Take Me Down

by Phillips, Carly

  This was it, she thought. If she told him this, she bared her soul. She swallowed hard. “I got pregnant.”

  He stiffened, obviously not expecting this part of the story. She didn’t look at him. She couldn’t, not if she wanted to get through the rest. “I was excited. I wanted the baby. I’m honestly not sure what Rex wanted.” To this day, she still couldn’t read his reaction … but he was as controlling as ever.

  “What made you leave him?” Parker asked gently. “What made you see things for what they were?”

  “We had gone to visit friends of his and I’d gone upstairs to the bathroom, and I guess I’d been gone too long so he came looking for me. Which made me uncomfortable. I guess a lot of things did, but I couldn’t face them or I’d have to face the mess my life had become along with the fact that I was now trapped because I was pregnant with his baby. We were standing at the top of the steps and arguing.”

  Parker reached for her hand, pulling it out of her lap and entwining their fingers together. She took so much comfort from his touch and the fact that he was obviously giving her his support.

  “I can’t remember what the fight was about. Isn’t that crazy? I have no recollection whatsoever. Just that we were arguing. I can’t remember, either, whether I took the step down and missed or if he reached for me and I jerked away or–” She shook her head, refusing to consider the alternative…

  “Or if he pushed you,” Parker said through a clenched jaw.

  She rolled her shoulders, a tear dripping down her face. “I don’t know. I don’t want to think so. I just have no idea. I think I don’t want to remember. Anyway, I fell down a full long flight of stairs in a center hall colonial. I had cramping immediately. The ambulance took me to the hospital and…” She drew a ragged breath. “I lost the baby.”

  The waiter chose that moment to walk over with the soufflé. Parker waved the man away and he discreetly stepped back into the shadows.

  “Baby, I’m sorry.”

  Her throat burned and she nodded. “I am, too. But I’m also so grateful that I’m not tied to him forever, and that makes me a horrible human being because that means there’s some part of me that’s grateful that I lost the baby, too.” There. She’d finally said the awful words out loud.

  Huge gulping sobs threatened but she held them back somehow, which was a freaking miracle.

  Parker reached for her, clearly wanting to pull her into his lap, but she shook her head. If she went to him, she’d fall apart. “I need to finish the story, okay?”

  He nodded. “I’m here. Take as long as you need.”

  “Okay,” she whispered. “After… after, I was discharged. Rex went to work the next day. And I packed up the bare minimum, left everything that wasn’t the Emily Stevens I wanted to be, and flew home. My mom was going through treatments and I’d planned on coming home to spend time with her anyway. I just came home for good instead. And I threw myself into taking care of my parents.”

  “And he just let you go? Because that doesn’t sound like the man I met,” Parker muttered.

  She let out a wry laugh. “No. He showed up immediately. Kept talking about how he understood I needed time and I wanted to be there for my mother. He just wasn’t hearing me. So I hired a lawyer and I filed for divorce. And he’s been making his periodic visits ever since, unwilling to let me go.”

  Parker scowled but he quickly schooled his expression into one of complete calm. “But time is passing and there is nothing he can do about the divorce becoming legal, right?” He treated her to a reassuring smile, and when he said it, she believed him.

  “Right.”

  He glanced over at the waiter and signaled for him.

  The man walked over.

  “Box up the dessert and have it sent to the room please?” Parker asked.

  “Of course.”

  Grateful, Emily treated him to a small smile.

  “We’re going upstairs and I’m going to take care of you, Emily.” The dark promise in his voice reverberated through her tortured soul.

  After the pain of losing the baby, she’d come home to her sick mom and thrown all her focus into helping her dad take care of her. She hadn’t had time to grieve. Parker would let her cry and he’d hold her and be there for her the way no one else had been.

  She was coming to rely on him and she didn’t know what she would do when he was gone.

  Chapter Seven

  Emily had been calling her dad for the last half hour on his cell phone and he hadn’t answered. Since her mom died, she hadn’t been away from home, and she’d just wanted to check on him and let him know they’d be back within the hour. The closer they got to the inn, the more her nervousness increased. Parker didn’t say a word. She hadn’t mentioned not being able to reach her dad but he couldn’t have missed her incessant calling.

  She kept herself busy thinking about how gently Parker had handled her after they’d returned to the room last night after she’d told him about losing her baby. No sooner had they entered the suite than he’d kicked the door closed, picked her up in his arms, and walked her over to the bed. He’d sat down and pulled her against him, urging her to let out all the pain she’d been holding in for so long.

  And when she was finished, he’d drawn her a bath in the overly large tub, climbing in behind her and pulling her against his hard body, his strong arms cocooning her in warmth and heat, protecting her against anything that could hurt her. Of course, his rock-hard erection pressed insistently against her back, sending spikes of awareness and desire shooting through her system, until emotional pain was replaced by physical desire.

  If only it was that simple, she thought now. Physical need would be an easy yearning to fulfill. What she felt for Parker was deeper and reached places inside her that would be harder to patch up and fix when he was gone. Even knowing what she’d feel, she’d turned and straddled him, placed her arms on his shoulders, her gaze on his, his erection temptingly close to entering her.

  She’d slid her tongue over her bottom lip. “I haven’t had sex since before I lost the baby and all my bloodwork is clean.”

  He’d expelled a harsh groan. “Tested yearly, and trust me, it’s been a fucking long time for me, too.”

  “I’m on the pill.” It was huge to her, to trust someone this much, especially this fast but everything about Parker felt right. She wanted to feel him without a barrier and, when he was gone, remember everything about him.

  A muscle had ticked in his jaw as he nodded, and then before she could think, she’d grasped him in her hand and lowered herself onto his thick cock.

  What had happened next would stay with her for a good, long time. Their bodies joined, eyes locked, and as they rocked together, if she were one to wax poetic, she’d say their souls spoke to one another. It was that deep and meaningful. She’d felt him take her up and over, knew he’d come at the same time she had, his hands stiffening on her waist as he sealed his mouth over hers.

  And afterwards? She’d been shaken by the emotional intensity of their encounter. She’d climbed off him and out of the tub. He’d followed. They’d towel dried and slid into bed, wrapped up in each other, but she was lost in her own thoughts and maybe he was, too, because he left her to them, and they stayed fairly quiet throughout the drive home.

  Back in the present, she dialed her father once more. No answer. By the time the inn came into view, she was dying to get out of the truck. Nobody was working on the roof today and the outside of the inn was quiet. Maybe the rain outside explained that, she thought. But it didn’t explain why her father wasn’t answering her calls.

  As soon as Parker pulled into the spot in front of the building, Emily jumped out of the car and ran up the walk to the porch. The front door was unlocked, as it usually was during the day, and she pushed her way in.

  “Dad?” she called out. When she got no answer, her stomach twisted and she ran from room to room, still calling out to him, from the family sitting area to the kitchen to his bedro
om. When she didn’t find him anywhere, she headed back downstairs and ran into Parker.

  “I found this in the basement.” He held her father’s cell phone in his hand.

  “Well, that explains why he wasn’t answering. Where was it?”

  He hesitated before replying. “On the floor next to a ladder that was lying on its side.”

  “Oh no.”

  Before she could panic, he took her hand. “Who would he call if he had an accident?”

  “He wouldn’t call his sister. He wouldn’t want to worry her. Let me try the town’s doctor. He’s one of dad’s friends.” Her hands shook but she managed to find the number in her phone and dialed.

  Robert Carlysle picked up his phone and Emily had her answer. She hung up the phone and met Parker’s concerned gaze. “Dad fell off the ladder and hit his head. He needed stitches. He doesn’t have a concussion, just a bump on his head. They ran some tests to make sure he didn’t get dizzy or have some kind of episode before he fell, and they’re waiting on results. I have to get to the hospital.”

  “We have to get to the hospital,” Parker corrected her. “And you’re upset so I’m going to drive.” He placed a hand on her back and led her back out to the truck. “I’ll need directions.”

  She nodded. “Right. Okay.” She guided him in the right direction and they headed to the emergency room where her father was, located in the next town over, one slightly larger than Montlake.

  Finally, she walked into her dad’s room to find him laughing at something Dr. Carlysle, Bob to her father, had said. Laughing. While she’d been in an utter state of panic and worry.

  “Dad!”

  “Emily, honey! You’re back!” He glanced up. He had a bandage on one side of his head but otherwise looked fine.

  She rushed over and gave him a hug, panic receding now that she’d seen him for herself.

  “Relax, I’m fine. I would have called you once I knew I was okay, but I forgot my phone and I don’t have your number memorized,” he said sheepishly. He patted her on the back. “Hi, Parker. Thanks for bringing her.”

  Emily rose to her feet. Her nose was burning and she was doing her best not to cry. She was so damned relieved he was okay, but this had been scary and too close for comfort.

  “What were you doing up on a ladder, Dad?”

  “The lightbulb died. I was changing it. Accidents happen.”

  She narrowed her gaze. “Dr. Carlysle, did any of those tests you mentioned come back yet?”

  He shook his head. “No, but his blood pressure has been fine since he arrived, he hasn’t complained of dizziness or chest pains–”

  “I’m telling you, my foot slipped. It could have happened to anyone.” He glanced at Parker. “Tell her, son.”

  His eyes opened wide, a definite deer-caught-in-the-headlights look. There was no way he wanted to take sides, and she shot him an annoyed look for not agreeing with her concern.

  “Let me go see if any of the test results are back,” Dr. Carlysle said. “Hang tight, James. I’ll be back soon.” He strode out of the room.

  “So, you two, tell me. Did you have a nice time? Parker, was the resort what you need for your company’s retreat?”

  Emily didn’t want to talk about her time away. She wanted to lecture her father about taking unnecessary risks, especially when he was alone in the house with no one around if he fell. But Parker started to expound on the wonders of the lodge. Soon, he and her dad were discussing little touches they could add to rooms at the inn … and the longer she sat there listening, the more she could feel her blood pressure rising and her head pounding.

  The last thing she needed was Parker encouraging her dad. As if this incident hadn’t proven what she’d been saying all along – that he wasn’t equipped to run the lodge. He should sell the inn, move to Florida, relax, and enjoy his life instead of working. And getting hurt.

  “I’m going to take a walk,” she said and headed for the cafeteria, needing time to cool off.

  * * *

  “That was Emily speak for I’m furious,” James said to Parker, as Emily walked out of the room and let the door slam behind her.

  “Duly noted.” Parker had watched her face as they’d discussed the trip.

  She’d been fine until the discussion segued to making small alterations at the inn. The type of changes didn’t matter. It was the fact that her father was still emotionally invested in keeping the bed-and-breakfast going and turning it into a viable business that had Emily so upset.

  She might have come around to his way of thinking eventually had he not fallen and given her the proof she’d been looking for to back up her feelings that he was too frail to handle things on his own. The fact was, the man wasn’t yet sixty years old. Young and nowhere near ready to retire. It was Emily who couldn’t see past the death of her mother to accept reality.

  “I had a visitor while you were gone,” James said. “A representative of a company looking to buy the inn. They’re making offers to all the surrounding land owners so they can turn this into a larger corporate resort.”

  “Same people as before?”

  He shook his head. “Different. Pushier. More … determined, I’d say. Either company will destroy the beauty of our small town. We’ll lose our image, our brand. It’ll become like every other town in America with chain restaurants and stores taking over.” He frowned at the idea.

  Parker couldn’t say he liked it much himself. He scrubbed a hand over his face and groaned.

  Even Emily, for all her worry over her father, wouldn’t want that to happen to her beloved town. She had dreams of her own she wanted to accomplish here.

  As much as he wanted to make her happy and talk her dad into selling to one of these companies interested in the property, he couldn’t do it. Not to her and not to her father.

  Which meant she was not going to be happy with him. So much for extending their enjoyment now that they were back at her home.

  His phone rang from inside his pocket. It wasn’t the first time and he couldn’t ignore it anymore. He already had declined Ethan’s call once while he was away with Emily and ignored him again this morning while driving.

  “Excuse me. I need to take this,” he said to James and stepped out of the room, walking down the hospital corridor. The hallway was empty and he headed a few feet away.

  “Hi, E,” he said, answering.

  “Fucking finally.”

  “And I see your mood hasn’t improved,” he said to his brother.

  “How can it when you’re still in Bumfuck, Montana?” Ethan asked.

  “Colorado,” Parker said, rolling his eyes at his brother’s dramatics. “You sent me here, remember?” He glanced up to see Emily walking side-by-side with Harper, entering her father’s room. He was glad her friend had joined her.

  “But I didn’t tell you to stay. Or make it your permanent home.”

  “You’re exaggerating. I told you I’m on vacation. I have things here I want to do.”

  And he wasn’t ready to leave.

  “This is about a woman, isn’t it?” Ethan asked, his voice softening. Obviously Sebastian hadn’t said anything and Ethan was guessing. The one thing about his older brother, when it came to his younger siblings, he was a softie. The dad they should have had despite his closeness in age.

  Parker didn’t know how much he was ready to reveal about Emily. There was so much in his head he hadn’t yet processed and even more in his heart he hadn’t dealt with.

  “What if it is?” Parker asked.

  “Then you deserve the time to figure it out but I’m not going to let you just disappear.” And on that cryptic comment, Ethan said, “I have to get back to work. Talk soon.” And he disconnected the call.

  Parker wished Ethan would get over Amanda’s betrayal and get back to being the man he was. He might have been consumed with work but at least that man had been a semblance of happy.

  With a groan, he walked back down the hallway, slowing at the
sound of voices coming from James’ hospital room.

  “Dad, I want you to think more seriously about selling the inn,” Emily said.

  “Forgetting what I want, which you seem to not want to listen to, I’m not going to be responsible for the cultural change of our town, the destruction of everything that makes Montlake what it is, warm, friendly, your neighborhood where everyone knows everyone.”

  “I’m not worried about everyone, Dad. I’m worried about you.” The distress in Emily’s voice was clear and it tore at Parker’s heart. “And what about Harper, here? You want her place to become a Starbucks?” James asked.

  Parker winced. He was coming to love this small town as much as the people who’d lived here much longer. There was so much good he could do if only his obligations, family and business, weren’t in New York. But maybe there was help he could give despite his having to ultimately go home. He needed to think through a strategic business plan without giving anyone false hope.

  With that thought tucked away, he knocked and walked into the room, joining the women and James for an afternoon of waiting for tests that ultimately and gratefully came back fine. Emily didn’t have much to say to anyone, and sensing she needed time, Parker kept his distance.

  He didn’t like it, not after how close they’d been all weekend. Not after he’d been so deep inside her body he didn’t know where he ended and she began. Not when he’d been in her bare and had a moment of wondering what if he got her pregnant and tied himself to her forever? And no subsequent panic attack occurred. Just a feeling of rightness.

  But right afterwards, he’d sensed her withdrawal, a need to take time to herself, and though he was more than willing to be quiet and hold her, he hadn’t been willing to go away any farther than that. He’d planned on cajoling her when they arrived back at the inn, but then she’d been obviously unable to reach her dad and things had fallen apart after that.