Emmy turned in the direction Kelton gazed. The oxygen fled from her lungs. She sidestepped out of Kelton’s arms, jammed her toe on an exposed tree root, and would’ve fallen … except he caught her. She should’ve force herself to pull away, but Josh’s touch was magical—warm, soothing, and exciting all at once. She fought to catch a full breath.
“Dude, I didn’t know you and the captain … knew each other?” Kelton looked from one to the other.
Emmy finally pulled away, glancing at Kelton’s disconcerted face. “I don’t know him very well.”
Josh gave her a hopeful smile. “I keep hoping she’ll let me get to know her better.”
Emmy’s face flamed red, his nearness bringing back the memories of his tenderness after rescuing her. The wall she’d erected against him crumbled a bit more, and she found herself wanting to get to know him better as well.
“Hey, dude, I respect you and all that, but Emmy’s waiting for me. Only five more years and I’ll be through college.”
Emmy laughed out loud. “I keep telling you I’m not attracted to younger men. Go flirt with someone your own age.”
Kelton gave her a wounded look before saluting both of them and sauntering to a group of feminine admirers.
Josh chuckled. “Great kid.”
“He’s been such a good friend to me. Love that boy. Like a favorite nephew,” she added quickly, lest it sound like she was interested in younger men.
“So if you’re not attracted to younger men, what type of guy are you attracted to?” The question was asked so quietly Emmy had to lean closer to hear over the noise of the carnival games and musical performances. He smelled like musk and salt water—two of her favorite scents.
She stiffened at his question. How was she supposed to respond? I’m only attracted to you? His nearness and smell almost overwhelmed her as she lied through her teeth. “I’m …” She swallowed hard. “Not attracted to anyone.”
Josh nodded and took a step back. “I understand. It’s too soon.”
Shame filled her. He’d been thinking of Grayson, but her thoughts were far from her husband. “Yes, um, thank you for understanding. If you’ll excuse me, I’m missing my student’s performance.”
Josh gave her one more lingering glance before walking away. She watched him go, only turning back to the performance when the applause signaled it was done.
9
THE LACROSSE GAME WAS ALREADY STARTED when Emmy picked her way across the spongy turf to find Abby, Tyrell, and Kelton’s brothers, Jerome and Tigre.
“Sorry I’m late,” she explained when she drew closer. “I thought the game would be at the high school.”
Abby waved a hand. “Football gets priority.” She shooed Jerome out of a lawn chair at the end of their little family grouping. “Sit next to Captain Campbell.”
Josh turned and smiled at Emmy from his lawn chair. “Josh,” he corrected.
Emmy’s heart stuttered. How had she not noticed him there? She tugged at the frayed edge of her cut-off jeans and hoped her ponytail was at least straight. She’d been cleaning her house when Kelton called to tell her he had an off-season game today and wanted her to come. She’d usually dress up a bit more, but she wanted to swim later and it was just an outside sporting event. But with Josh here, it suddenly changed to something else. She was supposed to sit by him?
Their section of lawn chairs exploded with screams and hoots, excited parents jumping to their feet. Emmy turned in time to see the red jerseys of Seaside High thumping each other on the back as the blue-jerseyed Banks’ goalie hung his head and fished the ball out of the net. Emmy cheered along with everyone else, but when the cheering died and they all sat, she stayed standing, glancing sideways at Josh.
He smiled up at her and patted the arm of her chair in some sort of invitation. Emmy sighed and sank into the vinyl seat, not feeling the least bit comfortable.
“What number’s Kelton?” she asked Jerome and Tigre, who now shared a lawn chair. “Sorry I took your chair; you can have it back.” Standing would help her keep some distance from Josh.
“Naw.” Jerome waved her away. He pointed. “60.”
Emmy looked down the field where Seaside’s defense battled to stop Banks from scoring. She laughed that she’d asked. Kelton stood out with his height and ebony skin. Add that to the confident, aggressive way he moved, and she would’ve recognized him anywhere. He batted another player’s stick so hard it actually fell to the ground.
“Yard sale!” Jerome and Tigre screamed, jumping into the air in unison and celebrating.
“That’s not nice,” Abby admonished, though she had a grin on her face.
Kelton scooped the ball and passed it to the goalie, who slingshotted it down the field. Since Kelton wasn’t in the spotlight anymore, she found her attention wandering to the man seated at her side. He appeared to be watching the game, but she could feel him sneaking glances at her too. The air hummed with awareness.
One of the Seaside players got shoved out of bounds. He tossed the ball to the ref, who gave it to the blue jerseys.
“What?” Emmy called out. “Come on, ref, he pushed him!”
“Totally legal,” Jerome informed her.
“No way.”
“Way.”
Emmy reclined into her chair, embarrassed she’d yelled so loud.
Josh leaned over and touched her arm, the heat from his fingers pulsed through her bare skin. “I just yelled ‘off sides’ when one of the d-poles carried the ball to the offensive side of the field,” he confided with a conspiratorial smile.
“Also totally legit as long as a middie stays back,” Tigre said.
Emmy appreciated Josh trying to make her feel better, but wasn’t happy when he removed his hand. “What is a d-pole?”
“A defender, like Kelton. They have the longer poles.”
“Yeah,” Tigre said. “But we also have a long-pole middie.”
“Wow. I am confused.”
Josh smiled at her. “Stick close to me and I’ll try to explain.”
Emmy’s entire body warmed from his smile and the thought of sticking close to him.
Jerome leaned across her. “You play lax, dude?”
“I wish.” Josh gestured at the field. “They didn’t have this at my school, so I had to play football.”
Jerome’s face pinched. “Bummer for you. Lax rules.”
“I can see that,” Josh said.
Emmy hid a smile. She refocused on the field in time to see Kelton bearing down on a much smaller blue jersey. He knocked the kid to the ground, then scooped up the ball, ran to the center of the field, and passed it off. Kelton ran back to his position and offered the other player a hand up. The poor kid shook as he got to his feet but fist-bumped Kelton, so she figured there were no hard feelings.
“And that wasn’t a foul?” she asked the twins.
“Penalty,” Tigre corrected. “No way. He had his hands together, didn’t extend his elbows, and was in the front. My bro is boss at legal hits.”
Emmy laughed. “I can imagine. Do you play defense too?”
“I’m a middie.”
“I’m an attack and Dad’s coach for the junior league,” Jerome said. “We keep telling Mom we need one more bro to play goalie; then we’re set.”
Abby rolled her eyes. “And I keep telling them they did me in and they’re lucky to have the bros they have.”
Tyrell’s large hand closed around Abby’s. “We could at least try for one more boy.”
Abby yanked her hand back. “I am done. You and your next wife can have fun.”
Tyrell’s deep chuckle rolled across them. “Think I’ll keep the beautiful wife I have.”
“I think that’s a good choice.”
Tyrell grabbed her hand again and she let him tug her closer for a lingering kiss.
“They’re kind of gross,” Jerome whispered to Emmy.
“They’re cute. You’re lucky.” Emmy was surprised when her throat caught and she
couldn’t say anymore. When she was a child, she would have given anything for an intact family. Actually, it would be pretty great even now.
“I guess.” Jerome made a face and turned away.
Josh was looking at her again. “Great family.”
Emmy nodded. She stared at the field so she didn’t have to hold his gaze. A blue-jersey sprinted toward the goal. He’d steered clear of Kelton, but had underestimated Kelton’s speed. As the kid raised his stick to score, Kelton came from the side and poked the bottom of the stick. The ball popped out and Kelton scooped it out of the air.
“Wow. He’s impressive,” Emmy muttered.
“Beastly,” Jerome corrected.
Emmy shared a glance with Josh, smiling.
“Middie back!” a Seaside player yelled, jabbing his stick in the air.
“That’s so Kelton can cross the midfield line as a d-pole,” Tigre explained.
Kelton was almost to the other end of the field, holding his long pole aloft, when a Banks player came at him, but Kelton dodged and kept sprinting toward the goal.
Emmy jumped to her feet with the rest of the family. “He’s going to score,” she whispered.
Kelton dove and shot at the net. A defender from the other team whacked him in the back of the neck. Kelton flattened to the ground. The shot went in but the screams of triumph were short-lived when everyone realized Kelton wasn’t moving.
Emmy didn’t stop to think as she sprinted across the field, shouting, “Kelton!” She knelt by his side, the other lacrosse players moving out of her way. “Kelton?” He stayed face down, not moving.
The coaches and Josh were suddenly there. Josh knelt next to Emmy and pressed his fingers to Kelton’s neck. “Strong pulse,” he reported. He gently probed Kelton’s spine, then looked up at the coaches. “I don’t feel anything, but I don’t want to move him.”
Kelton groaned and slowly rolled over onto his side.
The players let out a collective sigh of relief. Emmy noticed Abby creeping along the sidelines. As soon as she saw Kelton moving, she drew back. What? Abby was hyper-protective of her boys. Why wasn’t she pushing Emmy out of the way?
Kelton squinted, focusing in on her. “Emmy?” he croaked. “What are you doing?”
She patted his shoulder. “I think you got knocked out. I was worried when he hit you.” She straightened and glanced at the boy in blue who had hit him, kneeling a short distance away. “You had better never do that again. I hope they eject you from the game or something.”
The boy blinked at her.
“Emmy,” Kelton whispered.
She leaned down. “What do you need, sweetie? We’ll get you to the hospital. You’re going to be fine.”
“You’re making me look wussy in front of my lax bros.”
Emmy straightened and glanced around. All of the players, coaches, and fans stared at her like she had two heads. “Oh.” She brushed a stray hair back into her ponytail. “So, you’re okay?”
Kelton pushed his way to his feet; everyone stood back, and the fans cheered. “’Course I’m okay.” He winked at her before picking up his stick.
Josh stepped forward. “Kelton, I’m going to have to insist that you go get checked out.”
“Dude.” Kelton groaned. “I thought you were chill.”
“Not about this. You could have a concussion or neck injury.”
The coaches agreed and ushered Kelton to the players’ sidelines where Abby and Tyrell waited. Josh followed Emmy back to the other sideline, where the fans gawked. He put a strong hand on her back as if to support her through the unfriendly wall. She turned to him. “Why is everyone staring at me?”
“Because you’re so pretty.”
She smiled at him, but knew he was trying to make her feel less awkward.
They reached Tigre and Jerome. “Did you seriously just do that?” Jerome asked.
“What?”
“You don’t run out on the field when a lax bro gets hurt. It’s like, in the rules.”
Emmy’s mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding me. Kelton could’ve been killed and I’m supposed to sit here?”
“Well, duh. Didn’t you see Mom? She moved as close as she could get, but she never, ever goes on the field. We’d disown her.”
“That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!”
Tigre lifted one shoulder. “We didn’t write the rules, we just live by them.”
Emmy turned to Josh. “Is he kidding me right now?”
Josh shook his head. “If a mom or girlfriend goes on the field, it’s generally looked down upon.”
“That is insane.”
“Yeah, I agree.”
Jerome glared at them. “Captain, you can’t be siding with the girl. They’ll think they have to baby us all the time. Dad explained it to Mom when Kelton first started lax. Moms can love on us all the time except for on the field; then we gotta be tough.”
Emmy shook her head, but was starting to understand this ridiculous philosophy. This was their field of battle, their chance to prove themselves as men, and they didn’t want sympathy when they were injured.
“If I got hurt on the field, you could come running,” Josh whispered in her ear.
Emmy turned to him. He was so close she could feel his warm breath on her cheek. “I hope you never get hurt anywhere.”
He smiled, and she had to resist touching one of his shallow dimples.
“Emmy.” Abby ran up to them. “Can you take the boys home? We’re going to the hospital.”
“Sure. Is he okay?”
She twisted her fingers together. “I think so. But I want to get him checked out anyway. Thank you, Josh, for insisting he get help. He usually just keeps playing, but he respects you, so he listened.”
Josh nodded. “Let me know what they find out.”
“We will.” She turned to her younger boys. “You two go home and be good.”
“Can we watch the rest of the game?”
“That’s up to Emmy.” Abby thanked her and ran to where Tyrell and Kelton were slowly making their way to the parking lot. Kelton didn’t want to claim he was hurt, but he looked beat.
“How about it?” Tigre asked.
“Oh, we definitely need to stay,” Emmy said. “You need to teach me more about lacrosse.”
The twins and Josh all smiled at her. Emmy settled back into her chair, grateful Kelton was going to get help and really excited to spend a bit more time with Captain Campbell.
10
EMMY USUALLY ONLY VISITED THE GRAVE every few weeks, but she was so excited about the prospect of running her own theater, she wanted to share it with her husband. Grayson would’ve encouraged her and loved seeing her become a businesswoman. She thought about Josh and wondered what he would think of the idea, but quickly dismissed the thought. She hardly knew him.
It was raining again, but that didn’t deter her as she spilled every thought—from the theater changes to running out on the lacrosse field. Grayson would’ve laughed and probably been as gentle and understanding as Josh had been. She sighed; there she went thinking of Josh again.
“I’d better go. I’ve got practice for My Fair Lady in an hour.” She traced the picture of him with her finger. “You would’ve loved this one. Timothy does such a great job as the professor. I really struggled with that Cockney accent, but I think I’m doing okay now.” She smiled sadly. “You always said I could do any accent. That’s the only reason I kept working so hard instead of begging James to switch scripts.” She laughed at her own joke. They both knew James would never switch a script once the play was in motion.
The air was eerily quiet as her soft laugh dropped into the void. She sobered and pressed her fingertips to her mouth and then to his picture. Her fingers brushed his nose instead of his lips, and she had to redo the gesture. It made her want to cry, but she’d done enough crying the last year.
As she straightened and stiffly walked away, she saw a tall figure lean around a large pine tree. Her
mind flashed back to a few days ago, when a man in a hood seemed to be watching her. She rubbed her hands along the sleeves of her jacket.
She couldn’t see the person’s face, but the way he angled toward her made her feel like a rabbit in the crosshairs. Turning toward her car, she walked quickly away. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Walking just wasn’t enough to ease her worries. She broke into a run. Movement came behind her, but she didn’t look back, focusing all her energy on getting away.
She slipped on the grass, crying out more from fear than pain when her knee hit the wet ground. She jumped back up and was only a few feet from the car when she dared to check if that man was really chasing her or if she was going crazy. He wasn’t far behind and moved quickly. His hood blew back, revealing a face covered with a grotesque Halloween-type mask. Emmy screamed, grabbed the door handle, and flung herself into her Range Rover. She slammed the door, hit the lock button, and quickly twisted the key in the ignition.
Her tires squealed out of the cemetery. She looked desperately for the man, praying he wasn’t pursuing. Her heart thudded uncontrollably. She kept checking her rearview mirror, but eventually her pulse slowed down as she convinced herself he wasn’t coming after her. It was just hard to admit the truth. He had disappeared.
11
EMMY PEEKED THROUGH THE SIDE of the heavy velvet curtain. The lights in the house were still on. She had plenty of time. Her eyes swept across the people filtering in and settling into the worn fabric seats. It only took a few seconds to spot his longish blond hair and broad shoulders. He glanced at the program, not noticing her scrutiny. It looked like he was alone.
She sighed happily, hugging herself in her ratty costume. Josh was here. This was the last performance of My Fair Lady, and she’d hoped he would come. She didn’t allow herself to think about why it was so important, but quickly said a prayer of gratitude. She hadn’t been nervous before, but now her stomach swam.
Shadows in the Curtain (Destination Billionaire Romance) Page 5