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“You’re living in sin with that boy, Aubrey. Come back home. Come back to the church where everyone loves you,” he says.
He keeps his voice low, presumably so no one walking by will hear him. I yank my arm free of his grip.
“I’m done with the church. I’m done with you. You don’t scare me anymore,” I say.
I almost believe that last part. I just hope my voice didn’t waver and he believes I’m not honestly terrified of him.
I put my helmet on and get on my bike. Pastor Johnson stands right by my side as I do.
“When you come to your senses, and you will, we’re here for you,” he says before I push the kickstand up and pull away from him.
Chapter twenty-three
Emmett
Idon’tlikelyingto Aubrey. And I honestly need to spend time with Emily, so it’s not a complete lie. There’s just no good reason I can’t stay the night at the barn like I have every night. Hell, I could have even invited Aubrey to join us at the diner for ice cream. I know Emily and Aubrey would fall in love with each other in an instant and they’ve already met, so it’s not like they’re strangers.
“Where’s the pretty haired girl?” Emily asks as she dunks an onion ring in her milkshake, as if she’s somehow able to read my mind.
“She’s at home. How’s school going? Got any new boyfriends?” I tease her to change the subject.
Emily scrunches up her face and pushes the milkshake covered onion ring in her mouth. Thankfully, she forgets all about asking about Aubrey, and we spend the rest of our time at the diner talking about her dance classes. I’m dropping Emily off at my parents’ office building in Sheridan, so I have to drive past the street that leads to Aubrey’s parents’ house. I slam on the brakes a little too hard and turn onto the small street at the last minute.
There’s a huge sign on the side of the road that reads ‘For Sale, 15 Acres plus 2 bedroom house’. I stare at the sign, not sure what I’m feeling.
“What are we doing here?” Emily asks.
“Stay here. I’ll just be a minute,” I tell her and jump out of my SUV.
There’s a small plastic box attached to the sign with brochures in it. I run up to the box and pull one out before running back to the car. I toss the brochure into the back seat and pull back out to finish driving Emily to our parents’ office.
When I pull up to the office building, I park in one of the open reserved spaces right out front. Emily doesn’t waste any time and jumps out of the car and runs into the building. She’s spent enough time here that she knows someone at most of the other businesses that rent space here. Plus, Emily and the front desk woman who’s worked here for nearly twenty years get along super well. The woman, Cheryl, always has a hidden stash of candies she lets Emily dig through. Before I get out of the car, I grab the brochure that had fallen to the car floor and read it.
There’s nothing too interesting, all the basic info about the land and the price, until I get to a small note at the bottom.
‘Water Tower on property is leased land by the county. The lease is up for renewal at the end of the year and can be canceled by new owners. The county will handle all demolition.’
My heart aches at the thought of my, our, water tower being demolished. I crumple up the brochure and throw it to the floor of the car. My fists are still clenched when I make it to the elevator and I punch at the button for the top floor.
“What’s wrong, sweetie?” Mom says as I flop into the soft leather chair across from her desk.
“You know the property on the edge of town with the water tower?”
Mom nods her head and leans over her desk toward me, giving me her full attention. That’s one thing I’ve always appreciated about my parents. Even though they are always busy and work a lot, if one of us kids needs them, we get their full attention, always.
“Well, that’s actually Aubrey’s parents’ property and when I drove by on my way over here, I saw a for sale sign. And to make it worse, the brochure they have for the place talks about how easy it would be to get the water tower removed. And, well, the water tower is… special. To both of us,” I tell her.
“Oh, Emmett. You didn’t—on the water tower?”
I laugh and shake my head.
“No, Mom. Aubrey and I haven’t even kissed. It’s just that’s where I would go to think after the diagnosis. And that’s where Aubrey and I met.”
“I see. Well, I’m not exactly happy to hear you’ve been going up there. It’s dangerous, Emmett,” Mom says as she narrows her eyes at me in that concerned mom way. “But I understand it’s special to you both.”
Silence settles between us as I brood over the property being sold.
“You really haven’t kissed her yet?” Mom asks, interrupting the silence.
