Page 143 of Always Be an Us

Then she gives a final nod.

"Alright. I'll be right there," she says and hangs up.

"What’s going on?" I ask.

"I have to go home. Grandpa says someone came into our cottage while he was taking a nap. He woke up when he heard them up in my room." Her eyes are glassy with fear. "What if it’s Xavier? What if he was looking for me? What if he hurts my Grandpa?"

"Relax." I put my hands on her shoulders and pull her closer. I would give anything to rip the fear from her eyes but all I can do now is soften my voice and project my calm to her. "I won’t let him hurt you or your grandfather, okay?"

"I have to go home. Grandpa's there alone."

"Alright. Let's go."

We rush downstairs and outside into the late afternoon chill. The sun hides behind a cloud, above the silent suburban sitting in the parking lot. I try hard to keep a handle on my emotions knowing that this isn’t the time to explore them. They’re swirling all through me, crashing like waves on each other, before I can even identify them.

I recognize sympathy for what Emma's going through, and I’m furious at that bastard Xavier, for putting her through this. I knew Xavier was bad news the second I saw him, and when I get my hands on him, I’m going to make him pay for everything he’s done to her, every moment of fear she's experienced.

But right now, I need to ease her worry about her grandfather.

As I shut the door, and turn on the car, Emma bites her nails and stares out the window.

That's when I finally decipher the most prominent emotion, the one I just realized after missing her like crazy. The one that I nearly expressed back then in the kitchen, staring into her beautiful eyes.

I think I might love her.

God, that’s pathetic.

I need to stop qualifying my feelings with the word 'think.' It's almost like I'm scared to admit my own emotions to myself which, as a nearly forty-year-old man, is just tragic.

Emma was right. I am a coward when it comes to my feelings.

But I'm a coward who's going to protect her with everything I have.

"Relax," I say, molding my hands over her knees. "I’m sure your grandpa is fine. Why don’t you call him? Keep him on the phone until we get there so we're sure he's safe."

Emma nods and whips out her phone, dialing and putting it on speaker. The call tone echoes in the silence twice. The minute he answers she says, "Grandpa? We’re on our way. Can you stay on the line so I know nothing bad is happening to you?"

"Nothing bad is gonna happen, Emma Jane. Your grandpa is one tough cookie, you know. Heck, I wish that little critter was still up here. You know I've been needing the exercise. He’ll be getting to hell soon enough messing with me."

"Please don't fight anyone, Grandpa. You just had surgery."

"You don't think I could take him?"

Emma smiles weakly. "It's not that I don't believe you, it's just I'd rather we don't find out for sure today. Just stay on the line okay? We're on our way."

"What exactly did you hear?" I ask the old man as I veer onto another lane to avoid a slow car in front of me.

"Not much," he responds. "Only what I told Emma. I woke up, heard rustling and cursing upstairs, and called out to whoever it was. They must have jumped out the window because, by the time I got there, they were gone, but all her drawers were open."

I share a look with Emma. If my theory is correct, then I think I know exactly what they were searching for.

But what does Xavier have to do with it?

According to Emma, he admitted to being involved in the first break-in, but was he behind this one too?

Was he linked to the whole Rainbow Pearl fiasco?

It sounds crazy to think about it, but maybe her ex’s reappearance isn’t the coincidence that we initially thought it was.

---