gotten a chance to talk with her.
“Have you seen Emilia?” Derek asked Carolyn, who was washing up the dishes.
“I think she went out to tend some laundry.” Carolyn looked up from her work. “Is everything all right between the two of you? She’s been a little somber since church this morning. It’s not like her.”
“I think everything’s fine. I just want to discuss something with her real quick.”
An Enduring Love to Heal Her: A Historical Western Romance Book Page 15