The courtroom is cold. Someone forgot we’re heading into winter and not summer, and left the air-conditioning on high. Now I’m going to sit and worry if Emma’s going to get cold. This sucks.
The proceedings start as soon as they line Colton, Katia and the rest of the clowns up. The judge is announced. I’ve worked with her before on a few cases. Judge Flo Johnston. She’s a tough cookie who scowls a lot.
We listen to the prosecuter’s opening statement, and a summary of the evidence. The first witness is called up. There are tears. I sink down and grimace as both the prosecuter and defense attorney have a go at her.
When they call for Emma, I straighten out.
She takes the oath and sits down when instructed to. Everything seems okay until the defense attorney circles in on her like a damn wolf.
“Ms. Walker, please correct me if I’m wrong, but are you not in a relationship with Detective Aiden Holden?”
“I am,” she confirms. I can see where this is going.
“So you knew what you were getting yourself into?” he asks again.
It all goes to shit right there.
Thirty minutes later he’s still going at her. When she starts to cry those silent tears of hers, I lean forward, clasping my hands together so I don’t go flying out of the seat.
The defense attorney is out for blood.
The prosecutor keeps saying words like ‘relevance’, and ‘badgering the witness’.
I just want her back.
I don’t get her back until the defense attorney has reduced her to a quivering mess.
The second they excuse her, she walks right out of the courtroom. I have to run, because she’s speed-walking, speed-stair-climbing and is halfway out of the courthouse already, before I get to her. I grab hold of her arm and turn her into my chest. I wrap my arms around her, tucking her head in under my chin, dropping kisses into her hair.
“I’m s-sorry.” She struggles to catch her breath through the tears, sobs jerking her small frame.
“You did great. I’m sorry, sweetheart.” I hold her for a while saying I’m sorry again, caressing her back. “I have to go back in.”
“Can I wait here?” She sounds small.
I give her the keys. “Sure. My phone’s on silent, but call me if you need me.”
“I won’t. I’m fine. Go and work.”
Judge Flo scowls at me, like really dark when I go back in. It drags out forever before they call it a day.
“Tonight we’re going out,” Zac says, heading to the car.
“We are?” I’m not so sure.
“She’s not made of glass. You’re being overprotective. You’re gonna smother her. You need to find a balance, Aiden. When did you last see Megan and Noah?”
“Ages ago,” I admit. But then, I don’t know if now is the time to introduce Emma to my ex and best friend. Not that I have a problem with them hitting it off, I just don’t know how she’ll take meeting Megan. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to meet any of her ex-boyfriends.
“Then phone them up, I’ll get Wyatt and we’ll go to the The Liquid Lounge. You’re not an old married couple yet.”
When we get home, I leave her to read. I don’t tell her immediately. I head into the garden. I tell her at the very last minute. Right before she heads to the kitchen to start dinner.
“Emma, you feel like goin’ out?” I lean against the wall, trying to look casual about the whole damn thing. “Dinner and drinks with Zac, Wyatt and some old friends.”
She stops in the middle of the kitchen with her back to me. When she turns around, her face is blank.
“Where?”
Okay, it’s a start.
“A place called The Liquid Lounge. I think you’ll like it. It’s mellow.”
“What are your mates like?” She makes small fists next to her sides, clenching them real tight. Her knuckles are showing white.
“We grew up together. Noah’s kinda my best friend, although I haven’t seen him in a while. Megan is on the force with Zac and me, but another division. She and Noah are an item,” I throw that in there real quick, and this is where I should tell Emma, but I don’t.
Tonight is going to backfire. I can feel it in my gut.
~*~
Chapter Twenty Seven
Emma~
I’m not worried about what to wear. I’ve met Zac and Wyatt, and really, how bad can meeting Aiden’s mates be?
I’m a coward, so I phone Chloe.
“How are you holding up, Sunshine?” she asks.
“I’m alright. The court case wasn’t too bad.” I’m going to go to hell for all the lies I’m telling. A first class ticket straight to hell. “I need your advice. We’re going out tonight.”
“Well, then snap me a photo and I’ll tell you if you look good,” she says.
“It’s not on what to wear! How am I going to eat?”
“With your mouth?”
I roll my eyes and sink down on the bed. She is not helping.
“I can’t eat at a foreign place, Chloe! I have a thing about eating from plates with knives and forks I haven’t washed myself,”
My mother blames me for our mother-daughter relationship failure. She says I would never let her breastfeed me, that I screamed blue murder when she tried. I was a detached baby. I wouldn’t share cutlery, drink from the same glasses, never. And as I got older it got worse, because I never actually got to go out.
“You can’t?” she asks.
I’m starting to think ringing her up was a mistake.
“No, I can’t. It’s because the only time I actually got to go out was when I went with my mother to her one friend, Aunt Nelly. Her house looked like a museum. Statues everywhere. Little ones, big ones, of cats, dwarves and those little elderly couples sitting on benches-”
“You’re babbling, Sunshine.” Chloe stops me. “Enough about the bloody statues.”
“Right. That’s the one place I was always relieved to make the tea, so I could wash the cups beforehand. I had to scrub to get the yellow stains off, but still, I felt sick having to drink from them. Since then I don’t like eating from places where I can’t see what the kitchen looks like. I know it’s a petty thing.”
“It’s not a petty thing. Just another way your mum screwed you up,” she says. “Why don’t you tell Aiden this?”
“Are you daft? He’ll think I’m mental!”
“Really? You think so?”
“I don’t know,” I say. I’m not sure what he’ll think.
“If you won’t talk to him then you’ll have to go. Try and wipe the stuff before you have to use it,” she says.
“Yeah, I suppose I could do that. How are things over there?”
“I’m coping,” she says. I wish she could come here. I worry about her, but she won’t leave her dad.
“You know you’re the best, right?”
“No, you are the best,” she says.
~*~
We pull up to a well-lit place. There’s a sociable vibe in the air. The place is packed with people laughing and having fun.
I smile up at Aiden. He looks really good tonight, in his jeans and buttoned-up black shirt. The leather jacket is making my stomach (and other parts of my abdomen) clench deliciously. The man must have some sort of built-in radar, because he leans in, pressing a soft kiss just beneath my ear. Tingles run over my skin (and there’s some more delicious clenching).
I spot them a second after we walk in. Wyatt jumps up and comes toward us, smiling brightly. I hold onto Aiden’s hand when he draws me in for a hug. My feet leave the floor for a split second, and he plants a kiss on my cheek. The urge to wipe at my cheek slams hard. I stop my hand midway.
Aiden lets go of my hand, sliding it up my neck, and in one subtle movement, his thumb brushes my cheek.
“Hey, little sister. How are you?”
I can’t help but grin as a warm fuzzy feeling spreads through my chest. Aiden understands me, and it looks like his brothers like me. My world is settling.
“I’m well, and you?” We saw each other two days ago, and he’s going on as if it’s been weeks.
“Just awesome. Y’all are next to me.” He pulls out a chair and I’m seated between him and Aiden.
“Hey, Emma,” Zac smiles his warm smile.
“Hey, Zac, long time no see,” I joke, and his smile stretches.
I look at Aiden’s mates. I must be the only one getting cold here. Megan is wearing a really nice-looking red blouse. There’s no way in bloody hell that thing is keeping her warm. Then again, she can pull off the red with her dark brown curls. And oh, she has teal eyes. They are the most stunning color I’ve ever seen. I’m gawking.
“Noah, Megan, this is Emma.”
I shake their hands and I say it, because it’s true. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”
I take Aiden’s hand to feel his skin on mine, and only then do I look at Noah. He has that shaggy-haired, ‘I’ve just fallen out of bed’ look going.
I’m the only blonde. Maybe I should color my hair.
Everyone is all smiles, and takes a menu. My stomach twists nervously as I pick mine up.
“What would you like to drink?” Aiden asks.
This is hard. The few times I’ve gone out to dinner with my parents, my mother placed the order for me. I don’t know what half the wording on the menu stands for, and it makes me feel stupid. I mean: Chophouse Onion Soup, Lamb Crab Cake, and there’s a lot of things called Rib Eyes. I’m lost, and I haven’t even reached the drinks yet.
I get to the drinks and I want to laugh, but I settle for smiling like a daft nut. Seriously, Grand Marnier something-something. I snort-laugh.
“What?” Aiden asks. I close the menu, giving up.
“It’s Greek to me,” I admit. “I only recognize coffee on there.”
“Why don’t we share a bottle of wine? We have something to celebrate,” Megan offers. She holds out her left hand for all to see, and you would really have to be blind to miss the rock on her ring finger. “We’re getting married,” she sings.
I smile and watch as Zac, Wyatt and then Aiden congratulate her.
Aiden kisses her on the cheek. “I hope y’all will be happy.”
“Me too,” Noah sighs, and he winks at Megan. “But when I see how much the wedding’s gonna cost, I feel like giving her back to you.”
I know I just missed something. It’s something big. Aiden looks tense, but the rest of them are still smiling.
Megan play-slaps Noah on the chest. “You wouldn’t dare, Noah Reed. I’d shoot both your kneecaps off.” I watch their banter, still trying to figure out what I missed.
The waiter comes, and Megan places an order for wine. Then Aiden jumps in, ordering orange juice for us.
“So, Emma, tell me how Aiden managed to get you to look at him twice.” Wyatt asks.
I must have a daft-looking grin on my face.
“I actually asked him to dance. Fell for your brother’s charm right away.” I give the extreme short version.
“A charmer, he certainly is one of those,” Megan says. A soft smile plays around her mouth as she looks from Aiden to Noah. “Poor Noah had to listen to my endless nights of complaining while I had to watch him take one girl out after another.” I’m glad my hands are under the table where no one can see them. I clasp them together and dig in hard. I don’t want to hear this. I know Aiden has a past, and yes, there were women, but I don’t want to know about them. “And then, when we finally ended up together, it didn’t work out,” she laughs. “But at least I trained you well for Emma,” she says again, jokingly.
I don’t get the joke.
The waiter brings the wine, and I watch him fill one glass after another. When he gets to mine I place my hand over the glass to stop him. “No, thank you,” I say politely.
It’s going to be a long night.
~*~
I ask for water before the waiter leaves. Zac is quiet, so I look at him, and he smiles again.
“Are you glad to be back home, Zac?”
“I am indeed, you should come around.” He has that same unnerving look Aiden has. “I hear you like readin’.”
“I do.” I don’t mention that I’m reading Laurie’s books.
“I’m glad someone’s reading Laurie’s books. She would’ve wanted that,” he says instead.
“We like the same books.” I can’t bring myself to use past tense.
“That’s all she did. When I couldn’t find her in the house, I knew she was outside, curled up with a book.” He smiles tenderly as the memory comes back to him.
“This one doesn’t leave the den. She plants herself among the books and that’s it. A hurricane won’t budge her,” Aiden says.
I didn’t know he was listening. His eyes are warm, his smile bright.
“I can’t read worth shit,” Wyatt jokes. “Give me a movie.”
I laugh. This is nice.
“You and me both,” Noah chirps up. “I mean, look at Lord of the Rings. I can’t go and read all that and try to picture those little Hobbits and Elves. How do people come up with that? I want to sit down and watch it.”
“And Avatar,” Wyatt says, “No book comes in 3D.”
“But,” I’m ready to defend my passion, “it’s all very well to go and watch them act it out. You’re only seeing half of it. Lord of the Rings, for example, don’t get me wrong, Peter Jackson did a stunning job at bringing it to life, but you don’t get to hear their thoughts. You’re not fully a part of the adventure. Reading the book, you’re living and breathing Frodo’s air, thinking his very thoughts. Every book you read is a life you get to live.”
“That’s why I read,” Megan smiles at Noah, “Now don’t ever come telling me I should put my book down again. I’ll set Emma on you.”
Aiden pulls me to him, his breath warm on my ear. “I’m so proud of you right now. I love you.”
Those words mean the world to me.
Aiden explains the menu to me. Mac and Cheese, that one I know.
I try to wipe my knife and fork off without anyone noticing. The food I’ll just have to wash down with water. The place looks clean. I keep telling myself this.
I haven’t touched the orange juice yet, and I glance at it again. It was different back at that pub, I could see the bartender making the drink. I do the next best thing. I take the glass, and when I think no one is watching, I wipe around the edges with the napkin.
But of course he’s always watching. “You okay?”
“Yep,” I answer quickly, taking a small sip.
The food comes. Americans obviously have big appetites, because the plate is loaded to feed a small starving country in Africa. I blink at it. I’ll never finish it. Not in a million years.
The conversation is easy and good while they eat.
I watch and listen, and I swallow hard. Pasta is soft. Cheese sauce is creamy.
So, imagine me when it crunches in my mouth. Whether it’s a piece of hard baked cheese, or something else, I don’t wait to find out. I think I break the world record for launching from a chair and running for the loo. I rinse out my mouth a couple of times, and then I start to wash my hands, repeatedly.
“You okay, Emma?” Megan comes in, smiling brightly.
I try to conjure up a smile of my own. And all I can think is that she had her hands on Aiden. I’m not sure my smile is working all that well.
“Sure, sorry.” (Sorry for being weird and jealous of you, fancy that one working.) “I’ll be right out.”
She smiles and leaves, and I’m left to stare at my reflection in the mirror.
Gran is being buried sometime, tomorrow or Wednesday. It will be my last chance to say goodbye, but instead I’m in some restaurant meeting Aiden’s mates, no, wait – his ex and best friend.
What the bloody hell am I even doing here? What does Aiden see in me? What if he realizes he’s made a mistake? I feel like I’m being tossed around in a sea of what ifs.
That gap I mentioned
to him once. It’s still there, and it feels bigger than ever. I can’t find a bridge to cross it, and I don’t know how to swim.
It feels like I’m drowning.
I can’t just sit at his house and clean and read the whole bloody day. I have to do something, but I don’t have the foggiest idea what.
I straighten myself out, tap my cheeks to get some color, then head back out to the table. I don’t make eye contact with Aiden, even though I feel his eyes burning a hole through me.
“Sorry about that,” I whisper.
“You okay?”
I’m starting to hate those words. It feels like it’s his every second sentence.
“Yes, perfect,” I say clearly, putting on my best fake smile.
I might have missed my calling. I should consider going into acting. I’m getting good at it.
~*~
Chapter Twenty Eight
Aiden~
Emma hardly touched the food, but I’m not going to say anything about it. I don’t know how she feels about the whole evening. She’s been quiet since we left The Liquid Lounge.
“So what do you think of Noah and Megan?”
“They seem nice.” She turns her head to me and smiles. “Megan has the most gorgeous eyes I’ve ever seen.”
I’m not going to comment, hell no. That’s like throwing yourself willingly into a pool of acid.
“So you were all close, growing up?”
I’m not sure what she means by the question. Does she want to know about me, Noah and Megan, or just my relationship with Megan?
“We were a whole bunch of kids who grew up together. Megan and Noah were neighbors. Noah dated Laurie for quite some time. There are the Jefferson brothers. Damn, they were troublemakers. It was with them we got in trouble for the egg throwing thing. They were always pranking someone.” I smile, remembering the four brothers. All one year apart from each other. I learned to fight with them. “There are the Thompson sisters, and Jenna Brody. That’s the crowd. Gave our parents gray hair.”
“Did you go to the prom?” Emma is grinning, no longer that poker-faced smile of hers.
“I did.” This is easy conversation.
“What was it like?”
“Nerve rackin’ at first. Do you know how much pressure they put on you to pick the right girl?”
Wake Me Up (Love Knows No Boundaries) Page 24