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He turned around, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. He’d wished this woman would come back to him for so long. Hoped she’d turned the job in Texas down and stayed here and started a family with Link. He’d expected a rush of emotions at seeing her again. Instead, he had only . . . apathy.
If Emma was right, that meant . . . that meant Solomon had thought Link was a coward.
32
Emma
Emma followed Mr. Driscoll, the lawyer, inside his office. She hadn’t wanted to endure a second with Link alone. Her eyes flicked over the hunched shoulders of her stepbrother. Was he weighed down with grief or regret? Probably both.
“Good afternoon, Lincoln. I’m glad you two could make it in. I have a few things to finish up with your father’s estate,” Mr. Driscoll said, taking a seat across from them.
Emma took the empty chair beside Link. His eyes burned into her, but she kept her gaze focused on the lawyer’s desk.
The smell of old books melded with lemon cleaner filled Emma’s nose as the lawyer talked about the breakdown of assets of Solomon Owusu’s estate. She turned towards the warm ray of morning light glowing over her hand on the armrest of the wooden and velvet chair.
Mike Driscoll handed Link an envelope with his name on it in her papa’s blocky handwriting.
Her eyes widened as she stared. Is there one for me too?
“Your father gave me this just a month before he passed,” Mike explained.
“What is it?” Link asked, his voice wavering.
She hated that she still wanted to reach out a hand to comfort him. No. He didn’t want her. They were finished.
“A letter, I believe, but I don’t know the actual contents. You’ll have to read that yourself,” the lawyer said. “Is there anything else I can do for you? Any other questions you have?”
“Is there one for me?” Emma asked, heart racing.
The lawyer frowned as sympathy lit his eyes. “I’m sorry. There is just the one. But maybe its contents are for both of you?”
Her stomach sunk as another piece of her heart broke. Or maybe I didn’t matter as much to Papa as I thought. It was like the whole foundation she’d built her life on was crumbling beneath her feet as she scrambled to find something real to hold on to.
“Anything else?” Mr. Driscoll repeated, this time looking to Link.
“No.” Link shook his head and stood, reaching out to shake Mike’s hand. He cast a glance her way. “Are you going to The Shipwreck to meet up with everybody?”
“Yeah. Just have to make a stop first. See ya later.”
He hesitated a moment before turning his back and leaving. She waited for the door to snick closed and she met Mike’s waiting and patient gaze. “I need you to help me with something.”
* * *
Thirty minutes later, Emma walked out of the lawyer’s door, heading down Main Street. Remy’s café was across the road, but she was probably at The Shipwreck already. Her friends had decided to throw one last get-together before she left town to meet up with her band.
Thankfully, Remy, Jasmine, and the girls had taken her melancholy mood for the grief of losing her father. And it was partly that. But after discovering those adoption papers that he’d never filed, a new doubt had crept into her mind. Maybe he didn’t love me like that either. Solomon had made it clear that even though at one point he’d thought of her as a daughter, something had happened to make him not go through with it. The year those papers were marked was the year she’d turned eighteen and worked on leaving this small town with her band. The year they’d started making a buzz. Maybe he did feel abandoned by me.
A creaking sign overhead drew Emma’s attention upwards. Shattered Cove Records. Her gaze fell to the worn door where a For Sale sign hung. I can’t believe it.
So much was changing in this small town. This place was where she and her band had recorded their first album. Old man James who owned it had given them a deal: if they’d repaint the front of the building, they could record for half off. The brick-red paint was now chipping off. She smiled at the memories of all the hours they’d poured into their music in this place, just trying to get it right. James had had them sign a group photo he’d taken. For when you all get famous. She shook her head. I wonder if he still has the picture hanging in the lobby?
Emma was so engrossed in her thoughts she didn’t see the body in front of her in time. She collided with another person, sucking in a gasp as a dog barked.
“Oh my God! I’m so sorry,” Emma apologized, reaching for the beautiful woman sprawled on the cement with several books scattered around her. The golden retriever sat next to its owner, sniffing her arm as if to check on her.
“It’s okay,” the woman said, gathering up the books.
Emma bent to help her, gathering a few in her arms before extending a hand. “I wasn’t watching where I was going, and I was so stuck in my head. I feel awful. Are you really alright?”
