Page 62 of For Emery

“I hate him, Jordan. He deserves the worst kind of fate.”

“And he’ll get it. They’ve got the entire police department out looking for him.”

I scoffed, knowing he was probably already back wherever he’d been living.

“Don’t. The Emery I knew always looked at the glass half full. Karma will come for him. If not today, soon. I assure you of that.”

“I left her,” I muttered, my chest tightening around my heart.

“You followed your dream.”

“I followed you.”

His body stiffened and sadness shone in his eyes. “Are we gonna talk about what happened back there?”

“Do we have to?”

“Yeah, we do.” He lifted his fingertips to my hairline and brushed my hair back from my face.

The intimate gesture would’ve sent my heart racing had I not known the truth. He was only trying to make me feel better. About my mom. About me thoroughly embarrassing myself. About him rejecting me.

“But right now,” he continued, his eyes softening at the corners, “You should get back in there and be there for your mom. She needs you.” He stepped back, giving me space.

“Yeah.” I slipped my hand free from his and moved away from the wall.

Jordan disappeared after our hallway encounter, claiming he needed to make some calls since he’d already missed practice back in Alabama. But I wondered if he just didn’t know what to say to me. I didn’t blame him. I wasn’t making a whole lot of sense. One minute I hated what he did to Flip. The next I’m confessing my love for him. It was surprising he hadn’t hopped onto the next plane out of Arizona.

Maybe he had.

I spent the majority of the day sitting with my mom—when she wasn’t off having tests done. The nurses kept me abreast of her results. The internal bleeding had ceased, but like the doctor assumed, she suffered three broken ribs and a broken arm. While my mom slept in the late afternoon, I spent time with the detectives in charge of her case. They assured me they’d find Wayne and promised she’d continue to have twenty-four-hour protection. Though, they were unable to tell me what would happen once she was discharged from the hospital.

“Hope you’re hungry,” Jordan said when he finally returned around dinner time.

I turned from the chair beside my mom to find him carrying a tray piled high with clear plastic food containers.

“I wasn’t sure what you might want, so I—”

“Bought one of everything?” I asked.

He glanced down at the tray, before holding it out for me to see. “Yup.”

I grabbed a turkey wrap and soda. “Thank you.”

“That’s all you want?”

I nodded.

He placed the tray down on the small nightstand between the two beds. He dropped down onto the extra bed and ticked his head toward the empty space beside him.

I looked to my mom who slept soundly, probably due to the extra dose of pain meds added to her drip bag. Jordan grabbed a burger from the tray as I stood and moved to the spot beside him.

We ate in silence. I was embarrassed and uncomfortable. And, the fact that Jordan hadn’t reacted how I dreamt he would made an already horrific day worse.

But I couldn’t take it back now. It was out there.

“Any new information?” he asked.

I shook my head.

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