AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Me too, sweetheart.” He planted a kiss on the crown of my head, and I snuggled deeper.
I wasn’t entirely sure where we would wind up, but my heart felt twenty times bigger than it did when I was running across multiple states without any hope. Elias and Luke acted as if we had been together much longer than a couple days. Somehow, I needed to keep my emotions in check or surrender to them completely.
Chapter 7
Emma
It sucked being in the house all by myself. Lucas had to go all the way to Denver to participate in this big event. He didn’t ride competitively anymore, not since his accident, but he took on a handful of students every year. He was working with a sixteen-year-old girl who had a lot of talent. Lucas explained the ring kept her out of trouble, according to her parents. I had almost shared my background, trick riding and all, but since I wasn’t able to do it anymore, the thought hurt my heart.
Maybe one day I would tell him and we could work together. No. I pushed the thought away. I had done something crazy today, and it would likely get me into bigger trouble later. Deciding for one moment that I needed to let Luke and Elias have their home back without me, since I wasn’t adding anything of value, I applied to a bunch of jobs out in Denver.
Part of me hoped I would actually get interviews, but how to get there was another issue. I didn’t even have any nice clothes. I tried to go back and un-apply or delete the applications, but the damage was done.
Stupid girl.
I chastised myself in Shawn’s voice.Shawn. I had stupidly input the home phone number and address because the applications wouldn’t let me proceed without the information. I was beyond dumb. If he really was looking for me, I had just handed him my location on a silver platter. Maybe he said of all that just to scare me. I never did anything for him. We hadn’t been happy in years. Shawn couldn’t possibly care about my whereabouts… unless he did. Ugh. I had a lot of explaining to do to my boyfriends.
The house phone rang, bringing me out of my thoughts. Hurrying as fast as the limp would allow, I checked the caller I.D. It was Elias.
“Hello?”
“Hi, sweetheart. Did you have a good day?”
“Yeah, it was okay.”
“I’m happy to hear that,” he cleared his throat. “I won’t be home for a while.”
My heart ached. Elias wanted to be here, but something must have happened at the hospital.
“I don’t like being here without you, but I’ll manage.” I added confidence to my voice, trying to sound brave for him.
“I have a surprise for you.”
“Yay! Um, I did the chores you asked me to do.”
“Good girl,” he praised. “I knew you would. Get some sleep and I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Can you, um, check on me when you get home?”
“Of course, sweetheart, but I don’t want to wake you up.”
“I’ll wait for you.”
It wasn’t the whole truth of my sudden issue. I was afraid to fall asleep without him or Luke physically being here. All of my fears were unlocked, and I was in full nightmare mode.
“No, Emma. You need to go to bed at a reasonable hour,” he sighed. “I’ll see if I can leave.”
“Please don’t feel like you have to leave because of me. I’ll be okay, Daddy,” I assured him, though I didn’t believe it myself.
“All right, sweetheart. I’ll try to call you in a little while. Be good.”
“Thank you, Daddy.” I crossed my fingers behind my back as if he could see me. “I will.”
Elias ended the call without a goodbye. He was always in a rush at the hospital, his time extremely limited. Since he made time to check on me, I knew behaving was a good choice, but I was scared.
Hobbling to the kitchen, I scanned the refrigerator and spied an ice-cold bottle of Pinot Noir. I could almost hear Elias’ disapproval from here, but I plucked the wine out of the fridge and poured myself an oversized glass.
Once I returned to the road, or secured a job, one missing bottle of wine wouldn’t matter, and neither would his rules.
