Emmerson's Heart Page 13

  “Mama, they have taken her back into the operating room. She’s so bad. She’s…she can’t breathe and they think that her rib has punctured her lung. Her shoulder is shattered and her leg….they might have to remove it. Oh, Mama.” He cried. “She’s…Oh my god, please. Please, let her live.” He cried just as hard into the phone. “They said that she don’t look nothing like her picture. They don’t know how she’s still alive. They don’t. Mama, they don’t think that she will….they don’t….oh god.”

  “What happened?” I asked, wrapping my arms around my mom. It was bad enough having to bury her husband of thirty years right before Christmas. But her only daughter, too? It would kill her, kill all of us. She just had to make it. Emmy had to live.

  “They were at the hill and just coming down when a truck had come up so fast behind them and slid into them, pushing them off the cliff. She was the only one they found….alive….” He gasped a little. “They said that she was still holding onto his hand. She was still holding onto him!” Another cry came through the phone loudly. “They said that they had to pry them apart. He was holding onto her so tight that he had broken her arm. Dad was trying to save her. He was trying to protect her. Just the way that she was in the seat, that was what they had said it had looked like.”

  “Have you gotten to see her?” Will brushed the tears off his face.

  “No, they won’t let me. They won’t yet.” Clearing his throat, he let out a curse. “I have to go, but if I hear anything more, I will call.”

  Hanging up, I pulled my mom out of the chair and just held her as tight as I could. Becky rested her chin on my shoulder and forced in a deep breath. “Why don’t you all go into the living room and I will make some coffee?”

  Gathering my mom, I took her to the couch and let her cuddle into my lap. Rob sat on one side of me and Will on the other. It was all a waiting game now. That was all that we could do. God, how I hated myself for everything that I had ever said about her. She wasn’t a bad girl at all. Not for what she had grown up in. Those scars that she was so self-conscious about were nothing. Absolutely nothing. All the times that she had said that her dad had made her ugly, she wasn’t. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. There had been times when I would pretend to be napping to watch her, see those little dances that she had done in the barn while she had worked. The way that her hips moved, how her nice breasts would bounce slightly. God, I was infatuated with her. Since graduation, I had seen her as a woman, one that I would never be able to have.

  “Do you remember when Dad had to come to school because of the fight when I had broken that Parker’s nose?” Will reached over, taking Mom’s hand and holding it tightly. “It wasn’t me that did it. She was the one that clocked him.”

  “Emmy?” Rob chuckled a little.

  “Yeah. Dad had just thrown the fit about us fighting Adam and told her not to be fighting, that it wasn’t the way to solve problems. Well, she “talked” to Parker Andrews all right. I tried to grab her, but it had come out of nowhere. She was talking to him with this concerned face of hers and those eyes just sparkling. When she drew in her bottom lip, listening to him defending himself on why he had said what he did about us, she just smiled and told him not to do it again with this sweet and innocent look…” He swallowed hard. “Then, when I had thought she would just turn and walk away, she didn’t. She punched him and he thought it was me because I had jumped to stop her.”

  “That was the only way she knew how to handle her anger.” My mom sniffled a little as she pressed her lips together. “He was so mad at her about it. He was livid every time that she would, but how could you tell her not to when all she was doing was defending us?”

  “Like the time that he wast livid about catching her out by Ben?” Chuckling, I could still remember that day. That was the day that Ben had her on his back for the first time. I was watching and making sure that she was okay and I told her not to let my dad catch her.

  “Yeah, you better not let Dad catch you.” I nearly dropped as his voice had come over my shoulder. We had been busted. Not just her, but she had taken the blame for it. She had covered me, hadn’t said one word about all the times that I knew that she was out there.

  “I heard about that for days.” Mom nodded as the tears had swelled back into her eyes. “She was just like him. That stubborn, no one will ever tell me not to attitude. He loved her so much. He was so happy having her here. He had always wanted a little girl and when she had come….when he had come in telling me that she wasn’t going anywhere, I knew that…I knew that he would do anything to protect her.”

  “Did he ever tell you…that week after I had found her? Did he ever tell you what he had done?” Feeling the tightness in my chest, I could almost feel that frozen girl in my arms. At first, I thought she was just snow covered from crawling around on the ground, but when I had sat in my truck for a little bit, I had noticed the blood on my tan sweater. Not just a little blood. And my truck seat. Being damn near frozen had saved her life. If it had been summer, she would have bled to death.

  “He said that he wanted to get her things….but…”

  “Mom, he beat the living crap out of her dad. He knew that she had no things to get. He wanted to go there and…on that broken leg, he pulverized that man. I almost couldn’t get him to stop.” Yes, Emmy meant that much to him. The man that was against brawling had nearly beaten another man to death. Not that I wouldn’t have done the same thing. I wanted to, but I was too late. If I had known his true intentions back then, I wouldn’t have let him go. That was the first and the only time that I had ever seen him lose control like that. Hell, with us, he never had to. We protected ourselves. But Emmy, with that back so raw and so cut up, the old scars that the man had left on her, my dad had stepped right up to protect her.

  “We can’t forget this.” Rob pulled his cell out of his pocket and pressed a few buttons until Emmy had come up with her head down as she shoveled the potatoes in her mouth, gravy dripping from her chin.

  “Wow, these are great, Connie. I don’t know how you made them, but wow!” was all she had said. Mom was screaming, Dad was pitching a fit, Rob and Will were laughing, and I was sitting there too afraid to move with the animal in the house. But there she had sat as if there wasn’t a huge horse in the room.

  “EMMY! THERE’S A HORSE IN MY HOUSE!” Panicking, Mom had been pressed into the corner with the pastor that decided to join us that Sunday night for dinner.

  Her head had come up as her eyes danced. Hands covered her mouth as she screeched. “Oh my god! There’s a horse in the house! When did he get in here?” When did he get in there? He had been nibbling the corn off her plate for the past minute. Like she hadn’t known that he was in there.

  “Emmy! Get him out of here!” My dad screamed, but as I looked closer, my heart jumped hard.

  “Play that part back.” Pointing at it, I felt my mom twist a little in the seat to see.

  “Emmy! Get him out of here!” Right there. Had my eyes just been playing tricks on me?

  “Again.” Leaning closer to him, I watched closer as I felt my heart picking up speed. How had I not noticed. “Slow it down.”

  “Dude…”

  “Just do it.” Biting my lip, I watched her. Her eyes had shifted over to him as he had yelled. And there is was. Right on his face was a smile for a brief second. His head had tipped a little and there was a smile on his damn face. Of all the times that he had been so angry at her, he was actually smiling. There was a horse inside the house and he was trying not to laugh.

  Mom’s hand had taken the phone from Rob as he had paused the video with the two in the shot. The hint of a smile on both their faces. Her fingers brushed the screen as the tears had rolled down her cheeks. “I was still angry that night. Humiliated. It was humiliating. He sat on the bed, his head was down, and his hands were folded. I was ranting and raving about that still and he just sat there. When he had looked up, he had tears running down his face and he
was laughing so hard that he couldn’t breathe.” Clutching the phone to her chest, she barked out a cry. “I loved him so much. I loved him all these years and I always wondered if he was really happy. He was so happy when you all were born, but I had seen that it had hurt each time that he was handed a son. He wanted a little girl so bad. A little girl that I didn’t give him.”

  “But you did.” Tucking her hair behind her ear, I forced myself to smile. “You asked him to help her that night. I heard you. You did give him his little girl.”

  “I know that he died saving her tonight. I know that he would have done everything that he could to keep her safe. Please, don’t take her. Please, don’t take her from me, too.” Falling into my chest, she cried again while still clutching the phone to her chest like a baby; like the times that she had held Emmy when she had cried. “You have him, but please don’t take her, too. I need her. I need my little girl. Please bring her home to me. Please. You took him from me. Please, don’t take her.”

  I cried right along with her, drawing Rob and Will to me and holding my family in my arms while we all cried. Not one of us had moved. Not one of us had gotten up, shifted, nothing. It was just bad that Marc couldn’t have been there with us. I knew that he was hurting, too, but at least he was there with her. At least she had someone there waiting for her.

  “Um, Honey?” Becky cleared her throat as she gently shook my arm. “Honey, Mr. Andrews is here. He said that he brought his boys over to take care of the chores. They heard what happened and they said not to worry about anything.”

  “Any word from Marc?” Glancing over at my brothers and my mom, they were all still in my embrace, right where we all needed to be.

  “No, Babe. Not yet.” Making her way around the couch, she pulled the blanket off the back of my dad’s chair and covered us up. “I will let you know if he does. Would your mom mind if I made something for the Andrews to eat?”

  “No, go ahead.” Nodding, I felt my heart slip a little as I felt the phone brushing my fingertips. Picking it up, I looked at the picture that had been on Rob’s background. It was of her from graduation with the smile and her arm around me. Her hair was flowing and I had never seen anything more beautiful than that smile of hers. And standing next to her, how she had fit right up to me, I had seen the sheer happiness coming from her heart. Wrapping my fingers around it, I tucked it close to my heart and wept again. How could I have been such a bastard to her? I had seen the look that she had given me when I had gone off on my ranting spree to her at Thanksgiving. She had looked at me like she had looked when her father was brought up, the man that had hurt her so bad in the past. If she had lived through this, I would make it up to her anyway that I could. I would never shove her from my life again. I would never hurt her again and I would make damn sure that no one else would either. With my dad gone, I had to step up and fill his shoes. I needed to take care of my family, including her. That look would never come to those eyes again. Not on my watch.

  Chapter 12

  ****Past****

  Emmerson

  Rob was gone. Another part of my family was gone. Another one! God, it hurt so bad. I didn’t see him during the week and knowing that he wouldn’t be there when I had gotten home from school was going to be so hard. He was just in the city, but still, he was my brother and I hated the fact that Marc was gone already. I liked Marc and when he had come home, we would talk, but mostly, I liked how Rob and Marc would have their little quarrels and talks. That was where I had gotten the truth about boys and sex—from listening to those two go on and on about their “girlfriends”. Now Rob was gone, leaving me with just Paul and Will. Just by having him gone, one less person around, I noticed that my nights were getting bad again by leaving me a little more empty inside.

  Tonight, the nightmare came unexpectedly. I woke up shaking and wondering if my dad was actually there. I was so scared, I could barely get myself out of the bed to check. Everything was so real—the pain, the cries, his lashings.

  Slipping on my jeans over my shorts, I opened my window to crawl out into the darkness of the night. Paul’s house wasn’t too far away, but I just…He was my best friend, but I couldn’t bring myself to come to terms about going to him. It wasn’t like he hadn’t known about my nightmares and not once had he ever complained that I had snuck into his house and slept on his couch.

  Heading down to the coral, Ben let out a breath in greeting. My Ben. He had known. He sensed it. I often wondered if he had nightmares, too, from his past. His soft velvet nose nudged me as I slithered through the railings and looked at him. We had a connection, a strong one, and I believed that we were tied together because of the pain and hurt that we had gone through.

  Easing my way over to the chunk of hay bale, I curled up into the warmth and cried. Cried for him and me, the abuse that we had gone through; only to be saved by the Hucks.

  It wasn’t until the morning sun had kissed my face and the screams of terror had ripped through that large horse that I realized that I had slept out in that coral all night. The thrashing hooves pounded the ground and, for once, Ben’s large dark gray ears were pressed against his head, sending his anger back out to the three standing at the railing afraid to move.

  The color was washed from Will’s sweet face and his flannel shirt and jeans were thrown on in a panic. Paul—the worry had settled deep in his eyes as he moved a little, bringing Ben’s rage to an all time high.

  “Emmy, just move out of there nice and easy.” Jackson’s voice soothed out of him as he eased a step toward the coral, hoping to have Ben’s focus on Paul. His long sleeved blue shirt had hung loose from his shoulders and his jeans were sagging on his older, lean hips as if he dressed in a split second.

  “Dad, don’t make any sudden movements.” Paul cleared his throat, moving toward the fence, his arm out to hold Will back, to protect him from the crazed animal.

  “Now, Emmer. Just move to me slowly….” Jackson came up to the fence, causing Ben to turn so fast and thrash at him with the heated rage exploding. The older version of Paul jumped back, not wanting the horse to cause any damage or to hurt me. I could see why. Ben was just threatened by the three guys surrounding his territory and right now, I was in the middle of it.

  “Dad, watch him!” Paul cursed as Ben had taken back after him. Shoving Will back, he shook his head.

  “This is why I wanted him gone!” Anger ripped through Jackson as he grabbed the rope that was hanging on the post. “He’s going to kill her!”

  Paul’s defense dropped as his shoulders eased. Raking that bottom lip through his teeth, his eyes drifted over to me, making my heart race faster.

  Standing up, I brushed the hay from my hair and swallowed hard. I hadn’t meant to fall asleep in the coral. I just needed some comfort and Ben was where I had gotten it from. I had every intention of going back to the house after my fear had faded. I was going to go, but I had fallen asleep. Being near Ben had taken that fear and that panic away, given me such comfort that I was able to, for once, handle another brother leaving the ranch.

  “I think that he’s just protecting her, Dad. Back off and let her come out.” His dark eyes filled with the compassion as he nodded at me. “What’s going on, Tyke?”

  “I just came down here because….because….I was scared.” The rain poured from my eyes as I just stood there, watching my Gentle Ben attack my family.

  Jackson’s anger dropped hard as he stepped back, his face softened, and his eyes filled with something so deep that it only made me cry harder. His lips pressed together tightly as he nodded, the pain falling onto his broad shoulders.

  “Can you come out of there?” Paul’s whispers came through dancing on the air as he stepped back, taking Will with him.

  “I don’t want to.” My legs trembled, sending me down onto the hay as I buried my face into my arms. It was the worst nightmare that I had ever had coming live with my new family and it scared me even more.

  “Please, Emmer. Come and talk
to us. That is why we are here.” With easy steps, Paul came to the gate, only to have Ben charge at him with his teeth ready to sink in. Ignoring the threats, he unlatched the gate and stepped back. Ben hit the gate so hard, it had knocked Paul back, but he hadn’t made any more movements.

  “He was there! He was there again!” Screaming out in pain, the heat in my back intensified, the scorching fire hit every single mark that man had left on me.

  “He’s not here, Honey. He will never hurt you again.” Jackson tipped his head up as his trusting eyes filled me. “He will never hurt you. Over my dead body will anyone ever hurt you again.”

  Sitting up, I felt the tears pack into my eyes as I looked at him. Pulling myself up to my feet, I made it out of the coral to go straight to his arms. And once those arms wrapped tightly around me, I let everything go. Everything. My legs refused to support me and my heart was being embraced by his warmth, his love.

  Just like a little kid, he picked me up with my legs wrapped around his waist and he just held me as tight as he could.

  Ben shoved his way past Paul and Will, coming straight to us, his nickers soft and soothing as his velvet brushed against my cheek.

  “Emmy, he will never get anywhere near you ever again. I promise my life on that, Honey.” His voice muffled in my hair as he just held me even tighter.

  Carrying me to the house, he sat on his recliner while still holding me on his lap. Connie rubbed her hand on my back, trying to calm my cries. Paul and Will sat on the couch, not saying a word.

  “It hurts so bad. It just hurts.” Cuddling into him, I felt my hurt come out more as I wasn’t being able to hang onto it anymore.

  “What hurts, Honey?”

  “Rob leaving.”

  “Is that what brought this on?” Pulling me back, his soft eyes lingered on mine as he brushed the tears from my cheeks. “Honey, he just went to school. That’s all.”