by Rachel Lacey
He’d promised Derek he’d never sleep with her. Maybe she was right when she said that Derek hadn’t been looking this far into the future when he’d warned Ryan away from her, but standing here right now…
He felt like the worst kind of asshole.
Coming here with Emma today had been just the wake-up call he needed, a solid slap in the face to remind him of what Derek had sacrificed. Of the promise Ryan had made. Of all the reasons he never should have taken her in his bed.
A funeral was in progress on the other side of the cemetery. Emma leaned into him, glancing in that direction. “I hate what those people are going through right now.”
“Yeah.”
“You never could have convinced me of it at the time, but the heart really does heal,” she said softly. “It doesn’t hurt nearly as much now.”
“I’m glad.” He knew what she meant. The pain of losing his mom had faded, too. It would never go away altogether, but visiting her grave felt almost peaceful now.
“Thanks for coming here with me.”
“I’m glad I got the chance.” Still feeling as though Derek was looking down on him from somewhere up high, he dropped his arm from Emma’s shoulders. It was for the best she’d be leaving town soon.
Because deep down, he knew she should never have been his.
Chapter Twenty
Everything seemed to be happening in fast forward after they got back to Haven. Emma was working long hours, between putting the finishing touches on the memorial garden and handling her other projects with Artful Blooms. Everything had to be finished this week.
Because next week…next week was all about packing up and leaving Haven. Something she’d looked forward to for so long. But now that the time had come, it only made her feel sad. She’d made such great friends here. Not until last year, when Gabby came to town, had she truly had a best friend. But Carly, Mandy, Jessica, and so many others were important to her, too. She’d miss them all. Not that she couldn’t keep in touch with them from Georgia, but it wouldn’t be the same as dropping by each other’s places and going out for drinks on a whim.
And Ryan. She fell more in love with him every day. Should she tell him before she left town? Give him the chance to make this thing between them real? She was awfully afraid he’d push her away no matter what. He was a loner, a man who didn’t do relationships, and he still harbored some guilt about that stupid promise he’d made to Derek a million years ago.
Was it better to leave town under the guise of remaining friends and nurse her broken heart privately or to tell him everything and probably still leave town brokenhearted but with their friendship hopelessly shattered as well? She wasn’t sure yet. The decision would probably involve a girls’ night out and plenty of alcohol.
Smiling at the thought, Emma stood, brushing dirt from her knees. In front of her, the memorial garden rippled like a sea of flames as a breeze danced through the poppies and over the reflecting pool behind them. The memorial itself stood about ten feet in front of her, its semicircular design inviting visitors to step into its embrace as they located the names of their loved ones.
It was beautiful, exactly as she’d imagined it, maybe even better. She’d never been more proud of something she’d designed. It felt so right that this would be her last project here in Haven.
“It looks phenomenal,” Mary said from behind her.
“You think?” Emma turned, not having heard her boss approach.
Mary nodded, walking forward to stand next to Emma. “I knew you’d do us proud when we chose you to lead this project, and you certainly did not disappoint.”
“Thank you. That means a lot.” Mary and Lucas had taught her everything that she knew, and she admired them both so much.
“You must be so excited about your big move.”
“Not as excited as I thought I’d be,” Emma admitted as she and Mary walked to one of the benches beside the garden and sat.
Mary looked surprised. “No?”
Emma rested her elbows on her knees and stared at the red poppies still swaying in the breeze. “This has always been what I wanted, and I mean, it still is. I just didn’t expect to feel so sad about leaving.”
“Well, of course you do.” Mary nodded briskly. “It’s always hard to leave home.”
“It’s not just that.” Emma drew a deep breath and blew it out. “It probably sounds strange, but I always felt kind of lonely here. That was one reason I set my sights on Georgia for architectural design school. I wanted to start over somewhere new.”
“Oh, Emma.” Mary turned to look at her. “I had no idea.”
“I had lots of friends, but none of them felt like family, not until this year anyway. And now I do have people I love, and I’m leaving them all behind.”
“Ryan,” Mary said softly.
Emma nodded, her throat tight. “And Gabby. And our whole little group. They’re the closest thing I’ve had to family since losing my mom and Derek.”
“That certainly complicates things,” Mary agreed.
“But with you guys retiring, this was my chance to spread my wings,” Emma said. “And I don’t regret it. It’s time for me to start working toward owning my own landscape design business. That’s always been my ultimate dream, you know?”
Mary looked thoughtful. “Yes, and you’re right. It’s time for you to make that dream come true.”
* * *
Friday morning dawned bright and clear. Perfect weather for the memorial opening ceremony. Emma put on a purple dress and matching sandals. She added a little bit of curl to her hair when she blew it dry, and tried out the shimmery pink lipstick she’d bought last week and had been looking for an excuse to wear.
She met Ryan at the commons. So many people had already gathered for the ceremony: Ethan and Gabby, Mark, Trent, Jessica, Carly, Mandy, and pretty much everyone else she knew in town. Lucas and Mary stood near the memorial, chatting with the mayor.
“It looks amazing,” Gabby said when she caught sight of Emma. “I can’t wait to get a closer look after the ceremony’s over.”
“Thanks.”
Ryan leaned in to give her a kiss. “So proud of you, babe.”
Behind him, Mandy and Carly gave Emma a big thumbs-up, grinning from ear to ear. Emma mingled with her friends until Lucas and Mary motioned for her to join them up front. Terrence Clemmons, the mayor of Haven, greeted her with more warm praise for the project.
A podium had been set up in front of the memorial, and Mayor Clemmons stepped behind it now. “Good morning, everyone.”
A hush fell over the crowd. Emma stepped closer to Lucas and Mary, feeling somewhat self-conscious there behind the podium instead of out in the crowd with the rest of her friends. She ran her hands over the front of her dress nervously. Ryan caught her eye from across the crowd. He smiled, and everything inside her relaxed.
“Thank you so much for joining us on this beautiful morning,” Mayor Clemmons continued. “We are thrilled to unveil the new memorial gardens here in Haven, honoring all the fallen servicemen and -women from Pearcy County, North Carolina. The memorial and its gardens will serve as a place for us to reflect on the sacrifices they’ve made for our country. It’s a place to pay our respects but also a place to honor the many brave men and women who’ve fought for our freedoms. We hope you’ll come here to learn their names. And we hope you’ll come to sit and enjoy the beautiful gardens that have certainly added a welcome splash of color to our downtown area.”
The crowd broke into applause.
When they’d finished, Mayor Clemmons continued. “The team at Artful Blooms Landscape Design has really done a top-notch job in designing these gardens for us, and we’d like to give special thanks to owners Lucas and Mary Pratt, who’ll be retiring this fall. They’ve provided many beautiful, functional, and dynamic designs for our town over the years. We’d also like to recognize Emma Rush, who designed the gardens you see here today.”
He gestured toward her, and Emma
felt her cheeks burn as the crowd applauded loudly. Mary gave her shoulder a squeeze.
“Emma’s own brother, Derek Rush, is memorialized behind us.”
Unexpectedly, she felt tears pressing at the backs of her eyes. I miss you, Derek.
Mayor Clemmons spent the next ten minutes reading the names of every serviceman and -woman memorialized here. “And now, a moment of silence as we remember those who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our great country.”
Emma dipped her head, staring down at her purple sandals and remembering the day Derek had graduated from boot camp. He’d looked so dashing in his freshly pressed uniform, so young, so enthusiastic about going into service. Without money for college, joining the Marines had been Derek’s ticket out of town after their mother died. He’d served two years, and from his letters and her visits with him during that time, she knew he’d never regretted his decision. He was proud to serve his country, and he’d died doing what he loved.
After their moment of silence, Mayor Clemmons invited everyone to stay and enjoy the festivities. They’d hired a bluegrass band to play over on the commons, and there was plenty of food and refreshments ready to be served.
Emma accepted congratulations from the mayor and several other people standing nearby before she gratefully lost herself in the crowd, finding her way over to her group of friends. She slid in next to Ryan.
“Here’s the lady of the hour,” Ethan said, toasting her with a plastic cup of something pink and frothy.
“Fruit punch?” Gabby held out a cup toward Emma.
“Thanks.” She accepted it and took a grateful swallow. Her throat had gotten awfully dry up there with the whole town watching.
“You did great,” Ryan said, giving her a squeeze.
“I just stood there,” she said with a laugh.
“Well, you looked great standing there,” Carly said. “And I can’t wait to get a closer look at the memorial. My grandfather’s on there.”
“And my uncle,” Jessica said, stepping into their circle. “I didn’t realize until this morning that you’d designed the new memorial garden, Emma. I stopped by to look at it and find my uncle’s name yesterday.”
“Thank you.” Emma gulped the rest of her punch. “I appreciate it, guys.”
“We need to do this again later today,” Gabby said, holding up her plastic cup, “but with real drinks.”
“Agreed,” Carly said.
“Yeah, that sounds great.” Emma nodded. “Will you join us, Jess?”
Jessica glanced to the right, and her smile vanished. Emma followed her gaze and saw Mark staring back at Jessica, his face a blank mask, as usual.
“Please?” Emma added.
“Yeah, sure,” Jessica said finally, tearing her gaze from Mark’s. “I’ll stop by for a drink. Just let me know when and where.”
“Will do.”
They made their way over to the memorial. Ryan still had his arm around her shoulders, such a comfortable and familiar weight. She turned to look up at him. “You working this afternoon?”
“Actually, I had a cancellation. Why?”
“Let’s go to the bluffs,” she said.
His brow furrowed. “Em—”
“The weather’s great, and I’m leaving town next week. It’s now or never.”
“You really want to jump?”
She nodded. “I really do. It’ll be a huge rush. And if you know a spot where I could do a little climbing on the way up, that would be even better.”
He finally smiled, his cocoa eyes crinkled. “All right. It’s a date then.”
“Yay.” She leaned into him, a burst of excitement skittering through her belly. Jumping from the top of the bluffs sounded a little bit terrifying and a whole lot awesome. It had been so off limits to her when she was a kid, wanting to tag along with Ryan and Derek. It seemed somehow fitting that she jumped at one of Derek’s favorite spots after honoring him here today.
She and Ryan stood in the middle of the semicircular memorial, looking at all the names engraved. A steady stream of people moved around them, talking quietly and touching the names of loved ones. A few people had tears on their cheeks.
“You seeing this?” Ryan asked softly.
“Yeah.” Her throat had gotten painfully tight.
“You’ve created something really beautiful here.”
“Well, to be fair, the idea for the memorial was Mayor Clemmons and the Town Council’s.”
“But it could have been stuffy and boring. You’ve made it modern and colorful. It’s a nice place to visit, maybe even sit and hang out for a while.” He spoke with such pride that the lump in her throat grew even tighter.
“Thanks.” She turned to look at the gardens, the people walking through it and sitting on benches. It really had turned out well.
“Ryan!” A man approached, his hand out.
Ryan took it and shook. “Yo, what’s up, man?” He introduced Emma to Steve Fields, one of his rock climbing students.
“You got a minute?” Steve asked Ryan.
“Sure. I’ll catch up with you later, Em.” Ryan excused himself, and the two men walked off, talking about a climb Steve was planning next month.
Emma headed toward Carly, who was standing alone beside the memorial, texting on her phone.
“Excuse me,” a woman’s voice said from behind her.
Emma glanced over her shoulder and saw a tall, slender woman in her late forties.
“You’re Emma Rush, right?”
“That’s right,” she said with a smile.
“I’m Angela Davenport. I’m the owner of the Silver Springs Lodge.”
“Oh…Ms. Davenport, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Emma had heard plenty about the Silver Springs Lodge. It was a fairly large new hotel being built in Silver Springs. Some people thought it was too big, but the general consensus was that it would be good for local business. Emma agreed.
“Please call me Angela,” she said, extending a hand.
Emma took it and shook. “I’ve heard a lot about the new lodge. It sounds very exciting.”
“Thank you,” Angela said. “I was actually hoping to invite you out to the site on Monday morning to show you around.”
“Really?” Emma hid her confusion behind a sunny smile. “That sounds lovely.”
“I’m so impressed with the new memorial gardens. I’d love to hear more about your work.”
“Oh, well, thank you.”
She and Angela exchanged business cards and said their good-byes. Emma wasn’t really sure what that was about, but she was curious to get a sneak peek at the new hotel. She mingled at the memorial until the crowd had died down, and then she snuck off to get ready to go to the bluffs with Ryan. Finally.
* * *
Ryan pulled into Emma’s driveway just past two o’clock. Before he’d even switched off the bike, she had appeared on her front porch, wearing jeans and the blue jacket she usually wore when she rode, a backpack on her shoulders.
She hurried over and leaned in to place a kiss on his lips. “I can’t wait.”
He smiled against her lips. “I can tell.”
She unclipped the spare helmet and swung onto the bike behind him as if it was second nature. So confident and sexy. He loved that.
And he couldn’t wait either. He hadn’t been in favor of bringing her out to the bluffs at first, not to jump anyway, but he’d done it enough times to know it was fairly safe. The water at the base of the cliffs was close to fifty feet deep, a straight drop. And Emma was a strong swimmer, had been since they were kids.
She slid her arms around his waist, and he pointed the bike out of town, roaring over the winding roads outside Haven. Emma’s hands rested over the waistband of his jeans, as distracting as ever, but it was a familiar distraction now. Something he was both used to and not because he didn’t think he’d ever completely get used to the way Emma had rocked his world.
He pulled into the entrance to the bluffs and parked.
Emma leaned closer. “Both times we’ve been here together, we’ve made out on your bike.”
They’d done more than make out on his bike the last time they were here. His dick hardened at the memory, which was not at all comfortable given that he was straddling a bike, wearing swim trunks under his jeans.
Emma tossed her backpack, helmet, and jacket on the asphalt beside them, then swung around in front of him. “Just doesn’t seem right if we don’t keep up the tradition,” she whispered as she lowered her mouth to his.
Who was he to complain? He drew her in and kissed her, slow and fierce. By the time they’d come up for air, they were both panting for breath, and Emma’s eyes had that glazed, unfocused look she got when she was really turned on.
“You are so damn sexy,” he murmured, nibbling his way down her neck.
“Not sure how sexy I’ll be when I’m flailing around in the air on my way to the lake,” she said, gasping as he licked a sensitive spot on her throat.
“Oh, trust me, that will be sexy, too.” He laughed softly, fingering the hot pink bikini strap peeking out from beneath her shirt. “You ready?”
“Heck, yes.” She slid off the bike, a gleam of excitement in her eyes he hadn’t seen since that first night he’d given her a ride.
“Okay then. I think I remember a spot you can do some climbing on the way up, but we’ll go easy since we’re not in our climbing shoes.”
“Sounds good to me.”
He swung off the bike and adjusted himself with a grimace as Emma giggled.
“Sorry about that,” she said. “I’ll help you with it later.”
“I’ll take you up on that.” He stowed their jackets in one of his saddlebags. Then they headed for the path that led to the top of the bluffs. “What’s in the backpack?”
“Towels, mostly.”
“Okay.” He changed course and led them down a path to the water’s edge. The cliffs towered over their heads.