“Yes. I just wanted to let you know that Ember is at my house. She broke down on the way to you, and mine was the closest house to her car. She wouldn’t have been here otherwise.”
I heard someone say something in the background, and then Lily’s voice came over the phone. Bryan had obviously put it on speaker so they could both hear.
“Oh, thank God. I was so worried about her driving home in that state.”
“What state?”
“Well, she walked into her house and found Wayne in bed with his secretary. She wasn’t going to come here until that happened. I was so worried she would have an accident.”
My anger started to rise. How dare he fuck around with Ember? Didn’t he realise how special she was?
If I ever got hold of him, he wouldn’t like the outcome.
“He did what? Please tell me she’s not going back to him.”
“No, she said it was over. Please, Hunter, don’t do anything stupid. Just look after her. She needs a friend.”
“I won’t do anything stupid, Bryan. At least not tonight. It’s going to be a struggle, but I’m going to try to get her to stay tonight. I don’t particularly want to be out on these roads at night. Once she has warmed up and I have gotten some food inside of her, I’ll get her to talk. I’ll call you again in the morning.”
“Thank you, Hunter. Please look after her. The two of you are all we have.”
I felt the pain of those words hit my chest, but I knew I couldn’t think about that now. I had to look after Ember, and then I could have my own pity party once she was gone.
“I will. Stay inside, both of you, and if you need anything, just call.”
“We will.”
With that, we ended the call, and I stood there for a moment thinking about Wayne.
No man was good enough for her, not even me, but I had never liked him. He just saw her as a meal ticket, seeing asshe was a partner solicitor like her parents. There had always been something about him that I didn’t trust, but I hadn’t said anything because it wasn’t my place. Plus, since she wasn’t talking to me, she wouldn’t have listened anyway.
I was just thankful she had found out now before they got married.
I walked back into the kitchen and grabbed a load of ingredients to make chicken soup. It wouldn’t be the best one I had made, given the circumstances and time I had; however, it would be hearty and warm, and at least I would know that Ember had eaten something this evening. It didn’t take me long to chop everything up and place it in my soup maker. I would usually have made it in a saucepan, but I wanted Ember to eat as soon as she came down, and this was the quickest way.
I started the soup maker and placed the chicken breasts into the oven, planning to shred them and add them just before serving. I had plenty of bread that I would also warm in the oven. All I had to do now was wait for the soup to finish and Ember to come down from upstairs.
I hoped that the clothes I put out would fit her. Everything I owned, I knew was far too big, but I did still have a couple of pairs of joggers from my teenage years that were closer to her size. Plus, they had drawstrings so she could pull them tight.
I heard her footsteps coming down the stairs after a short while, so I got up, put on the kettle, and got ready to make her a hot chocolate. I knew she used to love that when we were younger, sitting down with a warm drink when it was cold or she was worried.
Her demeanour made total sense to me now. It was obvious she was hurt after finding out about Wayne. Then to add to that, she had ended up at my house, and the outcome was to be expected.
She walked into the kitchen wearing the tracksuit I had put out for her. I had also left her a hair dryer, so she didn’t have wet hair. She had found both and was starting to look a lot warmer than she had when I brought her in.
“Here, I thought you could use a hot drink. Dinner won’t be too long. It’s only chicken soup, but at least you will have eaten something.”
“Thank you.” Her voice sounded so quiet, as though she was about to break in two at the slightest touch.
I picked up my coffee and sat across the table from her. I didn’t want her to feel any more uncomfortable than she already was.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Her eyes instantly met mine, as though she was trying to work out what I knew. “About what?”
I sighed. “There is obviously something bothering you. Do you want to talk about it?”
Tears started to appear in her eyes again, and I thought for a moment that she might finally open up to me.
