AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It means…I need this job, and as long as I have it, I think things between us should go back to just boss and employee.”
I pause, part of me not wanting to believe she actually said it.
“That’s what you want?”
I watch as tears stream down her face, and she shakes her head no. “Yes, that’s what I want.”
My heart feels like it’s being torn from my chest right now, in a million different directions. It’s the greatest agony, knowing I’m willing to put it all on the line, and she’s…not.
My mind begins moving rapid fire, trying to sort through all the possibilities to find a conclusion that allows us to be together. But I take a deep breath and try to quiet that part of me. The best thing I can do right now, the best way I can love Emily, truly, is to listen to what she has asked of me. To give her what she wants.
Even if it feels like the worst choice in the world.
I lean forward and place a gentle kiss against her cheek, the wetness from her tears hitting my lips. As I pull away, her mouth presses to mine in a kiss so desperate, so needy, so achingly full of sadness and longing it almost makes me cry as well.
When she pulls back, her eyes watery, she wipes at her face.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers.
I shake my head. “Don’t ever be sorry,” I tell her. “Not for us.”
I reach out and wipe away one of the tears that has fallen to her chin then rise to stand, leaving her behind to work on her project.
Once I’ve slipped back into my own room and laid down on my bed of blankets, I stare up at the ceiling, my mind trying to wrap itself around all the possible ways I could solve this situation.
I hadn’t realized how important my connection with Emily had become until she was suddenly telling me we needed to sever it, and now it feels like we’ve severed something much deeper, something much more important.
Something we shouldn’t be letting go.
chapter twenty-four
emily
The next week is rough as Colton and I transition away from the playful, teasing, flirtatious interactions that have filled our lives with happiness over the past months, and back to the ones that were about process. The movement from activity to activity, from day to day.
I try to keep myself busy with Teddy, but Colton’s fears when it comes to his son make it difficult for him to keep a distance between us.
He still goes to work, still does his Wednesday night softball league, still goes out with August on Friday night. But he looks a bit like a robot trying to pretend to be human, his movements overstated, his words tumbling awkwardly from his mouth.
It’s painful to watch, because I know he’s in pain inside.
On Saturday afternoon, when I collect the mail as I’m returning from the grocery store, I find a sealed envelope from what looks to be the place where Colton had his DNA tested.
“Colton!” I shout, running through the house and out to the back yard where I know he’s taking a lunch break and playing with Teddy.
I yank the sliding door open and go sprinting across the yard, not even stopping to take the time to shut it behind me.
“Colton! The results are here!” I cry out, holding the envelope high in the air as I run toward him.
His face turns white, and he doesn’t move right away when I hold it out for him.
He tugs Teddy out of the tire swing and pulls him in for a tight hug, which of course Teddy squirms to get free from.
“I can’t open it,” he tells me. “It’s going to change my entire life.”
“Possibly for the better.”
His nostrils flair and he gives Teddy one more hug before letting his son down. Teddy goes sprinting across the yard, blissfully ignorant, heading off to where his Tonka trucks are in the dirt near the deck.
