Summer's Last Breath (The Emerald Series)

by Kimberly James

  “There’s someone I need you to meet,” he said, steering me toward a corner shop called Deep. “I should warn you though…”

  “Warn me about what?” I asked, suddenly nervous.

  “It’s nothing. Maggie just never meets a stranger, that’s all.” He smiled and opened the door, which was equipped with a door chime. The lyrical tune greeted us, along with the light scent of vanilla wafting on the air.

  I wasn’t unfamiliar with the shop. I’d been here a few times with my mom. Deep was a favorite among the locals and tourists alike and the owner, Maggie, was well known for her collection of organic lotions and body creams. She was also a jewelry designer. Noah often talked about her as though she were family. My mom referred to her as our very own Stevie Nicks. Based upon her picture displayed in the front window, I saw the resemblance.

  Maggie was perched on a stool behind a glass display case exhibiting her wares—necklaces and bracelets, similar to the ones Jamie and Noah wore, many of them far more elaborate. While she smiled in welcome when she saw me, she positively beamed when Jamie walked in behind me.

  “Hey Maggie,” he said, casting his gaze down to the empty doggie bed by the door. “Where’s Felix?”

  “It’s his spa day,” she said, coming around the counter, her layers of jewelry making her sound like a wind chime when she moved. “He’ll be sorry he missed you.”

  She moved in to hug Jamie’s neck, her skirts flowing around her legs all light and airy. Her eyes sparkled like stars and she definitely had that gypsy vibe going for her. She grabbed Jamie’s face and kissed him full on the mouth, then turned, narrowing her eyes on me.

  “Maggie,” he said, his cheeks pinking as he cleared his throat. “This is Erin.”

  “Hello, Erin.” She floated toward me and enveloped me in an all-encompassing hug, the bell sleeves of her blouse like butterfly wings.

  “Hi, Maggie. It’s nice to meet you,” I said.

  “I don’t know what mom told you…” Jamie began, but his voice died when Maggie inhaled sharply. She lifted a strand of hair off of my shoulder and brought it to her nose to smell it. Then she dropped her hand, pressing her ringed fingers flat on my stomach.

  Jamie sighed.

  “Lara told me you had a girlfriend, Jamie Neil Jacobs. She didn’t tell me you’d knocked her up. What were you thinking?” She tossed her hand in a flippant wave. “Never mind. Don’t answer that. Guess it’s not hard to figure out.”

  “Maggie…” Jamie groaned, but it was like he’d disappeared. All her attention was on me.

  “How old are you?” she asked, her tone gentle.

  “Sixteen,” I said, feeling as if I could tell this woman anything, even though she was a virtual stranger. The thing was, she didn’t feel like one.

  “For Erzulie’s love, Jamie. Couldn’t you keep it in your pants. No wonder Lara didn’t tell me.”

  “Would you stop,” he said, his jaw clenching as he shifted from one bare foot to the other.

  Embarrassed Jamie was totally cute.

  “Truth hurts, doesn’t it. And I’m sure your mom did nothing but coddle you and tell you how wonderful you are.”

  Maggie returned her gaze to me. “Lara’s my best friend but she’s always been blind when her boys are concerned. Seems they can do no wrong in her eyes even when it comes to getting a young girl pregnant.”

  “Okay, Maggie, that’s enough. You’ve made your point,” Jamie said, clearly defensive.

  “Well,” I said, feeling the need to stick up for him, “it wasn’t all Jamie’s fault.”

  “He definitely has that rugged, manly thing going for him that some girls can’t seem to resist. But I want to know about you. How are you feeling?” Maggie inquired, her brow pleating under the golden wisps of her bangs. “Any morning sickness?”

  She’d taken my hand and was leading me over to a matching set of suede couches in the center of the store and directed me to sit.

  “A little,” I said. “It’s mostly smells that get to me.”

  She patted my leg. “I can give you a tea to drink that might help.”

  She headed for a doorway covered by a beaded curtain that led to a back room. Before she went through, she turned around, eyebrows raised. “Do you know what it is yet?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “I think it’s too early for that.”

  Jamie had held my hand as the doctor searched for, and found, the baby’s heartbeat. Hearing that thump thump, things had gotten real, real fast. This was my life now. I was going to be a mother.

  “Do you want to know?” she asked. “I could tell you.”

  My mouth fell open as she disappeared behind the curtain to the sound of rain falling. The doctor had said it would be weeks before they could say for sure.

  “Is she being serious?” I asked.

  “If Maggie says she knows, I wouldn’t doubt her.” He dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “She’s a witch.”

  “I heard that,” she yelled and promptly appeared back through the curtain.

  “I don’t know. What do you think?” I asked Jamie. Finding out the sex of our baby was a pretty big deal. I was still getting used to having a baby at all. I was inclined to take it one step at a time. Still, I was curious.

  “I like the idea of it being a surprise,” Jamie said. “But if you want to know.”

  “You can think about it,” Maggie said as she sat beside me, holding a small silver bag I assumed held my special tea. She proceeded to give instructions on how much to drink and how often to drink it.

  “Thanks, Maggie,” I said, touched by her generosity and concern for my well-being. Her accepting me so fast showed how much she cared about Jamie. She made me promise to come to her if I needed anything, and I told her I would. She was one of those people who was impossible not to like.

  I looped my arm through Jamie’s after we’d said our goodbyes, and we casually made our way back up the sidewalk. The sun had dipped low enough to cast the square in shadows, and I shivered in the absence of the sunlight. Jamie pulled me close, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

  “She likes you,” he said, his lips spreading in a lazy smile that did crazy things to my stomach. I leaned up, hoping to get a taste of the corner of his mouth, and somehow what started as a quick kiss turned into something more. His mouth felt so good. It wasn’t like there were tons of people around, so when he pulled me around for a full frontal kiss, I let him.

  Someone whistled and his name rang out across the grass lawn in the middle of the square. I reluctantly let go of Jamie’s neck and my feet slid to the ground.

  “We’ve been spotted,” Jamie said, keeping his hand around my back.

  The guys were coming down the steps from the Oasis, a local hangout. Happy Hour sounded like it was in full swing.

  I knew my dad had told them about the baby, but I hadn’t seen any of them yet, and I was uncharacteristically anxious about seeing them now. I stood on the sidewalk, gripping Jamie’s hand, refusing to go any farther, like a rebellious dog on a leash.

  “Hey,” Jamie said, tugging on my hand, “don’t worry about them. They’re cool.”

  I wasn’t so sure. The closer they got, the more my spine tingled. Donovan stumbled, a doleful smile wavering on his flushed face.

  “I hear congratulations are in order,” Donovan said, stepping close and throwing his arm around my shoulder like he’d done a thousand times before. This time, though, it felt different. Jamie had said they were cool with the baby, with us, but Donovan had never looked at me with this contemptuous gleam in his eyes. He was totally trashed. And he was sweating on me.

  Jamie ignored him and set his sights on Tate. “Looks like someone’s had a few too many."

  “Trust me, it’s been hard to watch, but he seemed really determined to get wasted.” Tate shrugged and rolled his eyes.

  “You’re drunk,” I said to Donovan, peeling his arms from my shoulder.

  “Nah,” he said, and teetered tow
ard Jamie. “Congratulations, Native. You went where none of us had the balls to go—straight for Marshall’s daughter.” He slapped Jamie on the back harder than what was strictly friendly. Jamie’s jaw tensed and his eyes narrowed.

  Seeing that this was going nowhere good and fast, the guys closed ranks, Ross on one side of Donovan and Tate on the other, ready to intervene if necessary. I had a feeling it would be necessary.

  “I think you’ve had a little too much to drink, Donovan,” Jamie said. “I’d watch your mouth if I were you.”

  “What?” Donovan shoved Jamie in the chest with both hands. He was spoiling for a fight and I was confused as to why. “You’re going to reprimand me? That’s rich.”

  “Donovan,” Ross’s voice held a note of warning but Donovan was drunk enough to ignore it.

  “And you,” Donovan said, swiveling in my direction. “I would have broken the rules for you if I had known you were that hot for it.”

  “Someone get him out of here before I tear him to pieces.” Jamie’s voice cut like the sharpest of knives.

  “Come on there, cowboy. I’d say it’s time for you to call it quits before you get your ass kicked.” Ross grabbed Donovan by the shoulders, but Donovan jerked away, the quick movement making him stumble, and then he was on Jamie surprisingly fast for someone who was probably seeing double.

  “Why her, Jacobs? Out of the thousands of girls, why her?”

  “Because she’s mine,” Jamie said, throwing Donovan off.

  Donovan took a wild swing at him which Jamie ducked easily. “I’m not going to fight you, man.”

  “Why not. You’ll fuck her but you won’t fight me,” Donovan sneered. “Is that thing she’s carrying even human?”

  Jamie’s fist smashed into Donovan’s gut. When he doubled over, Jamie hit him again, this time an upper cut to the face. I heard the crunch of bone. Blood gushed from Donovan’s nose, pouring down his chin and dripping on the ground. Jamie would have hit him again, but Ross took him by the arms and reined him in.

  “That’s enough. He’s done,” Ross said, talking Jamie down. I was surprised he could.

  Tate and Ross did the same with Donovan, though it appeared they were holding him up more than holding him back. He groaned. I imagined when his buzz wore off he was going to be hurting. Served him right. I was still shocked at the vehemence of Donovan’s words. I was expecting this kind of reaction from my friends at school, but I hadn’t expected it from any of the guys, especially not Donovan.

  “Get him out of here,” Jamie spat.

  Ross nodded and turned to me. “Sorry, Erin. We’ll take him home.”

  “Are you all right?” Jamie asked as we watched Tate and Lassiter loaded a bleeding Donovan into the passenger seat of his truck.

  “Yeah," I said, though I really wasn’t. What Donovan had said was pretty vile. And by the look on Jamie’s face, he’d taken it to heart. It was the second time in as many weeks he’d punched someone for daring to degrade our baby.

  “Don’t let him get to you. I don’t care what anyone says.”

  “Do you mean that? Really mean it?” Jamie asked. He was always so sure of himself, so proud. I hated seeing him flustered by someone’s careless comments.

  “Of course I do,” I said but it was like he didn’t hear me.

  “How can you not care about what I am? I’ve seen it before just like with Donovan. People act like they don’t care. They act like your friend, and then something happens and it brings out their true colors. If you can’t accept me…”

  I stifled the impulse to slap some sense into him. Instead, I grabbed his face and kissed him fiercely on the mouth. I was so angry that he would even question me, question my feelings for him.

  “You think I don’t accept you? I accepted you into my body and now I’m carrying part of you inside me.”

  “I know, but you heard Donovan. I’ve listened to shit like that all my life and I hate that I’ve brought you into it.”

  “Jamie, I don’t care what anybody thinks.”

  “You say that now.” His fingers circled my wrists and he brought our hands down, holding them between us. “I don’t want you to ever be sorry.”

  “I love you. I love our baby. Boy or girl, this baby is going to be perfect and we’re going to love it.”

  “Girl,” he said, the corner of his mouth burgeoning into a smile.

  “What?”

  “I kind of hope it’s a girl,” he said. “And I hope she’s just like you.”

  “Well, I kind of hope it’s a boy and I don’t want you to ever be sorry because he won’t be just like you.”

  “It doesn’t matter to me,” he said.

  “It doesn’t matter to me either, so we’re even.”

  He pressed his lips to my forehead then fished his keys out of his pocket and placed them in my hand. Then he grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and pulled it off, garnering a few looks from some of the people passing on the sidewalk. I’d almost forgotten we were in a public place. Jamie had the tendency to make me forget where I was. I stared at the pearl, caught in the shallow dip of his throat. It looked as if it pulsed with a life of its own, and I reached up and touched it with my finger, the warmth of it startling, and I wondered what kind of magic it held.

  “Will you take this?” he asked, holding his shirt out to me.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I need to swim. Do you mind meeting me at my house?” he asked and it sounded almost like an apology, like his need for the water embarrassed him.

  “No, I don’t mind.” I smiled stiffly and kissed his cheek then watched as left, leaving me clutching his shirt and his keys and wishing so badly I could go with him.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Saturday was a scheduled guys’ day at the house. College football was in full swing and today FSU was playing Georgia Tech, a game my dad and the guys had been looking forward to.

  Football games meant chili and hot wings. I’d thrown together a big batch of chili and Ross had volunteered to stop and pick up a few dozen hot wings. Knowing Jamie wouldn’t touch the chili on account of the beef—he said it tasted like dirt—I’d attempted my first pot of seafood gumbo, a task that ended with me upstairs in my bathroom, getting reacquainted with the peanut butter and banana sandwich I’d eaten earlier. I thought it pretty ironic seafood seemed to be what triggered my bouts of nausea, and I’d blamed Jamie as I’d sat on the tile floor, hugging the toilet.

  I was lying on my bed, contemplating hiding out in my room when the guys arrived. I had no idea how things stood between them since Donovan decided to turn asshole, and Jamie hadn’t said much about it. My feelings were still bruised by what Donovan had said, but I was more hurt that he’d let so much time go by without offering an apology, not that I was inclined to accept.

  A soft knock sounded on my door.

  “Come in,” I said, expecting it to be my dad or Jamie. I bolted upright when Donovan peeked his head around the door, looking understandably cautious and satisfyingly guilty.

  “Hey.” He stepped inside my room, leaving the door open behind him. His right eye was every shade of black and blue and still swollen. A strip of white tape bisected his nose. I wouldn’t feel sorry for him, no matter how badly his face looked like it hurt. He deserved it.

  “Hey,” I said coolly, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

  “Erin…” He dug his hands deep into the pockets of his khaki shorts. I wouldn't be swayed by his puppy dog eyes. I was considering punching him myself.

  “Your dad said I could come up and talk to you. Hope that’s all right.”

  I glared at him. “So talk. It probably won’t do any good.”

  “I’m so sorry. I was so far out of line the other day, and I’ve got no good excuse.”

  Holding to my anger I said, “What you said hurt. It hurt you could even think that.”

  “I know, and I only said what I did because I knew it would hurt. I was pissed drunk and…” His eyes grew all
gooey soft and he swallowed. “I was jealous. I’d always hoped… Hell, I’ve been counting down the days until your eighteenth birthday. I had three hundred and ninety-four days to go and then I was going to tell you how I felt about you, but it doesn’t matter now, because you’re with Jamie. I took it out on you and you’re the last person I’d want to hurt. I didn’t mean what I said about Jamie or the baby. You’ve got to believe that. I was hurt and I was wrong and I’m sorry.”

  I sighed and dropped my arms. I thought I’d be able to hold on to my anger longer, but I hadn’t expected him to come up here with his heart on his sleeve, laying it out like that. And I was bit stunned his feelings for me ran that deep. I’d never detected anything from him other than strictly platonic vibes.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t know you felt that way.”

  “Don’t you dare say you’re sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong. I just wanted to apologize and ask you to forgive me. I still want to be friends, if that’s possible. But I understand if it’s not. I’m the first to admit I was a Grade A jerk.”

  “You were a fucking asshole.”

  “Yeah,” he laughed. “But I’m not supposed to say that around you. I’m throwing myself at your mercy here. I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I am asking for it. I’ve made good with the guys. I’ve talked to Jamie and we’re cool. He still wants to beat my ass, but that’s just because he cares about you.”

  “I was planning on staying mad at you at least until I graduated high school.” I grabbed one of my pink pillows and hugged it to my stomach. “You told me not to mess things up for him and that’s probably what it looks like from where you’re sitting.” I was every teenage guy’s nightmare.

  “I don’t see it that way. Jamie certainly doesn’t. The guys don’t either. We’re all on your side, you and Jamie’s. We stick up for each other no matter what. It’s what we do. I forgot that and it took Jamie pounding me in the face for me to remember.”

  “I know when word gets out, which it already has, people are gonna talk, and I really don’t care, but I do care what you think. I’m not a slut or a whore. I don’t want you to think that about me.” I hated how my tears were waiting for the slightest reason to fall.