Page 61 of Falling for You
We eat in silence, just listening to the world around us. A first date happens in the booth next to us. A group of rowdy guys enjoy the rival baseball game at the bar. Esther and Franklin join Margaret at a table on the other side of the brewery. A family with two small children ordered a pizza to share.
Everyone is just living life like it’s totally normal and things aren’t falling apart around them, not like me.
I feel like it’s all crumbling and I’m running around to collect all the pieces to fix them. An impossible task.
Emma and I have been sitting in silence for the last half hour, slowly finishing our food, and not knowing what to say to each other. I get the feeling she doesn’t want to talk, she just wants to sit.
I haven’t let go of her hand, forcing both of us to eat one handed. Her need for the physical touch isn’t lost on me. She’s afraid I’m going to slip away, the same as I am for her.
As we finish our food, the entire Keaton clan walks through the front door, taking their usual table in the opposite corner of the room, closer to where Esther and Franklin were with Margaret. Emma stiffens in her seat as she watches her family walk across the brewery.
“Can we go? Like right now?”
Her eyes dart between the table where they are, and the hallway that leads to our escape.
I don’t answer her, I just act. I stand from the table, blocking their view of her with my back as she slides out in front of me.
“Keep going to the truck.” I hand her my keys. “I’m going to grab our dessert from the cooler. We can eat it at home and binge that cult doc you’ve been watching.”
I don’t think she listens to me after I saykeep going.She just runs to the truck.
I spot Clark at the grill. “Hey, we’re out.”
He waves at me as I pass by with the bag I packed earlier full of Emma’s favorite dessert.
I slip out the side door unseen and meet Emma at the truck. She’s staring straight ahead with a blank expression on her face. She isn’t my Sunshine right now, and I want my Sunshine back.
We drive back to the cabin wordlessly. I rest my hand on her thigh, and she holds my hand. I don’t know how to fix this beyond just holding her. Beyond waiting for tomorrow to call the lawyer. Should I not wait? Is there an emergency lawyer line for custody issues? Probably not. Even if there was, I don’t think a judge would hear the case tonight.
“I’m sorry,” she croaks out on a sob. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
A tear splashes on my forearm.
“What? Sorry for what? Not one thing is your fault. And stop thinking that way.”
“I should have known. I should have seen it coming.” She quietly stares out the window, sniffing intermittently, letting me know the tears are still falling, only silently this time.
I pull into the driveway, shutting off the engine. I barely get the truck in park before I hop out and run over to her side, pulling her into me.
Her arms wrap around my waist as we awkwardly hug, with her half in and half out of the truck.
“Sunshine, look at me.”
She shakes her head.
“Look. At. Me.” Using my finger and thumb, I pull her chin to make her face me. “You didnothingwrong. Nothing. I will not stand to hear otherwise.”
My phone rings in my pocket, breaking the silence.
I ignore it, holding eye contact with Emma.
She doesn’t break it either, not until my phone rings again.
“Fuck!” I pull the damn thing out of my pocket and swipe at the screen to answer it. “What do you need?”
“Fight at the bar,” Jasmine says simply. “Need to know what you want me to do.”
“How bad?”
