She shrank from telling Seth. Not her business. But if she neglected to tell him and he found out...
She loved Seth. No way could she allow him to be taken advantage of. Or Laila either.
Maybe she would stop in at the hardware store. She wouldn’t go so far as to have coffee with Everett, though. But she would call Laila to see if she really did speak to Everett almost every day. Seth might see even that as a betrayal. After all, his mother hadn’t told him. Why? What was Laila afraid of?
Or maybe Emma didn’t want to know. If she didn’t know, she wouldn’t have to decide whether or not to tell Seth.
Emma drove home alone and went to bed alone. The house no longer held the faintest scent of skunk. But it felt very empty without Seth.
She still missed her babies. Seth was right. She needed another foundling. Would she actually sign up for the animal rehabilitator class? It wouldn’t be fair to start the course, take a place that might have gone to someone who was totally committed and lived in the area, then give the whole thing up if she decided to go home to Memphis.
Seth had never said he loved her, never asked her to stay, never asked whether she even wanted to stay. The old-fashioned romantic ideal should have morphed from a leisurely courtship with mind-blowing sex while she found a great job in Williamston at the same salary she’d had in Memphis or close to it. Something with a career path to status in the company. Something as much fun as working for Nathan had been—most of the time.
Eventually after she and Seth knew each other well, they’d marry. She could redo Martha’s house and rent it out. Maybe enlarge Seth’s house. Restore the overgrown pasture, clean the little pond and replace the roof on the barn. They could rent out that land. Wouldn’t bring a great deal of income, but then she didn’t need a closet full of evening dresses up here.
And she could do her own nails.
Over lunch with Barbara the next day, she decided to tell her about running into Everett. “He was waiting for me,” she said.
“What did he want?”
“To ingratiate himself with me. I have no idea why.”
“He knows about you and Seth.”
“What about me and Seth? Yes, we spend a lot of time together, but nobody’s mentioned anything formal. Neither one of us is...”
“Bull. If this ‘uncommitted’ relationship were to break up, which one of you would have to move? Could you keep living across the street from Seth? How would you feel if he brought another woman home?”
“He has every right to do that.”
“If you brought another man home, he’d probably break down your door and toss the poor guy into the pond. And feed him to the turtles. Based on what I heard from Velma, he considered doing it to your friend Nathan.”
Since Seth had admitted he’d been jealous of Nathan, Emma couldn’t contradict her.
“He wants you to stay, Emma. He won’t pressure you. You’re going to have to tell him, not the other way around.”
“My father keeps saying I need to look at this logically. So, logically, Seth wouldn’t be uprooting his life, or giving up anything—not his friends, his career or even his house. I would be giving up everything I’ve worked for. I’d have to sell my town house instead of renting it, and not see my friends or my family as often. And Seth definitely hasn’t asked me to stay, or even asked whether I’m thinking of staying. It’s the big pink elephant in the room.”
“What do you want?”
“Time. Time I don’t have. I thought I was in love with someone else very recently. I wasn’t. He certainly wasn’t in love with me. How can I be sure that what I feel for Seth is love? And how does that fit with the reality of living in a world where I have to make a living? Hate to tell you, Barbara, but this job, as much as I appreciate it, won’t pay my bills for long.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake, stop overanalyzing! What do you feel?”
“That I don’t know how he feels.”
“Ask him.”
“‘Hey, Seth, are you in love with me and what do you want to do about it?’ I couldn’t get up the nerve to do that on my best day.”
“What’s the worst that can happen?”
“Okay, how’s this? ‘Gee, Emma, we have great sex, but I’m not interested in anything else. So long. I’ll give you a call the next time I’m in Memphis. Maybe we can hook up.’”
Barbara laughed so hard she choked on her coffee. “I’ll be darned if you’re not insecure. When I met you I thought you were the most together woman I’d met in ages. And here I find you’re every bit as scared as the rest of us.”
“I try not to let the bastards see me sweat, okay? But, yes, I am insecure. That happens when a kid loses a parent early, the way I lost my mother. I do not trust life. Better not to expect permanence.”
“Seth lost his sister. Does that mean he has the same permanence issues?” Barbara asked. “If so, you both have to get over it, or I’ll never be a godmother.”
The next day was one of Emma’s at the clinic. Spring rain sluiced down so hard that even Mabel stayed in her goose house warming her goslings. So far, motherhood had not improved her temperament.
In the few quiet moments when she was working at the clinic as she was today, Emma had streamlined the clinic’s computer system to organize appointments and keep up with billing clients. After she sent an orange tabby back to surgery to be spayed, she was free to answer the clinic phone on the first ring, the way she preferred. It wasn’t always possible.
“Good morning, Carew Veterinary Clinic,” she said.
“Emma, good morning! Beautiful day for ducks, isn’t it?”
Everett Logan. Damn. Several times in the last few days his name had come up on her call log. She’d ignored the calls. This time he’d blocked the caller ID. Sneaky. “Mr. Logan, how can I help you?” Not just cool, but cold.
“You recognized my voice! How about that. I’m flattered. We’re having a slow day at the store. I wondered if you’d join me for lunch.”
“What? Where? In town?” She wanted to shout, “Are you crazy?” She took a deep breath and said with what she hoped was aplomb, “I’m sorry. That’s not possible.”
“You don’t have to worry that we’d run into Seth. I happen to know he’s in Nashville in a budget meeting all day and maybe tomorrow. Didn’t he tell you he’d be gone?”
“Nashville is hardly ‘gone,’ Mr. Logan.” She wanted to say, Don’t you play gotcha games with me. I’ve won against the best. “Nonetheless, Mr. Logan...”
“Please, call me Everett. I’m not that much older than you are, you know.” He chuckled.
She wanted to tell him, You darned well are. This was becoming a multilayered conversation. She didn’t like any of the layers. “We never leave the clinic at lunch, Mr. Logan.” That was a lie. Both she and Barbara did leave from time to time. Everett Logan didn’t need to know that, although somebody had probably told him.
She’d taken Nathan to lunch at the café, for example. But she hadn’t actually been on the clinic schedule to work the day Nathan showed up.
“I could pick up some sandwiches and come to you.”
“Why would you want to drive all the way out here to have lunch with me?”
He actually chortled. Did he think he’d won?
“I want to get to know you. After all, if things keep going the way they are, you and I will be kin.”
What a horrible thought. “No. Do not come out here, do not pick up sandwiches. For future reference, this is a business phone for the use of our clients, not for personal calls.”
“We have a cat at the store. Maybe I can borrow her.” Again, he chortled.
She sighed. Okay, no more Ms. Nice Guy. “Mr. Logan, do not borrow a cat, do not bring sandwiches, don’t call here on this phone. I intend to continue to call you Mr. Logan, and unless you get off this phone, I w
ill hang up on you.”
“Come on, honey, lighten up. I’m well aware that you and my son are...shall we say, close. Laila says you’re good for him. It’s not good for a man to live alone. I’m on your side. I’m really a very nice person.”
Oh, Lord, he was drinking. She heard it in the precise way he spoke. She didn’t get angry often. She usually didn’t get mad about injuries to herself, only to her family and friends. Although the last time she’d been angry was when she discovered Trip’s infidelity. But this man was trying to injure the man she loved, to interfere with his peace of mind and to take advantage of Seth’s mother, who she hoped would grow to be her friend.
Since there were still three clients in the waiting room with their animals, Emma dropped her voice. “First of all, Mr. Logan, go find an AA meeting. And take off your sobriety pin. I can hear over the phone that you don’t deserve it.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Of course you do. I am completely serious. Do not attempt to get in touch with me, or I’ll tell Laila and Seth that you’re drinking again at eleven in the morning. How can you do this to Laila? She wants you and Seth to at least be polite to each other, but that’s not possible so long as you don’t acknowledge your responsibility for your own child’s death.”
He started to break in. “Listen—”
“No. You listen. You broke the rules, not Seth or Laila or even Sarah. As a parent you were responsible for obeying the rules. Your daughter was a child. Seth was a child. Sarah had to do what you said, even if it cost her life. You were drunk and driving crazy and sitting on your life jackets. No wonder Seth believes in rules. You break them because you think you can get away with anything if you smile big enough. Well, you can’t.”
“I have an illness...”
“You’re the only one who can fix that, and I don’t see you giving it much of a shot. Mr. Logan, go to a meeting.” She narrowly avoided slamming down the phone. She sat there trying to keep from hyperventilating. Her hands were shaking.
The two cats and one dog waiting with their owners didn’t eavesdrop, but Emma knew their owners certainly did. They studiously avoided looking at Emma. And wouldn’t that little exchange make the rounds before nightfall?
She shouldn’t have spoken to Everett like that, but she couldn’t help herself. Everett would call Laila before Emma could. Lord only knew what Seth would say, because Laila would tell him Everett’s version of their conversation.
Emma had no intention of calling Laila. And if Everett showed up at the clinic with sandwiches and a borrowed cat, she’d set the police on him.
While she and Barbara were eating lunch together, as they now did most of the days Emma worked at the clinic, Emma’s cell phone rang. Her heart turned over when she saw that Seth was calling. Then she realized she was listening to a voice message and not to Seth. Well, better than nothing, although she’d have preferred to talk to hm.
“Hey,” he said. “I’m in a meeting in Nashville. We’re going into a working lunch, so I don’t have time to talk. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything earlier, but this came up at the last minute. I had to come home and pack after you left for the clinic. I got Mother on my way out of town, but I missed you.
“I doubt I’ll get back tonight. We’ll probably work late.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “This is not the way I planned to spend the evening and definitely not the night. What’s the sense of having a king-size bed if you aren’t in it? Sorry, got to go. I love you.” He rang off.
Emma stared at her phone. So that was the way Everett had discovered Seth was out of town. He must have talked to Laila.
What really mattered was that Seth had actually said, “I love you.” Easy to do on the phone. He’d never said it live, not even when they were making love. Or afterward when he was feeling very mellow. Was it just something to say to finish the conversation, or did he mean it? She wanted him to mean it, because she did.
Whatever Daddy thought, this was not a rebound. She’d never felt anything like it with Trip or any of the other men she’d known. Love came out of the woodwork and smacked you when you were least expecting it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
SETH DOODLED THROUGH the budget meeting. It was deeply boring. He’d give anything to be out on the lake or beating through the brush, even if he was checking hunting and fishing licenses.
He hadn’t worried about his salary or his career path since his marriage broke up. He’d received appropriate promotions and raises since he’d joined the warden service—enough to support his single lifestyle. He wanted to stay out in the field, not move paperwork sitting behind a desk. But families cost money.
He was beginning to have hope that Emma cared for him at least a tenth as much as he loved her, so he’d put up with budget meetings and actively work toward promotion. He didn’t particularly like administration, but he was good at it.
He called Emma the minute he pulled out of the Nashville government parking lot, but got only her voice mail. You didn’t ask a woman to marry you on a cell phone. He’d stop in Williamston and pick up a dozen roses to take with him. Be waiting with champagne when she came home from the clinic. Home was no longer a dirty word since Emma was there. She’d find a job within commuting distance of Williamston. Maybe go to work for Barbara full-time, until she found something she liked better. Neither one of them was a kid. With luck she’d get pregnant. As long as they were together, they’d make whatever they chose to do work.
Was he crazy to build all these castles in the air? To believe he could make her happy in his world? He’d failed miserably with Clare.
His cell phone rang. He had it on hands-free and assumed Emma was calling him back. Not Emma. His mother. “Hey, Mom, what’s up?”
“Where are you?”
“Halfway between Nashville and Williamston. If there’s a problem...”
“Oh, dear. I think you’d better pull over.”
He went cold and pulled over onto the shoulder. “Mom, are you all right? Is it Emma?”
“I’m not even sure I should tell you. It’s about your father.”
He rubbed his jaw with one hand. He already could use a shave. “What’s he done now?”
“Please don’t be angry. I know she’s trying to help. She’s such a dear girl.”
“Mom, what is it?”
“I should’ve told you earlier, but I know how you get. Everett has been calling me every day since he’s been back in town. He says he wants to make amends. It’s one of those twelve-step things he does. He’s also been talking to Emma, asking her to set up a meeting with you. Maybe have lunch.”
“He what?”
“She’s worried that you’ll be angry with her.”
“She’s got that right. Thanks for telling me, Mom. I’ll take care of it.”
How long had this been going on? How often did Everett call her? Did he actually meet with her? She should’ve told him after the first call.
What kind of man did she think he was? Did she think he could hurt his father? His hands were cold on the steering wheel. She was afraid to tell him. Afraid of what he’d say, or worse, do.
He’d warned her off the first time they met his father. Yes, he’d been angry, but he thought he’d gotten his point across. Stay away from the man. But she hadn’t. Instead she tried to intervene, to fix things between them. He didn’t want them fixed, and he couldn’t accept her interference. He’d grown up with secrets. He couldn’t live with them the rest of his life. If she’d lie about this, what else had she hidden from him? Or would in the future? For his own good? What gave her the right to make that decision for him?
By the time he turned down his road he was mad at both his parents and the woman he loved. She had betrayed him with the man he hated.
Emma’s car was parked in her driveway. Instead of going into his own house, he headed for
hers.
She flung open her front door and threw her arms around him. “I missed you,” she whispered and kissed him.
He held her away from him. “How often have you seen my father?”
“What?”
“Mom told me he’s been calling you, coming by to see you...”
“Only calling. And in the parking lot after the rehab class. He wanted to come by the clinic, but I told him no.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“He’s asking to see me, not you. I knew you wouldn’t like it. He’s trying to be nice.”
“So he’s been in contact with you, and you’re willing to help him hide his attempts from me. Not your concern. Nobody asked you to intercede.”
“He did. I thought—”
“Well, don’t. Keep your hands off my life. Leave my family to me. It’s not your family, it’s mine.”
The wounded look in Emma’s eyes told him he’d gone too far.
“Fine. As of this minute I’m out.” She shut the door in his face.
“Emma! Emma!” He slammed his fist against the old oak.
“Get out of my yard and out of my life!”
He considered breaking the pier glass in the door. No, he had to cool off and give her time to cool off, as well. Their first real fight, and it was a doozy. Going to take more than roses to smooth this one out. If he could. He turned on his heel, stormed across the street and slammed his front door. He’d go over later to make up. If she would. She’d expect an apology he couldn’t give.
What if she was serious about getting out of her life? She’d done it before with Trip.
* * *
“EMMA, DO YOU KNOW what time it is?” Nathan asked. “I was in bed watching the news.”
“You’re not asleep, then. Nathan, can I have my job back?”
“Say what? Are you serious?”
“Dead serious. I don’t belong up here.”
Tennessee Rescue Page 24