Emmerson's Heart Page 15

  Taking his halter, she tried to push him back, but there wasn’t much room for him to move. Giving him a shove, she had managed to walk him backward, knocking into the rack where Mom had kept some knickknacks. Plastic fruit went everywhere, making her scream and cry out more. As Ben had reached for a plastic apple, Emmy tugged at him and tried to get him to stop. Throwing his head, he sent her falling backward into me landing right into my lap. Catching her, I slipped my hand on her waist, feeling the tightness of her body. She was a lot harder than I had thought. The work had certainly put the muscle on her and someday, hopefully never, some guy would be lucky to have her.

  Chapter 14

  ****Present****

  Lying in her bed, I held her favorite sweatshirt tight to me. It was the one that I had given her to put on just after graduation, that night at her bonfire, the only one that she had accepted. All the guys that had come home with Rob for her graduation had offered theirs, but she didn’t take them. She took mine, though. Now, it was all that I had of her that was close to me.

  The soft tap on the door made my stomach clench. With the help of the Andrews’, the Johnson’s, the whole damn town, my mom had to still make my dad’s funeral plans and the house was full of people. I just wanted to be alone with her, with my Emmy.

  “Honey? Can I come in?” Becky poked her head in as the dark circles hung around her eyes. “Marc’s on the phone.”

  Jumping up, I kept the sweatshirt in my hand as I practically shoved her out of my way. There were people everywhere and the screams from my mom echoed in the house. Rob was in Mr. Andrews’ hold and Will was on his knees on the floor bawling. My heart dropped so hard and so fast, the walls of my chest were closing in, and I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t make out anyone. She had died in that hospital with us all here. With me here. How could she leave me? How could she leave me!

  “She’s not gone! She’s not!” Screaming, I threw my fist in the air only to bring it back, digging it deep into my hair. “I love her! How could she leave me!? How could she leave me?” The pain was so bad that I had dropped to my knees, barely feeling the hands trying to console me. God, she couldn’t be gone. She couldn’t. I loved her too much. I loved that brat.

  “Mom! Mom!” Marc’s cries came through the phone in the silent house. “Mom!”

  “No, Baby. Please. No. Please come back to me.” My mom’s sobs had hit everyone, punched them as hard as they could. Even me. I clutched the sweatshirt to my chest as hard as I could, not wanting to let it go. “God, don’t. Please, don’t. I am begging.”

  “Mom! Oh my god! Mom!” The cries stabbed through me as I felt her pain shredding every muscle in my body.

  “Mr. Huck? I’m doctor…” The muffled cries had blocked out the soft man’s voice.

  “Don’t take my baby! Don’t take my baby!” Mom fumbled for the phone, screaming as a few of the women tried to console her, but she had fought them off. “Do you hear me? Don’t you dare take my little girl!”

  A loud scream came through the phone along with a thud.

  “Mrs. Huck?” The voice had come back. “Mrs. Huck? This is Doctor Miller. We have her breathing again….”

  I stumbled back, knocking into a few people. Gasping, I buried my face into the sweatshirt while letting everything go inside of me. All that I had heard was “swelling” and “down” and “breathing”. Then, it was just my mom’s demanding voice that had brought me back.

  “I don’t care how I get there. I don’t care if I have to walk! I will be with her! I am not sitting here any longer!” Bodies were bumping together as she had shoved her way to me. Her fists had grabbed hold of my sweatshirt, pulling me close to those red puffy eyes. “You go and get me a damn horse! If that is how I have to get to that hospital, I will! Go get me one now!”

  “Connie, don’t be silly.” Mr. Andrews pulled his keys out of his parka pocket. “I will hitch up the team and we will take the sled. I will get you there, hell or high water.” His tired green eyes drifted up to me. “I will have them here in a little bit. Get ready and dress warm.”

  “Thank you.” Wrapping my arm around her, I walked her to her bedroom and felt my heart actually beat for once. In the two days, we had sat around while she had fought for her life. There was no chance that I wasn’t going to get my mom there to be with her. There was no way that I wasn’t going to just sit back and let Emmy go. No chance in hell. It was a huge risk that Mr. Andrews was taking and he was the one that my dad never had gotten along with. But he was willing and he was going to no matter what anyone had said. He would get us there.

  I had dug through her dresser, getting her what I could to sustain the sleigh ride. Becky had stepped in and helped so that I could get Will and Rob taken care of, too. Meeting out on the porch, everyone helped us get settled in and covered in blankets.

  Bryant Andrews smiled as he held out his hand to me. “Hey, I have everything here under control. Don’t worry about the place, brother. Go make sure that she’s okay.”

  Taking his hand, my arch nemesis, I shook it and knew that he would. Hell, I had grown up hating that ass, but now, I wished that I hadn’t. I knew that my dad was seeing what the Andrews really were today and he would be thankful as well. They had been here since they had heard the news and helped in a way that no one else had.

  Getting on the bench next to Mr. Andrews, I nodded. Reaching over, he tugged the heavy blanket over my lap. “You don’t want to catch an illness, son. I may have had it out with your father, but he was a damn good man, Paul. Damn good and we are going to miss him.”

  “Thank you very much for getting us there.” Watching him snap the leather reins, he called his four Belgian horses to go. Holding that sweatshirt of hers, I closed my eyes and thanked God for at least giving us her.

  The cold and the snow had blown as he had his horses plowed through the drifts. The three in the back were huddled close, holding each other. My eyes burned as I tried to stay awake. I had to.

  “You know, Emmy is a fighter. She will pull through this. You don’t have to worry about her.” Shifting on the bench, Mr. Andrews cleared his throat as he lifted his hand up to brush away the tear. Had he been crying? No, not him. My dad, yes. Anything that happened to Emmy, he was in tears over it. But Mr. Andrews? I couldn’t believe it. “She had caused my boys some problems, but she never meant any harm. Damn glad she had put them in their place a time or two.”

  “Yeah, she was good at that, wasn’t she?”

  He nodded as his chin quivered a little. “We all said a prayer for her. When we heard the news, it was like part of our family had been taken from us.” Slapping my back, he let out a chuckle. “I’m going to miss the hell out of your old man. I sure do miss the days when we used to run with each other.”

  My heart skipped a beat. I had never known or heard my dad say that before. As far as I had known, my dad and Mr. Andrews never got along. Not like his one friend….um…George. It was rare that my dad had spoken of George, but when they were in high school, the crap that they had done was ten times worse than what Marc and I had done.

  “She is actually a spitting image of your old man actually. That’s why I think that he had taken such a liking to her. Why do you think that I had gone in after him and cleaned up his mess?”

  “What mess?” Okay, now my heart was beating. This was something that I had never heard before. The clenching in my stomach told me that this was something to do with the night that my dad had nearly beat hers to death.

  “You were there. You know what mess. Old Ole came looking for him over it. A man just doesn’t nearly die from falling.” His eyes shifted over to me as he had eased his horses to slow down when coming to a drift. Ole was the town sheriff, well, was one. The guy had to be at least a hundred and still going. But that was the year that Ole had handed in his badge and finally retired. “I told Ole that I had gone after the guy for trying his hand at my wife. I think he knew it didn’t happen like that, but I knew what your dad did and wh
y he did it. Soon, that was what happened and nothing more was said.”

  “How did you know?”

  “I saw you carrying that girl back to your truck. I had seen it. Just didn’t know what it was about until my boy told me that she wasn’t at school for a touch. By the time that I had gotten there, the guy was bleeding all over so I missed my chance. The guy was a puke, anyway.”

  “Does he know this?”

  “Now he does.” His eyes casted up to the sky as a few tears slid out of his eyes. “I loved that man, Paul. Never stopped. He was the best friend that I ever had.”

  Best friend? George was his best friend….George Andrews. Good lord, how had I not known? Why had the two ever stopped being friends?

  “I was chasing your mama. I chased and chased, but she had never tired. I chased her right into his arms. I was madder than a skunk caught in a trap. I loved her so much. I still do, but I know that she was with the one that had her heart. I never hated him, Paul. I was just jealous that he loved her more than I did. That he had been the one that she had stopped running from.” His lips pressed tight together as the tears had fallen freely. “He done good to her. Real good.”

  “He loved her so much.”

  “That he did and never think for once that he hadn’t. That boy was downright in love with her.” Reaching over, he patted my arm. “If you got someone like that in your heart, boy, don’t ever let her go. You will never be complete. I know.”

  “I planned on asking Becky to marry me already.” My hands tightened on the sweatshirt as I felt the warmth coming from it. I had even picked out a ring for her and everything. Of course, without my best friend by my side, but she was on my mind. Now, I would just have to wait. I would wait to propose until we had gotten through this Christmas.

  “If I were you, son, I wouldn’t miss the chance. I would take it when you can. Living life thinking of another only sets you up for years of misery.” Nodding, he approached the hill, their hill. His hands tightened on the reins as he pulled his team to a halt. Taking my hand, he bowed his head and closed his eyes tightly. Squeezing a little, I felt my heart feeling his prayer. Then, he lifted his head and looked at me. “If there was another way around, I would take it.”

  Forcing a deep breath, I felt the nausea crawling up my throat. I hadn’t wanted to see the place that had ended my father’s life and tried like hell to take Emmy’s, but he was right. There was no other way into the city. I just hoped that my mom would stay sleeping along with my brothers.

  Urging his team on, they had plowed faithfully through the snow huffing and puffing as they had gone on. Once we would reach the city limits, I knew that he would have a huge fine waiting for him, but he hadn’t cared. He was getting us to Emmy no matter what. I would just sit everyone down afterward and talk to them about paying it for him. It wasn’t like we couldn’t afford to. We had to.

  Just as we had come to the corner where the flimsy guard railing had been broken apart and the few trees had been snapped off, the cry came from the back out of my mom. Turning around, I reached out for her as her eyes had stayed on the very spot where they had gone off the road.

  “Connie, love? Would you like to stop?” Mr. Andrews had asked softly as he gave a gentle tug on the reins.

  “I can’t. I can’t. I’m sorry. I just can’t. Not yet.” She leaned forward, having Rob and Will hold her while letting their own tears go. “My baby is in the hospital. I have to get to her, George. Please.”

  “You have your family here. They would go with you.”

  Nodding, she wrapped her arms around herself, letting the cries take over. Mr. Andrews had held his horses there and got out to help her out. She slipped her hand inside of his, making him go with. I stayed back with the team to hold them there for him. The least that I could do was let him say goodbye to his friend.

  Watching them, I hugged her shirt to me, letting it soak the tears. He stood there wrapping his arms around them, crying as they had looked down at the site that had claimed his life and almost hers. When they had come back, he helped Mom back into the seat and dried his eyes.

  “If you would like to go and…” His voice cracked, making me just about lose it again.

  “I seen it enough every time that she would drive home from school.” Tipping my head, I bit my lip as hard as I could.

  “Where at?” my mom’s weak and frail voice came out.

  “In my dreams, Mama.” After he had climbed back in, I passed him the reins and let him push on his team.

  It wasn’t long until we had arrived into the city that was pretty much almost quiet from the snowstorm. Just as I had figured, three cop cars had stood by waiting for us. He pulled them to a stop and straightened his back. “I am taking these people to be with their daughter who had been in that accident. You won’t stop me.”

  “Sir, we are here to take you in.” The youngest one had tipped his head and held out his hand. “We will escort you now.”

  “Very well.” Waiting, he held his composure as they all had gotten into their cars and led us to the hospital. It had taken us almost six hours and the horses were exhausted, but we had made it. And waiting there in the empty blockaded parking lot was a horse trailer and a flatbed semi to take him back when they had cleared the roads. A family from the other side of the city had heard that we had been coming and had offered to help. They had brought food and water for the horses and had stepped in to take care of them. It had only made Mom cry harder. If that woman had anymore tears, I would be surprised.

  Walking into the waiting room, Marc stood looking like complete crap and had started to turn ripe. The whole family room had smelled. Empty cups of coffee littered the table and a pillow and blanket had been just lying on the couch. His dark shaggy hair was a mess and his eyes had dark circles around them. Going straight to Mom, he hugged her while crying into her shoulder.

  “Oh, Mama. I got to see her. They let me see her for a little bit and…oh, Mama.” His whole body had shaken as she tried to comfort him. “She’s going to throw a shit fit when she finds out that they had to cut her hair.”

  “Well, she will just have to then. Her hair will grow back. She won’t.” She smiled as she wiped the tears from her face. “I want to see her.”

  “They will only let you in for a little bit. She’s still not good, Mama.” Wiping his eyes, he glanced at Mr. Andrews. “Thank you for bringing them.”

  “I would have come sooner with them if I could have.” Shaking off Marc’s offering hand, he wrapped his arms around him and hugged him. “Glad that you were here with her.”

  “When Becky called saying that you were bringing them in the sleigh, I made a few calls and I had gotten everything ready for you. The nice couple that brought the trailer said that you are more than welcome to catch some sleep at their place if you would like.”

  “I would rather stay by if I could.” His eyes shifted over to my mom as she nodded, going to his arms. It was hard seeing my mom in another man’s arms, but I was glad that they were his. I know that my dad would be okay with it.

  It had been a while, but when I had gotten the chance to go and see her, I felt everything coming alive again. Walking into the room and hearing those machines had taken my breath away. Her small body was tucked in the oversized bed, making her look like a child again. The bandages were pretty much covering her face and wrapped around her head and I could see a stained lock of gold poking out.

  “Emmy, Honey. I’m here.” Choking back a cry, I made it to the chair beside her before my legs had given out. One arm was casted and she had tubes running in and out of her. “I love you, Emmy, and don’t you ever forget that. I love you so much.” Carefully, I had taken her hand into mine, not wanting to disrupt any of the tubes nor the IVs. Just holding her hand, I wanted to wake up from this nightmare. I wanted those haunting words in my head to go away. I had said that I didn’t care if she had died tomorrow. I would never forgive myself for letting those words out of my mouth. God, how cruel coul
d I be? I was a monster. I was a complete monster.

  Chapter 15

  ****Present****

  “Get ready. Here they come.” Becky jumped up and down happily as she watched out the kitchen window seeing Mr. Andrews’ black truck coming down the road. Hell, Becky had been a saint in the past couple of months. She did everything for Mom and helped so much in the house. Hell, she had sustained my constant drinking and yet, she stayed. I had to marry her now. There was no going back on it. “Is everything ready?”

  “They were due here two hours ago. What the hell took them so long?” Snatching the bottle of beer off the table, I cursed under my breath. Touchy? Yes. I wanted to pick her up. I wanted to be the one that had brought her home from the hospital, but I didn’t deserve it one bit. Not one. Not after what I had said. Those nightmares wouldn’t let me forget either. And drinking them away wasn’t helping.

  “Oh, just settle down and put that away. Your sister is finally here.” Humming along with the radio, she carefully pulled the cake out of the fridge and put it on the table. “Go get Will, Rob, and Marc. Tell them that they are here.”

  Looking right at her, I glared as I yelled their names. I had spent so much time at the hospital with her while she was sleeping that she hadn’t known that I was there. A few times, I had gone to her and curled up in the bed next to her just to ease the pain. Those were the nights that it had sickened me to sleep next to Becky. It wasn’t that I didn’t love Becky, I did, but it just pained me too damn bad. All that sweet and perfection that radiated from her. It was the most annoying thing ever. And that humming. Good god, just stop with the humming.

  “Paul…” Her hand rested on that hip of hers as her eyes stayed on me. “Please. I don’t want her to see you drinking on her first day home.”

  Tipping the beer, I had easily let the rest of the liquid slide down my throat as if it were water. If my dad were here now, he would slap me upside the head and curse me for being a fool. I had a good woman and I was treating her like garbage. Becky had done everything for me, cleaned up after my drunken nights, brought my ass home from the bar, and yet she stayed with me.