Page 24 of Pretty Heartache

“I’ve been killing them as I see them.” I laugh. “I’ll be right up.” I leave the laundry room and dash up the stairs.

When I reach the entryway, I unlock the front door and swing it open. Ember is standing on the front porch, a large pile of clothing bags draped over her arm. Her strawberry blonde hair shimmers in the sun, and her green eyes glint like two stones of emerald.

“It’s been too long.” She beams, opening her arms to wrap them around me.

It has been too long. The last time I saw Ember was a year ago, when she flew out to Los Angeles for a cosmetic event for a company sponsoring her.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t answer when you called,” she tells me.

“It’s okay,” I mutter over her shoulder.

“It’s not. But I’m here now.” She squeezes me tightly, and I squeeze her right back. She’s always been a bright light in my life, especially in a place like this. Being back home.

Loosening my arms around her, I grab a few of the bags from her arms and help her carry them inside.

“We can take these to the living room,” I tell her over my shoulder.

She closes the door behind me, I drape the bags over the back of the sofa.

Ember is slowly walking through the entryway, examining the building the same way I did the first day I got here.

“This house is huge.” Her jaw drops as she spins in a circle.

Thankfully, I’ve cleaned most of the dust and cobwebs from the corners of the ceilings and walls. I spent all day yesterday wiping down every piece of furniture and sweeping the floors. When I take the time to look closely at the front room, it almost looks like a completely different room.

Ember joins me in the living room. She stands on the opposite side of the sofa and points to the bags. “I brought over every outfit I thought would fit you as well as your style.”

My shoulders deflate and I eye them. “Thank you.” My bottom lip wobbles. Suddenly, emotion swells in my chest and my throat.

Ember knows the reason why I’m here. Every bit of what happened flowed out of me when she called me back the other day. How I dropped my entire life back in Los Angeles, leaving Maddox without warning. She knows the truth of my relationship with him and how close I came to living in the sameworld as I did back home. She also knows the truth of what my home life was truly like growing up. In some ways, she knows more than my own brother.

“I’m just glad you got out when you did.” She sighs. “I can’t believe that asshole took advantage of you and the love you have. If you hadn’t convinced me not to, I’d have killed him.”

“I know. It took quite a bit of convincing.” I give her a small smile of appreciation.

When I spoke to Ember about everything, I’d barely finished my sentence telling her what Maddox had done to me when she began threatening to race to the airport and hop on the next flight to Los Angeles. But when I told her I was already in a safe place, back in Boston, she conceded.

She grabs my hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” I swallow back the tears lining my eyes.

“I’m sure it’s difficult being back home, but I think you made the right decision in getting as far away from him as possible.”

“I hope so.” I shrug. “I’m terrified of running into my mom or my dad.”

“You haven’t seen them yet?”

“No.” I shake my head. “And I don’t want to.”

“Not even your mom?”

I briefly close my eyes and take a deep breath. I see my mother standing in front of me, her kind eyes looking into mine. It’s a memory that hasn’t faded with time, but as with everything, there’s always darkness beside the light. My mother’s weakness was always the love she had for my father.

I open my eyes to my best friend in front of me. “I can’t look at her without thinking of all the times she never stood up for me.”

I don’t fault her for anything other than loving my father more than her resilience to stand up for me. Somehow, her love for me was never more than the love she had for him.

“I get it.” Ember nods, biting her pink, glossy lip.

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