Page 134 of Engulfing Emma

I can’t wait to go out with the guys and celebrate our victory. It feels like we just won the goddamn Super Bowl.

I hear a noise and look over at the door. Emma is leaning in the doorway, staring at me.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” I say. I take off the oxygen mask. “Come here.”

She moves slowly across the room, her face red and puffy, all her makeup having been cried away.Damn. I was hoping she wouldn’t be aware of what had happened until it was over. Denver told me he spoke to her earlier, and she was really worried. I can’t imagine what she must have been thinking.

Fresh tears pour out of her eyes when she reaches me.

“It’s fine,” I tell her. “I’m okay.”

She throws herself on top of me, holding me tightly. I let her hug me as long and as hard as she needs to. She shakes as she cries on my chest.

“It’s okay, sweetheart.”

She straightens. “It’s not okay.” Then she stands. “Nothing about this is okay.” She steps away from the bed. “I can’t do this, Brett. It’s too hard. I should have stood my ground.”

“But nothing happened, Emma. I’m here. The mask and IV are just a precaution. They’re giving me fluids because I got dehydrated. I don’t have a scratch on me.”

“Thistime,” she says, taking another step back. “But there will always be a next time. And I’m not going to put my daughter through what I went through.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that Evelyn will be upset not having you around. She’ll be sad for a while. But that will be a whole lot easier than her falling in love with you and treating you like a father and you treating her like a daughter and then you leaving her like my dad left me.”

I reach out for her, but she moves farther away. “I’m not going to leave you.”

“Can you promise that?” she cries. “Can you promise you won’t leave us?”

“You know I can’t. But you can’t make that promise either. How can you stand there and realistically say you’ll never be in an accident or get cancer? Nobody can predict the future.”

“But the risks you take,” she says.

“I’m good at what I do. Great, in fact. I don’t take unnecessary risks. I play it safe more often than not. Hell, I’m more likely to get hurt in a pickup game of football with my friends on Thanksgiving.”

She wipes her eyes. “Are you saying my dad wasn’t a good firefighter?”

“Jesus, I can’t win here, can I? Of course I’m not saying that.”

“I’m sorry, Brett. I can’t put Evelyn through this.”

I sit on the edge of the bed, unable to get up because I’m tethered to the IV bag. “I wish you would quit hiding behind your daughter, Emma. At least own up to it and tell me the truth—that you don’t want to be with me becauseyou’rethe one who’s scared. Because you don’t care enough about me to understand how important my job is. Because you’d rather give this up than try to have something incredible.”

“My parents had something incredible, and now they don’t.”

“And you think your mom would take it all back if she could? You think she would choose to have never met him?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know. All I know is how I feel. I’m glad you’re okay, I really am. But I have to do what I think is best for Evelyn and me. Goodbye, Brett.”

She moves to the door. I’m stunned. I can’t believe it’s going to end like this. “Emma!” I shout, making her turn around before she leaves.

She is sadder than I’ve ever seen her. More devastated even than when she was a hostage in the storage closet.

“I love you,” I say.

A tear escapes her eye and rolls down her cheek. “I know,” she says. Then she walks out the door.

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