She was too tired to think about it. “Maybe” and “perhaps” weren’t real.
She was here now. She’d been traveling for hours. She was hot and sticky and exhausted. She’d finally stopped crying, but her face still felt puffy and tender.
“Kay asked me to get a room ready for you,” David said, breaking into her thoughts. “She said you might stay with us for a while… until we get this mess sorted out.”
Yes, that’s what Kay had said. And also, no.
Emma had called Becky from the train, intending to close the bakery for the next week, but Becky had surprised her by negotiating for a raise and agreeing to manage the bakery herself.
When she got home, Emma was going to bake that woman every single one of her favorite desserts and offer her foot rubs for a week. If she made it home. Either way, she wasn’t planning to stay with David.
Kay and Ethan had sat with her, waiting for the train and discussing the best way to stop Gordon. They were determined that Emma should call her father in the morning when they could do it together. They would all listen in and then they could follow her to wherever he agreed to meet.
Kay had done everything she could in the short time they had to show Emma how to concentrate her thoughts and focus her Shadows. She’d helped Emma to form a Shadow blade—demonstrating her own elegantly curved daggers—and made sure to mention how good a friend Zach was at every opportunity.
But by the time she was halfway to London, Emma was certain that Kay’s plan wouldn’t work. Gordon would soon realize if Kay or Ethan were involved and it would jeopardize any chance she had of getting close to him. And, even if they somehow managed to stay hidden, they were hardly likely to simply watch her wander off with Gordon.
Her father was already aware that she’d seen him. She had to follow up on that immediately. And she had to do it alone.
“Can I get you a drink? Something to eat?” David asked.
“Just some water, please. I’m not hungry.”
David slipped out for a minute, returning with two glasses of cold water. He settled onto the sofa opposite her. “I’m sorry you met everyone under these circumstances.” He ran his hand through his hair distractedly. “Did you… ah…. Was everyone well?”
Emma took a slow sip of her water and considered how to reply. Zach had told her enough to know what David was really asking.
He reminded her of Zach when she first met him. He’d come into her bakery with his expensive suit and his practical haircut and his discomfort with emotions. He’d been so closed in on himself. God, she’d hurt him with her choice. At least he was with his friends. Kay and Ethan would help him.
David was alone. She could easily imagine that the Guardians had spent years giving him the space he seemed to want. But Emma was tired and heartbroken. And she didn’t think David needed space—he needed the truth.
She put her glass down on the table and looked him in the eye. “Elizabeth is struggling. She’s having bad dreams, bad enough that I could hear her from the guest room. She wakes during the night to check that all the doors and windows are locked. She doesn’t want to go out of the house, not even to Bryn’s cottage. I don’t know her well, but she seemed sad. The others think she’s angry, but I think that’s just what she’s showing them. That’s her way of proving she’s coping.”
David’s frown deepened. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back.
He looked so much like Zach that her heart physically ached. Both of them had locked themselves away trying to keep themselves safe. David had run all the way to India and stayed there for decades. Zach was the same. She could easily see him sitting in an empty house one day, arms crossed, frowning, and all alone.
What would have happened if Elizabeth had simply flown to India? Elizabeth had waited for years for David to come back, but had she ever fought for him?
Emma rubbed the ache in her chest. She didn’t want to make the same mistake. Didn’t want to find herself fifty years later, separated from the man she loved because she’d let him push her away.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” David asked in a ragged voice.
Emma leaned forward, closing the distance he’d created. “They care about you both and they’re trying to give you the space to make your own decisions.”
He gave her a long look. “So why are you telling me?”
She had nothing left, only the truth. “I just had my heart broken by a man just like you. I wish he could have realized how much he hurt me just so he could protect himself. He thought he was saving me, but he wasn’t. He was saving himself.” Emma sighed. “I wish I didn’t look at you and feel my heart breaking all over again because I think he’s going to turn out just like you—sitting alone in an empty mansion, behaving like an arse.”
David huffed out a surprised breath. Maybe people didn’t usually call him an arse. But she wasn’t a member of his Circle. She wasn’t even a member of the Order. She had spent her life making decisions and acting on them, and it made her stronger.
David unfolded his arms slowly, as if forcing himself to do it. “What do you think I should do?”
“First you need to decide if you want to be with Elizabeth. Just yes or no. If no, then walk away right now.”
David leaned forward, mirroring her. “And if it’s yes?”
Emma snorted sadly. “Then get in your car and go to her. Stay there this time and make it work.”
